Soccer, the most famous European sport that has evolved as it travels around from country to country. Football is what they like to call it except the Americans have already had a sport called Football. It is very shameful to know that Soccer was invented first and American Football should just be called "Handball" or "Eggball', something catchy, I guess. Let me explain what soccer even is in the first place.

Soccer is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a round ball. The rules are simple, no hands (except for the goalie). The team with the most goals, win! If the match is a tie, or a draw, the tie is broken by adding extra time, penalty-shoot-out, first to score win (Golden Goal), or just ending it as a draw because somebody is lazy.

You might've already known about those so I'll amaze you with something you probably never knew about. Here's a mind blowing fact. Did you know that there was once a match with a soccer team so bad, the result ended as 149-0?? The coach and team was suspended until they learned to "learn how to play." China once banned a soccer simulation game because the game treated Tibet as a "Supreme Ruler." Also, the game wasn't even in Chinese! Brazilian Soccer Pro, Ronaldinho, first got attention when he scored EVERY goal of the game. The score? 23-0. In October 1998, a lightning bolt killed a whole sccoer team during a match. That's "shocking" news!

This is what they call pizaz! A team actually had to score on themselves to win the match. Here's why. Barbados was winning with a lead of 2-1, then...GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!! 2-2!!!!!! Right when the whistle blew. Since the rule to break the tie was Golden Goal, Barbados scored on themselves to move on to the next match. Strange? I think not, just "strats" I guess. A boy in Thai loved soccer. He watched every match and wanted to play., The only thing is, there was no place to play. So what did he do? He didn't let anything stop him, that's what. So he built a wooden floor of a house to use as a field to play.


Did you know that soccer evolved into Rugby, the from Rugby to American Football? Yet, people still play Rugby, Football and Soccer. In 1964, a referee's called created a riot that killed over 300 people. Now that's what I call an angry mob! A soccer player runs more than 6 miles every game! Colombian soccer fans brought their friend's dead body and coffin to a soccer match as a way to send him off in one final memory.In 1966, the World Cup trophy was stolen and later found by a dog days before the tournament began. 13 years later, the cup was stolen again in Rio De Janeiro. It has never been found.

Apparently, there are 32 hexagon patches on a traditional soccer ball. The story behind that is that there are 32 countries in Europe. Since Europe created soccer, it's only fair for them to do this. Did you know that soccer's original name was basketball because the goals used to be old wicker baskets. The Brazilian soccer player Pele has 6 toes on each foot! His nickname was "Six Feet." Every end of a soccer field has a 5 degree angle downward. The teams switch after halftime so the can get an even amount of time going uphill. A soccer ball is actually an oval! Now you know why you can never get the ball to stay if it's not on grass.

I think I've had enough facts, so why don't we talk about why soccer is my "dream sport" as they call it in every nation, except for American, which is the home of Baseball, Basketball, and American Football! Stubborn, just stubborn. So, Soccer is my favorite sport because it is energetic. People call soccer players "filed fairies" but it takes a lot of skill to play soccer. Here's the best part, rough play isn't allowed so even the smallest people can still be a pro soccer player. Don't believe me? Look at the Argentine Soccer Pro, Lionel Messi. He's 5' 7".

My second reseaon why I like soccer is that it creates a lot of team effort where everyone is important to the game. If someone isn't cooperating on your team, then it is most likely that your team isn't going to win the match. For example, you need the goalie to stay back and guard the goal. Defenders' jobs are to keep the ball from even reaching them. Attackers' jobs are to get the ball away from the opposing team and score. Even the sidelines have a job. Their job is to keep the ball from, going out on the sides or staying there when nobody is around to defend.

My third and final reason is that soccer is about your thirst for energy and non-stop fun. It is also about fairness. Like everything in life, there are rules to it. My favorite rule about soccer is "No Rough Play." It's my favorite because I am short for my age, which is now 13. Even though most people will still ignore it, it brings peace to my mind to know that people are being fair to everybody and some people will listen and follow the rule. That is the kind of person I will play with. That is the true meaning of fairness and equality.