Sorry soccer haters, but this World Cup is absolutely awesome
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MOSCOW â This is a good time to be a soccer fan and a horrible time to be a soccer hater.
If you appreciate the beautiful game, you are getting treated to one of the most enjoyable World Cups in recent times. And, if you are one of those souls who dares to pour scorn on the worldâs most popular sport, youâre suffering from a frustrating lack of ammunition.
Soccer haters are generally a pretty unimaginative bunch. They have one, primary, go-to insult.
âDude, thereâs no goals. How can you have a 0-0 tie? Itâs STOOPID.â
How infuriating it must be for these insecure individuals that soccerâs greatest showcase is producing not only action of the highest quality, but also seeing the goals fly at a energetic rate.
After 11 days and 32 matches in the group stage, by which time each of the 32 nations had played twice, there had not been a single 0-0 tie. The dreaded âbore drawâ came close to fruition a couple of times, most notably when Brazil left it perilously late against Costa Rica before breaking the deadlock and then banging in another goal for good measure.
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Apart from that, Spain and Portugal tussled out a thrilling 3-3 tie. England smacked in five goals in the first half against Panama and even much-derided host Russia got the party started with a five-goal haul in the tournament opener. Through Sunday's games, 2.66 goals were being score per game, putting it on a par with the 2014 World Cup and ahead of 2010 (2.27) and 2006 (2.30).
To cut the soccer haters some slack â not that they deserve it â these developments are not exactly normal. This is by far the longest a tournament has stretched without being blighted by those double zeroes on the scoreboard when the final whistle blew.
In 2014, it took until the 12th game for a scoreless 90 minutes. Four years before that, the second game of the tournament saw both teams draw a blank.
The 1954 tournament went without a 0-0 draw, but that entire competition spanned only 26 games.
While we are on the topic, it is worth mentioning that when soccer haters hate hatefully on the 0-0 tie, they are entirely missing the point. Because, to a somewhat lesser degree, soccer fans actually agree with them.
It is possible to have a scoreless tie that offers up some entertainment, maybe in the form of an outstanding goalkeeping effort, but generally even those who adore soccer have little time for them either.
To harp on repeatedly about the worst aspect of a sport is rather ludicrous. Most of the soccer-hating brigade comes from the ranks of (American) football fans, so letâs use that as an example. Would any NFL fan argue that their sport is perfect, even if you take Roger Goodell and his monotone ways out of the equation?
Do gridiron fans truly love the fact that only a few microseconds of actual action are packed into each hour. Or that youâll see as many commercials as snaps? Or NBA fans, does a thrilling chill run down your spine every time a game on the hardwood descends into its painfully inevitable spate of foul-free throw-foul-free throwzzzz?
Yes, weâd all like more goals in soccer, but what would the score of an NFL game be if a team was awarded just one point for its most difficult task (and the equivalent of a soccer goal) â a touchdown? Yes, it would normally be a greater tally than your average soccer game, but thatâs after three-and-a-half hourzzz ...
Don't even get started on flopping. That's now becoming all-too common in American sports. Cases in point: Griffin, Blake. Harden, James. Sometimes itâs not even during play. Remember Robert Alford of the Atlanta Falcons toppling dramatically after Aaron Rodgers gently grazed him on the sideline in the NFC Championship game two seasons ago?
Game over, soccer haters, there is nothing left to deride. But wait, of course there is! The World Cup must be "stoopid" because the United States isnât even in it!
How can you can a world championship that doesnât have an American team? Heck, how can you even have a world championship where teams from other parts of the world are even allowed to take part?
The âWorldâ Series doesnât have that problem, nor does the NFL âworldâ championship, or the NBA âworldâ championship. Down with soccer!
Or maybe not.
Maybe itâs just me, and maybe just until I read the comments in response to this column, but it seems like the sphere of soccer haters is growing ever smaller.
Maybe theyâve found something better to do. Maybe theyâre getting old and have lost the energy for an argument. Maybe, even, theyâve watched some of this World Cup, and realized itâs not so "stoopid" after all.