It must be a life changing moment to score a goal in the FIFA World Cup. Especially for those players who represent the nations who regard just making it to the tournament as the beginning and end of their accomplishments.
To suggest that goals in soccer are few and far between is patronizingly obvious. Reality is the concern about few-and-far-between scores is nothing more than an over trodden American media issue. If bountiful amounts of scoring made a sport more interesting, then the NFL would have been long overtaken by the Arena Football League. Clearly that’s not the case. Or if unfettered points really mattered so much to fans, why don’t millions of Americans play fantasy cricket? Question to those better informed than me: does fantasy cricket even exist???
Back to that goal scoring moment.
In the span of three days last weekend, I went from watching FIFA on my office television, to catching a game in Toronto’s Little Italy on College Street, to watching games in Soho and then Governor’s Island, in the East River (NY), on an outdoor screen. In every case, the moment of that goal happening was golden. The player celebration is punctuated by the look in the scorer’s eyes that fully realizes this may never happen again in their lifetime. Yet that lone goal becomes a part of their infinite identity. The bench erupting. In the stadium, both the native fans of the team and those ticket holders who adopted them, just for that single match, rejoicing in song. Fans back in the home country exploding like mistakenly mixed elements of happiness, relief, surprise, and expectation.
One thing my varied viewing situations reinforced was a truism I’ve always held about this sport: the sound a soccer crowd makes for a goal is unlike any other. The sound represents a collective feeling of the fans, viewers, and spectators of the moment. It’s a feeling that the credit for the goal belongs to more than just solely the foot, or head, of the man (or woman) whose name will be entered into the match agate line. It’s a belief that no matter how masterful the touch, the control, the move, the bend of the shot…..there was more to it. It’s a belief that no matter how timely, pretty, or precise the cross, the corner, the connection….there was more to it.
For if you study a goal in soccer, its creation is often many touches before the ball hits the twine. The unsuspecting ball has been played by both opponents in a mysterious sequence that even a chaos theorist could not predict. But at some magical point, the advantage was gained and as a result, the scoreboard was soon to be reset. Watching for this moment, you start to learn how to spot the moment the advantage is created. Fans of traditional soccer nations do more than watch for it. They will for it. They pray for it. Many of them take credit for it.
That’s the beauty of a soccer goal. The fans truly believe it was their goal. It was their prayers that were answered by the soccer gods who directed the ball homeward. It was their intense willing that travelled halfway around the world and energized the legs of their heroes. It was their karma-inducing rituals that released the chain of events.
In many ways they are right. Their role as part of the team can be as important as the midfielder who chipped the ball ahead or the half who first regained possession. Soccer at this level can only be competitive when the team plays as one. But to win requires more. It requires you, the fans, as well as the type of divine intervention only the most passionate can create.
I truly believe that. Enjoy the matches.
Mark, you are right on the mark (no pun intended). It is universally accepted that in most football (soccer) nations, it is a religion. What better reason to believe in divine intervention. There is little doubt that when players put on their national team jerseys, they know the significance and feel the pressure of a nation’s expectations. This is palpably more true for football but applies to any national team sport (Hockey, Basketball, Rugby etc.), as hardened professional club players loose the “In it for the Money” attitude. Let me give you an example that supports your comments. Being from Ireland, a modest football nation with some glorious moments on the International stage, there is a retired player, Ray Houghton. Ray had a very long and successful professional career with several clubs, including Liverpool. Despite all his success, he is remembered and revered by Irish supporters for two things: He scored the winning goals against England in the 1988 Euros and against Italy in the 1994 World Cup. Enough said!