Being a sports fan, I admit my first love was basketball. But I have found a second love: football. Not American football. But the real football. The beautiful game. And mind you, it’s not because the Azkals skyrocketed to fame. It was way before that. If I remember right, it was at the same time a certain Lionel Messi started tearing up Nou Camp grass with Ronaldinho and Sam Eto’o.
Lionel Messi (AP photo)
I don’t know, but I really am hooked. Most Pinoys didn’t give a damn or two about football. And I know why. You don’t score enough. Come on, you read scorelines of 2-0, 1-0, 0-0 and they say that’s a good game already. Most Pinoy fans outside of Barotac Nuevo rue the “slowness” of the game. They don’t see the 22 players on the field dribble the ball by bouncing it, show off their athletic prowess and boast of it everytime they put the ball through the net. To the common Juan, the 11 players on each side just do two things: kick the ball and pass, pass, pass.
Those two things are my reasons why the game is beautiful to me. Come to think of it, basketball is a hell lot easier compared to football. Why? You use your hands in basketball. It is easy enough to control the basketball with your hands, which you can hold, and with your whole body. But it’s a whole different world for football. You can’t just grab the ball with your feet can you? Not to mention, the “dribble” in football is a tad bit hard when you don’t have the skills for it, when you can just overkick the ball that you lose control and the other side will just tackle you and disposses you.
It is such a beauty to see players with immense ball control using only their feet and of course, amazing passes, through balls, lobs, which are done without your hands touching the ball. That enamored me. And the style of FC Barcelona is the epitome of it all for me. Pass, pass, pass and more passing. Once Barcelona unrolls the tiki-taka brand of football they employ, you are just left mesmerized on the screen and before you know it, Messi has charged down the middle and chipped the ball in beautifully with both grace and power.
I’m very grateful for AKTV since they started airing games from three of the top football leagues in Europe: Barclays English Premier League, LaLiga and the Bundesliga of Germany. Sure, the games are delayed, but this is an improvement regarding football games here in the country. I would surely want to see some UEFA action, but that would come in time. For now, I beg MVP and AKTV, more Messi and more football please!