Modern Day Soccer

Modern day soccer is based on the Football Association’s Laws of the Game, established in 1863. The laws overview all the basic rules of the game such as the size of the field, what constitutes a penalty, and which type of cleats are allowed. These original rules are followed world-wide by all professional soccer teams, and have since been adapted and expanded upon. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the organization that governs soccer internationally.


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The first soccer tournament took place in 1872 between Scotland and England. As the sport started to gain in popularity, it was held as a demonstration sport in the 1900 Olympics, prior to becoming an official Olympic competition in 1908. Soccer has never had the same popularity in the United States as it has in other countries. The exact reasoning for this is unknown, but Americans seem to prefer quicker paced sports such as football or basketball. Throughout an entire soccer game, only around 2-3 goals are scored on average. In the 1932 Olympics, located in Las Angeles, soccer was planned to be left out of the Olympics because of its lack of American popularity. In response to this, FIFA decided to start the World Cup tournament. The first tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930, and there have been 17 tournaments since, held once every four years.

Brazil has won the most World Cups of any country, with a total of five. When Brazil won its third World Cup in 1970, they were entitled to keep the tournament’s trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, forever. However, in 1986 it was stolen and never recovered. It is thought that thieves melted down the trophy for its gold. In 1974, a new trophy, called the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was made out of solid 18-carat gold. A gold plated replica is given instead of the solid gold original (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup).

The decision as to where the hold the World Cup has been controversial, especially in the early days when air travel was not possible. The two continents of soccer strength were South America and Europe, which are multi-week boat rides away from each other. From 1958 until 1998 the location of the World Cup alternated between the Americas and Europe, however in 2002 it was held in Asia for the first time. In 2010, the plan is to host it in Africa for the first time.

Today, the World Cup ranks as the largest and most prestigious soccer competition. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, due to the sport’s popularity among almost all nations. In 2002, 1.1 billion people (one sixth of the world’s population) watched the final World Cup match. According to a FIFA survey, over 240 million people regularly play football in more than 200 countries around the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer). This means that soccer is the most watched and played sport in the world. The level of intensity displayed by fans at soccer tournaments is unprecedented. The fans are often drunk, chanting loudly during the games, and sometimes riot following the games. The level of passion and intensity is so high, in fact, that soccer is considered to be the cause of the 1969 “Football War” between El Salvador and Honduras and sparked tensions in the Yugoslav wars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer).

While FIFA is an international organization, each continent has its own confederation and tournaments. Six confederations are associated with FIFA. There is the Confederation of African Football, the Asian Football Confederation, the Union of European Football Associations, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, the South American Football Confederation, and the Oceania Football Confederation.

Given the level of spectators and interest, World Cup soccer generates a huge economic impact for the hosting nations due to revenue generation from tourism, taxes, and ticket sales. The total increase to the South African GDP in the 2010 World Cup is expected to be $3.5 billion. (http://spectrum.troy.edu/~aisfm/world%20cup.htm) Hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created and the event will provide South Africa with world wide exposure to showcase its capabilities.

Over the years, a number of players have distinguished themselves from the rest due to their incredible agility, speed, power, and accuracy. Pele was the first soccer player to achieve international superstar status. Born in 1940 in the slums of Brazil, he quickly learned the skills of the game. By age 17, Pele was recruited to Brazil’s World Cup team. Throughout his career he wowed audiences and was influential in growing the sport’s popularity. Pele retired as the only player with over 1000 professional soccer goals in his career.

Other famous soccer players include Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Hristo Stocivhkov, Trifon Ivanov, Pavel Nedved, David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez, and Luis Figo. Zinedine Zidane played the final game of his career in the 2006 World Cup Finals. In the game he became one of only four players to score in two different World Cup Finals. Although he played an outstanding game, controversy was ignited when Zidane swiftly head butted Marco Materazzi in the final few minutes of the game. It’s thought that Materazzi was consistently pulling on Zidane’s jersey throughout the match and was insulting his sister and mother.

In other recent news, David Beckham has decided to leave the Real Madrid soccer team to join the LA Galaxy in a five year deal that should net him $10 million in direct salary and $50 million+ in yearly endorsements. The question is whether by attracting one of the biggest soccer superstars to an American team will greatly increase the popularity of soccer in America. Beckham believes he can make a difference, although given that American’s have never had much interest in soccer, it is unlikely that Beckham will have a large impact.

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