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World Cup Soccer
I'm having a problem with this World Cup Soccer competition and somebody's going to have to explain it to me. I was going to just shut my mouth and let the competition go away, but the more I watch it, the more confused I get.
These are the best soccer players the world has to offer. It seems like they would be highly skilled, quick of foot, accurate of foot, and they would understand the strategy of the game. They play this sport on the biggest field of competition I have ever seen. Why don't they just play it on a golf course? They could kick forever and forever and run from the first hole to the second hole to the third hole, chasing each other and the soccer ball around. Hey, they could spice it up by letting golfers play their sport during the competition.
My problem is -- if these are the greatest soccer players in the world, why can't they score? I assume the United States team was comprised of the greatest soccer players our country has to offer. I assume they started playing at an early age, just like our North Country kids have done since the age of three, kicking the ball over at the Crete Center or on soccer fields around the county. I assume most of them played high school soccer, went to the finest soccer camps to hone their skills at finding the back of that soccer net. I assume most of the U.S. players participated in college soccer, dedicating themselves to the sport.
Then why can't they score? Twenty years or more of competing on the field of soccer and they can muster just 2 goals in three games! Do you notice how large that goal is? Much higher and much wider than the keeper in front. Unlike hockey, where the goalie in his massive equipment about covers the entire net.
I just don't understand it and it will take some soccer afficianados to explain it to me. I would think with these great soccer players that most of the games would have scores like 6-4 or even 8-6. But 2 scores in 3 games? Can't we find U.S. hockey talent who can score an actual goal?
And the more I watched the more the sport was resembling rugby. I saw bodies flying, players tripping (even looking like an attempt to break someone's leg), elbows flying (blood flowing), and players being wrestled to the ground. Is that what we have been teaching our kids about soccer over at the Crete Center?
There must be someone who can explain to us football-basketball-baseball nuts why our country's greatest soccer players can't score a few goals a game. I kept expecting the U.S. to win one 3-1, but, oops, we need more than three games to score three goals.
Will world class soccer ever get better? The good news is I have to wait till 2010 to find out!
Comments
Foxy, I know what you mean, but soccer is an acquired taste. As with other sports, if you want to get to like it, one thing you have to do is pick a team to root for. The reasons don't matter ... nationality, a player who's name you've heard, the color of the uniforms, anything. Try watching a game while doing something else, I find that makes it more enjoyable. Also, at this point in the World Cup, the first bunch of teams has been eliminated and so the remaining games may be more interesting. Finally, think of the "perfect game" in baseball. From an action standpoint, it is nearly static, and to many observers, boring. But if you know baseball, there's nothing quite so exciting, is there?
(Foxy's note: Andrew, thanks for the pointers! I'll work on it!)
Posted by: Andrew Pulrang | June 25, 2006 3:03 PM