How to survive in a post-World Cup environment
July 11th, 2006 by ptm
I know, I know…another double-post day. I’m getting soft in my old age. Or I meant to write this yesterday and didn’t get around to it. Either way.
Anyway, the World Cup ended on Sunday. Alas, we will have to wait four years to dip back into the greatness that is Cup football. At least there was an epic match to end it on Sunday. I didn’t really care for either team, but I was pulling for France. Partially because I don’t like the diving/whining style of soccer that Italy trucks in, but mainly because I hate freedom. Both teams mainly stayed on their feet for the whole match, and did a good job displaying the greatness of the beautiful game.
None of that will be remembered, however…everyone will instead just talk about Zidane’s crazy head-butt on Italian defender Materazzi. There are lots of reasons floating about why it happened. Some people say that Materazzi insulted his sister or spoke ill of one of Zidane’s recently deceased coaches, or that he said Zidane was the “son of a terrorist whore”. Good times all around. (The best defense Materazzi could come up with for that accusation was “I’m not cultured and I don’t know what a terrorist is.” The shocking thing is, I can’t guarantee he’s lying.)
(a little more final discussion and a guide to loving soccer post-WC after the jump)
Whatever it was, there was no excuse for Zidane freaking out…there was too much riding on the match. At least he didn’t end up getting the MVP award for the tournament. Oh, wait…
Anyway, I was talking to JZ about this, and he brought up an interesting point: what happens to people (like him) who got into soccer during the World Cup, and don’t know what to do now that the tourney is over? As I found myself in a similar position in ‘02, I herewith submit some suggestions to you, my dear rockers:
1. Start playing soccer
Uhhh, yeah, I’m sure this would be a good thing to do. It would let you learn strategies and what have you. And, ummmm…it’s good exercise. Right, I wouldn’t actually do that, and there’s a good chance you wouldn’t either. Let’s start over:
1. Start playing soccer Pick up a soccer video game
This is sort of a lame suggestion, I know. But picking up a recent game from one of the two big soccer series (EA’s FIFA series and Konami’s Winning Eleven series…debate rages on as to which is better, but basically the former is more of an arcade version with great graphics and the latter is more of a tactical simulation with more in-depth gameplay) will allow you to play with the teams you got into during the tourney, and will also give you a better feel for the game. I didn’t really understand offsides until I got into playing one of the FIFA games. And the “center passes to wing, passes back to center, center holds it” kind of build-up, which can look boring on TV, makes more sense when you’re controlling the team – you understand the necessity of passing around, trying to get a play going and finding the smallest of openings in the opponents’ defense. Plus, when you score, you can jump up and yell, “GOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!” And that never gets annoying to your roommate/significant other. Never.
2. Go check out a local team around in your area
Like all sports (except American football), soccer is best experienced live and in person. You can see the whole pitch, watch the plays develop, see how teammates interact. And if you can find a venue with a good crowd, the camraderie can make the experience that much more enjoyable.
Options include the always adequate MLS, including YOUR New England Revolution. Or check out some of the top college soccer teams. Or even some of the teams in the lower level soccer leagues that make up the American Soccer Pyramid. (Which, I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of until just now.) But someone like, say, JZ, could go check out Miami FC to see the game played live in person.
Now, the problem with that, of course, is that it’s a long drop in quality from the World Cup final to Division III NCAA teams or the U.S. First Division…or even MLS. It’ll sort of be like pining for the Fenway experience and going to see the Wimington Blue Rocks. Let’s address that with our most salient point:
3. Pick a European club team and start rooting for them
This is clearly the most pivotal step to take. JZ brought up a crucial point in our discussion:
These teams just battled to be called the best in the WORLD. How can anything else compare? Because, honestly, I really enjoyed the World Cup, but how can any victory from any of the “regular” teams and games measure up to that of the World Cup?
Very fair. And, to a degree, the answer is: nothing can compare. These are the top talents in the game playing for their country and for immortality. Club competition really isn’t the same. Especially, again, when you’re watching Real Salt Lake play the Colorado Rapids.
That being said, the big teams in the top leagues (England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, or Italy’s Serie A*) have most of the game’s best players, and they are clustered together on some of the top teams. Clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus*, and others of their ilk have many of the stars that you got to know during the World Cup, and they can sometimes be even better than the national teams that marched through the Cup. And the other teams in those leagues have quality players as well – they may not have the overall high quality as the World Cup, but I’d guess mid-table teams like Middlesbrough and Real Betis have just as many quality players as Trinidad & Tobago did in the tournament.
So start following a club team. Or maybe just follow a league until a team jumps out at you. The important thing is that the top club leagues will give you more of the same high-quality football action that you got accustomed to seeing.
How do you follow a European team/league? Good question. One way is to just start doing an everyday perusal of a news site like ESPN’s Soccernet or Sky Sports. Sort of dry and removed, but it’ll get you familiar with the big names and the hugest developments.
A much better way is to get one of the satellite/cable channels that broadcasts matches from Europe. Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts many games from the English Premiership as well as FA Cup matches, plus UEFA Cup games and international matches, and some games from the top French and German leagues (Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, respectively). They also have news shows about soccer in general and different domestic leagues around Europe. It’s almost good enough to make you forget it’s a News Corp. operation. Almost.
The other major network I’m aware of is Gol TV. Although I don’t have firsthand experience with it, I know they broadcast matches from La Liga and Serie A*, as well as a collection of South American leagues. And they do so in both English and Spanish. (Presumably not at the same time.) If I had access to this channel, I’d be all over it. But I don’t. But you might, so check it out.
If you’re not quite ready to make the leap to pay money every month for an expanded cable/satellite package to get an extra channel for soccer, you still have the chance to check out matches. Many pubs show games live on Saturday and Sunday mornings – you can go, get a nice Irish and British breakfast, maybe knock a few beers back (or sodas if you’re a pussy), and check out some soccer. If you hold off until the winter, you can also start watching later-round Champions League matches when they get broadcast on ESPN2.
And sometimes good teams from Europe come to America during the summer and play. I’ve seen Liverpool, Celtic, Man U, Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea in the past few years. This year, I know Celtic FC is coming back, with matches in D.C. and Foxboro. It’s somewhat rare, but the top teams do want to break the American market – keep your ear to the ground and you don’t know what might turn up.
So those are my suggestions on how to continue following soccer now that the World Cup is over. Who knows? You might end up with a deeply rooted affinity for the beautiful game. Or you’ll give up after a little while and just wait for the next Cup in 2010. The future is tough to predict. Except that someday soon I’ll have to tell you about how I want to implement the yellow and red card rules of soccer into everyday life. I even have a referee’s wallet now so I can begin implementing my brilliant plan.
I want to go play FIFA now.
*Serie A in general and Juventus in particular may not be worth following this year, however…they are coming off a huge match fixing scandal that might drop a bunch of the country’s top teams into the minor leagues as punishment, which would invalidate many of their top players’ contracts. Craziness. So, yeah, don’t plan on Juventus being one of the top club teams this year.
edit (7/21/06): ESPN’s Bill Simmons just wrote a two-part article on choosing an EPL team to support. I don’t agree with his final assessment (should have stuck with the ‘Pool), but his thought process is a pretty sound starting block for those interested in doing the same. Roll on, August 19…
July 21st, 2006 at 12:26 pm
[...] As mentioned in the previous post, there’s been some blog-slacking going on in these parts. Apologies all around again. In an attempt to make up for new content, there have been some edits and additions to old posts. The post-World Cup soccer post was cleaned up slightly, and I tacked on an extra paragraph mentioning the Sports Guy’s article on the EPL. [...]
December 5th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
[...] As people might already know, I’ve got a jones for the beautiful game. Because of that, I like playing the FIFA series of video games. I recently picked up FIFA ‘07, and have been playing it. The ball physics are phenomenal, the animation superb, and the amount of details involved in the game is just spectacular. It’s one of (if not the) best soccer game I’ve ever played. [...]