FOOTBALL : THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Hey there Charlie, yeah I know I haven't really been original on this one. I saw an recent article on the history around football, but I thought maybe I could add on to it with another view of the sport. 

 "Football is an art, just like dancing is an art, but only when it's well done does it become an art" - Arsène Wenger

Football is THE sport, it is the most watched, the most played, and the most popular sport worldwide. It was created in December 1860 in England, but you can see more about that in another blog: "FOOTBALL : THE ORIGINS".

Football is a sport that got so popular in the recent century that some fans consider it their religion, unfortunately it has caused many riots, and fights, on and off the pitch between players, and between fans due to big club rivalries. The most well-known rivalries in football are : 

Partizan Belgrad VS Red Star Belgrad - in Serbia

Lazio Roma VS A.S Roma - in Italy

Manchester United VS Liverpool F.C - in England

and the most popular : 

F.C Barcelona VS Real Madrid - in Spain

FCB vs RMA is the most famous rivalry in football history, it is over 115 years old. "El classico" is considered one of the biggest club football games in the world, and is among the most viewed annual sporting events. Not only are Madrid and Barcelona the two biggest cities in Spain with opposing political positions, but the two teams are also two of the best in the world, in 2014 Forbes ranked Barcelona and Real Madrid the world's two most valuable sports teams: more than enough reason for a rivalry.

 Thankfully, most of the time the rivalries are friendly, and are just the result of some excessive fans. By the way fun fact, the most enthusiastic football fans in Europe are the Dortmund fans in Germany, and our very own Olympique de Marseille fans.

Football also gives place to beautiful moments, one of the greatest players of all time: Pélé a brazilian forward who played in the 1960s called football "the beautiful game". There are unique moments in international tournaments that are packed with emotion. For example, Lionel Messi the first time he missed a penalty, or Cristiano Ronaldo when he was sent off injured during the France vs Portugal Euro Final :

 

 The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is the organization that governs football and organises every four years, both mens and womens World Cup, arguably one of the greatest trophies a footballer can achieve. France is the current World champion but has only been two times, compared to four for Italy and Germany, or even five for Brazil.

 

I take it most of you have noticed that I have a preferance for a certain red and white North-London club.

The Arsenal (the Gunners) is one of the oldest clubs in england and the first in the south of england to join the league. They haven't been relegated in over 100 years. They have 14 F.A  cups, 13 league titles and 26 community shields. I must admit we might not be the best club in england, but we're certainly the best in north london as we outrank Tottenham almost all the time. Here's a nice arsenal picture to end the article :

 

Well that was my addition to the first football blog, thanks for reading and I hope we'll win the league this year !