Two Chaps - Many Cultures

EURO Wanna Hear To This! From Chants to Cheers

• Christian Höferle and Brett Parry • Season 2 • Episode 15

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Can a football tournament reshape a nation's identity? Join us as we explore the cultural impact of the UEFA Euro 2024, hosted by Germany. This episode takes you on a journey through the power of major sports events to redefine national narratives and challenge stereotypes. Reflecting on Germany's transformation during the 2006 World Cup, we discuss how countries use such platforms to showcase their diversity and tell new stories through their athletes and teams. We also look at the broader European context, focusing on the connections and conflicts that shape the region, and the critical role of cultural understanding in fostering unity and spirited competition.

Football and cricket aren't just games; they are reflections of societal attitudes and cultural nuances. Our conversation dives into the contrasting communication styles among fans, particularly between the British and German supporters, from their chants to their cultural expressions during tournaments. We also highlight the importance of hosting international events in promoting European unity and hospitality amidst today's geopolitical challenges. Concluding with an examination of the multicultural composition of national teams, we underscore how these teams mirror the diverse and interconnected nature of modern European societies. Tune in for an enlightening discussion on the cultural richness that underpins the world of international sports.

𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 – 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 is the world’s #1 show on the business of culture and the culture of business. Christian Höferle and Brett Parry ponder culture in short bursts and deep dives, featuring your questions and comments related to culture, business, and personal growth.

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more great content: https://www.youtube.com/@TwoChapsManyCultures

Visit https://theculturemastery.com/ for more information about the skills for working in a global context.

The music on this episode is provided courtesy of Sepalot.
“Duum Diip” - Artist: Sepalot - Label: Eskapaden - Copyright control



Speaker 1:

One might say competition is in the soul of all humans. We do battle in friendly terms, we do battle in enemy terms, whether it be war, whether it be sport. And today we don't want to talk about war, we want to talk about sport. However, sport oftentimes embeds a little bit of politics. A little bit of regional understanding is important to know what's happening in certain big events. We're going to talk about one certain big event today. What things can we learn about the cultural aspect of the hosts, of the participants, and how that makes the competition worthwhile to watch? Let's stick around and talk about that. Welcome to 2 Chaps. Many Cultures. In an increasingly globally connected world, it is vital to possess the essential skills of cultural intelligence.

Speaker 2:

Listen along as we present the topics, tips and strategies you can use to develop the power of cultural understanding in your personal and professional life. Here are your hosts, christian Huffala and Brett Parry. Professional life here are your hosts, christian. Uefa Euro Cup the soccer tournament. Did I say soccer? I meant football tournament. Let's take the terminology right. Let's be real here for a second. We call it football. That tournament is upon us and it is a competition.

Speaker 2:

Just like Brett said, it is also a festival of nations and cultures, culminating in this event in the stretch of four weeks of high pressure tournament excitement players traveling around meeting in stadiums, fans following them, cheering them on and chanting weird stuff in stadiums, fans following them, cheering them on and chanting weird stuff in stadiums. So that's what we're talking about here today the two chaps, many cultures, the show about the business of culture and the culture of business, and Brett, the show where too much culture is barely enough. That's it. So you need to ring that bell, push that button to subscribe, because we got other stuff outside of football that we talk about and, of course, you want to watch all of that and you don't want to miss any of that so make sure to subscribe, will you Thank you?

Speaker 2:

So now that the ref blew the whistle, let's dig right into this. Euro 2024, the European Championship of Football, football hosted by my home country, germany, and I actually will be am spending as this is airing. I am spending time in germany as the tournament unfolds trying to scalp maybe a ticket to enter one. Did I say scalp? No, legitimately purchase a ticket. That's sorry I misspoke. Now, yes, competition and also a friendly coming together of people, and if previous tournaments of that nature, especially in, have proven that Europeans do get along and they can celebrate together without getting into each other's hair, then I certainly have high expectations for this tournament, because last time Germany hosted a football tournament was in 2006. They hosted the World Cup.

Speaker 2:

That turned out to be the summer fairy tale, the Sommermärchen, that completely changed the image of the country around the world. All of a sudden, people realized wait a minute. The stereotypes we thought we had about Germany and the Germans, yeah, sure, some of them might still be true, but look at this, we didn't expect this. Is that what the German team looks like? I mean, we don't watch football all the time, but look at this. We didn't expect this. Is that what the German team looks like? I mean, we don't watch football all the time, but when we think of Germans they're like 10 feet tall and blonde and have blue eyes. And look at these guys, they are all the colors of the melanin spectrum. Melanin spectrum Got to know your words, christian. So Germany had the chance to present itself in a new way, and it will have yet another chance during quite challenging times for Europe, wouldn't you say, brett? I mean, you spent significant time there as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I will be there, as you will be. We'll be traveling through Europe and with my connection through my Polish wife, in that region of the world Certainly not a country immune from conflict, but also a country that loves its football and its players are well respected on the world stage within Europe and other parts of the globe. And of course I grew up around a lot of this culture in my country of Australia too. So that connection with that spirited competition is really heartfelt for me. Spirited competition is really heartfelt for me. But of course, as an observer from a distance, I really never understood until you know you, christian, told me about that what it meant for Germany in terms of the World Cup.

Speaker 1:

Back in that stage. I mean, I remember watching the tournament and I was fascinated with it. But since I've gotten to know you and how you framed it and helped me understand how other Germans framed it, I thought it was very impactful for me to learn that and I'm going to probably look at this tournament through those eyes, drawing on the conversation that you and I had with a group back in Munich in last December around how Germany is seen right and how it's probably as much as my responsibility too, as not only as your friend and a colleague, but also to tell a different story about Germany. You know, through the knowledge that you've given me, that's everybody's responsibility.

Speaker 2:

I think every nation partaking in these tournaments, whether it be a football tournament, olympics or whatever. Global competition allows a country to tell a story about itself, and the teams or the athletes representing a nation are the proxies for doing that. Is that an accurate representation of an entire nation? Probably most likely not right.

Speaker 2:

It is simply a sports tournament and yet it takes on a metaphoric meaning. At least it did so for post-war Germany. Every country has a national narrative. There is a story we tell each other, other people, about who we are right. Every country has that story. It's usually based in some kind of mythology about some heroes and some villains, some halo people and some people with horns, and what we like and what we don't like and what makes us who we are. And that story for Germany had to change. After World War II and the Nazi dictatorship and the Holocaust. The old stories literally fell out of favor because they served nobody. So a country blown to pieces, imploding with the weight of its own crime against humanity, had to come up with a new narrative. And I think football just happened to Germany as a narrative. It was not by design, it was okay, let's be good football players and let's make that our new country story. That wasn't a plan, it happened and it continued since the 1950s.

Speaker 2:

And if you travel the world and if you go into different countries you will no matter where you go you will likely see the flags of that particular nation being made in public.

Speaker 2:

That's kind of the regalia that's the iconography of a country is its flag and other national symbols, but you'll see flags flying, especially here in North America and the United States. You can barely go anywhere without seeing stars and stripes, and if you've ever visited Germany, you will notice the absence of the German flag in public. It is rarely seen anywhere except for those tournaments. So if you happen to be in Germany during well between June 14 and July 14 of 2024, you will most likely see a lot of black, red and gold stripes. You will see the colors, because that's the only time Germans allow themselves to show some kind of national pride or to to display some kind of I wouldn't even call it patriotism. It's this okay, now, it's a tournament. Now, it's okay to do this. Now we're we're not being overly nationalistic or patriotic, we're just supporting our team right, and we use a flag to do that. It's. It's really striking how a country that usually doesn't think about patriotism at all becomes very much that during such a tournament.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I love watching that. But we see that, yes, we're both in the US, of course, and we see these flags flying pretty much every day and it becomes I guess this is a personal, you know, I'm not making a comment about it, it's just for me a personal lack of kind of variation, because it's always there. So, you know, every day is a patriotic expression and it's expected to be so in this country, and that's not what I grew up with in my country either. You know, and it's actually not what so in this country and that's not what I grew up with in my country either, you know, and it's actually not what a lot of countries have. And because it does, you know, there's been countries that have experienced nationalism and some of that kind of. I guess that fervor, that kind of takes a country and makes it fall in on itself. I think that's a great metaphor you used before a country falling in on the weight of its own kind of nationalism without being open and without understanding the wonderful diversity that other people can bring to it. So other countries are more reticent to do that. But you know this is.

Speaker 1:

You know, we were in the green room. We mentioned this last week about the green room we were talking about. Why do we run around on green pastures and chase, you know, balls and uh, and kick them around? And what does that come from? Well, maybe it comes from the fact that at certain times people are just sick of conflict and you know, competition, even though it's still competition, there's winners and losers and trophies and all of those kind of things. At the end of the day, you know, it's kind of what I like about my favorite sport of cricket, the. The competition is fierce, it's combative, it's acerbic, and Australians are the worst at this, sometimes abusive towards the other team.

Speaker 2:

That can be the case in football too. You don't want to understand all of the chants coming from the stands.

Speaker 1:

Some of those are quite impolite to say the least, that's a nice way to put it. And are they? Are they high context communicators?

Speaker 2:

this is what we're calling these people, these folks probably not right and and even though it is hard for me to admit that, the british fans and I'm deliberately saying british or the fans, the UK and we talked about flags. You might be confused, because you won't see the Union Jack at the Euro Cup. You will see the English flag and you will see the Scottish flag. Somehow the UK has managed to have four national teams England, wales, scotland and Northern Ireland and that is arguably the reasons why none of these British teams have won a tournament since 1966. Combined, they would probably be much, much stronger. Just keep coming as separate entities and get your butt kicked.

Speaker 2:

Here I'm being assertive. It's a tournament in Germany and we want to make sure that the English don't win it. That's all. We'll do our best. The English will probably respect that because they want to kick our butts. But the English fans and I think the Scottish fans too, but more so the English fans they can be quite low context communicators in the stands and yet very elaborate in their insults against their opponents. Right when this English sarcasm comes through, the chants in the bleachers. Whereas Germans, who are not very how do I say this without insulting my own people? German fans are just very. How do I say this without insulting my own people? German fans are just very literal. They will say F you and whatever it means to the opposing team, right.

Speaker 2:

There is no nuance and stabbing behind the back kind of chant. It will be more a punch on the nose. So that will be all there is, ideally, in form of confrontation and belligerence. The rest of it is singing, dancing, sure, drinking a little bit and parading through the towns and flying the flags and the colors of one's football squad. And the fact that Germany can host all these guests during the course of four weeks.

Speaker 2:

This is an important thing for German society, to be able to display to our neighbors that we are hospitable, that we want to be really good hosts. We want our guests to have a very pleasant experience and leave the tournament defeated and be wanting to come back to a country that was good to them during the time that they visited. And it is also a symbol of, I think, of European unity in a time when the continent is undergoing some challenges to its economy, political and societal integrity, with the Russian aggression against Ukraine. That is something that is troubling a lot of European nations, many of them participating in the Euro Cup Poland is, hungary is, serbia is, so a lot of the countries bordering or near Ukraine are concerned about this, and theraine itself qualified for the euro cup despite all odds right. So there, there will be some level of celebration around that that this team in in blue and yellow will play on the international stage, and they will be. I will. I predict this.

Speaker 1:

They will be warmly welcomed in every stadium they enter yeah, I bet, I bet, and rightly so, right, yeah, well, I mean, this is an important topic. I mean, I guess it's a little deeper than when we watch these type of sporting events. I think, christian, you're the same as me. I like to kind of watch it. Yes, I love the sport, I love the game. I'm not as knowledgeable as you in the terms of the background, the players and things like that. I've kind of been disconnected from that. But I love the tournament, I love the games, I love the competition, but I also love watching the cultural interplay and the messaging that comes through different, whether it be media outlets, whether it be kind of commentary shows that talk about this, and whether it be the players themselves and how they describe their experience in this.

Speaker 2:

you know, I mean, the world really looks and puts their eyes on a location and how, and of course then how the hosts, uh, you know um show up for, uh, their, their, their tournament as well and even if you're not interested in football whatsoever, I would invite you just tune into some of those matches, just for the beginning, as they play the national anthems and as the camera moves along the team that is lined up, and look at the names of the players in those nations, and you will probably be surprised by some of the names of the players that play for a certain nation. You will find a Swiss national player by the name of Granit Xhaka, and his name last name spells, I believe, with X age. Those are the first two letters. That is neither German nor French, nor is it Italian, the three dominant language in Switzerland. No, I think it's an Albanian name.

Speaker 2:

So his family immigrated to Switzerland before he was born, and this is just one example. You'll find a player on the German squad who has a Turkish name. He's actually the German Germany squad's team captain has a Turkish name, his name is Gündoğan, and you'll find that in many of the teams that participate in this tournament, showing that we are mixes, we are mutts, we are not homogenous entities in these countries, and we talk a lot about cultural competence, cultural awareness and cultural identities, and they are multi-leveled, multi-layered and nuanced. And just by watching something as harmless and, some would argue, pointless as a football match, even if you don't watch the match, watch the names, watch the composition of these teams and you'll see that diversity levels are representative of the countries that these teams play for. Therein, to me, lies one of the beauties of the game. It's not just a beautiful game because, ideally, it's well played and nice to watch. It's also a beautiful game because it is a reflection of our societies, our values and how we represent them in public.

Speaker 1:

So there's the. We talked about curiosity last week, talked a lot about cats and stuff like that, I mean, but we did talk about curiosity. And there's another suggestion is if you're watching the game and you see these names and it doesn't seem to fit with what your preconception is of the world and how it fits into the narrative of what you've been told. There's information everywhere in this world and you can go and Google that player and I think you'll find some really touching stories, some really inspiring stories, and these are great things to read. If you happen to not be totally engaged in some of the passing back and forth that happens in football, I mean we enjoy it because we know that there's tactics in it and there's a whole process and reason behind that. But the average might go. Why are they just kicking it back and forth between each other?

Speaker 2:

There's a reason for that there's a reason.

Speaker 2:

Trust us, just call me, I'll explain it to you Now. Aside from that, there are business implications to this right A. This is a highly commercialized tournament. Football might be a beautiful game and it might be a lot of tradition and there are some emotions around it. There's no denying that it's an over-commercialized endeavor. So there'll be lots and lots of sponsorship, there'll be tons of activities surrounding the tournament and there is business that does happen or does not happen because of the Euro 24.

Speaker 2:

So should you be trying to reach your business partners in Germany or somewhere in Europe during the time of the tournament, chances are answers will be even more delayed than they usually are. And if you're trying to call somebody's office while their team is playing, don't expect anyone to pick up the phone. It's a futile attempt. I mean, I know that in most German companies employers don't even ask people to be at their desk when Germany's playing it's, I guess the bosses accompany the team down into the pub to watch it together. There's no point in forcing people to do the work while the game is on. And also, I mean, there are business opportunities for you as a tourist.

Speaker 2:

Should you be traveling or should you be on a business visit to germany, I recently learned that you can buy your rail card. The german rail company offers a discount system. So if you buy an annual pass it will bring your ticket price per trip down by x amount of percent and usually you have to buy the 12-month ticket. Now for the Euro, they said, hey, here's a three-month ticket for a reduced price. And they said get this, the boring kind of stale German rail systems. If Germany wins the Euro Cup, your three-month pass will automatically be good for 12 months. That will be our gift to you. So that's the incentive you will get for buying the rail ticket. By not taking a car or not taking an airplane and polluting the environment a little less, there is some positive spin effects coming from such a pointless thing as people in short pants and cleats chasing a ball on a green field for 90 minutes Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And a good way actually to connect, if you even if you're not going there, is it? If you're doing business in the from the US with countries that are involved in this tournament, why not again go and do a little bit of research around the team that perhaps you may think that your counterparts in these countries may be following, and just break the ice a little bit with them and show some interest, because they're you know if they're followers and they're orders of their local country team. This could be a good way to get to know them a little bit more and show them that you're interested in something that's culturally appropriate for them or culturally important for them.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, by the way, it doesn't have to be a European colleague, because at the same time as there's EuroCup in Europe, there's Copa America in the Americas. If you're in the US or in Canada, the Copa America is hosted in the US at the same time, june and July. You might not hear about it at all because it's outside of your conscious awareness, but your Mexican friends, your Brazilian colleagues, your business connections from Argentina or from Jamaica, they are definitely interested. What a way to connect, what a way to show your curiosity.

Speaker 1:

Here's another layer. The T20 Kick Cricket World Cup is taking place in the US. Who'd have thought In June as well. It starts in June, goes through to July. I mean really? I mean, yeah, we steal our catchphrase from a sporting show in Australia where these two guys used to say too much sport is barely enough. I would argue that there is a plethora of sport to be able to be taken advantage of during these coming months. You know, my cricket may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it is certainly mine and I'll be following the Cricket World Cup. And for once I don't have to get up at midnight and watch the games, so that's even better for me.

Speaker 2:

Good for you, my friend. All right, then, no predictions here. Who will win the tournament? It's Germany, of course. No, no, no predictions at all. Um, we'll see how this plays out. Good luck to all the participants. Be safe as you travel, enjoy the beautiful games, whatever they are, whether it's football or cricket or whatever it is, and enjoy the friendly competition, enjoy the banter and enjoy the cross-cultural connection as you do absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Two chaps, many cultures. Another episode in the can, a, quite you know, a time sensitive episode, and if you're watching this in 2040 and you're wondering what we're talking about, then you know, look up whatever the equivalent is google for you right there at this time and uh and and see who won. Um, you'll be too late for the free German train ticket. Unfortunately, that's just part of life. So two chaps, many cultures, and we will see you next week. Thank you for joining and leave us a comment, like us, subscribe and we'll see you next time.

Speaker 2:

Ta-ta for now.