Soccer: Bringing People Together Around the World

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What the rest of the world calls football, is known as soccer in the United States. Arguably the most popular game on earth, its internal controlling body (FIFA), boasts more members than the UN. Bigger than baseball, American football, and basketball combined, soccer is the most watched sporting event in the world, even more than the Olympics. Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports. Soccer, it would seem, is not just a game, but a global event with wide political, national, and economic influence. Soccer origins go back to ancient times. Indeed, for thousands of years, almost every culture has enjoyed kicking a ball. Balls used in the game included human heads, cow bladders, and stitched-up cloth. The Museum exhibit in Germany includes a Chinese text from approximately 50 B.C. which describes exercises called tsu chu, which consist of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair into a small net. Just lik in soccer today, the use of hands was prohibited (Goldblatt 2008). The Japanese had a similar game, called kemari. That game is still played. However, kemari is less energetic than Chinese tsu chu. Kemarii is seen as game that was more ceremonious. It may have even been part of ancient fertility rites or used to mark particularly seasons of the year (Goldblatt 2008). Because the art of controlling the ball with the feet was extremely difficult and required technique and talent, the ancient Greeks and Romans used their versions of soccer to sharpen the skills of warriors for battle. The Greeks played Episkyros ,which means game, while the Roman played Harpastum ,meaning ball. It was played with a small ball on a rectangular fi... ... middle of paper ... ... soccer they would never be able to meet. It is beautiful how one thing can be so popular and joyful all over the world. Some people look at it with passion. They just love it. This sport is absolutely for every person that likes to be active. Because what does it take to play soccer? Only a ball, pair of shoes and a little bit of space… WORKS CITED “What are the rules?”. Syossetsoccer.org. Syosset Soccer Club. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 Glanville, Brian. 1979. A Book of Soccer. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. “Soccer field diagram”. Soccerhelp. David and Kay Huddleston. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. Triton library: Goldblatt, David. 2008. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Dunning, Eric. 1999. Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sports, Violence, and Civilization. London, UK: Routledge.

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