It begins in a few hours—at 4:00 AM where I happen to be at the moment (Singapore), so I’ll miss the game (Brazil-Croatia). Like several hundred million people the world over, and likely more, I’ve been looking forward to this. I will be spending the next month watching as many games as possible (back in France, where they’ll all be in the evening). I’m for Les Bleus, bien évidemment, even though I have no illusions that they’ll go too far (to the Round of 16 at least—they’re in a relatively easy group—, maybe even to the quarterfinals). On verra. In the meantime, I’ll post any interesting, highbrow articles or worthy commentary on the subject I come across. Here’s one already, by University of Michigan political scientist—and soccer specialist—Andrei Markovits, who, writing on the political science blog Monkey Cage, says that “National characteristics do not explain soccer styles.” See also the other articles in the Monkey Blog’s series on politics, political science and the World Cup.
BTW, it appears that Team USA is not in the real Group of Death after all. According to this analysis by Nate Silver (who else?), the real Group of Death is Group B, followed by D.
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