Following Honneth’s theorizing on social esteem and based on ethnographic accounts, this study argues that sporting practices are of crucial importance for marginalized young men’s social and self-esteem. The material presented shows the following: (a) these youths suffer from spoiled identities and negative self-images due to educational failure and perceived inferior social positions; (b) they see sporting activities as a legitimate cultural sphere, where excellent skills are recognized and valued not only by their families and friends, but also by the society as whole; (c) ethnographic observations and interviews show the staging of sportiness at urban football grounds and (d) how these performances translate into various forms of social esteem, for example, athletic dominance, masculine honour and fellowship. It is concluded that for these youths, sporting activities at urban football grounds become the most important practice for securing social esteem, allowing to compensate for perceived failure in other social domains, most notably the educational domain.
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