Hundreds of millions of people worldwide play soccer, and billions consider themselves fans. But why? What makes soccer such an amazing sport?
To start, playing soccer can get you in really good shape. With other sports, like football or baseball, they have lots of breaks and rest time during games. Soccer, however, has you running pretty much 90 minutes straight, with only one ten minute break in the middle. Practices are intense and demanding, even if you’re a substitute who rarely gets to play in the actual games. All of the best coaches have their players do lots of sprints and running drills as well.
Next, fans love to watch it because of the atmosphere and simplicity. Soccer fans create a space so full of excitement and passion that it’s impossible to not get caught up in the moment. Soccer’s simple rules make it really easy to pick up quickly and understand without previous knowledge, so even if you haven’t been a soccer fan it doesn’t take much to become one and keep up with the game.
Moving forward, soccer is very versatile and diverse. All you need is some kind of ball and a random patch of grass, and you can play with your friends casually. There’s a “league” for any skill level, from pickup soccer on Sundays to huge leagues with players getting paid millions of dollars, to players who get pulled into the FIFA World cup to play for their country. There’s also leagues for every age group, so you can start as early or late in your life as you want.
Finally, it’s a sport for everyone to watch or play. No matter what ethnicity, gender, race, status, or language, anyone can play or watch soccer. For example, Lionel Messi, a famous Argentine soccer player, played in big leagues and cups with only knowing Spanish, and that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the best soccer players ever. Soccer games are often translated into tons of languages so you can have ease of watching no matter where you are and what language you speak.
To conclude, soccer offers a fun way to get into shape, a good way to connect with people and diversity for anyone to play or watch. That’s why I think it’s the best sport, and why I think you should try either watching it, playing it, or both.
