What is the charm of football, known as the world’s number one sport?

Football, known as "the world's first sport", is still the most influential single sport in the global sports world so far. A standard football match consists of two teams each sending 10 players and 1 goalkeeper, with 11 players competing and attacking on a rectangular grass pitch.

The FIFA World Cup (FIFA World Cup), referred to as the "World Cup", is the highest honor, highest standard, highest competitive level, and highest visibility football competition in the world. Together with the Olympic Games, it is known as the two most important sports events in the world. It is the world's largest sports event with top-level events, influence and broadcast coverage exceeding the Olympic Games.

Modern football originated in England and is a sport that developed rapidly with modern industrial civilization. Since the day it was born, it has won the love of the people with its own unique charm. The British may not have expected that their strong ships and cannons once cruised the world but failed to conquer the world, and their modern Football has conquered the world in just one hundred years and made countless people crazy about it. Among the many games that showcase human physique and skills, what makes football the number one sport in the world? What is its soul-stirring charm?

“Football is war.”

——At the press conference after defeating old enemy Germany in the 1988 European Cup, Dutch national team coach Rinus Michels ( Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (February 9, 1928 - March 3, 2005) enthusiastically told visiting reporters. This sentence, like Total Football (Total Football) created by Michels, will remain in the history of football forever, and it has also become a footnote to the great charm of football.

Every boy probably had a similar game when he was a child: using soldier models, chess pieces, building blocks, or anything else to simulate a huge war, with two armies facing each other on the floor. Occupying the high ground on the sofa and having a decisive battle in bed... This grand narrative is a romantic sentiment that will never go out of style for every man. When boys grow up, this kind of war feelings will often be pinned on games. Among many war-like games, football is undoubtedly the most legendary.

Modern football has developed a strong sense of ritual during its long-term development, far exceeding any other collective confrontation sport. Walking out of the locker room in a procession, with ball boys accompanying the team, lining up on the court to listen to the national anthem, exchanging team flags, etc., there is a sense of solemnity before a classic war.

The aristocratic ceremony in which the two armies separate is a simulation of classical warfare

The shortcomings are interpreted to the extreme

Football is a sport full of shortcomings. This is like the beauty of Venus's broken arm.

Football is a game that is played within 90 minutes and has few goals. This determines that football is composed of a large number of passing errors (steals, balls going out of bounds) and failed shots. A 0-0 game is often lackluster.

This is hard to imagine for many other sports - for example, it is difficult for basketball fans to understand how football fans can endure only watching two or three goals in 90 minutes, or even less; in fact, in football The large number of shortcomings in the long confrontation in the game is what can best arouse the emotions of the audience. The process of organizing an offense is longer and more complicated than in basketball: it is also like a battle of wits and courage, in which personal ability And the embodiment of collective wisdom is worth recalling.

The people involved in the football match (22 people), space (the length of the international competition venue is 100-110m, the width is 64-75m), time (90min) and technical movements (any part of the body except the arms can The permutations and combinations of elements such as touching the ball are almost as endless as the game of Go. Therefore, it is difficult for you to find two completely identical games. This is actually the charm of this sport.

Football requires not only using the feet to support the body and maintaining balance, but also using various movements to control the football, and limits the functions of the hands and arms, the most dexterous and controllable organs of human beings ( Of course, it also highlights the role of the head), and the convex surface of the foot is in contact with the convex surface of the ball to control the ball. Therefore, the technical difficulty coefficient is very high. If other factors (goalkeeper, offside) are superimposed under the strong interference of confrontation, then it can Completing a wonderful pass and shooting is not easy in itself. Football is a sport where the feet dominate the ball. The feet are one of the clumsiest parts of the human body, however, the sport of football maximizes the functions of the feet.

Not only that, football uses many more body parts than other sports. The head, chest, thighs and other parts can be used to control the ball, and the five basic skills are stopping, passing, passing, dribbling and shooting. , each item is easy to learn but difficult to master. From this perspective, football is a difficult physical art.

Football is greatly affected by the environment. Home and away games are very different. The turf and size of different venues will be different. More importantly, no matter it is windy, rainy or snowy, as long as it is not too serious, the game must be normal. Held, this requires players to have a strong ability to adapt to the environment and even use natural conditions to achieve their goals.

Luck is a part of football, especially the penalty shootout, which challenges psychological endurance rules. To participate in football, you must face the existence of luck and dare to stand on the roulette wheel and gamble. Luck is experienced. To the cruelty and wonder of fate.

On July 14, 1994, after Baggio missed a penalty kick in the World Cup final in the United States

From tactics to strategy

The football field is too big, and It is a "large army battle", with 22 people fighting on the field at the same time. This is unmatched by other sports, so football pays great attention to tactical formations. Depending on the staffing of defenders, midfielders, and forwards, there are various tactical formations, and adjustments must be made in time according to the actual situation of the opponent during the game. The Hungarian's WM formation, the Brazilian's 4-2-4 formation, the Dutch's total offense and defense formation, and the Spaniard's passing and ball control (TIKI-TAKA) tactical system have continued to evolve, with short passes for penetration and long passes for lobs. , side-center cooperation, long-range shots to grab points, set kicks, etc. emerge in endlessly.

The coach's command method during the game is relatively simple - substitutions (and there are only 3 places), so there must be sufficient preparation before the game. If the team has internal evidence, it will be difficult to win the game, and slight coordination errors may become a hidden danger of failure.

"...In contrast, the study of the relationship between civilizations in the universe may be more quantitative and mathematical, because the long distance between the stars makes each civilization point-like. , just like watching football in the last row of the stadium, the complex technical movements of the players themselves have been hidden by the distance, and what appears on the field is only an ever-changing matrix composed of twenty-three points (one special point is the ball, Among ball sports, only football has such a clear mathematical structure, which may also be one of the charms of this sport."

——Liu Cixin

June 2002. On the 4th, in the second match of Group C of the World Cup in Gwangju, South Korea, players from both sides fought hard in the game. The Chinese team lost to Costa Rica 0-2 in the first match

King of War

< p>The reason why football shocks the whole world, "There is no other competitive sport among all sports, is because it simulates the largest attack behavior to the greatest extent - war." Football is almost the most similar to war. People like to watch "war" and watch football, just as news about wars in reality attracts people's attention. Football is sometimes associated with politics, religion, ethnicity, race and even real wars. It can open up another "battlefield". For example, the "British-Arab War", the United States versus Iran and the China-Japan match never require mobilization.

No other sport has as much cohesion as football. It is said that it is a war in peacetime because there is no smoke in the war here. The war it reflects is different from the war in the traditional sense.

The fierce competition in football has long made people associate it with war, consciously or unconsciously. The match between the two teams has been described as a battle between the two armies. The players on the field are heroic soldiers and the coaches are Chinese military accountants. It is a commander, and the combat orders it issues include defensive counterattacks, attacks in the east and west, crosses from the bottom, etc.; the forward is a sharp knife for attacking cities and removing obstacles, and charging into the battle is its duty; the rear guard is an engineer, performing mine clearance tasks; it is located in the midfield The advance guard must delay the attack when retreating and deliver artillery shells when advancing, which is the hub of the battle. The two armies are facing each other, and as the battle progresses, smoke will inevitably break out.

The stadium is the battlefield, where coaches and team members plan their tents and battle wits and courage. The players' competitive ability, referee level, coach's commanding ability, and environment are the main factors that determine the victory of the war. At the same time, there are many unpredictable factors that will produce unexpected results on the outcome of the war.

Modern war is an economic war of attrition. Without a strong economic backing, one cannot withstand the consumption of war. The outcome of the war has an extremely huge impact on both warring parties. In recent years, such as the United States and Iran, war, the Kosovo War and other wars. The development of football has become more and more integrated with the economic strength of the country. There are many countries where the development of football is affected by the economy, even football powers such as Argentina and Brazil.

In recent years, the domestic economic downturn in Argentina and Brazil has caused a large outflow of football talents, which has had a lot of negative impacts on their respective leagues. Football is affected by the economy, but it also affects the economy. The football industry has become one of the pillar industries in many countries. In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, England defeated Germany with a goal scored by Beckenbauer at the last moment. According to expert estimates, this goal was worth The football will generate 100 million pounds in revenue for England; China's victory in the top ten will not only bring unlimited business opportunities to Chinese football, but also bring unlimited business opportunities to the World Cup host country.

Today, when football is highly integrated with the economy, the talent war waged by clubs around their stars and the business war surrounding football are another war without smoke outside the football stadium.

But on the other hand, football must be pure, and its purity comes from the divinity of sports. FIFA clearly stipulates that political slogans are not allowed at football matches and any political protests are prohibited. Football has nothing to do with politics.

In 2016, in an official warm-up match before the World Cup, all members of the Argentine team displayed a political slogan "The Malvinas Islands belong to Argentina" before the game. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to fine the Argentina national team 20,000 pounds and even considered banning Argentina from the 2016 Copa America.

Messi led Argentina to the runner-up spot in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, narrowly missing the Hercules Cup

Football: a fairy tale for adults

With the rapid growth of the economy and the increasingly narrow urban space, the pressure of human survival continues to increase, politics has gradually faded out of people's sight, and new demands for pure folk carnival are quietly brewing. It is this social background that has opened up space, and a large number of carnival activities with hidden commercial motives have gradually appeared. The World Cup is undoubtedly such a stage. Television creates a kind of hyperreality for us by editing, dramatizing and misinterpreting the world.

"Because they themselves derive from the appearance of television", they appear more real than reality: they methodically juxtapose the inferential patterns and informational meanings that constitute the medium, resulting in a complete editing of the world and interpretive systems.

Today, there are only two camps left in Western outdoor collective carnivals: football and music. Other forms have withdrawn due to political and social implications, but are getting closer and closer to what Bakhtin said. Free and uninhibited, revelers become their own heroes off the stage. Bakhtin believes that carnival is a folk festival life and a second life composed of humorous elements. Happiness and freedom are the essence of folk carnival.

In sharp contrast, carnival activities under official organization are in Bakhtin’s eyes. Carnival under official will is related to institutional order and hierarchy, and its purpose is to create inequality and sanctification. Such a purpose is completely opposite to the nature of folk carnivals. Spontaneous folk carnivals pursue freedom and equality, and the objects and subjects of carnival behaviors are praised by the public. This is an insurmountable gap in the era of pan-entertainment.

The agenda setting theory of communication studies believes that although the media cannot determine what people think, it can determine what people think. The Frankfurt School's criticism of the cultural industry believes that the cultural industry combines advanced technology in the form of organization, such as factory assembly lines, to produce a large number of standardized products, most of which have the same content and structure. These products replicate existing social relations and are based on leisure Entertainment numbs public consciousness and satisfies false needs.

The confrontation and contingency of football create dramatic conflicts and suspense. At the same time, due to its unified industrialization model and competitive rules, it provides excellent material for the production of formulaic texts for mass media. The media constructs football into a modern myth by setting public issues and creating dreams. The contingency of football covers up everything. The audience thinks that what they are interpreting is a personalized and autonomous media text, and they are always crazy.

Popular culture not only provides a space for polar opposites, but also builds an ever-rising chain between the two poles, allowing us to rise from a low point to a high point, making people feel that there is an opportunity to start from now. All statuses jump to higher social status, and at different levels, you can find corresponding cultural support. When civilianization is combined with the principle of social distinction, it constitutes the internal operating rules of popular culture.

In the depths of our hearts, we all yearn for a mythical realm. It is the myths left to us by popular culture that satisfy the subconscious needs deep in our hearts. Football is full of the beauty of conflict and suspense, confrontation and contingency, power and speed. The audience saw the players' fierce and almost animalistic and flexible movements with primitive beauty through the TV screen, and gained great sensory satisfaction.

At the same time, media culture creates another kind of fantasy to provide psychological compensation to the audience. The seemingly never-ending story of the green forest where the savior rides alone to conquer the city satisfies the heroic complex deep in people's hearts.

To make all living beings who live in the ordinary real world every day feel physically and mentally happy and eliminate the stress. The process and results of the football game trigger the audience's illusion of autonomy. The conflict between the stars and the obstacles on the field has actually become real life. The transformation of the self and external obstacles? The sensationalist style of writing is popular in sports reporting, which is capable of stimulating the screams of human nature and emotions. It has become one of the main means of the media to create dreams. The conquered audience has gained a great deal from the story. Great pleasure and psychological satisfaction, fantasy also gives football endless charm.

Roland Barthes calls this process "naturalization", that is, turning things that originally belong to the cultural category into the natural attributes of objects. Roland Barthes believes that the production of symbolic meaning creates myth, meaning is the myth itself, and cultural symbols connect forms and concepts.

"The charm of football is irresistible. I quickly integrated into this sport, and I immediately found an incomparable and wonderful feeling that seemed to be innate to me.

p>

Yes, on the football field, long-distance running allows people to enjoy the joy of lightning speed;

You can sprint, stop suddenly, turn around, dribble, and pass people, Attack the city all the way, and then quickly take a shot;

You can drop your feet and dribble the ball in the midfield, while capturing any fleeting moment on the field, and then quickly distribute and pass the ball, Launch a fatal blow;

You can also be like an iron gate in the backcourt, blocking the eye and blocking the enemy thousands of miles away; you can fight one-on-one, or attack in groups, or in groups And block it;

You can attack the east and attack the west, or you can attack the east and west. Sometimes, a look or a gesture may change the situation on the court;

This is a A sport for brave men,

it is also a battle between wise men.

I sometimes think,

It is simply like a war.

It is a perfect combination of physical strength, intelligence and technology

——Sun Jihai's "My Sun"