The Rest of the World's Game
September 15, 2006
What is the one game that has the power to stop a civil war? What is the one game that has the power to send a man into a burning house to rescue a TV, or to bring a nation to a complete halt - to close the stores, to close the schools?
To billions of people worldwide, the name rings beautifully in the ear: football. Whether they call it fussball, calcio, fútbol, zuqiu, or even soccer, everyone in the world is familiar with a common language — the beautiful game.
The world appeal of soccer is rather rudimentary. The game’s simplicity makes it a game than anyone can play at any given time.
Many developing countries produce the best players in the game because these kids who cannot afford the everyday toys and games that we can only have to worry about getting a small ball and kicking it around the yard.
While various forms of the game were played in distant lands like China and Japan, England was the country that fully developed the sport and made it what it is today.
Through England’s influence, it spread all over Europe and eventually to countries like New Zealand, Argentina and Chile.
Thus the game became the most international sport and paved the way for the one sporting even besides the Olympics that can bring hundreds of differnt countries together in one area.
This summer, on July 9, 2006, no fewer than a billion people were glued to their television set for nearly three hours, watching the dramatic conclusion to the most important sporting event in the entire world, as Italy beat the heartbroken French side 5-3 on penalty kicks in the FIFA World Cup final.
Italians everywhere rejoiced after winning their fourth championship in their history. Those supporting the French left the game feeling despondent.
To some fans around the world, however, France losing to Italy was not the only sad thing that happened that day.
A man of legend played his last game ever. This was bigger than the recent retirement of Andre Agassi, or even the great Lance Armstrong.
The world cup final spelled the end of the career of perhaps one of the greatest players ever to play the game – Zinédine Zidane, le maître.
Everyone in the world knew the amazing “Zizou,” as his fans affectionately called him. Everyone, that is, except for Americans.
That day, as his head slammed into Materazzi’s chest and he was sent off the pitch, Zidane’s fame finally spread, for the very first time, all the way across the Atlantic to the final frontier, the United States of America.
It is a very sad, yet true, fact that the vast majority of Americans flat out don’t care about soccer. Sure, they may have played recreational soccer when they were young. They may have even heard of David Beckham, or a Brazilian guy named Ronaldinho, or a team in England called Manchester United. But can they name any of Manchester United’s players?
Do they know that on September 5, 2006, France beat Italy 3-1 in a Euro Cup qualifying match? Have they heard of names like Thierry Henry of Arsenal, Kaká of AC Milan, or Frank Lampard of Chelsea? Sadly, the answer is no, they haven’t. These are some of the biggest names in the world’s most popular sport, and they are virtually unknown in America.
What is it about this great sport that just doesn’t seem to interest Americans? To be perfectly honest, I simply don’t know.
Do Americans get bored watching a game if two teams can play for ninety minutes without scoring a single goal? Any soccer fan will agree that games like these are often the most intense, like the World Cup semifinal, when Italy and Germany were tied at zero for 118 minutes, until Italy exploded and scored two goals in the last two minutes.
Do Americans think that soccer is not physically tough enough? What about Djibril Cissé, the 25-year-old French player who has already broken both of his legs?
The truth is that soccer is one of the world’s most entertaining and difficult games. In many places, namely Europe and Latin America, soccer is said to be more powerful than politics.
It is the one thing that can bring the world together, like in the Ivory Coast, when Didier Drogba led his team to qualify for their first world cup, and the entire nation brought a four-year civil war between Christians and Muslims to a complete halt.
As Kofi Annan said, “…the World Cup is an event in which we actually see goals being reached. I’m not talking only about the goals a country scores; I also mean the most important goal of all — being there, part of the family of nations and peoples, celebrating our common humanity.” Soccer is the beautiful game. I anxiously await the day that the American public finally realizes that.
I totally agree with you on American's indifference (and ignorance)to a sport that really unites the world. In my view, the world's interest in soccer is much bigger than the Olympics as witnessed by the billions of people glued to their TV at the same time all round the world during the recent World Cup 2006. There is an enormous uniting power that soccer brings out from people of all ages, sex, race, religion allowing as to speak the "same language" no matter who we are. Soccer is a fast-pace strategic game, so exhilirating, full of action and drama combined played by men and teams who have great talent and skills.
Posted by: aude at September 16, 2006 1:05 AM