Tag Archives: World Cup

Soccer vs. Futbol

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It’s hard to compare soccer announcers that you hear on English-speaking television with those that you hear on Spanish-speaking networks. The announcers in English are relatively unemotional. They give lots of stats. They rely a lot on the technology of the network they are broadcasting on.

Announcers in Spanish get excited. Really excited. They speak poetically. The other day, during the South Africa-Mexico game, I heard the announcer say, “Using his heart as a compass, the goalkeeper launched himself…” During the Argentina game the following day, I heard: “He went after that ball with heart, soul and body.” You just don’t hear expressions like that on the main U.S. broadcasts.

I was seeing that as a difference between the Latin culture and the mainstream U.S. culture until… they played a replay of Japan’s goal against Cameroon, listening to the Japanese broadcast. It was more like the Spanish broadcast than the English one. That rattled my assumptions, since I don’t see the Japanese culture as being particularly expressive.

So maybe I should avoid any sweeping generalizations about culture. I’ll just say this: soccer will be a lot more fun on U.S. TV when they start hiring announcers from Latin America rather than Europe.

U.S. sports fans and soccer

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The most popular sport in the world, hands down, is soccer. No question. No contest. No comparison. Nothing draws the world’s interest like the World Cup. It’s far and away the biggest sporting event in the world. It’s one of the few competitions that truly deserves the title of “world championship.” Many countries send their very best athletes to this soccer tournament.

You can’t count the United States in that group, however. Our best athletes tend to be busy with other things. That’s not meant as a knock on the U.S. soccer team. It’s just a reflection of the fact that football, basketball, and yes even baseball are still bigger than soccer.

Some thought that would change as youth soccer leagues grew in popularity. It did make soccer slightly more popular, but not on the same scale as the number of kids that have played the game. Most of them still prefer other sports.

Here are some unscientific, half-baked ideas as to why that is true:

  • The commercial aspect. Soccer does not lend itself to advertising as other sports do (though part of that is the fact that networks in the U.S. don’t seem to have figured out how to run commercials during the game, as they do in other countries). Commercials basically only run before the game, at halftime and after the game, not at the times when people are truly focused on the set. The United States even made a push to switch world soccer to be played in quarters, rather than halves, just to get more commercials in. Without commercials, companies don’t put as much money into soccer. Lack of funding hurts the game.
  • The strategy aspect. We like games where you stand around and talk. Seriously. People from other countries complain about American football, where they play for 5 seconds, then stand around and plan for 30. Baseball is like that. Even American-style basketball is slower paced than international basketball. Rugby doesn’t give you that. Soccer doesn’t give you that. Hockey, which is losing popularity every year, doesn’t give you that. We want to strategize. During the game.
  • Comprehension level. Adults in the United States don’t tend to understand soccer at the level they do other sports. I thought that the proliferation of youth soccer leagues would change that, but it hasn’t seemed to. To me, it’s a bit like opera, ballet and modern art; I recognize that my lack of appreciation for those art forms speaks to a lack in me, not a deficiency in them. I don’t understand them, so I can’t appreciate what I’m seeing. I think that happens a lot with soccer.

This last point also speaks to a lot of complaints I hear about soccer. The same people who gripe about the lack of scoring in soccer can love a no-hitter in baseball. They can see the beauty of a well-executed draw play, but can’t see the elegance of a corner kick.

Will time change the States’ views toward soccer? Maybe. The first World Cup was played in 1930, and the United States was one of 13 nations that participated, placing third overall. It’s taken almost 80 years to get the United States back to a respectable international level. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Are you ready for some futbol?

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The 2010 World Cup begins today in South Africa. It’s the biggest sporting event in the world. In the United States, we like to call our sports finals “world championships,” but most of the world couldn’t care less who wins them. Contrast that with the World Cup of soccer, with the 2006 tournament drawing a total of over 26 billion viewers. (I’m guessing that’s adding all the games together, unless we had a lot of extraterrestrials watching the game)

My real introduction to World Cup soccer came in 1986. I had been in Argentina for less than a year when the tournament rolled around. Argentina ended up winning it all, which was really something to experience. It’s amazing to see how the streets empty and the city grows quiet during games, until the roar of “Goal!” sweeps across the town.

In 1990, Argentina came in second, losing in the final minutes of the game. I thought people would be pretty disappointed, but they celebrated even more in 1990 than they did in 1986. In a tournament like that, second place is still an incredible achievement.

I’d like to predict an Argentine victory this year, but I hesitate to do so. They probably have the most talent, but their coach, Diego Maradona, leaves a lot to be desired. He was an incredible player, but has not impressed as a coach.

Whatever happens, the tournament should be great fun. Every game is being televised by the ESPN/ABC networks, so you should be able to catch some of the games. I can’t wait!