by Steve Venegas
There's an old joke that pops up every few years in certain circles. It asks "When is a Canadian not a Canadian?" The answer is during the World Cup of Soccer.

Or in this case, Euro Cup.

It goes without fail as countries from around the globe assemble their best players to represent their national football sovereignty on the world stage. Nation competes against nation to prove who has the best strikers as dreams are made and hearts are broken.

But if you go any sports bar in the lower mainland and ask fans who they're cheering for, their answers are usually not that surprising.

I asked a fellow in a blue jersey the other day who he was cheering for, and he said with a gleam of pride, "Italy, of course!"

When I asked why, he said "Because I'm Italian."

When I asked where he was born he told me "Vancouver."

Be it ancestral pride, or the lack of any proper Canadian team to cheer for when the time comes, Canadians go back to their roots when rooting for a champion. Even one of Canada's best players, Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves, plays for England when the international chips are down. Sometimes it seems like everyone is anything but Canadian during international soccer matches.

Darren Furano is also a proud Italian soccer fan. Having played the game in the lower mainland for more than 18 years, his hopes have always ridden on the shoulders of the boys in blue.

"Our country was built by immigrants and we just go back to our heritage in situations like this," said Furano."I think has mostly to do with the fact that we don't really have much of a world cup squad, so we'll cheer for someone who we think might have more of a potential for winning."

Even at the British Columbia Soccer Association (BCSA), people are cheering for nations not entirely their own.

"I would be cheering for England, but they're not in it anymore, so I'm cheering for Germany because that's where my family heritage is from," said Kelly Batke, Communications Coordinator for the BCSA.

Although the National Sports page may focus more on skates and sticks than cleats and balls, soccer is growing in popularity. With over 105,000 registered youths playing soccer in British Columbia, to hockey's 43,000, soccer may still take the top slot, as it did in the early eighties in BC.

But until Canada has a team to reckon with, people will still pick based on bloodlines.

"Everyone wants some sort of connection to the team they're cheering for, and that's usually the best way for Canadians when it comes to events like EuroCup," Batke said.
"If anything, this makes Canadians more patriotic, because they're being brought together for a common purpose, if it's watching soccer then that's their purpose."

But according to Bob Lenarduzzi, president of the Vancouver Whitecaps, it has nothing to do with a lack of national identity, but it's just the nature of the sport in Canada.

"When events like this and the world cup you see people supporting the countries that they originally came from. That's just the kind of country that we have, one where people can go out and celebrate their country of origin," said Lenarduzzi.

"It's not a lack of cultural identity; it's an illustration of the ethnic diversity that we have and for the most part soccer. Unlike most other counties in the world, soccer is not the first, second, or third most popular sport in the country, but we're growing the game. Hopefully someday we'll have reached a point were our team can go further and we will be able to share in that excitement."

The same trend of placing your hopes in the hands (or feet) of others rings true in my own family when it comes to The Beautiful Game. Every World Cup we cheer for Ecuador, then after Ecuador is eliminated, the most proximal country still in the running. It usually ends up with the clan sending their prayers for Argentina or Brazil.

This year, we have our spirits behind the motherland. Spain just beat Italy in kicks 4-2, making this the first time the Spaniards have reached the semi-finals since 1984.

"I was cheering for Italy and now no one. It's over for all I'm concerned," said Furano when asked if he's now rooting for another troop.

Now Spain is set to take on Russia on the 26th.

I hope we win.