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Young Bites. Dated: 7/18/2018 11:29:56 AM

World Cup entwined the two in never-before ways
In the end, it was a misleading image that captured the reality of football mania that has emotionally drenched the world for a month. France’s centre-left president Emmanuel Macron seemingly dancing on top of the table, like a teenager at a pop concert. He hadn’t jumped on to a table, of course, it was an optical illusion, but not many saw anything amiss. That football would reduce a premier to such a state of delirium seemed a natural reaction. The fact that 17 of the 23 players of France are second-generation immigrants in a country that not long ago was fretting about immigration was bound to move a world still to come to terms with national identity and multiculturalism. What politicians and liberals have failed to do for a decade, this world cup has done in a month — by a bunch of young men playing entertaining football. It united England, a country sweating over Brexit and over the definition of Englishness. It united Croatia, a small nation amid demographical and financial crisis, whose football administration had alienated the people. It united Belgium, the country deemed least patriotic in Europe with its language divisions and regionalism. It made Kosovo, not even in the tournament, swell with pride because of two hand eagle signs by men who now play for another country. It made Africans smile even though all African teams were knocked out. It made Asians joyous to see Japan make a strong statement. Above all, the stereotype of cold, indifferent, harsh Russians disintegrated. Ultimately, without the quality of football, all the uplifting messages would have been only found in the activists’ pamphlets. A total of 169 goals in 64 games, an average of 2.6 per match, and just one goalless draw. A tournament where people demanded style and substance — and not just soulless wins.