When the United States took possession of Puerto Rico in 1898, an aggressive
Americanization project introduced cultural practices, including
American sports. However, although Puerto Ricans incorporated U.S.
sports to their sporting profile, they did so adhering to a larger Hispanic-
American ideology. Although soccer, or f ´ utbol, was played in Puerto Rico
during the first decades of the United States occupation, it was associated
with Spain and Hispanoamericanismo. Due to this, soccer was
discriminated and unpopular in a population that incorporated American
sports. I argue that through soccer we see another important element in the
negotiation overU.S. imperialism in Puerto Rico and in the broader expansion
of Hispanoamericanismo in the early twentieth century. Despite its
unpopularity, soccer’s limited space within Puerto Rican sports came to
symbolize a Hispanic and Latin American sport, helping to fuel broader
notions of nationhood. In this regard, Puerto Rican soccer illustrates the
conciliation of a colonial nation hoping to fit within Latin America, while
also adopting American sports. Through Puerto Rican soccer we can observe
broader cultural and political negotiations over Americanization and
Hispanidad in the Spanish Caribbean and how this process can in turn
help develop strong ideas of national identity.