Column: On national level, football signs supreme
Editor’s note: this column was written as a head-to-head against Han Mahle. Read his argument for soccer’s supremacy here.
There is no question that soccer, also referred to as association football, globally reigns supreme as the top sport. However, nationally, football, specifically the NFL, claims the title as most popular sport.
American football is a hard-nose, grueling and contact sport that demands athletes to be in peak physical condition. While the game involves some strategy, different type of defenses and offenses, football does not compare to the intense strategies needed to succeed in soccer.
According to the CNN article Debate: Football or Soccer?, “soccer would have been used to differentiate between university sports rugby football [“rugger”] and “association” football.” Thus eliminating the popular belief that soccer is an American term.
Moreover, the term ‘soccer’ has an underrated widespread importance. One of the most popular shows in Britain is called Soccer Saturday. Additionally, in the 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa, the area in which the fans gathered was called “Soccer City.”
However, FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international governing body of association football, has the word “football” in it.
This murkiness is indicative of one thing: until a standardize usage of the term football or soccer comes about, the terminology should remain the same.
So, whether or not you say football or soccer is circumstantial, depending on your residency.
Meaning that Americans, and most English speaking countries, should continue as they normally have; calling soccer, soccer and football, football.
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of The Wooster Blade as a whole.
