HERE’S a fact. You have on your Facebook three or four friends who post fervently in the middle of the night their wildest cheers and tears on a sport so foreign to us that is World Cup football.
You wonder what kind of sport this is. Why they choose this over our love for basketball and boxing. What is so exciting about scoring only one or two goals in 80 minutes, compared to seeing tons of dunks and treys, or whopping punches and knockouts?
Sometimes you may wonder are they boring people, or are we just disconnected to a sporting event adored by a billion people.
I asked two friends who love football and why they got hooked to this. It is interesting how they loved this sport.
Margherita Carreon, a working mom, started her love for football because of a crush on British player David Beckham. She started playing this sport since high school, but had to stop for health reasons. But the love for football continues
UP Mindanao professor Rommel Real remembered in their father’s tailoring, he was asked to research on football uniform designs. As he researched uniforms, he followed the sport and began liking it.
The common question they get is what makes this sport exciting despite the low scoring. “You don’t watch a game for the number of goals. But on the way they teams play, how they work together towards scoring,” says Rommel.
“It’s the build-up, the passing and how valuable each goal is,” says Margheirta.
When you hear that explanation, it’s very much like basketball, or like the way the Warriors or the Spurs play, where a good score is made by movement and precise passing.
The teamwork explains why players cheer like crazy when a goal is scored. It’s an intense celebration, says Rommel. There’s a dazzle when a pass is made perfectly, that makes the ball wheezes and curves over outstretched hands of defenders into the goal. And listening to the crowd is like crazy.
Rommel says football should be an advantage for Pinoys over basketball. Height doesn’t matter. It is also a sport every race, class can play.
Because football doesn’t get better coverage, (“livestreaming sucks” says Marge), football devotees here still love watching it. Because the live coverage from Russia is shown here around 2 to 4 am, they have to excuse themselves to neighbors when they cheer wildly. “Neighbors cheer wildly for the NBA, now it’s our turn,” says another fan, Migz Hernandez.
Margherita believes football has potential, and hopes the government can support the Philippine Football League and other leagues who support the sport.
“It’s a sport loved by almost everyone around the world. It can unite nations, it even caused a ceasefire in Africa before,” Margherita bemused.
Compared to the recent Gilas-Australia snafu, my friends consoled the losing teams. It’s the love of the game as they say, and unity for the world.
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