Essay On History Of Soccer

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A buzz circled the stadium, gleaming lights shined brightly onto the pitch, and a banner flowed over a section of fans. The players marched out of the tunnel as the stadium erupted with a roar. This is the future sport of America, soccer. In the coming years, soccer will be comparable in popularity to any league in the world. Traditional American sports fans will pass soccer off as boring because of its continuous play and low scoring games. I would advise anyone that has these thoughts to experience a soccer game in person, an unrivaled experience. The history of soccer is rich, mix this with the growing popularity of the sport in America and we have a winning formula that can only bring success to America. Long before stadiums were packed with fans and jumbotrons emitted beaming special effects, the basics of soccer were formed in Ancient China. The game may have started in the public school grounds of England, but the basics of kicking a ball around were found in a Chinese military instruction piece estimated second or third BC. The form of football was called, “Tsu Chu”. Tsu Chu had the original concept of kicking a ball through a target, but while the soldier was being attacked by his fellow soldiers. During the Han Dynasty, the ball was made of leather and filled with feathers and the use of hands was not permitted (Classic Football). This game laid out the fundamentals of the game we know today and are still playing it thousands of years later. Many people are unaware the history of soccer and how long it has been a part of the culture in the US. The first major spark came with the world famous New York Cosmos, an upstart semi-professional club that got it’s start in 1970. They started out as an ambitious project of the... ... middle of paper ... ...nal superstars to new heights. Some notable stars who came after Beckham include Thierry Henry, Djimi Traore, Obafemi Martins, Tim Cahill, Jermaine Defoe, Nigel Reo-Coker, Mikael Silvestre, etc. These players arguably would not be in the MLS if it wasn’t for Beckham. With all these players coming over to the states, the question is: Why hasn’t soccer become as popular as the MLB or NFL? The Authors of Offside: Soccer and Exceptionalism cite the supposed lack of motivation on “ Labeled historical-cultural-sociological,-anthropological, and organized-institutional, these interrelated factors go to the very heart of soccer’s subordination to baseball, gridiron football, basketball, and to a slightly lesser degree, ice hockey.” In pedestrian terms this means that soccer is getting beaten out for TV time, radio slots, and internet space by America’s traditional sports.

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