“THE BEAUTIFUL GAME”
Three reasons soccer will never be popular in North America
VUTHANA SUON STAFF
With a viewing audience said to be in the billions, the World Cup was supposed to showcase why soccer is the world’s most popular sport. Instead, it was a source of frustration for the many North Americans who tuned in.
Watching grown men flail around the field after a seemingly innocuous touch, get carried away in a stretcher only to miraculously jump off said stretcher and return to the game like nothing happened is comedic, if anything. Can anybody in North America take these kinds of shenanigans seriously?
There are a myriad number of reasons the “beautiful game” will forever be relegated to being a sport played by children in little league. After all, once puberty hits, shouldn’t these kids be playing “real” sports anyway? Attitudes like this are shared by many parents throughout the U.S. and Canada. And is the reason why soccer will never be able to crack the “big three” — football, baseball, and basketball — in America, or the “big one,” hockey, in Canada.
Here are three reasons why the World Cup may have turned us off of soccer.
3. Is there a more arbitrary way to decide a World Cup final than having a penalty kick shootout? Essentially, it’s the goalie guessing which side of the net the opponent is going to kick to, and committing to it. Some goalies may be better at this than others, with Ricardo of Portugal being one of the best, but maybe he just guesses better than others?
Somehow, it’s hard to take a sport seriously when a game is capped off this way. Watching goalies dive toward one end of the net, while the ball is headed towards the other is both funny and sad. This brings to mind the French netminder, Fabian Barthez. There was nothing quite as funny as seeing him attempt to play goalie. He was nowhere close to stopping any of the penalty kicks, and could barely jump high enough to stop balls going towards the top of the net. This was the best France could come up with?
2. There’s a reason why hockey is in its last breaths in the U.S.: before the new rules came into effect, it was entirely too defensive. There’s nothing worse than watching a scoreless game with both teams constantly using the dump-and-chase. Yet the World Cup seemed to revert to this.
Offensively creative teams like Brazil struggled, as defensive stalwarts like France and Italy progressed. Somebody figured out that by playing only one striker, instead of the usual two, that games could be grinded out, and won by free kicks and counter attacks. This change to a more defensive game plan resulted in one of the lowestscoring World Cups to date, and some boring matches to boot. Is this the new face of success?
North Americans, with their short attention spans, enjoy nothing more than watching offensive teams like the Phoenix Suns running and gunning, Tom Brady picking apart a defence, or David Ortiz hitting a ball out of the field for a homer. Contrast that with what was offered during the World Cup.
1. How is soccer considered to be the “beautiful game” when every minute, a player dives, looking for a penalty kick? Should the guy who played Stiffler in American Pie be taking a few lessons from some of these players? Soccer will never be taken seriously as long as this continues to occur.
While some countries are better about it than others, it speaks volumes when there seems to be a culture of deceit and dishonesty. The fact that referees allow this to occur just magnifies the problem. It is unfathomable that games can be decided on stunts like this.
This was exemplified by the French and Italian teams, coincidentally the World Cup finalists. France’s only goal against Italy came on a dive, while to advance to the final Italy beat the Australians on a penalty kick as a result of a dive in the final minute of extra time.
Make no mistake: things like this occur in other sports too, with flopping in basketball a major problem as well. However, a Manu Ginobili flop won’t determine the outcome of a game like it would with soccer.
Canadians love hockey because of the perception that the game is one played by gritty and tough athletes willing to crash the boards and lay a body — so it comes as a shock to see professional soccer players fall down at the slightest touch. And not only do they fall, but they start rolling around and grabbing their heads like they’ve lost part of their face. This is what constitutes fair play?
Soccer isn’t all bad. Indeed the World Cup was an eye-opener for many North American viewers. They were able to see just how exciting the sport could be, and why the rest of the world is so enthralled with it. But for soccer to catch on in this side of the Atlantic will be an uphill battle, so long as the necessary changes are not made.
