Quick… what is the most played organized sport in Canada? The world? Could they be the same? Why yes, it is. Football. Or as Opi, my grandfather would say, Fußball (the “ß” character is pronounced like a double “s”).
Unfortunately, popular though it may be, we aren’t really that good at it. As a nation, we grow our boys and girls to become hockey players. Soccer is just off season conditioning a thing for soccer moms to do. An advertisement for mini vans.
I never really appreciated Opi’s love for the sport. Omi loved the market, Opi his Saturday games. I remember as a really young guy, picking up his German magazines from the neighbourhood deli. One of them was always the football tabloid, jetted in from the old country.
Matt Good’s also a fan, and he’s found some time to write about Canada’s travails. I like this part:
There is no question that football is the world’s premier sport. It is played and watched by more people around the world on a yearly basis than most other major sports combined. That said, the failure of our U-20 squad in this tournament mustn’t be viewed as some grand failure or disgrace. We are not a football nation, nor have we ever been. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that we never will be. That is not to say that we have not produced some world class players in our time, but, in truth, their exploits got largely unnoticed overseas for the most part and they often find themselves struggling when they return home to play for the national side because the quality is simply not the same.
Doesn’t mean we weren’t any less schooled, though.
I wonder if Matt’s watching in the States, and if they are giving the FIFA U-20 the same coverage as we are up here?