5 Reasons Why We Love Football
Football (also soccer/association football) is the most popular sport in the world. But in spite of all the great things about the beautiful game, some people still ask questions like "why do you like football?" and "what makes football special?"
This article is a direct response to the questions, as it intends to make them see the light, and it is a sort of reminder to us that have already been illuminated by it.
Here are 5 reasons why we love football (and why you should too):
1. The Competitions, Emotions, and Passion
Mere words cannot describe the feeling we get from watching football tournaments -- either by staying at home and watching our favourite teams play on TV, or by enjoying the matches with thousands of other fans in the stadium.
The magic of the world cup alone cannot be matched in any other sport; like the 2010 world cup which was shown in every continent in the world, and the 2018 world cup which was watched by over 3.5 billion people, with over 1.1 billion watching the final alone. In 2010, Africa celebrated Tshabalala’s goal like we had found solution to all of our problems. And on the night Asamoah Gyan of Ghana lost that last-minute penalty against Uruguay after Luiz Suarez’s robbery, nothing could stop tears from flowing down the cheeks of the Ghanaian supporters. That night could have been the night Africa made history, but Africans only remember it as a tragedy...
The joy you get on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when you watch the UEFA Champions League and listen to the theme song, is similar to the one you get when you just overcome an obstacle in your life.
Not forgetting the beauty and the peculiarities of the different leagues, the transfer sagas, the beautiful commentary, the online banter, and the history of these competitions. The football tournaments alone is one enough reason to love the sport, but there are even many other fascinating reasons why we do.
2. Easing Political Tensions/Unity
Football -- like every other sport -- is primarily for entertainment purposes. But it has done more than entertaining us. Football has eased tensions that every other thing has failed to ease, as it is greater than hate, ego, and disagreement.
On 21st June, 1998, during the FIFA World Cup in France, a group stage match was to be played between USA and Iran, at a time where there was political unrest between both countries. The then Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khameini, had given express orders that the Iranians must not walk towards the Americans, FIFA had to compromise its regulation of team B (Iran) walking towards team A (United States), by allowing the US team walk towards the Iranians instead.
In that same match, each Iranian player gave a bouquet of white roses to an American player, and then posing for a joint photo afterwards, as a gesture of peace. A football match did what nothing else could do as at that time -- so why won’t we love the game?
There are many other stories, like Didier Drogba and his fellow Elephants inspiring an end to a 4-year civil war in their country -- Ivory Coast -- by begging the combatants to stop fighting on live TV, just after qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. After the plea, things began to change for the better.
We have also seen how countries with full-blown conflicts and opposing ideologies have played football against each other with smiles on the faces of the players and fans of both countries.
Campaigns against issues like racism, support for minority groups, and the presence of love and togetherness in the obviously diversed teams, are some of the very beautiful things about football. It doesn’t matter if you’re White or Black, theist or atheist, man or woman; you can(will) enjoy football, because football sees beyond those differences...
In an increasingly polarizing world, having something that unites us and neglects all our differences, is another big reason why we love the game so much.
What is the name of the person who invented football -- how about we honour them with a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize that they rightfully deserve?
3. Footballers
A lot of footballers are role models to millions of fans all over the world, and rightly so. Modern footballers make a lot of money and have a lot of fame, and in spite of that, live very healthy and disciplined lives. Many footballers, over the years, have also made remarkable impacts in their respective communities, countries, continents, and the world. A large percentage of footballers have foundations in which they use in helping the less privilege, and for many other great causes. Footballers have built schools all over the world, they have donated millions of their salaries to charity, they have paid the hospital bills of children, and they have used their status and wealth for things that have moved the world forward. Footballers (and the footballing world) have helped during this Covid-19 period, with many of them donating as much as millions in dollars, and raising even more money with their status, so that people could live well, through the pandemic. They do all these without losing their magic on the pitch, without failing to melt our hearts with their cold dribbles, or failing to make us enjoy the beautiful game.
We can’t not love football when we think of the things they do, and we can’t not love and appreciate them too.
4. Escape
We’ve always loved football and appreciated the things it has done for us. Apparently, it has done more than we ever thought, but we didn’t realise that until the pandemic hit us. We didn’t know how big it was, to have weekends to look forward to so that we could watch our favourite teams and footballers play. We didn’t know that it was huge to have something that distracted us from our problems. Sometimes, somehow, even the heartbreaks we got from our teams losing, healed the heartbreaks we got from being hit by other things in life…
How ordinary weekends actually are without football matches is one thing we hope to forget soon.
Football is a very big source of escape and stress-dealer for us, and for this reason alone, it is enough for us to love it so much.
5. Entertainment
Many things are entertaining, but football brings a different kind of entertainment. The kind of entertainment you get from watching Messi nutmeg defenders and lob goalkeepers, from watching Ronaldo bring back his team into games and going on to win ties, from reading about Pele’s ridiculous records, and getting to watch clips of his dominance... premium entertainment!
The unrivalled passion by fans of the game, the banter, the Mexican wave, the players' songs, the joy, the goosebumps, the tears, the beautiful and noisy stadiums, the rivalry between teams, the local derbies, the comebacks and shocking results, the disappointments, the goal celebrations, the heartbreaks, and every other experience that comes from watching football cannot be rightly described. I’m sure nature specially made them.
Football to us is more than a sport, hence, the reason for this much love.
If you've ever wondered why we love football so much, you just read some reasons as to why we do, and why you should too.
Football is life, why not just live it?
Photo credits:
1. Thesun.co.uk
2. Sportbible.com
3. Fifa.com
4. Goal.com
5. Foottheball.com
6. Lastwordonsports.com
7. Givemesport.com
