“Soccer’s really boring. They just run up and down the field, chasing each other and the stupid ball. They have such low scores. It’s not exciting.”
If that comment expresses your feeling about the sport that’s called “football” in other countries, we soccer fans invite you to notice some of the features of the game that will help you appreciate the world’s most popular sport.
While final scores are normally low, it is the teamwork, techniques and strategy leading up to the goal that deserve our attention. And from local recreational teams to the Women’s World Cup to be played next summer in Canada, women’s soccer is the fastest growing sport in the world.
So, here you are at a Vandal soccer match. What are you watching?
A player receives the ball and quickly looks around to check her teammate’s locations and see who is not being blocked by an opponent. She then makes a split-second decision: should she move the ball towards the goal by herself? Send it off to a better-positioned teammate? Buy time with fancy footwork till a teammate can receive? If she makes a long pass, she risks interception by opponents closing in.
Possession is nine-tenths of the strategy, and it’s constant pressure.
The real magic in what Brazilian star Pele calls “the beautiful game” lies in its fluid and unpredictable nature. While there are some standard patterns of play, at this moment, we can’t predict where the ball will be 10 seconds from now: a header, a body block, some intricate footwork, a sudden change of pace, a reverse-direction pass to an unblocked teammate — and they’re off down the pitch again.
A sequence of intricate, wide-angle actions finally leads to a goal attempt. A cross-kick from the corner, a rapid pass, and then, the attack. And now, often, hopes dashed: a fast, straight, beautiful shot pinging off the uprights, a long kick sailing over the top of the net, a twist-bounce kick angling in an agonizing arc just outside of the goal. Groans from the bleachers; it’s a battle against the laws of physics.
And let’s salute the intrepid goalie protecting her team’s goal with heroic saves of the opponents’ goal attempts. She risks life and limb in gigantic horizontal arabesques, gravity-dismissing leaps, earth-pounding dives.
Eventually, repeated attacks, sustained pressure and driving persistence produce the grand reward — “Goal!” as Brazilian sportscasters crow.
The impatience soccer skeptics feel about low score reflects a misleading perception. Perhaps if soccer goals were counted like American football touchdowns, as six points instead of one, the illusion of higher scores might make the game more interesting for skeptics.
But for us passionate soccer fans, the final score, often 1-0 or even 0-0, fails to accurately represent the intensity, the passion, the brilliance, suspense and artistry of a game that could well be described as the most egalitarian and most creative of team sports.
See you at the varsity soccer pitch!
Go Vandals!
Phyllis Van Horn
Class of 1972 and ardent Vandal soccer fan