https://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2012/06/30/italy-and-germany-the-deeper-meaning-of-soccer/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 08:51:16 -0400<![CDATA[Actually the headline is  intentionally misleading.  I don&#8217;t believe soccer has meaning, and certainly not &#8220;deep&#8221; meaning.  But, as an avid fan (you cannot have spent nearly fifty years in and around Italy, as I have, without getting, ahem, deeply involved in the minutiae of the game and its players), and a cultural historian, I&#8217;m greatly amused by the many pundits who analyze soccer in terms of national character, or national culture, or something.  Most of the time, they not only fail to understand soccer, but embarrassingly expose their ignorance of culture and character as well.]]>Sat, 30 Jun 2012 15:05:03 -0400<![CDATA[Michael Ledeen]]>https://pjmedia.com/michael-ledeen/2012/06/30/italy-and-germany-the-deeper-meaning-of-soccer-n187616