Soccer: In Action, Heart And Mind
By AI Editor
* Published 01/8/2008
* http://www.sportsarticles.com/Soccer-In-Action-Heart-And-Mind/a1806_1
Soccer: In Action, Heart And Mind
Once every four years, the world becomes witness to the widely most viewed and attended of sporting events; the World Cup. So deep is the intensity of this focus, that millions of fans, regardless if these were soccer players or not, invest all their energies and time in keeping tabs on the performance of the teams they are rooting for.
Just what is soccer anyway, and why is it such a big deal?
Explaining Soccer
There are many explanations as to why soccer is the world phenomenon that it is. Before we look into the one most used, let us first explore just what soccer is all about.
Soccer in Brief
The Soccer name turns out to be a common name for Association Football, which in essence is a team sport played by two opposing teams. The goal of each team is to win points over opposing teams, by successfully scoring a goal, positioned on the other end of the playing field. A soccer ball would be the item in question when talking about accomplishing such a task. Scoring a goal entails various challenges, as the opposing team’s members are sure to keep watch over the said goal area. Here coordination between members of a team comes in at high value, considering the space to be covered in scoring a goal. The game could be either played indoors or outdoors, and depending on age groups or team preferences, the size of the playing field is a given variable.
The most basic of soccer rules is that players aren’t allowed to touch the ball using their hands, meaning only their feet, shoulders and heads, as well as other body parts like the chest, could be used in manipulating the ball, in making it reach the goal. In the list of players in a soccer game, only the goalkeeper, the player responsible for guarding the goal from opposing team members, is allowed to use his or her hands during the course of a soccer game.
The origins of the game hail form England in 1863 when The Football Association made the Laws of the Game. As a sporting event, the international sanctioning body Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, is responsible for overseeing the games which prevail during the World Cup Season.
The Big Deal
The World Cup is known throughout the world, and is known to have an audience attendance twice that of the Summer Olympics. Many wonder why soccer, or association football, is the superstar game that it is, and one of the most popular answers takes shape in a philosophy made around a soccer game.
In soccer, scoring a goal without the aid of teammates, let alone the implementation of a strategy is next to impossible to achieve. In other team sports like basketball, there are players who could easily score a point all by themselves. Theoretically, scoring a goal in soccer all by oneself is possible, but considering the size of the playing field, and the various challenges involved during gameplay, isn’t exactly something players and fans look forward to seeing.
The spirit of teamwork is therefore the binding factor which defines soccer’s nature, and as such a team sport, successfully solicits the attention of fans.
Oftentimes, the “goalkeeper angle” is also brought up to fortify this teamwork fuel for soccer. Where there are no goalkeepers in basketball, soccer’s philosophy is that with the presence of a goalkeeper, scoring is actually a big deal accomplished through the efforts of not just one player, but by all.
Bottom line, the value of teamwork is one which prevails over soccer, outweighing the solo efforts of players. This struggle among players is therefore the prime base of soccer’s popularity. Soccer may work on simple dynamics, but the game itself is far from being one that is simple.
Much like the things which we all do in life, the struggle of soccer is often equated with how we all face reality, at our own respective games
"I hope we all can pick up something from this article and apply to our team and every game we play."
From Shyairah and Azman.
