Las Multiples Espanas

I alluded in an entry a few weeks ago about Phil Ball's commentary on political problems within the Spanish seleccion. Today Phil presents us with another insightful comment in the aftermath of Spain's big win. Here we have left back/pretty boy Sergio Ramos wearing his tribute up top to Puerta. On the bottom, though, he is proudly wearing the flag of Andalucia (in extreme south of Spain). It's as if I won worlds' road race and decided to wave a Kentucky flag instead of the stars and stripes. It's just sort of a weird gesture. Phil importantly brings up another "what if". What if someone from the Catalan faction, say Puyol, wore the Catalan flag? or Basque Xavi Alonso the ikurrina? we'd be talking, as Phil states it, civil war. Imagine a southern sports player, especially a white one (well, only a white one) breaking out the stars-n-bars at a sporting celebration, a worldwide one at that. It's just strange. I also saw Marcos Senna wearing a flag I assumed that was of Brazilian descent. Again, strange. Would that "traitoress" basketball player break out a US flag if Russia won the Olympics? Again, just strange.