Sunday, February 26, 2006
blog
I was watching this group of guys playing street soccer while eating in a nearby coffeeshop yesterday. It was strange, but somehow I was thinking of the Chelsea-Barcelona match a few days earlier.
It is interesting to see how soccer can be played to maximum fun without the usual rules and regulations that bounds the spirit of the modern game of soccer. Somehow, soccer seems to be moving towards the point where almost every part of the game can be rehearsed to timed perfection. Today, in a soccer world where success guarantees income and thus survival and continued success, many teams seek to play for the victory. No matter how small the winning margin is, a win is still a win. Efficiency is regarded over flair now. Gone are the days when teams deploy 4-3-3 and play an all-out attacking, entertaining brand of football. As evident in recent seasons, teams seek to get a 2-0 lead, then they substitute in 1 defender for an attacker and shut the game out by playing 10 men behind the ball, reducing the rest of the match as a mere passing of the ball or just the destruction of creativity of the trailing side. The only exceptions perhaps are the Brazillians or Barcelona who play attractive attacking football.
Soccer is perhaps the easiest game to pick up. Get a ball and some things as goal post and there you have, a soccer game. In street soccer, there's no offsides or cards to stop the flow of the game. It is just a fast-paced environment where defending is often rendered useless. This is the place where the skills of individual players get brought to the front. No doubt the actual game requires a lot of teamwork, but then the street game is more entertaining to the spectator sometimes as compared to the actual game. Is that the reason why futsal was created by FIFA? It seems to me that futsal is just a balance somewhere between street soccer and the actual game.
A game is one where we seek to relax and have some fun recreation time. It allows us to throw away our problems or at least put them aside for that moment. That's why games should never have the various rules bounding it. Allow everyone to enjoy the game fully and immerse in the atmosphere, instead of just playing for the win and boring everyone else out. I read this theory that games like soccer are so popular because it resides on our primal instinct of tribalism where each team is like a tribe and a match is just like a tribal war. Perhaps, on the contrary, we should reseek the true objective of a game. It is not just all about winning. It is about enjoying the game and showing true sportsmanship. That should be the spirit of any modern game.
shermon blogged @ 12:37 pm
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