Soccer

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With the world’s most popular sporting event coming up, the World Cup, I figure 49 days and 9 hours is enough time to teach everyone a bit more about what there is to know about soccer and its fun tricks.

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a. Played and followed in over 200 different countries, “The FIFA World Cup is the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world”, according to the International Football Association. From a poll done by Reuters, “Two in three Americans don’t plan to follow the World Cup this summer”, the poll also found “86 percent of Americans said they either know nothing or only a little bit about the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament”. More than two-thirds of respondents didn’t know the World Cup was being played in Brazil, a nation which considers soccer as more than a just a sport, but a passion.

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a. This upcoming world cup is considered to be special due to Brazil’s forte in turning an ordinary game into something magical. I say this because Brazil is responsible for making what I am about to show you incredible.

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b. They revolutionized the way soccer is played through its culture which unfortunately was surrounded by poverty which made soccer the only way to escape poverty.
c. Through a statistic from the International Fund for Agricultural Development “About 35 per cent of the population lives in poverty, on less than two dollars a day. But in Brazil’s rural areas poverty affects about 51 per cent of the population”.

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d. According to Natalie Lefevre, sports writer, “All that is needed for a game of soccer or football is a bit of open space, a ball and something to mark two goals. This accessibility has made soccer popular worldwide across poverty lines. Soccer has helped some of the world’s best players currently playing at the World Cup in South Africa to rise from rags to riches”.

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a. Joga bonito, a Portuguese saying, meaning "play beautifully" is the Brazilian concept of soccer or as they like to call it, football. The way they made soccer beautiful is through the way they move their feet. Being so used to playing on the streets or on the beaches of Brazil, barefoot, once they step on to a soccer field with proper equipment they play as if they are on a cloud. They are known for their freestyle and their beautiful touch. It is essential for a soccer player to be able to have a good touch, meaning, when the ball arrives to the foot it must stay close and not let it bounce away. The Brazilians mastered this through an exercise I am about to show you today, through juggling a soccer ball.

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b. As it says in a magazine soccer essential, “Juggling is a crucial part of developing quality soccer ball control. It is the cornerstone of perfecting ball control and should be practiced by soccer players of all levels”.

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i. Let the ball drop low
1. When you kick the ball make sure it is not too high when you kick it but as low as to your feet.
ii. Keep your ankle locked when you kick the ball
1. Make sure your foot is curled back towards you shin.
2. This is so you do not injure yourself.
3. This also helps the ball bounce off your foot.
iii. Make contact with your laces
1. This is important because that is the vital part where the ball has to bounce from.
iv. Keep your juggling foot in front of you and not behind you.
1. If you bring it too far back it takes too much time to make contact with the ball.
v. Keep your eyes on the ball
1. Concentration is key
2. When you lose sight of the ball, you will drop the ball.

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tips

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Tips:
1. Timing, make sure the timing is right when you make contact with the ball mid-air.
2. Bend your knees
3. Quality over quantity, it is all about control.
4. For beginners, try and not too much air in ball.
5. Find the sweet spot.
6. Practice makes perfect.
7. Relax and keep loose don’t tense up

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conclusion

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a. When you’re at the beach or park over the summer you’re bound to see soccer crazed fans playing. Once you have mastered the art of juggling you have basic skill to go out and experience the sport that is played by “a grand total of over 270 million people – or 4% of the world’s population”, according to a survey done by FIFA.

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b. To emphasize the importance of soccer in parts of the world I leave you today with this quote by Luis Suarez, one of the greatest soccer players at the time, “‘In Latin America the border between soccer and politics is vague. There is a long list of governments that have fallen or been overthrown after the defeat of the national team”.