Globalization of Soccer

The Creation

Soccer dates as far back as 2500BC with the Greeks, Egyptians and Chinese playing a foot based game involving a ball. Some games included possessing the small ball longer than the other team would. The Chinese seemed to have the first modern type version of the game and called this ‘Tsu-Chu’ or ‘kick ball’. The group credited for this was the Tsin Dynasty (255-206BC) where the soldiers would play a training activity where a leather ball was kicked into a net strung between two poles. The only difference was that the new was strung 30 feet from the floor. So our modern game that many people have come to love dates back almost 4600 thousand years ago.

Soccer Since Then

Soccer has come a long way in 4600 years. Soccer now is the most popular sport among the world. The biggest event in all of soccer is the World Cup, which happens every four years and in a different country every time. The first official World Cup took place in 1930 in Urugay. This was made because the 1932 Olympics did not include soccer so they made the World Cup. Uruguay, who was the best at the time, won the tournament beating Argentina 4-2 and became the first official team to win the World Cup. The World Cup has evolved into now the most watched sporting event ever. Over 1 billion people tuned into the 2014 World Cup Final with Germany facing Argentina. Germany won the game in the 112’ with a goal scored by the late substitution in that of Mario Götze. That was the game winning goal that won Germany the World Cup. Argentina played well against them. Argentina does have one of the best players in the World, which is Lionel Messi. He led his team to the World Cup Final but it just wasn’t enough. There are also trophies that teams can win. Every country has their own leagues and the winners at the end of the season get a trophy. There is also the UEFA Champions League which is the biggest team tournament in Europe and all around the world. FC Barcelona has recently won the UEFA Champions League and completed the "treble" which means they won the three biggest trophies a team can win in one season. They became the only team in history to get two trebles.

Everyone has their opinions in every sport of who the best players of all time are. For soccer there have been so many great players and if you were to see these players play in some of their finest games you would be truly amazed and impressed with these men. Every ere has had their best and some teams have always stood out such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and many others. Some of these players have set records in scoring, appearances, assists and wins. Many factors go into deciding who the best players of all time are. The Ballon D'or is the award given to the player who has played the best during that season. Before the Ballon D'or, the FIFA Player of the Year award was given out. That is the highest individual honor that someone could get, but the best player should also be a leader and get other awards for their team such as a World Cup victory or a UEFA Champions League trophy. 

My Top 5 Players of All Time

1. Lionel Messi

2. Pele

3. Cristiano Ronaldo

4. Ronaldinho

5. Thierry Henry

Best Players and Goals (Video)

Sources
http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/Soccer-History/a/Who-Invented-Soccer.htm
http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/history/first-fifa-world-cup.html