How is soccer treated in other countries where it is their main sport compared to America?

BY WILL MARCHETTI

I chose this topic because I wanted to show people who didn’t know a whole lot about soccer some things about the sport, its fans, some of its stars today and just how the players themselves and the sport influences people who watch it in their country.

For the project I chose a few places to focus my research on like a few countries in South America, some countries in Europe and also Germany.

Intro

First hand knowledge

Soccer to me is very interesting and though I may not follow it as relentlessly as some fans it is certainly my favorite sport and I love to watch it and love even more to play it with a few friends. My favorite team is Real Madrid but I have never traveled out of the country and so have never first hand seen a match of the great club team play an opponent. I wanted to get some knowledge of just what a game day there was like compared to here. I wanted to learn what it was like the traditions, the feel, and the general atmosphere but I wanted more than just a blog or article on this from someone on the internet I didn’t know so I talked to my life long friend who I have grown up with since we were almost 8 who moved to my hometown Columbus from Guatemala when he was a kid. His name is Jose’ Samayoa a talented soccer player who has played all his life and actually who's favorite team is also Real Madrid. He has been to Spain many times and seen many Real Madrid games in person almost every summer loving them season to season winning or losing and safe to say he and his family are die hard fans of the team this is what he had to tell me.

First hand knowledge continued(the interview)

“There is nothing quite like the atmosphere on a game day in Spain. As soon as you wake up you put your team colors on and say a little prayer hoping that your team will win. You walk out of your home and into the busy Madrid streets and you see your team flags at every corner of the city. The chants quickly become the only thing you hear across the city, and the subway becomes a sea of you white shirts all screaming the same thing “Hala Madrid”. What makes this game day atmosphere special is that it doesn’t matter the age from 8 to 98 everyone loves his or her team with an immense amount of passion. After a defeat it is very common to see most fans in tears after a defeat. When it’s the national teams turn to suit up and play it turns into a national holiday especially if it is during the world cup. It is not uncommon for most employers to give the day off to their employees so they can cheer for their country. Soccer is way more than just a sport in Spain it is a way of life. This is the main difference between game days in Spain and the US. Since soccer isn’t as popular in the US you don’t get the same type of passion for the game that you do in Spain. On occasions you will get a die hard fan who will go to every game and cheer for his or her team the whole time but the whole city will not usually unite like it does in Spain.”

First hand knowledge continued(summary of interview)

The interview with Jose’ was very informative and detailed it almost made me feel like I was there watching the match but some of the things he said during it really stood out to me and helped me see how soccer is in a country where the soccer is more than a sport.

Some captivating things he told me like how entering the subway “into a sea of white shirts” where everyone is cheering “Hala Madrid”, how when the national team suits up to play it turns into a holiday, Employers giving their employees the day off to cheer for the team, and “Soccer is way more than just a sport in Spain it is a way of life. This is the main difference between game days in Spain and the US. Since soccer isn’t as popular in the US you don’t get the same type of passion for the game that you do in Spain” really gave me just an idea of what its like there compared to here.

America

We in America have many fast paced and exciting sports like basketball, baseball, and football where we are or at least know people who are die hard one team fans who root for certain players but all in all in the end we are all from the same country rooting for teams who play in the United States.

In countries where soccer is the main sport fans especially in Europe where many countries borders are so close learn to love a team that is from a totally Different country than their own and have favorite players and Managers that play for teams far from their own home country. This makes soccer so much different showing fan bases that can reach all over the world with so many different cultures, background, ethnicities, and styles of play.

You can even see this from the interview with my friend Jose’ whos is from Guatemala but he is so passionate toward Real Madrid that is in Spain on a totally different side of the world.

South America

One of the areas that I chose to study was South America more specifically Brazil and Argentina. Argentina is where Leo Messi the best player in the world is from though some would disagree and prefer Cristiano Ronaldo but we will get to him later.

Brazil is where Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior one of Messi's teammates in his club team in Spain is from and arguably one of the top 5 players in the world right now.

What is amazing about these two players is how they are from different countries on a completely different continent playing perfectly synchronized with each other. This is key showing how in the sport of soccer differs from our main countries sports because these two players are from different backgrounds , ethnicities, and countries but the sport is so worldwide it has brought them together playing so many miles away from home.

Europe Spain Portugal&

• Spain and Portugal are countries where soccer is not a sport but a way of life bringing families, fans, and people who are all so different together. Spain is where El Classico is played, a match between Fc Barcelona and Real Madrid compete for glory and the love of their cities that are rival to each other to come out as top club team in Spanish football. This match is considered to be the main spectacle of soccer in Spain hardly ever disappointing its viewers who watch some of the worlds best players go toe to toe in a 90 minute regulated match.

• Portugal is the country from which Cristiano Ronaldo a player who plays for Real Madrid in Spain is from. Ronaldo is argued by many to be the best in the world along with Leo Messi with a different set of skills entirely. On Ronaldo's team as his Right mid is Gareth Bale a player from the U.K. who is seen in the eyes of football fans as the rival of Neymar just as Ronaldo and Messi are seen.

The U.K.

Many great players have come from the U.K. specifically the country England. Some great players who today still are considered top players in the world are Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale who is from Wales

For the soccer players in the U.K. they are so close to other countries such as Spain , Portugal , Italy, and France its very common to see players leave their home country and play for teams elsewhere in Europe because they have a better play style with the team of another country or are offered to play a higher division with better pay and chances for titles. This is a dramatic leap going to a foreign country and not knowing the language or culture to play soccer but the player must learn to make his way in the world of football and not only that but fans do not look at this with betrayal toward their player and support them knowing that the individual will always carry the love of the country and represent it on the field.

U.K. continued(Ronaldo & Rooney an alliance)

The way the fans look and treat soccer over in the U.K. is quite amazing having such a strong English tradition and being quite different from other European countries around them but reading and researching more about it I found a important topic about Manchester United men's football club in Manchester city that is a recent spectacle that ended only a few short years ago showing the love for soccer bringing two completely different players but more importantly people together and also fans together.

I have talked about Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and their backgrounds but I wanted to talk about how the two players played with each other from 2003 to 2009. Football fans in Manchester city and all over England did not treat the footballer from Portugal with hate or uneasiness because of how incredibly different Ronaldo was from them and their team but the fans in England showed love and the fans of Portugal and England came together cheering together for one team showing how soccer is so astonishing and why it is called “the beautiful game” With Manchester United going on to win a total of 101 games from 2003 to 2009

Leagues & championships

Our main sports here in the U.S. such as baseball, football , and basketball all have one major league where the best players strive to enter and play in such as the NBA , MLB , and the NFL but this is very different from soccer where each country does have a top league but the countries are so close that top teams can compete with top teams from other countries where both managers have scheduled a “friendly” and fans can watch the best players from each team play against each other with different styles of soccer

Friendlies aren't the only time this occurs where different countries top teams collide in Europe. The Champions League is a tournament where the best teams from each country such as Spain, France, Italy, England, Portugal, and even teams from Turkey and Russia compete to win glory for their club this differs so much from our sports and tournaments here like our super bowl where the top two teams in the NFL play to win but the teams are all form one country the U.S.

The Champions league is considered the best tournament and spectacle soccer has to offer second to the World cup

The World Cup

Now the world cup the most dramatic, anticipated, loved , and hated spectacle of soccer around the world occurring only once every four years in a new country each time.

Every soccer fan looks forward the drama and amazing moments of the world cup comparable to no other soccer event around taking place in a new country each time sharing the spectacle around the world for all to watch and enjoy

The first world cup was held in Uruguay in 1930 where the final match was Uruguay's national team against Argentina's national team where Uruguay won 4 -2 exploding the hosts country with the proud feeling their team being victors and on their own soil. The most recent world cup was in Brazil where the final was Argentina against Germany with Germany victorious 1-0

To get a feel for the world cups mass appeal around the world 715 million viewers watched the final match in the last world cup with only 26 million viewing in the U.S. with the super bowl at 114.4 million the NBA finals had an average of 15.5 million and the MLB world series with 15.8 million

World cup continued

Looking at the numbers and seeing that 26 million were watching the world cup which is a bump up from 24 million viewers from the U.S. in the 2010 world cup shows that though soccer is thought of and treated much differently here in the United States than other countries where soccer is the soul main sport it is certainly growing and getting more attention from the young kids in our country taking more and more interest as time passes making me believe that soccer will continue to grow here.

Many citizens in the U.S. were actually surprised at the quality of our national soccer team though we were beaten by Belgium the team managed to take the match into overtime and not only that but our tie with Portugal showed the U.S. can hold our own in this sport.

Tying with the Portugal and standing our ground against such a fierce team who had Ronaldo as their captain and performed amazingly like he is known to showed people in the U.S. we are a rising power in the world of soccer and actually gave hope to those who follow soccer and even those who don’t in the U.S. that we actually have a chance in the future world cups.

Concusion

I hope those who watched this slide show look at soccer at little differently now and hopefully I helped with a little bit of insight into the world of soccer and just how special it is to those in other countries where they view soccer as more than just a sport.

citations

Source 1:http://www.diffen.com/difference/Cristiano_Ronaldo_vs_Lionel_Messi A site that has information on the lives before soccer,playing soccer, and

playing stlyes of the worlds two best player. Source 2:https://books.google.com/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=d6HhgJDGXtQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA180&dq=superbowl+versus+worldcup+differences&ots=yiMr2OLUfh&sig=NQRaFavQ6wOWA3uiNu65rRPoIUI#v=onepage&q=superbowl%20versus%20worldcup%20differences&f=false

A book showing differences and some similarities of the Superbowl and the World cup

Source 3:http://www.worldcup-history.com/index.php?width=1366 A site containing the history about the world cup Source 4:http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2011.574719 Source 5:Managing Football By Simon Chadwick

Source 1: Passion of the people? Football in South America written by Tony Mason a book about soccer in South America and the peoples views on it

Source 2: Fanatics! Power,identity, & fandom in football edited by Adam Brown a book about European soccer concerning fans from multiple parts of Europe and also talks about the organizations FIFA and UEFA

Source 3: http://freesoccerbook.com/1537924952/ A book that shows the basics of soccer formations, shooting,passing, and overall rules of the

sport. Source 4:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DZ91Rgd6Ak this video is the 2 best players from

the world one from Argentina and one from Portugal

Source 5:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K6UpreXrfY This video is of 2 players who are teammates with the first video they are both considered some of the best players in the world