Why Juan wouldn't play football ( or soccer )

Why Juan wouldn’t play football ( or soccer )

sonborj:

…Football on the other hand is not in our daily vocabulary. The only source of information that I had on this sport as a kid was from TV commercials. This sport is alien to us. If you’re not Pinoy, let me help you understand why.

Pinoys are Brown-Americans. Half a century after being colonized, we are still ardent immitators and followers of what our White brothers are doing. Football isn’t popular with us Pinoys because it isn’t popular in the States. Our tastes and preferences are heavily dictated by the tastes and preferences of the general American public.

Next, Pinoys are generally poor, and football is comparably more expensive than playing basketball. Football,to be played with gusto, would require a sturdy pair of shoes. Basketball on the other hand can be played even with just an old pair of slippers and you can still pick a fight due to the high level of competition in the streets.

But let us say the poor Pinoys got lucky and can now afford to buy those football shoes. The next problem is the playing field. The soccer fields in the Philippines are usually located inside the school campuses. Who would enroll in a school just to have access to the football field?

Now for discussion’s sake, let’s say we were able to create a make-shift football field in the streets with matching goal posts. Where will you get the other 21 players to play with? Or let’s tone that down, how about a football game with just 5 players each team? Still, you need to look for 9 players. That is very difficult in a country where knowledgeable players are from exclusive schools. Again the question comes, are you going to enroll in a school just to learn the basics of this game? Basketball in comparison again, can be played alone or with just a friend. I can’t even remember how many times I was not able to play in a basketball court because there were too many players available and only 10 are needed…. (FULL POST HERE)

I agree: Pinoys have been wired to love high-scoring, fast-paced games, no thanks to American colonization. In fact, I initially tried to understand football by putting it in the context of basketball:

penalty kick = free throw

free kick = turnover

yellow card = foul

red card = technical foul as in gitouttathiscourtboy!

offside = travelling (DISCLAIMER: sobrang magkaiba yan, kailangan ko lang ng reference)

stoppage time = overtime

There are still nuances in the sport that I still don’t get, but I’m getting there, at least.

But damn, the footwork, the runs, the hustle for the ball —- that alone is exciting already and I’m amazed how some don’t get the fun in it, or at least hindi mamangha sa kung paano makipagbunuan ang mga manlalaro GAMIT ANG PAA para sa bola. Siguro kasi laging naka-zoom out ang pitch?

There’s another beauty in football: walang bwakawan ng bola. Kung paanong kahit isa ang makakatira ng goal, hindi pwedeng maappreciate mo yung goal nang hindi iniisip ang teamwork that led to the score. At hindi lang striker ang bida; even the goalkeepers who guard the goalposts to keep the other team from scoring are heroes too.

Don’t get me wrong: I love watching both basketball and football. I’m just trying to make a case for football, a game always bullied around by Pinoys for being so, erm, foreign.

I want to clear up a few things about this post, though. For one thing, you don’t need expensive shoes to play football. If that were the case, how come a lot of African teams made it in this year’s World Cup? It’s a hit in a lot of impoverished countries just as it is a hit in a lot of G8 countries.

You worry about the shoes? Heck, you can play football in barefoot! Try mo lang mag-basketball ng nakayapak, ewan ko lang. At hindi rin laging kailangang full team kailangan mo para mag-practice, tulad nang hindi rin laging 6 kayo para magbasketball.

Back in high school we played what we called street soccer. The tennis court was our pitch, the ends of the court were our goals. You may argue, just as the post did, that I studied in a private school so we can play the sport —- after all, no serious public school can afford to have a tennis court.

Pero dude, let’s not be too Manila-centric, okay? Hindi buong Pilipinas ay Maynila. You’d be surprised at how many possible football pitches we can build all over the country. And last I heard, Ilonggos had once yielded a star waay before Ronaldo, Pele, Messi and Mueller (at talagang pinilit kong may taga-Germany ano, LOL).

But of course, nothing beats this improvised pitch.