Soccer: The Beautiful Game
Soccer, affectionately labeled “The Beautiful Game,” by its most famous icon PELE, is the most popular sport in the world. The global audience is enormous- literally half of the planet watched the last World Cup final. It is a universal phenomenon. It is a genuine cross cultural international reality. All religions, ideologies, political systems and economic models have found a warm place in their heart for soccer (or Football as it is commonly known in regions of the world that are not the United States.) Rich and poor, communist and capitalist, Muslims and Christians, men and women- all develop and sustain passionate loyalties to their teams. Soccer, with apologies to Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, produced the first global superstars (Pele – Maradona).
I love soccer, although it was a relatively late development in my sports manic personality. I started watching baseball, football, basketball and hockey in the 1960s. Tennis, golf and boxing followed in the 1970s. I have been fascinated by the Olympics since the networks committed to wall to wall coverage. Soccer was different. It was a very incremental process and it only truly captured my imagination until I was a mature adult.
My pathway of discovery was disjointed. In 1973, while a college student in Rome, I attended a World Cup qualifying match between Italy and Switzerland at Stadio Olympico. This was a unique cultural experience, I was verbally assaulted by boisterous Italian fans who assumed I was Swiss because my fair complexion and hair color. The match itself did not move the meter for me though. I next attended a Brazilian National League final in 1981 at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. 200,000 screaming fans singing the entire match, never actually taking their assigned seats. An awesome evening with an intensity level beyond anything I had ever witnessed at a sporting event. The fans for the competing teams were segregated from each other in the stands to avoid any violent interaction. WOW! The exclamation point on this special evening was the water filled moat which surrounded the playing surface and prevented fans from stampeding the field at the conclusion of the game. Plus, and added bonus, 200 uniformed military men on horses with machine guns miraculously surrounding the field with five minutes remaining in the match. The match itself between Flamengo and Fluminense, two legendary Brazilian squads, was exciting and dramatic. The passion the game inspired did, at minimum, trigger an intellectual curiosity on my part. Why were people so mesmerized by the action? Was I missing something important here?
My next soccer benchmark was the Chicago Sting NASL championship run in the early 1980s. Amalia’s sister was dating and eventually married one of the Sting players and the games at Wrigley Field were very entertaining. Paul Hahn, Elsa’s fiancé and ultimately husband educated me on the intricacies game strategy. The USA National Team participated in successive World Cups, the English Premier League exploded in popularity through television coverage and I became a serious fan. Liverpool is now my team. Champions League matches and the European Championships are destination television viewing for me. I have attended games in London, Rome, Chicago, Miami, Germany and Argentina. AJ Hudson’s is Chicago’s premier soccer bar- I know this from first hand experience viewing Liverpool matches there.
Soccer is popular in the United States, but it is a peculiar phenomenon. Youth leagues are high profile in every community. Women’s soccer has exploded, but professional level domestic men’s soccer leagues have never achieved significant ratings success. Stadiums for soccer are in the 20,000 seating capacity range. Soccer is not competitive with MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL or NCAA college sports. The typical American male sports fan remains a soccer skeptic. He may attend his kid's game with gentle prodding from his wife, but doesn't give serious consideration to actually buying a ticket for a professional game in his home city. He speed dials through soccer matches as he evaluates his TV sports viewing options.
Why? Well the game was not invented here so it is frequently painted as a “foreign“ or “alien” intruder on the traditional American sports landscape. Plus, we regularly hear a legion of complaints about the game itself. The rarity of goals, not enough legitimate scoring chances, too many draws, too many games decided by penalty kicks, overt gamesmanship with diving, flapping and players faking injuries on a regular basis. Narcissistic stars, billionaire owners, drunk, violent, racist and bigoted fans complicate the picture further. Finally the management structures (FIFA and UEFA) are poisonous, greedy, chaotic, corrupt and politically compromised by incestuous relationships with dictators and tyrants. The World Cup is for sale to the highest bidder- no matter what their human rights record. Worker and migrant rights are ignored. They are a truly awful bunch. NBA and NFL owners are generally charlatans, but they are Mother Teresa and the Little Sisters of the Poor compared to the FIFA Executive Board. There is fairly overwhelming evidence that soccer is controlled by "bad" guys. So how does the game survive and why do I remain a fan?
The game is far better than its leadership. I love the simplicity. You can play a match literally anywhere there is open space. There are few rules and no equipment. It is quick and predictable with matches lasting two hours. The stars all have one name which is amusing. The fans are “nuts” but i believe the Ted Lasso Richmond locals are more typical of the average soccer fan than the racist bully stereotype. The game has a compelling duality. It is a true team game, a collective effort, but still affords the opportunity for individual excellence and the development of true “superstars”. it is globalist, nationalist and local. Small communities support their local boys, international competition is a peaceful brand of jingoism and warfare and the strongest club teams have truly international rosters. Pick your poison- socialism, capitalism, nationalism, populism, globalism- soccer displays them all in full force and vivid colour. Soccer is the only sport where all “humanity” is invited to the party. It also has great potential for growth. India, China, Indonesia and great swaths of Africa and Asia are fertile grounds for international expansion. Xi Jinping- the Supreme Leader in China is reported to have three main goals for his final term in office - First retake Taiwan; Second, host of the World Cup and Third- China actually winning a World Cup match! What else do you need to know about soccer’s standing in the hierarchy of world issues?
The game, when played at the highest level, is "Beautiful.” Play is organic and smooth, far different from American football with its set plays, huddles, timeouts and frequent play stoppages. With the exception of corner kicks and penalty kicks, there is constant action on the soccer pitch. Great teams act in harmony, mastering space, angles and pace with expert passing and brilliant dribbling. With "Total" football, players are interchangeable. Everyone attacks and everyone defends. Poor teams are chaotic, but great teams are fluid. Goalkeepers are super athletic and the most highly stressed athletes in the entire world. One mistake in a key match can end a career. Possession of the ball is the controlling concept. Strikers are God Like warriors. Midfielders are symphony conductors and defenders guard the gates of the castle. Poor performances leads to relegation. In America, the poorest team gets the highest draft choice, creating a perverse incentive to lose! In the Premier League, when you drop to the bottom of the standings you immediately lose your place in the league and suffer enormous losses of revenue and bragging rights. The game, with huge dollars at stake is far more professional than past eras. Stadiums are now first rate, the grass fields are perfect and the sports most valuable assets, the megastar players are marketed brilliantly. There are no longer smokers or drinkers in the locker room at intermission. It is big business and three of the richest sports franchises in the world are soccer clubs.
To close- a wonderful quote from Bill Shankly, a famous coach. When asked, “ Some people believe football is a matter of life or death.”— Shankly responded- “ I am disappointed with that attitude. I assure you it is much more important than that.” Well, my soccer journey is not complete and it does not yet rise to a matter of religious faith for me— but I do enjoy the matches and look forward to watching many dramatic competitions in the future, GO USA!!!
