{"id":1412,"date":"2018-06-22T06:44:07","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T06:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/?p=1412"},"modified":"2018-06-22T13:06:05","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T13:06:05","slug":"6-22-18-world-cup-exceptionalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/6-22-18-world-cup-exceptionalism\/","title":{"rendered":"6.22.18 World Cup Exceptionalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The World Cup is underway, so it\u2019s time to discuss immigration!<\/p>\n

Here in the U.S. \u2013 a nation of immigrants \u2013 we are used to our national rosters being multicultural melting pots. However, for the vast majority of the 32 nations competing in Russia, their teams are completely homogeneous collections of native players.<\/p>\n

However, there are some notable exceptions, which makes for some interesting fodder for the following quiz. See if you can guess the national teams of the following six \u201cexceptional\u201d players (the answers are at the bottom).<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with an easy one, Mesut Ozil. He is an elite midfielder who is currently a central figure for club Arsenal in London. But what is perhaps most striking about him is that he is a third-generation immigrant Turk, and practicing Muslim, playing for the national team of one of the more Islamophobic nations in the world. In this role, he has deftly and successfully promoted both his national identity and his cultural heritage. He is a winner of his country\u2019s Bambi Award for demonstrating \u201cvision and creativity in inspiring the nation,\u201d while at the same time dating a Swedish-Turkish model who was crowned Miss Turkey 2014! What country does he play for?<\/p>\n

Milo\u0161 Veljkovi\u0107 is an up-and-coming defender from Basel, Switzerland, and started his career playing for that city\u2019s FC.\u00a0 He then went to England where he played for Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic. Then it was on to Germany, to Werder Bremen, his current team. But it\u2019s his performance for his national squad that has drawn attention. He has been a key member of its successful U-19 and U-20 teams, and part of what is being touted as this nation\u2019s \u201cGolden Generation.\u201d But the thing is, that nation is not Switzerland. He plays for the country of his parents\u2019 birth, which is four nations over to the East. Which one?<\/p>\n

Leon-Aderemi Balogun was born in Berlin, and has spent most of his career playing as a defender in the German Bundesliga, and most recently with English side Brighton and Hove Albion. In 2014, he was called up to play for the national team of the country of which his father is a citizen. He got off to a poor start: in his first game, he collided with some signage on the touchline and broke his foot. But he has earned a lasting place on the roster and is now playing for which African nation?<\/p>\n

Tomas Petar Rogic is of Serbian ancestry, but he was born a long way from there. He is a midfielder who has played for clubs in his native country, and who has made a name for himself in the Scottish league. In 2017, he scored the winner in the Scottish Cup Final, earning his team Celtic that year\u2019s domestic treble. However, playing in Scotland isn\u2019t always easy; when he goes home to train with his national side, he has to fly over 10,000 miles. Who does he play for?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best holding midfielder in the world is a guy named Moussa Sidi Yaya Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, whose bio is one of the most cosmopolitan imaginable. His mother hails from Flanders, and his father is originally from Mali. Dembele has played for club teams in his native county, in the Netherlands, and for two teams in England. He is one of seven players with African roots who play for this national side. And it\u2019s good that he\u2019s so well-traveled, because he might have to communicate with his teammates in any of the three official languages of their nation. Which is it?<\/p>\n

Finally, in the strange-but-true category, there\u2019s Mario Figueira Fernandes. He was born in Sao Caetano do Sul, Brazil. In 2009, he signed with Brazilian club team Gremio, and then suspiciously disappeared. Police were called in, and were able to find him by tracking the huge cash withdrawals he had made across three different states. Later, in 2012, he was shipped off to a club team in Eastern Europe, for whom he immediately became a star player at the highest level. He played one game for the Brazilian national team, but then refused to return from Europe. Shortly after, he acquired citizenship in his new country, and joined their national team. Today he is the starting right back for this country, one of the most repressive in the world. Which one?<\/p>\n

Mesut Ozil – Germany<\/p>\n

Milo\u0161 Veljkovi\u0107 – Serbia<\/p>\n

Leon Balugon \u2013 Nigeria<\/p>\n

Tomas Rogic \u2013 Australia<\/p>\n

Moussa Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 \u2013 Belgium<\/p>\n

Mario Fernandes – Russia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Cup is underway, so it\u2019s time to discuss immigration! Here in the U.S. \u2013 a nation of immigrants \u2013 we are used to our national rosters being multicultural melting pots. However, for the vast majority of the 32 nations competing in Russia, their teams are completely homogeneous collections…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1668],"tags":[604,1362],"class_list":["post-1412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1668","tag-immigration","tag-world-cup"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1412"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1418,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions\/1418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}