Standing on the roof of a hotel in Africa, I heard some commotion
down below me. It was some men arguing in a language I didn't know. It was a
sound I've heard many times before, so when I looked down I wasn't surprised to
see they were playing soccer.
Early the next morning, Nancy and I dodged three different games being played on the beach by boys, young men and men who wished they were young. We could have been in Ecuador, or any one of 190 other countries around the world.
The world is crazy about soccer. But Americans hate it.
Two things changed my attitude about soccer, watching Marcus play (Andrew prefers hockey) and Ecuador’s first ever trip to the World Cup in 2002. It’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement when living in little nation that is surpassing expectations.
I think Americans hate it because we don’t understand it. Most of us haven’t grown up playing it, so we don’t appreciate the difficulty and athleticism involved. We don’t understand the rules and the points for wins, losses and ties.
We don’t like ties… and we really don’t like losing, which happens to our national team every World Cup. Sure, we’re able to squeak out victories in qualifying, over nations a fraction of our size, but can’t seem to manage it against countries with a larger talent pool.
Losing drives us nuts so we complain about soccer being a sport with few goals scored and nil-nil ties (we don’t like the word ‘nil’ either). We complain about that, so we don’t have to admit that the rest of the world is better at something than we are.
We’re 22 in world rankings. About the same spot we are in math, science and reading (we hate those things too).
My attitude towards soccer changed because I had something at stake; Marcus or my adopted country was playing. I think we only begin to care about things when we are invested, only then do we truly pay attention.
It's true of a person, family community or nation. Look at where they are spending their money, then you will know what they really love.
Early the next morning, Nancy and I dodged three different games being played on the beach by boys, young men and men who wished they were young. We could have been in Ecuador, or any one of 190 other countries around the world.
The world is crazy about soccer. But Americans hate it.
Two things changed my attitude about soccer, watching Marcus play (Andrew prefers hockey) and Ecuador’s first ever trip to the World Cup in 2002. It’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement when living in little nation that is surpassing expectations.
I think Americans hate it because we don’t understand it. Most of us haven’t grown up playing it, so we don’t appreciate the difficulty and athleticism involved. We don’t understand the rules and the points for wins, losses and ties.
We don’t like ties… and we really don’t like losing, which happens to our national team every World Cup. Sure, we’re able to squeak out victories in qualifying, over nations a fraction of our size, but can’t seem to manage it against countries with a larger talent pool.
Losing drives us nuts so we complain about soccer being a sport with few goals scored and nil-nil ties (we don’t like the word ‘nil’ either). We complain about that, so we don’t have to admit that the rest of the world is better at something than we are.
We’re 22 in world rankings. About the same spot we are in math, science and reading (we hate those things too).
My attitude towards soccer changed because I had something at stake; Marcus or my adopted country was playing. I think we only begin to care about things when we are invested, only then do we truly pay attention.
It's true of a person, family community or nation. Look at where they are spending their money, then you will know what they really love.
hey, not all Americans hate soccer. It's actually a pretty popular sport for the kids around here. Maria has played a couple years and seems to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteJessica
You're right Jessica. It actually surprises me a bit that more people don't care about it, because it does seem to have a pretty good youth movement. I think young athletic kids get pulled away from it by more popular U.S. sports. Thanks for the comment.
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