Soccer and Its Greatest Players

Soccer and Its Greatest Players — page 1 — ISTRODUCTION W That s in a name When it comes to the world s most popular team sport the designation you use generally signifies where you come from Americans refer to it as soccer those in Spanish speaking countries say fitbol and much of the rest of the English speaking world calls it football Technically the official title is association football Clearly football fútbol and association football are all of a linguistic piece So where does the words soc cer come from It actually originated more than one hundred years ago in England as a slang abbreviation based on the soc in asso ciation In Australia the wordplay game has been taken one step further as the national team there is nicknamed the Socceroos a melding of soccer and kangaroo Because soccer is the world's most popular sport it follows then that the game s premier

Soccer and Its Greatest Players — page 2 — INTRODUCTION international tournament the World Cup played every four years would be the world's most popular sporting event and indeed it is Soccer also has the distinction of being the first team sport to have been included in the Olympics as an official event an honor it gained in 1900 Readers of this book will learn of soccer's earliest roots in China Greece and North America and of the modern game s emer gence in 19th century England But it was a group of European countries other than Great Britain that first attempted to bring international order to the game when at the turn of the 20th century the Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA was formed Of course rules evolve and FIFA as a governing body respon sive to hundreds of national associations worldwide occasionally releases modifica tions or clarifications of those rules FIFA does so in concert with the International Football Association Board

Soccer and Its Greatest Players — page 3 — SoCCER AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS A NEvoniRNOURS Scoring the opening goal in a game is always something to celebrate and here Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund left does just that with his teammates during a match against Sevilla on Dec 15 2010 in Seville Spain David Ramos Getty Images But as any fan of the game knows clear rules and diligent officiating by referees not withstanding the football pitch aka soccer field has been host to a good deal of theatrics

Soccer and Its Greatest Players — page 4 — INTRODUCTION over the years Players have been known to try to incur a penalty against the opposing team by using various forms of body language to convince officials of the grievous wrong done them lying flat on the ground or writhing in pain are two popular options for this desired outcome Vigorously objecting to either a yellow or red card are also prime oppor tunities for on field drama But theatrical embellishments aside as with any physical aggressive and demanding sport true inju ries are always a very real possibility and in a game such as this where body protecting equipment is at a minimum players must take care to be on their guard Players must also be in top shape for soc cer is a physically demanding sport A taxing game consisting of two 45 minute halves played straight through withа15 minute break in between it has spawned dazzlingly athletic stars the world over many of whom are pro filed in this book From Franz Beckenbauer to Zidane Zinedine and David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo soccer s all time legends and current stars are showcased within Whatever you happen to call it fútbol football association football or soccer to paraphrase legendary player Pelé it is a beau tiful game by any

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