Soccer in My Life, Essay Example

Sport that fascinates me the most is soccer – it has always been and always will be my favorite one among all the kinds of sports. It is not simply a ‘game’ between two teams, for me every match is like a little battle in which the ultimate goal is to win. But on the other hand soccer is not simply about winning, more importantly it is about showing all the beauty of the team play and team spirit, it is about the speed, reaction, and constant motion.

It may be quite difficult to explain and to understand why it is the soccer that has the greatest popularity among all the team sports all over the world. Maybe it is because of the traditions that this sport tends to preserve. Maybe it is due to the universality of its rules. Maybe it is simply because of the incredible combination of strategy and tactics that soccer offers to its viewers. Nevertheless, the fact is that all these factors combined make soccer the most watchable sport on all continents of the planet.

I find it quite interesting to discuss all of the above points and to provide examples of the above characteristics of soccer. First of all, playing soccer is about preserving the traditions of this game. The history of soccer is quite a long one, because different variations of the game were played in Europe in the medieval times. However, the modern rules of soccer were drawn in the middle of the 19^th century in England. And it is England and its people who are well-known for their ability to preserve traditions. Of course since the 19^th century quite a lot have been changed in the appearance of the game, but the laws of soccer (seventeen of them) are still the same. Eventually, as the game was developing and gaining more and more popularity, different alterations and modifications were allowed for various groups such as juniors, women, seniors, but the official Laws of the Game have not been changed. Thus such a combination of preserving the tradition and at the same time showing flexibility by permitting some alterations greatly contributes to the popularity of soccer. For me it is essential, because when I play and watch soccer I always feel myself somehow connected to all those generations of players and fans of the game that were before me and will be after me.

Another factor that shouldn’t be underestimated when discussing the popularity of soccer is the simplicity and universality of its rules. Today, soccer is played all over the world, in countries with different cultures and levels of economic development. It is equally popular in the United Kingdom and in El Salvador, in Côte d’Ivoire and in South Korea. The reason is that playing soccer doesn’t require some special and expensive equipment, and its rules are so simple that they can be easily understood by people of different nationalities, races and cultures.

But what I find to be the most valuable about soccer is the combination of tactics and strategy that the game embodies. The game of soccer is not simply based on taking a ball and scoring goals. It is about taking eleven absolutely different players and building them into a single body – into an absolutely united team. No matter how strong, skillful and talented each player is, the team won’t be able to win until there will be a team spirit and complete understanding of each player’s position and functions. It seems to me that the best example of such a lack of team integration was demonstrated by the Real Madrid Club of 2003 – 2005 seasons. At that time the team of Real Madrid was consisting of such talented and renowned players as Raul, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Figo, David Beckham, etc. But the problem was that there was no team synergy, it was simply an individual play by each of these players.

The strategy and tactics of the game do play incredible role. Soccer is about an understanding by a coach of all the weak and strong features of one’s own team as well as of an opposite team, about combining the weak points of the rival and strong points of one’s own team into a winning strategy for a match. It is about assigning each player to a position where he would feel himself the most comfortable and where he would be able to perform the best and to help his team to win in the most efficient manner possible. It is about the team spirit and individual psychological readiness of each player, it is also about the personality of the captain of the team who is able to keep the team positive and concentrated, and of course it is about the respect to the game itself and to each player in particular.

Thus I can draw a conclusion that there are a lot of factors that contribute to the extreme popularity of soccer and that make it the number one sport in the world. Each person can find something that touches him / her the most in this game. But what I find to be the most important about soccer – is its unifying power. Millions of people of different nationalities, cultures and political views regularly go to soccer stadiums to follow their favorite teams, while billions more watch matches on television. And even though there are quite a lot of stories about extreme fans who are ready to kill for their favorite teams, for me soccer is still one of the most truce securing powers in the world.