Britannica Educational Publishing - Soccer and Its Greatest Players

SOCCER
AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS

inside sports

EDITED BY SHERMAN HOLLAR

Published in 2012 by Britannica Educational Publishing
(a trademark of Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.)
in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC
29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010.

Copyright 2012 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopdia Britannica, and the
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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing
Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor, Encyclopdia Britannica
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Anthony L. Green: Editor, Comptons by Britannica
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Sherman Hollar: Associate Editor, Comptons by Britannica

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Soccer and its greatest players / edited by Sherman Hollar.
p. cm. (Inside sports)
In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530-565-0 (eBook)
1. SoccerJuvenile literature. 2. Soccer playersJuvenile literature. I. Hollar, Sherman.
GV943.25.S62 2011
796.334dc22

2011000893

On the cover, : Lionel Messi. Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Pages www.istockphoto.com/Justin Skinnerback; back cover and remaining interior background image Shutterstock.com

W hats in a name? When it comes to the worlds most popular team sport, the designation you use generally signifies where you come from. Americans refer to it as soccer, those in Spanish-speaking countries say ftbol, and much of the rest of the English-speaking world calls it football. Technically, the official title is association football. Clearly, football, ftbol, and association football are all of a linguistic pieceso where does the word soccer come from? It actually originated more than one hundred years ago in England as a slang abbreviation based on the soc in association. In Australia, the wordplay game has been taken one step further, as the national team there is nicknamed the Socceroos, a melding of soccer and kangaroo.

Because soccer is the worlds most popular sport, it follows then that the games premier international tournament, the World Cup, played every four years, would be the worlds most popular sporting event, and indeed it is. Soccer also has the distinction of being the first team sport to have been included in the Olympics as an official event, an honor it gained in 1900.

Readers of this book will learn of soccers earliest roots in China, Greece, and North America and of the modern games emergence in 19th-century England. But it was a group of European countries other than Great Britain that first attempted to bring international order to the game, when, at the turn of the 20th century, the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed. Of course, rules evolve, and FIFAas a governing body responsive to hundreds of national associations worldwideoccasionally releases modifications or clarifications of those rules. FIFA does so in concert with the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

Scoring the opening goal in a game is always something to celebrate, and here Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund (left) does just that with his teammates during a match against Sevilla, on Dec. 15, 2010, in Seville, Spain. David Ramos/Getty Images

But as any fan of the game knows, clear rules and diligent officiating by referees notwithstanding, the football pitch (aka soccer field) has been host to a good deal of theatrics over the years. Players have been known to try to incur a penalty against the opposing team by using various forms of body language to convince officials of the grievous wrong done them: lying flat on the ground or writhing in pain are two popular options for this desired outcome. Vigorously objecting to either a yellow or red card are also prime opportunities for on-field drama. But theatrical embellishments aside, as with any physical, aggressive, and demanding sport, true injuries are always a very real possibility, and in a game such as thiswhere body-protecting equipment is at a minimumplayers must take care to be on their guard.

Players must also be in top shape, for soccer is a physically demanding sport. A taxing game consisting of two 45-minute halves played straight through with a 15-minute break in between, it has spawned dazzlingly athletic stars the world over, many of whom are profiled in this book. From Franz Beckenbauer to Zindine Zidane and David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo, soccers all-time legends and current stars are showcased within.

Whatever you happen to call itftbol, football, association football, or soccerto paraphrase legendary player Pel, it is a beautiful game, by any name.

T he game of soccer, or association football, as it is properly called, is the worlds most popular team sport. Virtually every country on Earth plays the game. It has been estimated that at the turn of the 21st century there were some 240 million soccer players around the globe and more than 1.3 billion fans. One of the reasons that soccer is so appealing is because of its simplicity. A ball and a bit of open space are all that is required to play, and there is really only one essential ruleplayers cannot touch the ball with their hands. Many people are drawn to the athletic skill and quick thinking that soccer requires. Brazils Pel, perhaps the greatest player the sport has ever known, called soccer the beautiful game.