IF basketball never existed, I think I’d be a football fanatic.
There’s a saying that I disagree with: “Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.”
Now, with all due respect to rugby players and fans, I like American football better than rugby but I disagree with football being played by hooligans. It’s a beautiful game played by gentlemen, that’s what it is.
I started seriously watching the sport in the 1994 World Cup in the US. Since that time, the sport and its superstars and great players have evolved. After the ’94 World Cup, I started watching the Dutch League and Italia Serie A then it was onto La Liga and the English Premier League (EPL).
I’m a Chelsea supporter in the EPL and a Barca fan in La Liga. I’m a bit partial though to Liverpool because of Mo Salah and the work he does for the community over in Liverpool. I’m a die hard Chelsea guy because when my wife and I went on our honeymoon, there were two things in my bucket list—a visit to both Chelsea and Arsenal, the Chelsea Blues and the Arsenal Gunners.
The people at Chelsea were very friendly and accommodating and the staff at Arsenal, well, were not so friendly.
I’m also a bit partial to the French League’s PSG (Paris Saint Germain) because of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and 17-year-old wunderkind prodigy, young Dutch international Xavi Simons. The kid makes €1 million a year and has a million followers on Instagram. Mbappe is only 21 and he, too, does a lot of work for his community and favorite charity. Chelsea has Christian Pulisic, arguably the US’s best football player right now.
These countries are starting them young. Gone are the days when football players were tall and skinny. Now, they’re built almost like boxers and MMA fighters, skinny but muscular and tough to battle for position on a set piece.
Football specific training and workouts allow these guys to bulk up without compromising and sacrificing speed, quickness, agility and lateral movement.
Height wasn’t a factor before, now it is. Add to that athleticism to jump and leap high to score headers and bicycle kicks which Cristiano Ronaldo makes with ease. I remember Erwin van der Saar, the Netherland’s and Ajax’s 6-foot-6 former goal keeper with long arms.
I wonder if there’s a statistic in football for GAA or goals allowed average, a statistic they have for ice hockey goal keepers in the National Hockey League.
Last but not the least, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the last guy you want to talk about when the subject of humility comes up. Such a humble guy, I’m being sarcastic of course but he can back it up. One of his many highlights was when he singlehandedly brought LA Galaxy back into the game against Los Angeles FC scoring a hat trick in the process.
I just love football and I hope the game continues to evolve for the better—but its beauty stays the same.