America Gives Soccer a Red Card

By Jonathon Kalik

Every four years a competition takes place unlike any other. Fifa’s World Cup brings together the top 32 soccer teams from across the world for an astonishing athletic competition. As the United States prepares to watch its team battle this Wednesday against Algeria, the hopes of staying alive depend on a win. Now I must admit, my enthusiasm for soccer ended in the third grade, with a height and weight insufficient for most amusement park rides. Although my enthusiasm ended, my love for the World Cup remained. As I spent the past week glued to my television I began to contemplate why soccer in the United States hasn’t reached the popularity seen throughout the rest of the world. For years we have discussed the difficulties of selling soccer to the American people, but this World Cup does more to demonstrate the difficulties in popularizing soccer then any argument has before.

A soccer match is an exhausting proposition. For the American public to watch these athletes work so hard, and have a large percentage of the matches end in draws, seems unheard of. What other sport does an athlete fight on the field of battle only to finish, and go back into the locker-room exactly where they began? As a spectator I sometimes ask myself, did I just watch over 90 minutes of athletic competition only to discover there are no victors, no losers, only equals? A spectator in soccer is sometimes an exhausting proposition!

Not only does the American public enjoy seeing a winner, we also enjoy scoring. England, one of the tournaments heavyweights has only scored two goals in over 180 minutes. This is not a rarity, in South Africa many of the other world class teams have similar records.

As with many other popular American sports the referee holds a large amount of power during the competition. Eyewitness to the United States verses Slovenia match can attest to a referees ability to change the game entirely. Unlike many popular sports in America, there is no shot spot, or challenge flags. With technology so advance a onlooker can download a virtual Vuvuzela application onto their Ipad, I think we can have replay’s, shot spots, or challenges in the World Cup.

Witnessing low scoring, bad officiating, and multiple draws has certainly effected my beliefs on why soccer will not remain relevant for the majority of Americans after the conclusion of the tournament. Nevertheless, I believe the true reason for a lack of American enthusiasm when it comes to soccer can be understood through a contrast with the rest of the world, specifically Europe.

In Europe each city has a team, sometimes multiple teams. The team represents the city, and the people represent their team. The team chants, anthems and players are engrained into the very culture of the city. There is a true sense of pride not only towards a successful soccer team, but also a successful fan base. As the players compete for their cities, and ultimately their countries in the World Cup, their supporters are emotionally invested.

Watching the World Cup is sometime like watching ballet. You don’t really understand it, but you can appreciate its beauty. Soccer is a sport that requires an unprecedented amount of stamina, and skill. Unfortunately, its beauty is often masked to the American public by high scoring, sudden deaths, and the all important replay seen in other sports popular within the United States.