sport for all (III)

China Post editorial:

Taiwan's World Cup fans unfazed by lack of representation

The 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer kicked off in South Africa just over a week ago, and by Saturday, roughly half of the first-round group-phase matches had been played. Although Taiwan's “Chinese Taipei” team has never qualified for the quadrennial competition, and although most people do not know whether the sweeper is a player or someone who cleans up after the match, nor that the off-side rule even exists never mind being able to define it, soccer is suddenly the hottest topic around the office hot water machine and evening meal table..

With games scheduled for 7:30 p.m., 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m., sports bars around the island are filled to overflowing and extra staff members are needed to keep fans supplied with food and drink. Punters debate the merits of the 4-3-3 formation as opposed to the 3-5-2 line up, or the attraction of South American individualism rather than Central European team ethic, while South Africa, the first country in the continent to host the event, is compared to Germany, which hosted in 2006, and Japan and South Korea, the joint-hosts of the 2002 event. Perhaps because it was held in East Asia, that year's cup also sparked especial interest in soccer in Taiwan.

Taiwanese fans are not handicapped by their lack of national representation, but in a strange form of nationalism-by-proxy, they enthusiastically dedicate themselves to supporting other countries' teams. In keeping with their “Chicago Bulls phenomenon” (which subsequently became the “L.A. Lakers phenomenon”), this support tends to focus on teams with a good chance of winning. Thus support for pre-tournament favorite Spain quickly waned following its 0-1 loss to Switzerland, then Germany's 4-0 win over Australia helped cement it as a good return on emotional investment, but this quickly fizzled after its 0-1 defeat by Serbia on Friday. Current favorites, at least among Taiwan's soccer-crazies, are Argentina, following its two wins out of two games played, and perennial-favorite Brazil.

Bars and other public venues remain the top choices to watch games in a sociable atmosphere. Moreover, since the 26 games to date have produced just 49 goals (in other words, one moment of sporting success every 48 minutes of viewing time), it is good to have friends around to stimulate other lines of conversation.

But the World Cup games are also being broadcast live on cable television. This means that the “beautiful game,” as soccer is affectionately known, is also gaining increased attention from Taiwan's youngsters.

Perhaps the only slight cause for concern is the types of products that advertise themselves in conjunction with such sporting events. Given that various Taiwanese doctors and health officials voiced concern over the consumption of high-calorie zongzi during last week's Duanwu Festival and the associated dragon boat races, they might want to make similar warnings in relation to Coca Cola's sugared and caffeinated drinks, McDonald's burgers and Budweiser's beer (which are all major sponsors of the FIFA world cup), not to mention all the alcoholic drinks and various fried foods typically provided at sports bars.

In fact, passion for soccer among Taiwan's youth will only be beneficial if it leads to increased sporting participation rather than sporting observation. In this respect, soccer can make a great contribution in building confidence and teaching leadership and team-membership skills in addition to the health benefits of improving bone and muscle development, decreasing weight-associated and cardiovascular illnesses, and encouraging better sleep patterns. Soccer offers a more strenuous physical workout than either basketball or baseball (two of Taiwan's more popular sports), and builds better team spirit and better teaches the concept of fair play than do individual sports such as running and swimming.

Nevertheless, given that Taiwan currently languishes at 167th out of 207 teams on the FIFA/Coca Cola world rankings, even with massively increased organization of soccer events, it might be sometime before the country makes it to the top flight of this sport.

At least in a competitive sense, that is. In commercial, environmental and innovative-technological senses, Taiwan is already represented in South Africa. Nine of the 32 national teams participating are kitted out in “100-percent made-in-Taiwan” uniforms. This might be contribution enough, but better still, the outfits have been made using state-of-the-art recycling technology. A total of 13 million polyethylene terphthalate (PET) bottles were collected and melted down, the polyester fibers were woven into fabric, dyed and constructed into the national uniforms for use by the teams. About another 1.5 million outfits were manufactured for sale to supporters around the world.

So maybe Taiwanese soccer fans have an extra reason to cheer the Brazilian national team. Or Germany-defeating Serbia. Or the United States, the Netherlands, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Portugal or Slovenia, all of which play in M-I-T shirts.

Now if only consumers can be weaned off their bottled-drink habit, Taiwan can go even further in its contribution to improving the environment. That's something everyone can cheer on.