ANALYSIS

GAME OF THE THINKING FEET’

Julius Caesar Would Have Been Proud of the Italians


By Alex P. Vidal

We made a random survey among friends and colleagues in the media several hours before the start Monday morning (July 10), (Iloilo time) of the battle for FIFA 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France held in Berlin, Germany. (It is history, Italy was the 2006 World Cup Champion.)
Survey revealed, only a handful picked Italy to win the championship while a great majority professed innocence claiming they didn’t have any idea of what football is all about and they had no inkling about the World Cup. Even Pompey, Marcus and Brutus would have joined Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony in the Coliseum to cheer for Francesco Totti and Fabio Grosso if soccer was invented before the "Ides of March" in 44 B.C.
There is no doubt one of the most exciting sports in the world is soccer. The World Cup demonstrates football madness to the hilt, according to Minyong Ordoñez, a lover of "The Beautiful Game".
In Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, soccer generates passion, patriotism, and racial pride unmatched by any stereotyped sports event.
The Filipinos in general are illiterate when it comes to soccer. The sports IQ are low and limited to basketball. Compared to soccer, basketball is inferior. Soccer fans are more analytical and sophisticated than basketball fans who are simple-minded, preferring boring and repetitive plays as instant gratifications.
Here are super soccer thrills, according to Ordoñez, that people all over the world experience in watching a world-class soccer games.
HUGE SIZE MATTERS
The playing field is as huge as a track oval. The grass field is about four times bigger than a basketball court. Ten players (warriors is a better word) on each team totaling twenty can be viewed from the stand beautifully executing offensive in defensive executions.
In a display of the highest capability of the male physique, football players run like antelopes, slither like snakes and attack like leopards. At other times they pirouette like ballet dancers.
On the huge open field one sees play patterns evolve to succeed or fail—depending on the instinct and precision of individual acts.
In a World Cup soccer team, everyone is an artist whether he is a striker, a pass maker, a defender, or a goal keeper.
Every single move counts. To a soccer watcher, the details are beautiful. In a huge soccer field fans see a goal made in sequences of brilliant moves orchestrated by midfielders and strikers. The open skies and huge open field give the picture of a real battlefield. The atmosphere of a battlefield is visualized. The art of war is palpable. The battle goes on in spite of sun, rain and mud.
SPECIALISTS ARE SYNCHRONIZED
Soccer warriors have specialized skills that contribute to the precious winning goal. Strikers (goal makers) are deadly in the penalty area. Their killer instincts are hone in, their legs are pumping irons, their speed belongs to a 100-meter dash champ. Their feet dribble the ball with lightning-fast agility, kick a goal score in several styles of kick effects.
Midfielders are superb ball catchers and handlers. Their precision passes are marvelous at any distance, any speed. They initiate attack patterns and elude their guards.
Defenders are a special breed. They are strategic in winning a game by blunting and stopping attackers within fifty yards and penalty front area.
Defenders artfully execute some of the most cat quick reflex actions in stealing a ball from attackers. Games are won by the superior performance of defenders.
Hearts beat fast when a forward surges towards a goal guarded like a leech by a defender. The simultaneous struggle being displayed by the attacker surging towards the goal and the defender in stopping the attacker at all cost is simply heart-stopping.
In football, every player is key. The post-game analysis is total—a team effort. The whole game is creatively and passionately played by all. No superstars. Team play rules.
THINKING FEET IS GENIUS
Perhaps, the biggest thrill in soccer is the dexterity of the human feet. Foot work. Foot dribbling. Foot ball handling. It’s amazing that in soccer, the foot is as good if not better than the hands in holding, dribbling and shooting the ball. These skills are part genius and part discipline. It comes with practice, practice, practice. But marvelous footwork is just half of the story. The other wonder is legwork. Leg power. Leg agility. Leg endurance. A running leg. Leg excellence involves the foot, ankle, knee, the whole leg as one perfect instrument to play artistic football. The foot and leg excellence is simply an exceptional quality of world-class soccer player. Unique to watch. An object of admiration.
The use of the head is another source of constant fascination. The player’s head seems stone-hard. It is used to catch or block aerial balls, or for butting short passes. More spectacularly, it can head the ball to the goal either through a body dive or a jumping head shot. Simply astounding!
MANLY VALUES
Perhaps the superiority of soccer lies in the inherent virtues of a world-class soccer player. The audience senses this. An excellent player embodies the virtues of self-discipline, bravery, endurance, and the will to win.
The low score in football means victory is hard earned. It means that great things come at the right moment, patience is key to endure the long struggle. In spite of the two-hour battle, football fans enjoy every moment of the game. The display of individual skills from the players, the teamwork and play patterns keep viewers’ interest sustained throughout the game.
GREATNESS IS IN THE DETAILS
A team can lose and still be admired for having played magnificently. In football, excellence is in the details. And it takes struggle and discipline for a player to achieve perfection. This is obvious in the way he plays. The excellence in little details displayed by players is a source of endless enjoyment from the crowd. That’s why kids, glamour girls, yuppies, husbands, wives, farmers, construction workers, taxi drivers, food vendors, prime ministers, presidents, queens, kings, and emperors cheer lustily for their team during a World Cup series. Passion is so high, football even creates extremists called hooligans.
"We Filipinos should elevate our sports IQ from basketball to soccer," counseled Ordoñez. "In soccer there is no oversized Shaquille O’Neal who can bully a victory in a basketball game. In soccer you only have normal height players like Ronaldo and Rivaldo of Brazil, Kluse and Ballack of Germany whose unique and unexpected kick for that precious single goal is more exciting than the boring repetitions in a 50-point score of a surfeit and predictable Kobe Bryant."
He added: "Let’s stop being basketball bores. Let’s be more sophisticated and discover the unexpected and mental pleasures of soccer." /MP mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com