Nice to Beat You

Rivalries are nothing new in soccer, in fact they help build a strong culture within the fans and the team. Sports are great because you can dislike a team, a player, a whole city and your only reasoning is “oh they’re our rival”. It is a natural human urge to separate ourselves into groups, we enjoy the prospect of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Now normally that doesn’t necessarily read as a good thing, us versus them often is the reason behind so much bigotry and so much divisiveness, but with soccer rivalries they only help unite people more. For a club or a country their pride is tied to the performance of their team, when rivals are brought in it adds a level of hype to the games and forms a team identity. It’s essential in building culture which is why it is great to see rivalries be built and brought over to the women’s game as well.

Rivalries are made of a few things. An important thing is that the two teams have to be of comparable merit. One big factor in a rivalry is proximity.

Now this is often geographical, for example a big one in the men’s game is Brazil and Argentina. This is the only time I’ll say something even remotely nice about the Argentinian men’s team, but Brazil and Argentina are giants in their own right. Brazil has won 5 world cups and has been dubbed “Pais de Futebol '' and is well known for having some of the most prolific goalscorers, creative, and skilled players in the game. Argentina are 3 time World Cup winners and the defending champs as well as having many many skilled players and success in Latin America.Clearly this will brew a rivalry, the two best South American teams, with star players? Not to mention they are not far from each other. Perfect ingredients. As a Brazilian national team fan we have a ginormous rivalry with Argentina, something I have carried with me every single time I watch soccer. Yes, Messi is a good player but I just don’t like him okay? But this rivalry makes games against each other just that more exciting, there’s a fire in our players when they play each other (sometimes it can go a little too far) but that’s what rivalries are made of. It’s soccer culture!

In England the proximity is even closer, teams from the same city are fierce rivals. Take Manchester City and Manchester United, is Manchester red or blue? Depends on who you ask. The London Derby, Chelsea versus Arsenal, or the North London rivals, Spurs versus Arsenal. In England football is etched into their national identity. These rivalries carry on in every iteration of the team, the women’s side and the men's side.  That brings me to another thing, there needs to be history for a rivalry to exist. These rivalries are very old and to have a good solid soccer rivalry there needs to be some lore and time put into it. A lot of this has to do with how important soccer is to the country. For South American countries and a lot of Europe soccer is everywhere but here in the US, it’s very much not as popular amongst the general sports fan. Unfortunately that goes to Football (American) or Baseball.

Soccer in the United States is extremely successful on the women’s side, with the USWNT winning 4 World Cups and being highly decorated. The NWSL is also an extremely fast growing league. The USWNT have some rivals, those who they have gone up against frequently and are fierce opponents like the Netherlands or Sweden. However the proximity element comes into play with the rivalry against Canada, which I partake in. And to a slightly lesser extent Mexico. As for the NWSL. It’s a little more complicated.

There isn’t as deep of soccer history in the United States and much less on a league and club level. Since the league is only 12 years old there's still a lot of growing and a lot of the rivalries are very much rooted in proximity and the knowledge that rivalries help the game grow and the fans grow closer and engage with the club culture. A well cemented rivalry in the NWSL is from two original clubs, the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign. They are within a few hours of each other and both have had successful club histories with the Thorns being 3-time NWSL champs and the Reign having some very skilled players in their club. They call the rivalry the Cascadia Rivalry and it’s very well known amongst fans and players. It generates a lot of buzz and must be really fun for those who live up in the Pacific NorthWest to root for their teams.

A lot of clubs are trying to make sure that rivalries are created for their teams, they know how much it means to soccer culture. I feel they should happen somewhat naturally but I do appreciate the efforts. So far Angel CIty and San Diego have created a rivalry since both cubs started the same year, and they are both in SoCal. Now I’ve been calling it the SoCal Derby but apparently an announcer called it the Barbie Derby because they’re both pink and I found that funny. But this is now an established rivalry and it’s done well! Both clubs have very active fan bases and have a pretty much equal record against each other so I will say even though this rivalry was intended I definitely do feel it (and participate in it). Now with Bay FC in the California team mix they need a name for the Bay FC versus Angel City rivalry. There have been a lot of names thrown up but honestly let the fans come up with it! It’s more about the fans and the clubs rather than the management and the players. When I looked this up someone on reddit said a name that was thrown up was El Trafico which was funny, however let’s not do California Derby that is so so so boring. Something fun! Something cheeky! That is all I ask.

Gotham and the Washington Spirit have had something brewing and I YEARN for a rivalry to begin for the Spirit so that home games are just THAT much more fun. East Coast Rivalry would be great, but once again we need better names.

Rivalries are part of the fun of soccer culture, everyone loves to beat their rival. In the end it’s really just about that athmosphere when you watch the game. Cheering side by side with your rival club. And when one wins the other feels that glory of having beat them. It’s a pride we all seek, gives us something more to root for. It’s euphoric.

Victory is sweeter when there is a little bit of hatred and fire into the mix. Here’s hoping the Washington SPirit and Gotham rivalry can actually become something. Gotham, it was very nice to beat you :)

…. twice