Of course. "Soccer" is a thoroughly British term, not an Americanism. Originating in 1880s university slang, it is a playful abbreviation of "Association Football." Students shortened "Association" to "Assoc" and added the suffix "-er," evolving the term to "assoccer," which was then shortened to "soccer".
no. but they might do pretty well this time around with respect to previous world cups. especially if they can manage to come in first in their group stage which is a distinct possibility. carly lloyd and lori lindsay
germany spanked brazil 7-1 also in the not too distant past. curacao played better than the score showed, brazil did not. i don't think they overly embarrassed themselves personally. cape verde played admirably and tied spain. so we'll have to see once the tournament is over whether it was a bad idea or not.
yeah ok. why are you commenting? not adding a lot to the conversation here
I’m unhappy with the expansion and what I (and millions more) see as a bold face money grab by FIFA.
fair enough - i don't disagree with the assessment of why they did it. so far i'm personally objectively ok with the group play so far which is what counts for me.
That is part of FIFA's plan to expand the sport worldwide. The downside is that some areas that are strong in soccer like Europe probably should have more teams in the World Cup but are limited to 16, so we're not necessarily seeing the best 48 teams in the world. Italy and Denmark didn't qualify, they do have themselves to blame for losing in the local qualifiers but they are still better than many of the other teams based on FIFA World rankings.
It will be more games, meaning more money for FIFA.
I think 32 teams was the best number. 24 and 48 teams have 3rd place teams advancing out of the groups which makes the group stage games less entertaining. With 48 (or 24) teams you are almost guaranteed to advance with 4 points. Also with 48 teams the teams have more rest between games making the depth of the team less important.
The Japanese have already won the trophy for Best Good Sports by cleaning up after themselves.
More people in the world play Football and call it football, only America and Canada play "Handball", with the exception of Rugby and No Rules Australian Football (But they are Aussies, we can let them off). One would think America could give the game an original name.
We call it American or Canadian Football across the pond.
I only like NFL football, I don't even watch college football. But, soccer, just bored me too much, even when it was a final World Cup or Olympic match. But that's fine, enjoy what you like.More people in the world play Football and call it football, only America and Canada play "Handball", with the exception of Rugby and No Rules Australian Football (But they are Aussies, we can let them off). One would think America could give the game an original name.
So we win.
i don't understand why every time there is a thread about the world cup or another soccer related thread. there is the enevitable post by someone who is compelled to come in with the " i don't like soccer <add whatever peeve they have about it here>".
