Walking into Old Town Square (map shown below) in the middle of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe I was taken back by the mass amount of people and activities going on in the enlarged area. Since Dr. Prytherch had spoken of cities putting on a “show” for the World Cup games in the middle of their main squares I knew instantly that it had to be for that. It was called “Hyundai Fan Park Praha.” The first thing I noticed was the huge flat screen and all the people gathered around it, sitting, standing and cheering. This had to be for soccer. In the square, the city had filled the area with food and drinking stands, a stage for live concerts, games for kids and adults of all ages, and the big flat screen. My favorite game that all my friends and I tried was
the soccer “bull.” It was like riding a bull but in soccer ball form. It was the hardest thing to stay on, but the funniest thing in the square to watch people attempt to do. The link listed below goes into more detail about the Hyundai Fan Park in Prague.
After a long day of walking around Prague’s “new town,” we wandered back into “old town” to see what World Cup game was on next. We had made it just in time for the USA vs. Slovenia game and I was so excited to be cheering for my own country along with the other Americans in Prague that day. It was such an awesome feeling to see so many Americans in one place in a foreign city like Prague. Liked we talked about in class last week, it doesn’t matter if you know the players, their scoring record, or even the teams overall winning record, if they’re wearing a jersey for your country, you’re going to take pride in that and scream your head off for that player and team and that’s exactly what I did! There were other insane fans wearing big American flags as capes and there was even one guy wearing American flag underwear. I obviously couldn’t compete with that, but I used my voice instead. My friends and I grabbed a beer and took a seat with all the other people intently watching. Once I sat down and had a good view of the game, I was filled with anticipation and excitement to cheer for the USA. The game was underway and I was getting into it a little more than my friends were. Every chance the USA had at scoring I would tense up and yell and when they did score I was up on my feet high-fiving people around me, jumping and screaming with joy. Soon enough it was tied 2-2 and there was only five minutes left when USA had a corner kick and one of our players came out of no where and slammed it in. That goal was when I knew we had won. Every single American fan and anyone who was cheering for them was standing, yelling, and proudly waving their American flag high in the air. It was definitely a surreal feeling being there at that exact moment in the middle of the city of Prague, watching USA win a World Cup game. After all of the excitement began to settle down, the goal was looked over by the refs and they came to the conclusion that the player who had scored was off sides and the goal was taken away. Of course I was upset at first, but I had to think of the bigger picture and realize that a tie is better than a loss and that I was having an amazing time making new friends with complete strangers and cheering for my country.
For more information on the Fifa World Cup, see link below with schedules, scores and other history on this crazy phenomena.
Throughout the game I couldn’t help but think of nationalism and what it means to me. What I and many other Americans were doing that day during the game was how I would define it: taking pride in our team and embracing our identity as Americans and what that entails. Nationalism, according to the article by Foer, is “a battle for nationhood and an ideology that helps create and maintain nation states.” Seeing that game and being there for it was a moment I will never forget. That park will be there for the rest of the World Cup and people from all over the world will sit in the exact same spot as me and cheer for their country and have the exact same feelings that I did. In that way, globalization can also be connected to the World Cup and to that Fan Park in the Old Town Square in Prague.
(Map of Old Town Square)
http://www.praha.eu/jnp/en/entertainment/sport/fifa_world_cup_in_old_town_square.html
That was definitely a fun experience to be in that square during the US game. I liked how you tied in parts of the game, because i had forgotten about that. Also liked how you related it back to nationalism and the article that we read. I think it is great that we were able to show our nationalism in Prague with other americans all because of soccer. The world cup is great for all the countries, even the other countries that were their like germany, they were able to come together with other Germans visiting Prague. Can't wait to follow US team through out the cup. Go US!
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