Poland’s Inspirational Fascination with Soccer
How I found out
I’m soon getting married to a Polish citizen, and one of our favorite activities is watching televisions series together. I was tired from the day and had just come back from the gym. Watching some Netflix sounded like the perfect way to end the day, but I was amazed at my fiancé’s next words:
“Do you want to watch the game with me?”
I was not expecting my fiancé to ask me this, especially since she’s never wanted to watch a soccer game with me. Then she tells me that her mom and dad are watching the game…
The world feels like its come to stop. And then I even felt a little rude for asking, “What game?”
It was the game between Spain and Poland in this year’s European Championship. Euro 2020 (that’s right not 2021 — to reduce marketing costs) has been playing since the beginning of June.
Soccer is in the blood
Poland’s passion for soccer dates back for more than a century, and the fans are not losing interest anytime soon. Currently, Robert Lewandowski is a living legend, and soccer fans, especially Polish people, see him on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Everyone is supporting the sport even if they’ve never played. Soccer was something that I grew up doing and have always enjoyed, but it just seems that everyone in Poland wants their country to win.
The soccer game is a big event, and the energy is very real. You can feel something positive and important is happening. This has truly been one of my favorite experiences in Poland.
Want to see this in America
To be fair I haven’t been watching sports, and I don’t really care for watching as much as I used to. But, the patriotism for the country is very real. This is something that I haven’t felt in the USA for a long time.
We have no sense of patriotism or pride for the US, especially in these most recent years. If something as simple as soccer can bring Poland together, then America can do the same. America has come together for different reasons, many of them dark, such as wars, riots, and tragedies. But American people can find something to enjoy and support together without having to make a political, religious, or social statement.
America has many issues and so do other countries, but being united has always been part of our philosophy. Through the worst, we’ve come out better by uniting and humbling ourselves. America needs that little sense of national pride that’s been kicked and swept under the rug by recent politicians and “influencers”.
