The Brazilian that you should be looking for in the upcoming World Cup is Robinho. Pele has already said he'll be better than he was. He's starring for Real Madrid at only 20. Scored a brilliant goal over the weekend.
And yet you come in here and s**t on the sport. At any point during those 10+ years did you find it boring? Soccer's biggest problem isn't a lack of scoring. It's ignorant people complaining about the lack of scoring. When I see a goal on tv, I don't want to just see the ball hitting the net. I rewind for the previous 5 minutes to see the buildup. Then again, I've been a player for over 25 years. What a boring life I've led.
well, im pretty sure the only country that has a problem with soccer is the US, cause its pretty much the most popular sport in like 90% of the world. a lot of it has to do with hype. if soccer got as much hype as the other sports in the US, it would be a lot more popular. If for every facial dunk and home run that they showed on sportscenter, they showed a rediculous soccer move and said "aw nah you di'int! i ant gonna say nofin but dat aint right dawg!!!! he surved up a straight up FACIAL on that guys mug!!!" and all that good stuff, i think people would enjoy the game a lot more. it also has to do with the fact that almost all of the great soccer players are european or latin american and they all play in europe or south america where no one can go to games or be real fans of the teams and players who are over there. all that being said, i could really care less about soccer, but thats my 2 cents on the matter
try to imagine... a 50 yard pass and catch... you pass it with either your right or left foot and you catch it with any part of your but except your hands. after the "catch" you control ball with your feet and run towards the goal area and take the ball with you. and this is all while avoiding a slide tackle or losing position of the ball. soccer is a beautiful game that requires a tremendous amount of skill. i can only compare it to basketball when it comes to other major sports. i don't think it is coincedence that basketball is also a world game. i only wish that soccer was more appreciated here in the us. with regards to scoring. i think people in the US don't understand the "true value" of a goal and so they just call it a low scoring game. tell me how exciting was it this past world series when backe and garcia were both throwing zeros. some might have found that boring but most i think realized what 1 run really meant in a game like that. there are other aspects to the game that make it exciting much like that pitchers duel. you have a 3-2 count bases loaded strikeout that is as exciting as big save. or you have a sure homerun being robbed at the wall compared to a penalty save. you have so-called web gems compared to great tackle and steal. there are so many others i can't list them all.
Soccer is far and away the most popular (participation) sport in the US ~ so it's definitely making headway.
I dont like soccer, but I think that tricks is equal harder than the tricks in other sports, I think the lack of scoring its not a problem, (only when its 0-0, that is boring) and highlights from a soccer game, have a lot of good plays, but only 1 or 2 goals scored.
Well.. for the soccer fans: try to remember the second goal of Bergkamp against Argentina in the world cup of 1998. That pass of De Boer was amazing, and the ball control of bergkamp was just sick. IMHO Ronaldinho is the best. It is just amazing what he ca do with a ball. The creativity that guy brings to a game.
The only way i guess you can explain Soccer to people sometimes is that it's Like Hockey to Canadians you know. There sometimes isn't much scoring but if you truely understand the game and you know how difficult certain things are then you gain a respect and understanding. Some people can honestly say Hockey is boring and it sucks cuase they skate and do nothing forever and maybe score one goal. But that's just it...the difficulty involved in getting that one score is amazing and that's why they do celebrate the way that they do. It's honestly a game that you have to seriously like you can't just jump on and say "lets go watch a soccer game" and actually understand and like it.
If people try and do things that guys like Ronaldinho do, they would surely respect the skill it takes to be a world-class soccer player. Soccer is a sport that requires a lot of "outside the box" thinking. That is something that is pretty much devoid in American sports.
Actually hockey is boring compared to the way it was in the 80's. It used to be a much more free-flowing game with high-scoring, fast paced games. In the last 20 years, the players have gotten much bigger and coaches have used this to turn hockey into the Knicks of the mid-to-late 90's. They need to expand the playing surface to European size to return the flow to the game. In the same way, soccer would be much improved for the casual fan if the rules were changed to open it up for more scoring chances.
I love how one goal can mean the world... The Dennis Bergkamp of '98 is definitely one of my finest football memories. The aboslute joy that you experience in one short burst of emotion, that's what I love about it. With basketball (I love basketball btw), for example, you really only get that feeling when there is a buzzer beater type of situation in the last minutes of the game. You can't really go nuts and scream and run for a couple of minutes after someone scores two points. By that time you'll have missed another basket.
Yeah, the Nike video is awesome. I hear Michael Vick throws the ball 200 yards and Lebron can hit 90 foot jumpshots with regularity, too.
Basketball: averages 25 timeouts of 30 seconds or more where players are just standing around. WOW! A dunk! Rest. Wow! A great play angers the opposing coach! He calls Timeout. Football: you get to "rest" when the opposite team is playing offense or defense, and has 3 timeouts per side and breaks for the quarters and two-minute warnings. Baseball: Sit on your butt for 8 turns. Bat. Yippee. Rest and grab your crotch every pitch. Call time out to the UMP because you want to adjust your cup. WOW. FUTBOL/soccer: run your butt around and lose some weight, fatso! Just kidding, man. I know you're not a fatso, teXXX.
This is exactly how I feel. I don't think soccer will ever become as popular as the NBA, NFL and MLB, because of people's ignorance on the sport and their continued stereotypes on it. The ball going into the net is only part of the excitement. You gotta watch the build-up, and the way they work their way up the field to get it done to truly appreciate it (there is actual strategy involved in it). Americans prejudge the sport and are predisposed to stereotypes of soccer such as “mullet wearing”, “floppers”, “boring” 0-0 games, “un-american”, and that is a game for “girls” and “little kids who eat oranges at halftime and drink sodas afterwards with soccer moms”. Jim Rome, the PTI guys, the Around the Horn dudes, ESPN overall and other media outlets continuously perpetuate these ignorant views. These misconceptions are out there, especially on TV and kids see this and don’t wanna play and watch it because they don’t wanna be labeled. Instead of sitting down and actually watching top flight leagues like the EPL, Serie A and La Liga, and matches like Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, or Chelsea vs. Man U, or Juventus vs. Roma, and learning the game, they go along with the misconceptions and are missing out on the greatest sport in the world. I watch the English Premier League, and most of the games (whether it is a great team or a lesser team) are pretty entertaining because of the style of play. Yeah, just like any sport, there are games that are unbearable to watch but you have that in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. It is not unique to soccer, yet most Americans cling to the misconception that all the games are like that. Oh well they are missing out on watching some of the best athletes in the world. Another problem is that a majority of Americans don’t know the history of the teams and players involved. They can’t relate to them as they don’t know them and the skills they have. Some of these club teams have been rivals for half a century, some have been in existence over 100 years!!! The rivalries and history behind all the teams are remarkable and when you see big time match, with the crowd roaring and chanting in support of their teams, I get goose bumps. The World Cup is great because it takes this to whole other level because it is a group of players representing their nations, once every four years, trying to win the cup for their nation. The hopes, dreams, and expectations of an entire nation are riding on these guys whom this could be their ONE and only chance at international glory. The other misconception that Americans have towards the sport is that every soccer fan is a hooligan thug who drinks too much and wants to cause riots and kill their favorite team’s player because they perform. This is probably the most ridiculous stereotype out there. The sport is played everywhere at so many different levels and there are probably the most professional leagues in the world out of all the sports. This equals to millions of fans worldwide, therefore the small group who makes the majority look bad is far larger than the small group of Americans who make American fans look bad. When there is a soccer incident involving fans, once in a blue moon, it is reported on by the American media like it is a major news story, yet when it occurs in American sports, a brief mention of it noted and written off as one drunken person who crossed the line. There are so many incidents that occur between sports fans in the US that are not mentioned, but when a soccer incident occurs it is noted, no matter how meaningless it is. How bout covering all aspects of the sport rather than just the negative only to perpetuate the stereotype?
Crazy as it may sound, if David Stern had become commissioner of the US soccer league instead of the NBA, who knows whether soccer would not be more popular than basketball now in the US...
