U2 and Football (Soccer): A Passion
Every four years, the world celebrates one of the most popular sports: football, or soccer for Americans. I’m Brazilian, so this is the most important sport in my country. It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t like football, because we usually learn to love it from our parents starting when we are kids. In my family, both my dad and brother have influenced me, and my grandma’s brother was a professional football player. I always tell anyone who visits São Paulo about the Football Museum. Plus, I was born on July 7, 1982, during the World Cup in Spain, which makes me love the tournament even more!
U2 share this same passion for football. Ireland supporters are known to be among the most passionate fans of football, so it’s a pity the country did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which starts June 14. I’m sure we’ll miss their cheerful parties during the games.
With the World Cup underway, it’s a great opportunity to remember U2’s connections to football. Since the early days, they’ve always showed interest in the sport. In 1982, U2 appeared on MTV showing a little bit of Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. In the video, the band plays football. They did it again in the “Walk On” video, shot in Rio de Janeiro. And at the opening of PopMart Tour, the letter “o” from Pop became a football ball.
Band members have been spotted several times watching games, such as one on St. Patrick’s Day in 2015 in the South of France, when they were rehearsing for the tour that followed. It’s also quite common to find shows where they wore the local team’s jerseys and photos of the group with famous players. Here are some photos with World Cup champions: Pelé, Maradona, Ronaldo, Kaká.
Larry Mullen Jr. is probably the band’s biggest football fan. I recently found a video of former football player Kevin Kilbane talking about Larry’s support of Ireland’s team.
The biggest link between U2 and football was probably Larry’s contribution to the Irish national team during the 1990 World Cup. He helped write and produce “Put’Em Under Pressure,” the official song of Ireland’s squad. U2, in fact, flew to Italy at that time to see a game. Bono described the experience to Propaganda: “Where we were sitting at the match with Italy, the atmosphere was very Italian. There was a giant Italian mascot dressed as a sort of bullfighter with a world cup on his head and two cymbals, one on each arm, which on every Italian offensive were bashed together… I think Larry wanted to put his head between the cymbals.”
“Put’Em Under Pressure” is still played during game celebrations. Even after many years, it still has a tremendous impact on Irish fans.
But “Put’Em Under Pressure” was not the only U2 music to be featured as football soundtrack. In 2001, ITV’s The Premiership — the U.K.’s leading football show — chose “Beautiful Day” as its signature tune. A new mix of the song was produced especially for the program.
During the 2006 World Cup, FIFA invited the band to be part of the “One Game Changes Everything” campaign to promote football across the U.S. U2 contributed to short films broadcast by ESPN and ABC Sports: “Once Every 4 Years”, “Ivory Coast”, “Football Tartan Army”and “Sick Days”.
At the time, Bono told Seth Ader, ESPN senior director of sports marketing, that the campaign was “just a warm-up for the one that really matters: South Africa,” in 2010.
A few months before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the (RED) organization co-founded by Bono teamed up with Nike to launch the “Lace Up. Save Lives” campaign. Proceeds from sales of red shoelaces went to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and football-based community initiatives that provided education about HIV/AIDS prevention.
“It was important to me to be involved in the (RED) campaign because I’m from Africa,” said Ivory Coast footballer Didier Drogba. “It’s a big honor and pleasure for me to be linked with Bono and try to help him save some lives.”
Also during the 2010 World Cup, ESPN used music by the Soweto Gospel Choir and live U2 concert footage for a series of commercials. Here are videos featuring: “Magnificent”, “Where The Streets Have No Name” and “Get On Your Boots”.
During the time of 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Larry supported the Street Child World Cup, an organization that uses the power of the sport to improve the lives of street children worldwide. He expressed his admiration for Pelé, the Brazilian footballer regarded by many as the greatest player of all time: “When I was a kid in the ’70s growing up in Artane, Dublin, Pelé was my hero. When I slept I dreamt of being a full forward, being up front, the striker. When I woke up I was the goalkeeper for a rock ’n’ roll band. Never stop dreaming.”
Last year during The Joshua Tree Tour, U2’s show in Buenos Aires took place at the same time as Argentina’s qualifying match for World Cup in Russia. The band delayed the show for a few hours and broadcast the game on the stadium screen. I was in charge of @U2’s coverage of the Latin American leg, and as a football fan decided to live-tweet the game as well. It was very nice to see fans following the game and celebrating each goal, and the experience showed how passionate South Americans are about music and football. At the end of the show, Bono praised the player Lionel Messi and offered a toast with champagne: “Thank you, Lionel Messi, who surely proves that God exists.”
In the same way I could listen to U2 the whole day, I could also watch football games one after the other. The month ahead will be very exciting as the World Cup and Experience + Innocence Tour take place at that time. But unlike what happens in the sport, U2 fandom is not a competition. No fans are better than others. After the band’s career of more than 40 years, I feel we’re all fortunate to see the band still rocking. As a U2 fan I must say we’re all champions here.
Fernanda Bottini / 2018
