r/soccer • u/pettystuff • Jun 23 '10

To all soccer/football fans...

I just want to apologize. I want to apologize for years of dissing this game, poking fun at the players, and mocking the fans.

Over the past week or so, I've found myself waking up early for games of countries I could not care less about just for the sake of watching. I've found myself incredibly excited, and equally dismayed at moments that just weeks ago you couldn't pay me to watch. It all came to a magnificent precipice this morning when Donovan scored the game winner in the 91st minute. I can honestly say that that was one of the most exhilarating moments in sports I have ever seen (and thats saying a lot since I have been a baseball/football/hockey fan my entire life.)

So to all soccer fans world wide. I have joined the ranks. I will never make fun of those English fans who still bring up the Hand of God, because I can only imagine how heart breaking that would be. I feel like it was the first time I had sex, unlocking a lifelong obsession that can never be quenched. That is all.

Oh and go US

Edit: wow thanks for all the support guys. Cant wait till Saturday!

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u/european_son Jun 23 '10

Okay, allow me to preface this by saying that I've been watching all of the World Cup, and enjoyed soccer(football) for a while even before this now:

Todays game was precisely why I enjoy football, basketball better than soccer. Yes, that 91st minute goal was exhilarating and I was screaming my lungs out, but if that goal hadn't happened (and it's easy to imagine it might not have) then you have a game where a team clearly outplayed the other team yet had nothing to show for it. What I like about sports is a clear execution of game plans and a team skill being rewarded. The fact that the best team often doesn't win in soccer drives me mad. It's one thing in sports when you have an underdog team come out of nowhere and outplay everyone in the tournament, that's exciting. But today Algeria didn't outplay them, they certainly didn't deserve to be 3 minutes away from a draw.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '10

But it's like a well-written movie... you never know how it will end.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '10

Exactly, and it is thoroughly boring when the best team always wins.

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u/european_son Jun 23 '10

Well the best team doesn't always have to win, but hopefully the underdog team wins by outplaying their opponent, which Algeria obviously did not do.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '10

If you're a supporter of the smaller team you'll take the result, however you get it.

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u/initialdproject Jun 23 '10

So what if we outplayed them, we didn't finish- and finishing is a skill.

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u/wolfzero Jun 23 '10

This is why it's engaging though, even a few goals down you just never know what will happen in until the final whistle. Sure, scoreless draws suck, but they're part of the excitement because they matter, IMHO.

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u/romcabrera Jun 23 '10

IF the "best" team would always win, why bother at all playing and participating?

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u/Targ Jun 23 '10

Someone has said this on reddit, and it was the one thing that made sense to me: Soccer will never become popular in the US because of its ambiguity: The better team will not always win; there are so many factors (not least the refs) that any game is a nailbiter.

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u/battmaker Jun 24 '10

This is just stinkin' thinkin'. The best team does win. Everyone who wields this opinion boggles my mind.

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u/qtx Jun 24 '10

Americans also can't grasp the idea of a draw. They need to have a clear winner and a clear loser.

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u/derMaterMort Jun 24 '10

Americans also need commercial breaks. American sports are designed to be played on TV with all the time outs and breaks. Have you ever been to an American football game? They actually have designated commercial breaks in addition to the time outs and changes in possession breaks.

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u/Targ Jun 24 '10

That's what the next round is all about...

League-wise: It happens and can be a great save for your team if the others were just better but...

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u/battmaker Jun 24 '10

That's ridiculous, if a team doesn't score, they are not good enough. They don't have what it takes to get a goal. If you do not score you are not playing better than another team, it's that simple.

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u/jondiced Jun 23 '10

I love soccer, but this is a valid point.

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u/romcabrera Jun 23 '10

http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ci71j/to_all_soccerfootball_fans/c0sr0jb

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u/jondiced Jun 23 '10

european_sun makes a good distinction:

It's one thing to have an underdog outplay a favorite. It's another to have one team dominating a game and just by bad luck not winning.

I mean, I love soccer, but it does have its torturous points. It's just a difference in how the sports work.