Can Someone Please Explain The Appeal of Soccer (Futbol)?
 

I love sports. I am from New York so I root for the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Rangers. That covers the four 'major sports'. But I also like/appreciate tennis, golf, horse racing, the Olympics and so on. BUT WHAT IS THE APPEAL OF SOCCER (FUTBOL)?

Here's how I see the game: a bunch of guys in an open field kicking a ball around. Kick, kick, pass, clear, kick, pass, shuffle, deke, kick, pass, out of bounds...for 90 fucking minutes!! WTF? It's bad enough you have to do this repetitive, boring, monotonous ball-kicking for 45 minutes straight but then they come back and do it AGAIN?

Why isn't there more scoring? Why aren't they constantly attacking the net instead of endlessly passing the ball around mid-field? Why are people in the stands going APESHIT NON-STOP for 90 mins straight as if the game before them is the greatest experience they will ever have in their entire lifetimes? Can anyone explain the appeal of this sport to me please?

We won't even get into 'nil-nil'. Seriously, I am not joking here: what is the fucking appeal? WHY do so many people around the world get so batshit crazy over kicking a ball around a gigantic field with so little meaningful action, scoring or tension? I do not get it.

:helpme

it's football - and don't get me started on baseball, i'd rather watch grass grow

Yawn....

Really, why does some one like blonde girls? Or bacon? Or what is the appeal of NHL?

If you're saying soccer/futbol is a 'niche' then it's one shared by 80% of the world. How many billion are watching the World Cup? Stands are always crammed with maniacal fans going apeshit, even for local games like Manchester vs. whoever. Why?

Something else is going on here other than the sport itself. I am definitely missing something, like most Americans, when it comes to soccer and the World Cup.

Jesus another one, it's what you grow up with, pretty obvious. American football to us is evenly weird. Play for seconds, time out, play, time out, and what i really don't understand is you people find fucking commercials a part of the highlights - probably says something about the entertainment factor of the sport itself! Zing!

Part of the fascination of fans and players may be because like you said so few goals are normally scored so when they finally do it is more exciting. Probably just harder to score when compared to other sports.

Yes but I didn't want this to turn into a fucking World Cup match. Meaning: my country vs. your country nyah nyah nyah.

THAT is all I see as the appeal of soccer and especially the World Cup: just an excuse for people to scream 'Brasil!' and 'France!' and "Portugal!". Just an excuse to be nationalistic. You probably aren't even watching the game itself, just bouncing up and down and screaming 'Mexico!'

So no one can explain the appeal of kicking a ball around an open field seemingly endlessly without a fucking POINT until someone finally decides to kick the damn thing towards the fucking net. Got it. So we Americans ain't missing a damn thing.


Now this makes some sense. But it also seems like the players spend most of their time trying to deke out the other player with fancy ball handling and foot work rather than passing and constantly trying to attack the net. The amount of mid-field passes that literally go nowhere and do nothing to advance the scoring is mind boggling to me. In all other sports you have the one team constantly trying to score points while in soccer (futbol) it's ridiculously tedious all the passing and not shooting. It must be exhausting for the players, too, running around like crazy chickens with their heads cut off and no one scoring. Some games have 7 total shots on goal for both teams! Crazy.

Yet an NFL game keeps you amused ??

if the kicking is around midfield you are watching wrong game.

I'm a Brit and I got into baseball. You'll figure it out eventually if you watch enough of it.

You're a baseball fan, and you find (football) soccer boring? That's rich. :1orglaugh

I seriously never understood the fuss about this kind of sport either. It's stupid and booring...

baseball and golf fan complaining that football is boring :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:thumbsup

Okay, you're not wrong with what you're asking. I'll try to answer some of it as best I can. For one thing soccer is the #1 sport in the world for one main reason (and lots of lesser reasons of course), that being that it's the cheapest easiest sport to play. All a bunch of kids need in even the poorest ghettos of the world is a round ball-like object of some sort (ball of tape perhaps? Gum wrappers?) an open area to play on and a couple of shirts on the ground for goal posts and it's game on. By comparisson, hockey, football, golf, tennis etc all cost ZILLIONS of dollars to play. By comparisson.

This sport is a way of life in most countries, much like hockey is in canada, like football is in the USA, yes it's that much of a sporting 'religion'. Several billion people live it and breath it every day. Hard for us over here to grasp, but that's how it is.

Secondly, why isn't there more scoring and action? Again, one main reason, and to me that reason is the rather stupid offside rule this sport has. If an attacking player happens to get behind the last defender he's for some idiotic reason deemed "offside". To me if one team can get a guy behind the other team then it's the defending team's fault, not on the ref to save them. To add insult to injury a lot of teams actually move their back players forward in times of attack almost forcing the attacking team offside. And you're right, it's boring, if not downright annoying. I say bring in the 'tough shit' rule... that being if the ball is passed beyond your last player and an attacker gets to it ahead of you and ends up scoring, then it's 'tough shit' on you if you don't like it.

But one of the biggest entertainment values these games contain for all those happy fans, aside from it being their country that is being represented, is the tactical play. Nothing excites those fans like a good 15-way passing play that ends up a strike into the goal or a wild header just under the crossbar, etc. And because it happens so rarely like that where it all comes together so amazingly perfect, the fans tend to go wild when a developing play has even a HINT of potential greatness. Remember, the guys "kicking that dumb ball around" are national heroes in thier countries. People tend to cheer for heroes.

Anyway that's all I know. I usually only watch this sport when the FIFA world cup is on. At that time I love it. Love the games, love the fans, HATE the vuvuzelas, love the overall atmosphere, love the competition between nations. And I'm currently kicking ass in that WC pool that's going on here. :D

If it's the team you support then it's along similar lines to gambling, whereas if you are watching random games then that's a love for the skill, strategy and beauty

For an un-trained eye it might look boring but when you're into it there's nothing better (except cross country skiing).

I used to think Curling was a joke of a sport but after watching a few games I got hooked :)

My mate said something years ago and it applies to every single sport going:

If you don't understand the rules, you'll find it boring

Now, obviously you may still find it boring even if you do, but when you don't, you're guaranteed to find it boring. Like oppoten said - once you get into it, understand the rulkes properly, then you start to understand tactics, and from then on you're far more likely to find it interesting.

so basically you do not understand a relatively simple game and decided to be really arrogant about that?

Thanks for this answer!! I knew the 'ease of entry' as we like to say is very low so I get how anyone can play it almost anywhere. But I did not know about the off-side rule! Yes that is ridiculous. You have a freaking Goaltender for God's sake so what's wrong with a little one-on-one action? Score score score that should be the focus otherwise why KEEP score?

I remember Giorgio Canali back in the day. he was accused of being a 'garbage picker' because he would just hover around the net and, you know, score. LOL

The World Cup is the planet's most watched sporting event.

About 400 million people are expected to see the tournament's final match on July 13, and each of the 64 games will garner viewership roughly equivalent to the Super Bowl.

Google reports that searches related to the tournament over the past four years have outnumbered those for the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the Tour de France combined.

and LOL@"one on one action" and playing without offside rule

it's like suggesting they should not throw a baseball that hard so the guy with the bat can hit it more easily

I think they need to come up with an acting award like the oscars for some of these guys.

Its a fucking joke to watch them run by someone, Fall and tumble around holding a leg with a face that looks like the foot has just been removed, and then get up within 30 seconds and dash down the field to take the ball again.

Game is boring and annoying but you love the game? :winkwink:
That should not explain anything to OP :1orglaugh

I noticed that it is common perception among North American people - they base their opinion on sport depending on how many points are being scored.
Abd they want to introduce rules everywhere in order to get more points. Not only football, but also hockey, basketball and so on. The more points the better the sport :thumbsup:1orglaugh
Simple entertainment :winkwink:

USA have scored in the 1st minute!

I hope you guys have got Ray Hudson commentating

lol you know it - new baseball rule needed: throw underarm only... way too many times the ball never even gets hit.

Game would be dumb as fuck with no offside rule :)

Probably not enough guns.......

put horseshoes into boxing gloves... who wants to watch a load of boring fights where the boxers just keep hitting each other, with no knockouts?

I am not a big soccer fan by any means, but I do enjoy watching the bigger events like the Olympics and the World Cup. My city also has a team and I have been to see them a few times.

One of the appeals to me is the anticipation of the game. Like you say, there is not much scoring, but often the ball ends up in the general area of the goal and defensive moves are made to stop it. It can be exciting. The anticipation of if this is that moment when they will finally score can be exciting.

I think its the female side of men wanting to watch other men round around all sweaty in shorts. :) I think it brings many men out of the closet.

I am an American yes. LOL

:thumbsup:1orglaugh

well - at least you're honest - lol

I use to think same until I went to see a few games... In europe and in Montreal. Very exciting to watch live, fast pace and crowds are crazy. I'd take a pair of soccer tickets over baseball anyday

you dont get it, because it is sport. nba, mlb, nhl, nfl, that just a shows ... :2 cents: :winkwink:

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

anytime i go to a park there are people there playing soccer. A bunch of different parks too. Walking down the street this week in downtown LA, I walked passed groups of people clustered around shop windows with tvs broadcasting the soccer matches. I walked into my local grocer and he has a match on the tele there and a couple peeps standing there watching.

Maybe it's where I live but I don't know anyone who's soccer adverse. I'm not into it, but as mentioned, the reason is I don't know the rules. Not to mention soccer wasn't offered as a school sport in k-12 when and where I grew up.

Specify white people or mexicans etc. LA is big on South American population.