In Germany, football has made nationalism cool again. That’s why I’m dreading the Euros
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
Fatma Aydemir recounts how the 2006 World Cup transformed German society by normalizing overt patriotism for the first time since 1945, breaking decades of post-Nazi taboo. As a young immigrant witnessing black-red-gold flags everywhere, she experienced how football gave white Germans permission to celebrate their national identity without guilt, a phenomenon writer Max Czollek termed “perpetrator solidarity.”
With Germany hosting Euro 2024, Aydemir fears another surge of aggressive nationalism amid rising support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland and viral videos of young Germans chanting Nazi slogans. She argues that football’s multiculturalism remains conditional—celebrating diverse players only when winning—while the tournament atmosphere risks emboldening xenophobic sentiment. Her response: hoping Germany loses early to limit the “ugly party mood.”
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Breaking the Patriotism Taboo
The 2006 World Cup shattered Germany’s post-war restraint on nationalist expression, making flag-waving and national pride socially acceptable for the first time in decades.
From Football to Far-Right
Max Czollek connects the normalization of nationalism in 2006 directly to the Alternative für Deutschland’s 2017 Bundestag election, showing how sports culture shaped politics.
Conditional Multiculturalism
Mesut Özil’s experience revealed how dual-heritage players are celebrated as German only during victories but treated as immigrants when the team loses or fails.
Rising Extremism Context
Euro 2024 arrives amid AfD’s electoral success, secret “remigration” meetings, and viral videos of young Germans chanting Nazi slogans at elite parties on Sylt island.
Immigrant Perspective
As Germany’s first in her family to reach university, Aydemir’s personal story anchors a broader critique of how football nationalism excludes and threatens minority communities.
A Subversive Hope
Aydemir’s solution since 2006 has been hoping Germany loses early in tournaments—the only way she sees to limit aggressive nationalist celebrations and protect vulnerable communities.
Master Reading Comprehension
Practice with 365 curated articles and 2,400+ questions across 9 RC types.
Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Football as Nationalism Enabler
Football tournaments, particularly the 2006 World Cup, have functioned as socially acceptable vehicles for expressing German nationalism that was previously taboo, creating a dangerous normalization that has empowered far-right politics and threatens minority communities. This matters because it reveals how seemingly benign cultural events can reshape political landscapes and make previously unacceptable ideologies mainstream.
Purpose
Warning and Witness
Aydemir writes to alert readers to the political dangers lurking beneath football nationalism while bearing witness to the immigrant experience of watching majority-culture patriotism turn threatening. She aims to make visible a connection between sports culture and political extremism that many Germans prefer not to acknowledge, advocating for recognition of how Euro 2024 may embolden xenophobia.
Structure
Personal Narrative → Historical Analysis → Contemporary Warning
The piece begins with Aydemir’s 2006 graduation experience as an immigrant student, establishing personal stakes before pivoting to historical analysis connecting football nationalism to AfD’s rise. It then examines specific incidents (Özil controversy, Sylt video) before concluding with the looming threat of Euro 2024, creating a trajectory from past awakening to present danger.
Tone
Apprehensive, Critical & Defiant
Aydemir balances genuine fear for minority safety with sharp cultural critique, employing dark humor (calling privileged far-right youth “rich toddlers of 2006”) and ending with defiant resistance—hoping for Germany’s defeat as political protest. The tone is personally vulnerable yet intellectually rigorous, combining memoir with political analysis while refusing to soften her indictment of German nationalism.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
Click each card to reveal the definition
Build your vocabulary systematically
Each article in our course includes 8-12 vocabulary words with contextual usage.
Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
Tap each card to flip and see the definition
Uncontrolled, unrestrained, or unchecked; without any limits or constraints on behavior or expression.
“a new ‘summer fairytale’ of unbridled xenophobia and racism is the big fear”
So foolish, unreasonable, or absurd as to be amusing or ridiculous; deserving of mockery or scorn.
“its ludicrous mocking of the defeated Argentinian players as ‘loser gauchos'”
An outbreak of public anger, excitement, or controversy; a sudden outburst of widespread and intense reactions.
“This caused a social media furore. Proud German football fans didn’t want their fun spoiled”
A deliberately hurtful remark or criticism intended to wound; a sharp or pointed comment aimed at causing offense.
“did it make his barb about not feeling accepted as a German any less valid?”
Happening or occurring as a consequence or result of something; following immediately as an effect or aftermath.
“some are reported to have lost their jobs as a result of the ensuing outrage”
To forcibly return immigrants to their countries of origin; a euphemistic term for mass deportation used by far-right groups.
“Rightwing extremists have had secret meetings to discuss how to ‘remigrate’ immigrants”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to Aydemir, the 2006 World Cup was the first time Germans had ever expressed patriotism in their history.
2According to Max Czollek’s analysis mentioned in the article, what connection exists between the 2006 World Cup and later political developments?
3Which sentence best captures Mesut Özil’s experience of conditional acceptance in German football?
4Evaluate the following statements about the Sylt video incident:
The video showed wealthy young Germans chanting Nazi slogans while drinking champagne on an elite party island.
All participants in the video were arrested and sentenced to prison for their actions.
Additional videos emerged showing different people at other parties chanting the same song.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Why does Aydemir refer to the wealthy young Germans in the Sylt video as “the rich toddlers of 2006”?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Czollek uses this term to describe the collective feeling of relief among Germans who could finally express nationalism without being weighed down by guilt over Nazi crimes. The 2006 World Cup provided permission for positive national expression that many Germans had yearned for since 1945, creating a shared sense of liberation from historical responsibility.
Özil’s statement exposed how German national identity is extended conditionally to immigrants and dual-heritage citizens. Despite being a successful player who helped Germany win the 2014 World Cup, he experienced rejection after controversy and the team’s 2018 failure. His words revealed that multicultural inclusion in German football—and by extension, German society—remains superficial and performance-dependent rather than genuinely equal.
The video demonstrates that far-right sentiments have spread to wealthy, educated young Germans who represent future positions of power and influence. Their “terribly conventional dress and rosy faces” confirmed they weren’t marginal extremists but privileged members of society who feel no shame about celebrating Nazi ideology. The emergence of multiple similar videos showed this wasn’t isolated but reflected broader generational attitudes among those raised during the post-2006 normalization of nationalism.
Readlite provides curated articles with comprehensive analysis including summaries, key points, vocabulary building, and practice questions across 9 different RC question types. Our Ultimate Reading Course offers 365 articles with 2,400+ questions to systematically improve your reading comprehension skills.
This article is rated Advanced because it requires understanding complex historical and political context, navigating sophisticated vocabulary like “perpetrator solidarity” and “remigrate,” following extended causal arguments linking cultural events to political outcomes, and recognizing nuanced critiques embedded in personal narrative. It assumes familiarity with post-war German history and contemporary European politics while demanding readers track connections across multiple time periods and analyze implicit meanings in quotes and metaphors.
Aydemir sees Germany’s early tournament exit as the only way to limit aggressive nationalist celebrations that she believes threaten minorities and anti-fascists. Her hope for defeat isn’t about disliking football but represents political resistance—recognizing that German victories unleash waves of patriotism that normalize xenophobia and embolden far-right sentiment. It’s a pragmatic survival strategy for someone who has witnessed how these celebrations transform into hostility toward immigrants.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
