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Bayern Munich 0 – 2 Inter Milan
Internazionale does the treble. They win the European championship for the first time in 45 years.
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#12
“Another comment: who’s the guy in the black tailored suit and spiffy haircut and tie, and what the heck is he doing on the playing field? Is he the team owner, who in the States would be carefully kept away from the coaches and simply put in a corner to count his money? Inquiring minds and all that…”
That my friend, for half of the Globe, today, is God.
#19, JoaoPT,
On another note, it’s amazing the US anti-soccerism going around. And calling it boring baffles me…
Soccer is quite popular with the younger kids up to age 12-14 or so. What kills it is that it is not so well supported in the higher grades in schools. It seems most school stream their sports towards American Football in the autumn, Basketball in the winter, and Baseball in the spring/summer. While soccer is a great sport, we forgot to leave room for it on our calender and none of the other sports will willingly give up their crowns.
Milito scored two wonderful goals, but he may not see much playing time at the World Cup. Argentina is expected to play a 2-4-4, and the team has 6 great forwards for 2 positions.
#21
And that’s a shame…
Maybe it’s because it doesn’t fit in the American TV advertising pace.
Basketball’s rules were changed to have more breaks, American Football is almost all the time stopped, and Baseball has a pace that permits a high rate of advertising. Soccer has briefer stopped moments and has long 45 minute half times.
Also the regulating bodies are Europe based.
No wonder the installed interests in the USA are not willing to turn this sport popular in the US.
IMHO
#20: Americans call soccer boring because it IS boring to watch. Like I and others have said, watching soccer is like watching paint dry, with 1 to 0 scores. From what I’ve heard, most of the action is the fights in the stands.
So, who’s the overdressed turkey in the black suit? Certainly not God, though with the black suit he might be playing for the other team.
#24 Soccer may be boring to the uninformed USA’ian, but football, as it is known on the rest of the planet, is anything but!
What you call “football” is no such thing. It is a mixed up version of football and rugby.
If you find it boring, here are some possible reasons…
1. You don’t like any sport.
2. You have the attention span of a hamster.
3. You have never actually seen it played competitively by anyone over the age of 12.
4. You think sports stars should use lots of steroids.
Others have said above that the reason your country has a different national sport from most of the world is down to your TV networks.
I am sure there are other reasons too.
#26 Sorry, but soccer IS boring. The only real thing that makes it interesting to you (or European and some latin americans for that matter) is the rivalry between teams, which is the rivalry between cities, then the rivalry between nations. And alcohol ingestion but that can be said of any sport.
It is only made watchable when you drink a lot with your friends or you ante up the rivalry to the whole world (world cup).
Also boring: golf, cricket, women’s anything, etc. That doesn’t mean there’s no public for that, but it is cult-like
#27: Pedro, your observations about soccer are pretty accurate, but forgot to mention the fights among the fans in the stands, which are the reason that many soccer fans go in the first place, especially in Great Britain.
Incidentally. I can add that auto racing fans go to Indy and Nascar races mostly to eat fried chicken and drink beer, but fights rarely break out in the stands. The $75 to 150 and higher ticket prices usually keep out the riff raff.
#28 Thanks for reminding about Nascar races. F1 is right next to it although not nearly as many fights as in Nascar.
Nascar, now that’s boooooring…
F1 is a bit booring, but at least there’s driving abilities being used. It just goes on and on and on… it’s too lenghty… But Nascar it’s just going around in a circle and crashing…
#30 That was #28′s & my point
Who cares about US sports?
Zzzzzz…
#32 Apparently, more than those who care for European Soccer. Ha!
Not more people, but more money. The Stakes are higher, the advertising bucks run through the roof… Let’s face it, we’re not talking sports achievements here…Soccer is loosing it fast also…it’s rapidly becoming “entertainement”.
In soccer, the number of points scored has nothing to do with whether it’s a good game. It’s the play action that people enjoy.
Thanks hhopper… It’s so hard to convey the uniqueness of a soccer game. People only see boredom, but once you start knowing what you are looking at, you start seeing the tactics and strategies of the game. It’s so fast you can’t see it, if you’re not aware of the game.
The defense positioning, the mid-field triangulations, the side lanes, the dynamic progression. Even the fouls are interesting because there are rules of engagement. Everything is dynamic in soccer and has to do with rythms, offense/defense actions, transitioning from one to the other. Ball possession… It has lots and lots of details that would just be missed by a casual couch potato viewer zapping through channels…
But HEY! Everyone get’s it’s kicks the way they want… I can’t watch Baseball either…and cricket… let’s not get weird here…
Soccer or football, watched by billions of people from all around the world. Enough said.
We use American football as a joke reference outside the States.
#37 An death to amerika. Aren’t you gonna say that?
I always wonder why Americans try so hard to persuade other countries that soccer is boring. I guess it is because it is one of the few sports the US really isn’t that good at. The US soccer league is where old and almost retired players go to to fill their pockets for a year or two before they quit. The best players play in Europe. It’s not that big of a deal, we don’t care for American sports that much
BTW Is there a world cup American football, baseball, hockey, basketball? I’m really asking, I have never heard about qualification series for those sports…..
#39 There was a quasi Football world cup. It went nowhere fast.