Football – The Most Popular Game:
Football is the most popular game in the world. It is played in dozens of countries and millions of people around the world love it. It’s a very entertaining game and matches between good teams are quite captivating. Football is also called soccer in some countries, like in the US. However, its popularity is beyond geographic borders and regardless of religion or gender. The game is equally popular in men and women. Many countries have football teams for both men and women.
There are so many reasons the game of Football is so popular. The game itself if very thrilling; it is not very expensive; it does not need a whole day for a match to finish; most often there is a winner or loser which adds to the excitement, etc.
Football was started around the year 2 BC in China. Those primitive people needed just a round object, other than a stone, to kick around and carry it to a certain point. That certain point is now called a goal. The round object would not be a fixed size in those days and could be made of cloth, cotton, animal skin, some dried large vegetable or fruit, etc. The game evolved in its rules and playing conditions but it still needs just a round object which is now called a football. So this one ball makes 22 people play with it for at least an hour and a half and entertain so many others for the duration of the match. The rules of the game are not very difficult to learn either. This simplicity makes it even more popular.
Human nature loves competition. Football provides a healthy environment for this competition. The teams competing against each other may be from the same community or from the same town. The playing teams can even be from different neighborhoods, communities, cities or even countries. All of these people enjoy the game and it promotes friendship and goodwill across communities, religions and countries.
There is a world body that governs the football affairs globally. This body is called FIFA. This body has as many as 208 countries as its members. However, in about 80 countries, football is religiously followed, played and loved. There are about three billion people spread all over the world who follow the game. They are spread in the countries from the UK to China, to America, South Africa, Europe and Asia.
The first football match is said to have been played between the teams of England and Scotland in the year 1872. Since then, the games popularity has only increased. FIFA organizes a world cup of the best 32 teams in the world every four years. This event is a mega event which attracts millions of fans from around the world. Billions of people watch the matches on television around the world.
In Europe and South America, people are so crazy about football that during the world cup, there is always a talk of the game everywhere. Apart from the World Cup, there are regional championships too. There is the European championship, the South America championship, i.e. Copa America, and Asia Cup and the African Nations Cup.
In England, the FA Cup and the Premier League championships attract a large number of people. All the major clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle, Newcastle united, etc. take part in the premier league. There is a lot of enthusiasm about the game and their results.
