A fascinating exploration of the game of soccer

Every man has had fantasies about war since he was a boy, and many games simulate war, and soccer is undoubtedly the game that simulates war the most. The sense of grand narrative of a cold war with two armies facing each other, jingoism and galloping across the field is very romantic to men. The series of brief acts before kickoff, such as walking out of the locker room, lining up at the stadium for the national anthem, and exchanging team flags, are imbued with the solemnity of a classical war before marching out.

Soccer is the perfect and concentrated embodiment of many elements, but at the end of the day the measure is extremely simple and clear. A real war is a direct confrontation between two countries in terms of their all-round abilities, but all these factors are ultimately translated into the brutal and clear result of victory or defeat. The same is true for soccer, which is the most comprehensive sport in terms of ability: speed, strength, skill, teamwork, game strategy, psychological quality, the ability to adapt to the environment, luck …… and then a little bit further, or the confrontation of different cultures and different ways of thinking. But no matter what ability, the only final consideration is the score!

Soccer is the most suspenseful game. The strong are strong, the weak are not weak, and any chance, tiny factor can change the outcome of the game. A game can leave even the most imaginative person stunned. Compared to basketball, the drama of soccer is that there can be absolutely no warning, a team 90 minutes to siege the opponent, bombardment to achieve the overall advantage of the situation, but the other side of a sneak attack to get a hand or a small mistake, it may end up being the other side of the paradise, their own to hell!

Watching soccer from the last row of the stadium, the complex technical movements of the players themselves have been hidden by distance, and all that appears on the field is an ever-changing matrix of twenty-three dots. This may also be one of the charms of soccer. Because the soccer field is large enough and a game is long enough, it gives great space for tactics to play. Soccer needs to control the space and compress the opponent’s space through formations, and also needs a reasonable sense of rhythm to guarantee control of the game throughout the game

Because there is enough complexity in the mechanics and tactics, there is a great deal of richness in every detail on the field. The data of a game is massive, and there are specialized companies that do data collection, and each piece of data has its own meaning and value. But the only data that is ultimately valid is the score, a very small and unique pair of numbers. Again, there is 1:0, there is a light win, there is a close win, it can be a very tame 1:0 or a thrilling 1:0.

The physical confrontation in soccer is very direct and intense, but compared to fighting, the fun is not in the confrontation itself, but in the fact that all the complex techniques and tactics are accomplished under high intensity confrontation. Confrontation is to put the “pressure” of this intangible thing on the field materialized. The team is above the individual, and the individual serves the collective, but as long as the team is functioning properly, the star is the best of all.

So how do you shine individually and benefit collectively at the same time? I think it’s a player’s ability to execute tactically. Different players have different strengths, but these strengths have to be utilized in the system in order to have value. Soccer is greatly influenced by the environment, with big differences between home and away fields, and the turf and size of different fields. This requires players to have a strong ability to adapt to the environment and even utilize natural conditions to achieve their goals.

Luck is a part of soccer, especially with the invention of such mentally challenging rules as the penalty shootout. Participating in soccer means facing up to the existence of luck and daring to stand on the roulette wheel and gamble. Luck allows one to experience the cruelty and wonder of fate.

The balance in the design of soccer makes all roads lead to Rome, which in turn is what triggers multiple dimensions of rivalry and conflict, and also creates a mutually reinforcing food chain. Tall as 2 meters Yankler, short as 1 meter 64 Jiu Li, skinny as Neymar only 55 kilograms, fat relatively few, but also Gascoigne, Elton and so on, can find their own position.

In many places, soccer has a special meaning. Confrontations between two regions with old grudges, confrontations between different classes in the same region, and even confrontations between different religious beliefs, the game becomes hotter with these off-field factors. Soccer is also not lacking in intrigue, interests, power struggles, violence and so on, which people don’t like, but objectively adds to the appeal of soccer

Having said that, the charm of soccer is far more than that. Mr. Huang Jianxiang once said, “Football is like life; the stadium is a small world, but the world is a big stadium”. In soccer, you can indeed find a lot of reality projection, and it is figurative and condensed. In fact, it takes only one point to fall in love with soccer, a moment, and the rest is more about falling in love later!