Soccer is the biggest global sport and a top sport in all countries measured, as well as the dominant sport in South America, Europe and Africa. The world cup final is watched by an estimated 600 million people and the annual CL final by more than 300 million. More than 200 countries take part in the world cup qualifying. Has 5 of 10 worlds highest attended leagues and stars Messi and Ronaldo in top paid sportsmen. Most watched - the fan base of any sport all around the world is what actually makes it all important. The more the fans the more popular a sport is Revenue generation - so if a sport is very popular with a big and solid fan base, it generates revenue easily through watched games and promoting brands from big companies Most played - a sport is ultimately popular if it is played all over the world. Here I may like to categorically name them as global sports and regional sports, the latter referring to sports that are popular in a confined region, country of a continent. Soccer class the first place that's the reason why is it the best . source : http://www.sportsoce.com/2016/04/reason-why-soccer-is-best-sport-in-world.html
It was an inexpensive sport. On practing all you need is a ball and a wall and an imagination and you can practice all day long even by yourself. I think we oue it to players to keep it that way. So it is not just a sport for well off white kids. It is a sport where the players do the thinking, not the coaches. When I was young I played two sports soccer and American football. My relatively normal side loved soccer. While the like to hurt people side of my personality loved American football. Hardly ever watch American football now. I did see the last super bowl to see Atlanta fold like a dead fish in the second half.
In the old days it was a very inexpensive sport. Not many coaches had coaching licenses, they were all ethnic and they were current or older players. They coached for free they thought it was an honor to coach for their club. The adult players either played for free or got paid per game from the club.
You don't need a soccer ball. Cans, balloons, tennis ball, papier mache, old rags, your mother's panty hose, plastic bags, balls of string, fruit, other balls (baseballs, basketballs, volleyballs, pretty much anything that's round or can be made into something round.
When I was a pre-teen, my friends and I used to have 1-on-1 tournaments on our neighborhood streets using crushed aluminum cans as 'balls', the width of the street acting as the small 'field' with the gutters being the goals. The gutters were roughly three inches high x 2-3 feet wide cut into the sidewalk curbs and also had grates in front where the cans could slip down into (which counted as legit goals). Loads of fun.
Oh, because kicking a flat crushed aluminum can into the gutter can feel like this which is why soccer is the best sport in the world.
You got that out of "loads of fun", huh? Eh, like I said I was a pre-teen. All I did was give an example of how simple the sport can be. No different than your words, sir. If you feel my example was out of line feel free to report my post.
My point was meant to be, yes, right on, that's it, that's why soccer is the best in the world, yes, it's that simple, thanks for the example, I couldn't agree with you more, yeah!
The core of why the game is the best is because it captures the imagination. Fans relate to it because most of them have played the game as kids. Soccer does something to the brain for a kid and once you have the virus it stays for life. It's the perfect game for kids because it is the most active and best suited for the infinite energy you have at that age. The game appeals to the limitless imagination of youth. And the simplicity of it means that it's always accessible. The game can be played with any number of friends, even by yourself. On any surface, indoors, outdoors and any weather.
A simple game which anybody can play. Its that appeal which makes soccer purely the world's greatest game. The best player in soccer is truely the world's best player as a result. Sports that have lesser brand recognition world wide may have best players too - but are they really the world's best (or world-class) if very few people actually even play the game or even understand the game in some case?
It doesn't require much equipment, but I wouldn't say "anybody can play." How many people can run 10 kilometers per game plus however much running and exercise is done practicing? If you looked at the most common 15 year age range for professional soccer players, and evaluated all the men in the world plus women who have not been prevented from being an athlete due to their gender, what percent of the people in the world could run 5 kilometers in 45 minutes, take 15 minutes off, and run 5 kilometers in 45 minutes again? I couldn't run that much. Maybe most people could run enough to play for 30 minutes informally with their friends (possibly without referees), but running for 90 minutes is hard.
There are numerous variations of the sport. Not all require running 10k in 90 minutes. Plus you're quoting stats that the top professionals put up. No-one is running 10k in a friendly match played in the local park. But to answer your question I think pretty much anyone can run 8-10k in 90 minutes with a bit of training. I mean pretty much anyone can run half a marathon with a bit of training and that's over 20k.