I really can’t pinpoint the time in my life when I became a soccer fan. But, I remember at a very young age watching soccer games with my father and his friends in the village that we were in. We didn’t have much, but we were one of the few families that had television in the village, and that means that whenever there’s a soccer game on tv, a lot of people will come to our place to watch the game. Soccer was all everybody talk about in terms of sports, and to be honest I didn’t know other sport existed apart from soccer until we moved to the United States. So growing up, all I hear about when it comes to sports is soccer. The boys would talk about it and play it bare foot on the playground, my father and his age mates and up will not stop talking about it, and most women, if not all, will bring …show more content…
It never cross my mind to research about soccer, where it originated from, its history, and its impact on people, countries, or even region as a whole until this class. When I saw futbol, Why soccer matter in Latin America listed as one of the books we’ll be studying this semester, I …show more content…
I thought it will be one of those books on soccer and its success in Latin America and I was set on it. I wasn’t expecting nothing more than that. But reading this book transformed and challenged my perspective on soccer, it was above and beyond what I expected, and I cannot look at soccer as “just” a game/sport anymore. When it comes to Latin America though, the author, Nadel Joshua, did an incredible job in incorporating the stories and the histories of each country in Latin America to demonstrate why soccer matters in Latin America and to support his argument that: there is no other place in the world that “soccer redefined national identity as it did in Latin America” (pg.242), no other place that “soccer elucidates the major issues that face the region” (pg.243). The
Foer vowed to show us how the game of soccer can impact different regions and cultures. He indicated us how these relationships (between different nations and beliefs), while there, are hard to apprehend on the global scale. But trough soccer, these relationships reveal themselves in a hesitant fashion.
Soccer is not seen like merely a game around the globe. People from all around the world seem to virtually integrate with the passion towards soccer. There is no denying that this sport is linked to the emotional, social and political aspects of life of a person. In his book, “How Soccer Explains the World”, Franklin Foer sheds light on all these facets by linking it with the concept of globalization. Soccer and globalization are both linked together by an American in this book for the Americans who are passionate about this game. Throughout his book, Foer has focused upon two theories: firstly, that world could be explained through soccer and secondly,
Soccer differs in Spain and in America when it comes to attendances and passion for the sport, play style, and the way their players are shaped into professions. The United States is said to play a hybrid form of soccer compared to hispanic countries (Parrish). American soccer athletes are typically taught to emphasize conditioning and possession. Secondly, Americans and Hispanics’ passion for the sport are extremely different from one another. The people in Hispanic countries live for soccer, as they are devoted, passionate, and loyal to the teams. Contrarily in America, football, basketball, and baseball trump soccer making it only the fourth most attended and watched event. No matter how the sport is played or how many people attend the events, soccer is well liked in both the United States and Hispanic
Franklin starts by giving reasons why he has used soccer to explain the failure of globalization and also clarifies that his objective is not to argue economic changes and factors, but to address cultural issues. In the first part of How Soccer Explains the American Culture Wars, the author goes into depth that how and why soccer entered into his life and what role his parents played to ensure that their child excelled in the sport. He then talks about the cultural divide in America; the different mindsets of the elite and the working middle class and how individuals from these classes reacted to the introduction of soccer in America in the 1980’s. Moving on, in the second part of his analysis, the author sheds light on the hateful comments of some eminent Americans such as Tom Wier, Jack Kemp, Allen Barra and most importantly Jim Rome. These individuals have openly expressed their hatred for soccer and they believe that it is “not a sport”. To counter claims and criticism made these men, Franklin presents some facts and figures that clearly state that over the years soccer has managed to make its way into the American culture, while the most American sport i.e. Baseball has lost viewership. This section is summed up by differentiating between the stances of two contrasting groups towards globalization. In the last part of the
Soccer has a important place in the history of several countries. It is the most popular sport in the world. I will be exploring soccer’s place in American history and how it has been growing in America throughout the years. I will explore how soccer got to America and how it has spread across the nation. These questions and more will be answered as I explore soccer in America.
Soccer is a culture in where I was literally born into. Playing since I was six years old I grew up learning every position of the sport. I was playing against the best in my school and all the way to the best in the state and even nation. IT showed me a lot of values and I know it will show me more as I grow up. This is an everyday thing in my life, but many others have their own culture and social structure where they learn a lot of values. The main point I believe is learning those values because that is what will make our social society
Karon, Tony. "What Soccer Means to the World." TIME.com. TIME, 21 July 2004. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
Soccer had a great impact on the world politically as well. Many dictators used soccer to show the power of their nation and prove that their nation is better than another. There was friendly competition and competition that caused great hostility.
Soccer has the power to unify, inspire, and promote peace among nations but it also has the power to cause extraordinary discord within a country and globally as well. Colombian national soccer is a good example. Colombia is divided into thirty-three departments and each department has at least one soccer team for a total of thirty-six Colombian league teams. The Colombian league is divided into two categories, Liga Postobon with eighteen teams and Torneo Postobon also with eighteen teams. Within these two categories, there are rivalries between teams that have reached such extraordinary heights that it affects the way the thirty-three Colombian departments see each other, in particular, Antioquia and Cundinamarca, more specifically, Medellin and Bogota. The rivalry between these two cities is so potent that when their soccer teams play against each other, fans are killed after the game. The violence within Colombia’s league is indicative of the political turmoil and tensions between departments that create greater violence in the country as a whole. However, it is uncanny that when the Colombian National team qualified for the 2014 World Cup, Colombia was not divided into departments: everyone was simply Colombian. This phenomena can only be explained with Bill Shankly’s statement about soccer: “some people believe soccer is a matter of life and death… I assure you it is much more important than that” (Shankly).
Pretty much every men in my family plays soccer, and being the only girl who plays soccer in the family is a little intense. My uncles were thrilled to see that i am the only girl, out of so many, to like playing soccer. Soccer is something that we are all passionate about. That is what we do for entertainment and fun. When we hear the word soccer we are all eager to hear what’s next. We connect together through soccer. It brings us all together, like a keychain that holds many different keys in
Soccer has proven to be a notable sport throughout the years starting with its unique history. Soccer began all over the world tracing back thousands of years. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Vikings, as well as other nationalities all played a form of the game soccer. In China and Rome, games that were similar to soccer were played around 200 B.C. (Helmer and Owens, 5). People believe that soccer started more than a thousand years ago when villagers killed attacking pirates by cutting off their heads and kicking them around (Helmer and Owens, 5). As time went on, people in Europe also played a game similar to soccer during Medieval Times. In fact, soccer was used to prepare warriors for battles in Ancient Greece and Rome (Dilov-Shultheis). In later history, the English called the game “Football” because soccer was played by kicking the ball with the foot (Helmer and Owens, 6). The name “soccer” came to be when the American’s Association Football was shortened to assoc., and later to soc. Eventually in 1895 it was called soccer (Helmer and Owens, 9). By the late 1700s and 1800s, soccer was played in many universities, but the rules were not ...
“All in one rhythm” is the official slogan of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which seeks the unity of people from all around the world through soccer. I cannot wait until this summer when the universe’s biggest soccer festival begins. Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi are the world's best soccer players with outstanding abilities. At the same time, they achieved a great success in life by devoting themselves to soccer. They are so popular that even those who do not follow soccer may have heard of these names. Soccer is more than just another sport to them and me as well, which resembles our life and gives us important principles of life.
Gifford, Clive. Soccer: The Ultimate Guide to the Beautiful Game. London: Kingfisher, 2004.
In many occasions and instances where either religion or politics have filed to foster national unity and cohesion, soccer has succeeded tremendously. In fact, more often than not, instances of which religion and politics have instigated violence, soccer has been one of the most used avenues to bring the people back together. More so, there isn’t a single instance in history that soccer instigated bloody wars and violence in a certain state. As a means and mechanism of avoidance of eruptions of political divisions with the potential of erupting to become full-blown civil wars, international bodies such as the United Nations have been at the forefront of using soccer as a mechanism of integrating the people and thus fostering national unity
Football, undoubtedly being the world’s game, has a long history of politicization. Since the dawn of the organized game, world leaders and governments have found ways to manipulate the game for their own benefit, whether it be promoting a national identity or suppressing marginalized minorities. The games immense popularity has made it an easy avenue for politicization, both by governments and by resistance groups. It has served as a means of communication, propaganda, and organization. Matthias Marschik argues “football really was non-political because the attempts at both resistance and manipulation balanced each other out.” While governments and citizens have both politicized the game, the extent is far from equal in terms of the