By Fred Delkin

Our TV screen now offers complete coverage of every match in that worldwide absorption called World Cup soccer, a tourney whose international broadcasts are estimated to reach 5 billion folks worldwide. The Olympic Games purport to be the world’s greatest sporting event, but we will have to give the nod to the World Cup as more deserving of that title.

It pits teams, not individuals, against each other. This quest for national glory is based upon a sport open to global participation, as evidenced by the 205 flags flown by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) that stages the World Cup, dating to 1930. Yes, the game is known as "football" everywhere but the USA, where we call it "soccer" to avoid confusion with American Football. 

Soccer is a worldwide athletic mania for some obvious reasons: It is a simple game, not dependent upon any equipment except the ball and a marked goal. It can be played upon any open, relatively smooth outdoor surface. It keeps all on-field players in the game on a constant basis. Physical conditioning and agility are rewarded over size. No sponsor is faced with the financial investment in equipment and facilities that football, baseball, basketball or hockey demand.

Human history traces organized games based upon a ball and the feet back some 2,000 years. Use of feet, chest, back and shoulders, but not hands, has been endemic. The current game is a result of England separating rugby and football associations in 1863, and spreading the latter sport throughout the then British Empire. 

FIFA formed in 1904

National associations were created in The Netherlands and Denmark fin 1889, New Zealand in 1891, in Argentina in 1893 Chile, Sweden and Belgium 1895, Italy 1898, Germany & Uruguay 1900 and Hungary 1901. In 1904 FIFA was founded in Paris by France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany joining almost immediately. By 1930 FIFA had 36 national members and staged the initial World Cup in Uruguay. Today’s globally televised installment utilizes 12 venues in Germany matching 64 qualifiers ranging in size from USA to Trinidad & Tobago. European and Sotuh American squads have been the winners in a tournament staged every four years.

America is the only nation on earth that doesn’t view soccer as a national athletic passion, though our 2006 team is our strongest yet and had a 5th place FIFA ranking worldwide which won’t be justified by World Cup results. This writer played American football in high school and college and understands a national predilection for the sport. We are not sympathetic toward the histrionics of World Cup players feigning injury to elicit officials’ penalty attention. We abhor a frequent lack of scoring and lack of precise ball control inherent in such pursuits as baseball and basketball. We enjoy
the flag-waving fervor seen in the stands and understand that most fans have
experienced the joy of manipulating a ball with their feet since they were toddlers.

Politics take a back seat

We do applaud the FIFA administration for avoiding the ugly politics that too often have sullied the Olympics. Creatvivty and style are in evidence and the sport has not  seen the serious taints of drugs that have impacted individual Olympic and American professional athletes. American football demands unusual physical prowess and serious expenditures at all levels of sponsorship.

A pair of international marketers, Nike and Adidas, are competing for World Cup attention. Oregon’s own Nike has created a dynamic internet presnce with Joga Bonita (Yoga.com)...the Beautiful Game, accessible to PC users and dramatizing with motion and sound the game’s intrinsic elements and updated frequently.

© 2006 Oregon Magazine