Homage to Catalonia

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While, over the years, my view of the Spanish Civil War has grown more nuanced, my view of Barça has grown ever more romantic. During the era of the Franco dictatorship, Barça was the lone place where the Catalans could shout in their own language and denounce the authoritarian regime. No government would dare challenge 100,000 men in the throes of fandom. Franco understood that the Catalan people needed a place to vent their frustration, and Barça provided just that.

No soccer team is going to be a perfect reflection of your politics--and it may even be perverse to think of the game that way. But Barça represents a liberal nationalist spirit that makes for a powerful reprimand to both ethnic chauvinism and facile criticisms of the nation-state. Barça is the ultimate symbol of the Catalan people--one of their most glorious achievements, a monument to their language, history and struggle. But, at the same, it is a bastion of pluralism. Its anthem explicitly welcomes immigrants, and over time it has served as a powerful instrument for assimilating newcomers into Catalan society.

So when Barcelona and Arsenal finally met last week, I had to make my choice. For a week leading up to the game, I dressed my 14-month-old baby in her Barça tracksuit, earning her approving cheers from my Latino neighbors in Washington as she waddled down the street. (O.K., some Americans do inherit their fandom.) I nodded, proudly and smugly. But there was no way for me to fully enjoy this game, to root against the Arsenal players I love. Even though Barça won, 2-1, I fear that a part of me lost.

Franklin Foer is editor of the New Republic and author of How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization