Without immigrants, there are no Les Bleus – and some of the brightest stars in French football, including Karim Benzema, playing today for France, are products of Algeria’s fraught relationship with their former colonizers. For example, People’s Game featured guest Laurent Dubois writes on the politics of singing (or not singing) La Marseillaise for France’s Algerian stars.

Perhaps no one, however, is as emblematic of the complex politics of nationalism and identity at play in today’s games as one of France’s greatest football heroes, Zinedine Zidane. Born and raised in the Algerian immigrant banlieues of Marseille, Zidane battled poverty and racism as a child, and continued to endure attacks from France’s far-right National Front party (which recently gained power in France) during his career as France’s star striker.

As an immigrant whose identity spans both colonized and colonizing nations, Zidane often faces questions relating to his identity and national loyalties. Although he has famously refrained from explicit political speech, at the prospect of an Algeria-France quarterfinal, Zidane recently made clear who he’s rooting for: “I have two countries, one where I was born , and then the country of my heart: I will fully support them.”

Known as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Dutch icon Johan Cruyff brought philosophy and politics onto the field. In his career at traditionally left-wing Dutch club Ajax, and as part of the legendary Dutch national team in the 1970s, Cruyff was instrumental in developing the style of play known as “Total Football,” emphasizing teamwork, precision, and beauty on the field.

Cruyff has been outspoken about his left-wing politics throughout his career – most notably by refusing to play in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina as a protest against that country’s dictatorship. His genius and dedication to his ideals also engendered the type of play that could inspire people on and off the pitch. As he demonstrated solidarity with the Catalan independence movement and helped FC Barcelona to an epic 5-0 win against Real Madrid in 1974, a New York Times reporter remarked that Cruyff “had done more for the spirit of the Catalan people in 90 minutes than many politicians in years of struggle.”

For more about Cruyff and Dutch football, check out The People’s Game 2010 interview with David Winner, author of “Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football.”

Futbol can be such a source of joy, as we applaud Chile’s valiant performance against Brazil today; but we must also remember it in relation to the tremendous suffering endured by the Chilean people.

Words from Victor Jara’s last poem, “Estadio Chile,” written from the open-air prison of the Estadio Chile, before he and thousands of his fellow Chileans were murdered by Pinochet’s military after the US-backed coup of 1973.

In 2004, the arena was renamed the Estadio Victor Jara, in honor of the great singer and martyred poet.

Much respect to #CHI’s superb play on the field, almost eliminating Brazil today; we pay tribute to the legacy of the Unidad Popular’s dream of a better kind of sport in a socialist society.

Salvador Allende himself was a former footballer who played for Chilean club Everton Viña del Mar, named after the English club Everton based in Liverpool (currently managed by ESPN commentator and brilliant soccer mind, Roberto Martinez).

Just as soccer has multiple, contested meanings, so does the idea of the nation. Former footballer Frantz Fanon understood this well.

Fanon played football in school, and organized matches as part of his work at Blida-Joinville Psychiatric Hospital, following his psychoanalytic approach that connected patients’ rehabilitation to the rhythms of everyday life. The importance, as well as the contradictions, of culture, politics, and the nation was of course a bedrock of his politics as well. The following quote is from his last, and one of his most powerful works, “The Wretched of the Earth.”