Ask Mike: World Cup Q and A
Hey Guys,
99% of the time, I couldn’t care less about soccer. Hey, I’m just being honest. But like most fair-weather fans, I merrily jump on the bandwagon during the World Cup.
In honor of the month long party down in South Africa, I looked through Yahoo! Answers for some popular questions about “the beautiful game.” Here are a few answers that might help you look less like a fair-weather fan and more like a hardcore hooligan.
Why do Americans call the sport “soccer”? — Here’s the scoop, according to Mavens’ Word of the Day. It may come as a surprise to learn that the term originated from Britain. “The formal designation for the game we know as soccer is Association football.” Mavens’ goes on to explain that the word “soccer” is simply a contraction of “(As)soc(iation football)” and an “er” suffix. The sport most Americans know as football is technically “North American football.”
Who coined the phrase “The Beautiful Game”? — A tough one to answer. Some say that that Brazilian player Valdir Pereira came up the expression. However Stuart Hall, a BBC announcer, claims he coined the phrase, after watching his favorite player, Peter Doherty, many years ago.
Why does the goalie wear a different uniform? — If you think about it, this one is actually pretty simple. When the ball is near the goalie, all hell breaks loose. As the goalie is the only who can use his hands, it’s important that he be easy for the refs to identify. Hence, the garish jerseys.
Got more questions about soccer/football/the beautiful game? Leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
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i want world cup vidious
In your opinion who is the best player in soccer history?
ITS FOOTBALL!!! not soccer
Why the the players enter the stadium with children?
why are asking people to ask you about football/the world cup. the world cup is a great event but the european champions league is far more exiting. i suggest if you are a fair weather fan you keep your opinions to yourself, if you are simply telling people facts then great and good luck to you but football is easily the most complicated game on the planet due to the simple anomaly that we use our feet therefore the trade off between skill and fitness is a constant factor, are tactics. when two teams play eachother and they are using completely different formations the only way you can describe what happend correctly is if you play every day from the day you are born and watch every game available like most englishmen. i mean as a self professed fair weather fan can you tell me why arjen robben is similarly effective on the right and the left? even though he’s left footed?
Adding to your information, The name soccer was coined actually by an Englishman named Charles W Brown in the 19th century.
Source: Manorama Monthly Magazine called ” Tell Me Why”