Every four years the most watched sport on the planet serves up a carnival that decides which nation’s team wins the FIFA World Cup. In just over four weeks, 32 teams get whittled down to one and along the way there is all the drama, beauty, desperation, and joy that a knockout tournament between many of the best players in the world could deliver.
Sport really is about drama and the players in it. It’s also about the reputations of teams and individual players – how they are perceived – by their own fans, opposition fans, and neutrals.
“It’s not only called the ‘beautiful game’ because of the skills of those who play it, or the simplicity at it’s core . . .”
Football, or soccer to some who think football is something else, is a game created in England that has been adopted in most countries throughout the globe. Its fans tend to be the most passionate and the most tribal. They can also be the most deluded. Even experts can hotly debate a point over an offside or a penalty decision and that just adds up to the beauty of the game.
It’s not only called the ‘beautiful game’ because of the skills of those who play it, or the simplicity at it’s core – to score more goals, or the same, as the opposing team but because of the passions it raises. It is beautiful for the passion it engenders.
Rivalries are built on back stories of heroic triumphs, unforgettable defeats and acts of sheer brilliance or villainy. A player that created both in one game is often heralded as one the greatest players to ever kick a football. He’s also reviled as a self-confessed cheat.
In 1986 Argentina’s Diego Maradona scored two goals against England in a quarter final – one utterly brilliant, the other dastardly. His first goal was an obvious tap in with his hand that somehow escaped the referee’s attention – his second an incredible solo feat where he deceived half of England’s team with a display of control and guile that looked as if the ball was affixed to his boot.
“Maradona was that sort of footballer – original, inventive, unstoppable – while also deceptive, devious and driven to win at any cost . . .”
Two goals, one incredible, the other vile, yet both defined the player. Maradona’s self proclaimed ‘hand of God goal’ created a backlash from those fans who could not stomach the brazen ownership of such an act, while his other goal left fans in bewildered amazement. Maradona was that sort of footballer – original, inventive, unstoppable – while also deceptive, devious and driven to win at any cost – a player who divided the opinions of those who watched him. There are current players who display exactly the same tendencies and attract the same reactions – such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Sergio Ramos. Loved and hated in equal measure.
“It is exactly the way we feel about players, teams, and the game that really points to the popularity of football – and nearly every other sport.”
Yet there are players whose performances, skill and gamesmanship sees them elevated to another sphere – the great but fair player, the one who plays the sport in ‘the spirit of the game.’ Brazil’s Pele would make most fans lists of the top players in history. Pele often made the game look simple, while accomplishing feats that were almost otherworldly. But he is also celebrated as a footballer that adhered to a particular code and that, in conjunction with his incredible talent and achievements, makes him special – judged for a reputation that is unquestioned.
He is not alone in that and there have been many players over the years that have exemplified those rare characteristics that are so attractive to those who love the game and the way it is played.
“Sport is a reflection of the individual and collective values we hold dear.”
It is exactly the way we feel about players, teams, and the game that really points to the popularity of football – and nearly every other sport. We love to see our teams win or to fight back and grasp victory from sure defeat, we talk for hours about how our team was robbed by a terrible and unjust refereeing decision. We love the player who scores the almost impossible overhead kick and pour scorn on the player who dives to gain a penalty when he wasn’t touched at all.
Sport is a reflection of the individual and collective values we hold dear. That’s why underdogs are applauded when they win and why a gracious act of selflessness is held in such high esteem. All of the best and worst elements of human behaviour can be played out on a field over 90 minutes and generate billions of conversations afterward for years to come
Just in life, no matter who wins, or loses, how the game, any game is played matters.
