FOURTH NIGHT

IN CYPRUS soccer—known more sensibly as football outside the U.S.—is bound up in politics. Each soccer team is affiliated with a political party, so the color of a fan’s jersey or painted face is akin to a party bumper sticker. I have heard that there aremuch less politics in Cypriot soccer now than before, but ask any 12-year-old Cypriot kid what his team’s politics are, and without pause he will answer “right” or “left” with little if any understanding of what that means. Harmless as it seems, the label can stick and he may just as easily grow up to be a communist or a capitalist depending on whom he hollers for; and if that’s an exaggeration, it is at least fair to say that a youngster’s loyalty to a soccer team does improve the party’s recruiting odds. The flag-draped teenage hooligans at soccer games who flail about behind the goalposts may bring the most zest to the game, but their commitment is like that of the model soldier: complete devotion to the home team, victory by any means necessary. If political stripes are part of the package, then there is nothing for them to do but get united and cheer.

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