I admit I played as a kid, been to a NASL game (Jacksonville Tea Men) forgot who they played all I know is Jax won 2-1. But throught the 80's and 90's and until the 2006 World Cup, soccer never really had me as a fan. As luck would have it. I work evenings so I was able to watch nearly every match played. But I will never forget the moment when soccer gained me as a fan and soccer became a game I must watch. It was the Round of 16 match between Argentina and Mexico when Maxi Rodriguez scored that amazing goal. Now remember, at this point I am just a casual observer of the sport, but when he scored I jumped out of my couch and screamed "WHAT A GOAL!!!!!!!!" I knew I has just witnessed a spectacular finish, and from that moment one I was not a casual observer but a true fan of the game. Now, what did it for you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS8lNmJTHnk THIS GAME DID IT FOR ME. AS A 12 YEAR OLD THAT DAY, I KNEW WHAT A MIRACLE WAS.....
Wow! Thanks for sharing the video! That was a nice goal. And great idea on the video. Here's what got me hooked on the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgGMXq0XuDw
I played for 15 years and went to NASL games as a kid too...but I really didn't get it until watching Denilson and Brazil in 1998, unlike anything I'd seen before...eye-opening.
USA vs Germany Quarterfinal, intense match...5 am in the morning. Acually AC Milan vs Liverpool 2005 CL Final Istanbul, Liverpools 3 goal comeback...It was some entertaining history, i watched every minute of that game, on that wonderful Spring day.
1986 World Cup. I was in the USAF stationed in Gerrmany at the time, and had been there for a couple of years already. I went to maybe a dozen or so Kaiserslautern games, and started to play in little pick up games down by the Moselle River, but what solidified it for me was watching the games from Mexico in my favorite bar with my German friends.
I grew up playing soccer but it still never had a grip on me as I was a basketball, baseball, and football player as well. Soccer didn't take ahold of me until I was an adult. World Cup 2002 when Landon Donovan hit that diving header against Mexico and yanked his shirt off and slid on his knees I was right there with him shirt off swinging it over my head.
Watched soccer off and on over the years, WC2002 is what got me hooked, and after seeing my first WCQ in person, I was lost for the rest of my life!
Never played organized soccer as a kid and never had any family that followed the sport. The US WC in 94 turned me into a fan. As soon as I saw the sport I fell in love and it has been a lovely affair ever since(uck that was corny ).After that I started playing in the streets of Queens and following the USMNT,MLS,and other leagues.
Grew up on soccer, watching Dallas Tornadoes and Kyle Rote Jr. But the defining moment for me was Paul Caliguri's "Shot heard 'round the wordl" in the 1990 WCC against Trinidad in Trinidad. Still hard to believe it was on TV, must have been a slow sports day......great game, great day, great sport!
June 18, 1975 - the day I attended Pele's first regular season game with the Cosmos at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island. I had grown up playing soccer in my backyard and on family outings. And I even had gone to the Maracana Stadium in 1971 for crying out loud! But 6/18/75 was the day it all came to fruition for me. I've been a fan ever since! And I love it!
For me, easy. 1978 World Cup. Gigantic closed circuit television feed, LA Sports Arena, Spain v. I don't recall. But I do recall the atmosphere and the Spanish keeper making these incredible -total horizonal-suspended in time saves, which were showed in slow motion over and over. I was hooked.
I played soccer when I was younger even was on varsity for all 4 years in high school but was never really a big fan of watching it. 2002 World Cup was amazing, I stayed up all night every night and watched every game. I wasn't really "hooked" yet though. Two years later, in February 2004, I was in a computer lab class in college. The lab had just ended and I was just casually browsing the internet to kill time before I had to go to my next class. For some reason I decided to look at the FIFA page and I saw that World Cup Qualifying (for Germany 2006) was going to begin in CONCACAF in just a few days. I looked into 2006 qualifying and saw how big it is - that EVERY country in the world competes, and it takes over TWO YEARS to complete... and was amazed. I followed every single game in that first round... Anguilla's stunning draw against Dominican Republic, Bermuda's 13 goal win over Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles overcoming a 0-2 loss in the first leg to win 3-2 on aggregate... AWESOME. Then I found out USA was playing Grenada down in Columbus... only 4 hours away from my house. I got tickets and went, even though I couldn't get any of my friends to come with me. I sat in Sam's Army and we cheered and sang the whole game. Grenada fought so bravely to 0-0 heading into first half stoppage time when Beasley finally scored. USA scored two more (Beasley and Vanney) in the 2nd half to win 3-0. After that, I was completely hooked. I got tickets to the rest of the USA qualifying games in Columbus (vs Jamaica and vs Mexico!!) and have been a huge fan of the sport ever since.
Easy 2006 FA Cup Final West Ham- Liverpool. Two days before my high school graduation I was hanging out with some guys who were on the soccer team and there was nothing on tv so they turned to FSC and a rerun of the FA Cup Finals was on. The goals leading up to the end of regulation were good. But the minute Gerrards shot left his foot from way outside the box and ripped into the back of the net in the 90th i was hooked.
I was 9 years old playing in my local AYSO league. the previous 2 years I played I scored one or two goals a year, jumped in a lot of mud puddles, and looked forward to the capri sun after the game. Lets just say I wasn't too thrilled with soccer. Than my Grandpa proposed tp pay me a dollar for every goal I scored. I guess the money got to me and I ended up scoring around 18-20 goals as a 9 year old. Oh and my grandpa also stopped paying me after that season for fear of losing too much money lol. I continued to play organized soccer ever since up until this year as I didn't tryout for my college team
1990. Italy v Ireland Quarterfinal on TNT. Had some friends that played soccer and wouldn't shut up about this World Cup thing and then I started watching with them. I remember Zenga made a great save off Houghton (I believe) and I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. Soccer was completely foreign to me at this point Picked up soccer and played/watched ever since...
I'm a convert. Grew up playing basketball and baseball. I was pretty good in basketball and played a little college ball. I first began watching the 1998 WC and was entertained. 2002 was more interesting because our US team made it to the QF. At most I was considered a casual fan up until 2006. I took a trip to China during May of 2006. Everywhere I went there were billboards of two players, but didn't know who they were. Those billboards were on every corner of China. They were Nike billboards that said "joga bonito." When I got back home I looked up who those players were and they were Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Saw clips of Ronaldinho and with an untrained eye, it was pretty obvious that he was a great player. Because of Ronaldinho I began following the 2006 WC pretty religiously and completely enjoyed the experience so much that I decided to try the game and began playing soccer in pick up leagues. It was soon after I started and learned the details of the game that I realized I was intended to play this game. I was hooked and soccer is all I think about now. I am so used to the pace of the game that I can't watch the NFL and MLB anymore and can only watch big basketball games. My friends can't understand why I can't watch these sports anymore. For the first time in my life I was oblivious to this year's NFL season. Part of my addiction to soccer comes to the realization that I probably would have become a better soccer player than I was a basketball player. I always had good court vision for basketball and soccer is no different for me. In 6 months of play against average competition, I have accumulated 6 goals and probably more than 10 assists for goals. I truly love picking defenses apart. There is no better feeling. I am now 32 years old and in soccer terms, I'm past my prime. I'm a little irked that while growing up, soccer was really not an option for me. I just have this gut feeling that I would have been very good in soccer had I began playing as a kid.
January 1996. I started getting into it during WC94. But in late '95, I went to Guinea in the Peace Corps. In Jan. '96, I watched nearly every match of that year's African Cup of Nations with a bunch of Guineans. Even just watching at a restaurant or at the cinema house, the atmosphere was electric... and Guinea didn't even make that tournament!!! Sadly, I couldn't watch the final because we were holed up in a diplomat's house because there was a coup attempt that weekend. But I still remember Egypt-Cameroon of that tournament being one of the best matches I've ever watched.
I am just like you and, ironically, the exact same age as you. I absolutely love how soccer games go on for 45-50 minutes straight, takes a 15-minute break and then plays for another 45-50 minutes. Baseball is my second favorite sport but it keeps on falling further and further behind soccer - I just feel like I'm wasting my time when I watch a baseball game while soccer is non-stop for less than two hours. As for my answer to the question, definitely Paul Caligiuri's "shot heard around the world." http://youtube.com/watch?v=ymQ-fIwVnV8 I remember watching that game as a 14-year-old and the moment that shot went in, I was jumping up and down, screaming, and have been hooked on the sport ever since.
Ronaldinho was my inspiration (not afraid to admit it). This did it for me. I had never seen anything like it before. It was like a dream (sounds kind of cheesy). [youtube]<object width="425" height="373"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M3qMxYINgNc&rel=0&color1=0xd6d6d6&color2=0xf0f0f0&border=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M3qMxYINgNc&rel=0&color1=0xd6d6d6&color2=0xf0f0f0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"></embed></object>[/youtube]
Hey, that goal broke the camel's hump for me too!! It was the goal of the WC for a reason, and I'm sure it converted a few casuals into obsessed fanatics
I've said the same thing for a few years now. When you try to explain this, people will just look at you like your just a Soccer snob that isn't willing to watch other sports. It's not true, I have tried very hard to keep watching American Football to at least be up with the water cooler/office talk. I always found myself turning the channel and then when I realized I'm supposed to watch the game, I'd turn it back. The effort was futile, so I have given up trying to follow the NFL. I still love to play Football and Basketball but Ive stopped following both sports. This from a person who during my teen years was a die hard NFL fan(Dolphins), Boston Celtics fan and NY Met fan. I collected baseball cards and football cards followed the same sports path as most Americans at the time. I am in the same boat as you. I'd rather watch the game I really enjoy watching more than the others, than to force myself to watch what everybody else does just because everybody else is watching it. Of course, there are people here on BS who will bash this type of attitude for whatever reason. To each his own.
I completely agree. A long time ago, I just decided that I was going to follow the sport that I liked the most and if others want to join me, great, and if not, so be it.