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Monday, July 7, 2008

As American Pro Soccer Forges Ahead, Its Past Deserves a Nod

John Feinstein, a sports columnist for The Washington Post, talks about his love/hate relationship with soccer. Feinstein states that as United States continues to grow as a soccer nation with new stars like David Beckham, we must acknowledge our past with former stars like Pele and Cruyff.

I really want to like soccer again.

Every spring I make a vow that I'm going to make my way to RFK Stadium to watch D.C. United play. I stop channel-surfing and watch for several minutes at a time when I find a Major League Soccer game on television. I read Steven Goff, who has covered the sport so well for years now in The Washington Post, to get a sense both of the MLS and what's going on in the sport around the world.

I'm not saying all this as a set-up for some one-liner about all the 1-0 games or the fact that a World Cup final can be decided by a penalty-kick shootout (which is ludicrous). Essentially, there are two ways people look at soccer: Either as the most wondrous sport ever created or the most boring. The soccer-ites insist that those who don't get the beauty and artistry and athleticism of the game simply aren't paying enough attention. The anti-soccer-ites make fun of the lack of scoring and wonder what's so spectacular about 90 minutes of running and kicking.

Both are right. Both are wrong.

Link to entire article.