The Most Beautiful Game in The World

The Most Beautiful Game in The World

                                                            By: Ryan Richards

            What do you value most in life? Probably your family, friends, life itself, whatever the case may be you hold that thing on a high enough pedestal that if it were taken off it would affect you in some way. For a select few what they have on their pedestal is the honor of representing their country. Ways in which one can represent their country is through the Olympics where gifted athletes from around the world compete at the highest level for bragging rights every four years. A sport such as soccer, which is the most popular sport in the world, is part of Olympic play and also has its own tournaments such as the illustrious FIFA World Cup (Federation Internationale de Football Association) & FIFA Confederations Cup etc.

 As soccer players, you play for your club team every year and you play for your national team every two to four years depending on the tournament. During these times that they play for their country, they without hesitation put their club season on hold to put on a show for their fellow countrymen while having serious aspirations of taking home the trophy at the end of it. Legends of the game such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Ronaldhino and many others cemented their legacies as soccer’s elites by performing at the highest level on this world stage. Playing in the FIFA World Cup itself is an accomplishment to many players and something they could’ve never imagined. “I think the World Cup is the very best competition in terms of the feelings and emotions that it generates; if you haven't played in it, you can't know exactly what it means.” Said Algeria and West Ham United winger Sofiane Feghouli when asked about the importance of the FIFA World Cup.

“The World Cup is a very important way to measure the good players, and the great ones. It is a test of a great player,” said Brazilian soccer legend Pele on his view on the World Cup. To be considered one of the greats to ever play the game of soccer one would have to either win a World Cup Championship for their country or at least play very well in every world cup you participate in. The World Cup consists of six matches, seven if you make it to the final, and if you lose a game you are not guaranteed to still be able to win the tournament. You can be at the top of your game and still be on the losing end of the tournament. A Prime example of this happened in the last World Cup in 2014 with the one and only Lionel Messi. In seven appearances for Argentina Messi scored four goals and assisted on two. Though Messi didn’t score the most goals in the tournament his goals came at times where Argentina needed them. With his team underperforming and not healthy Messi willed his team to the final but ultimately came up short as the headlines went from how Argentina couldn’t do anything without Messi to how Messi came up short once again in the World Cup.

 From coming up short for your country to tasting glory as the clock hits over the 90^th minute as the head referee blows his whistle. In Cristiano’s Hall of Fame caliber career, he just like Lionel Messi, hasn’t been able to win a trophy for his country.  That’s what current soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo did with his national team Portugal in the European championship in the summer of 2016. In 7 appearances Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals and assisted on three more. As every goal that Portugal scored in that tournament reached the back of the net it had Cristiano Ronaldo’s footprints all over it. The impact he had on Portugal was something never before seen as he single handedly got his team to the championship match where he was able to will his team by not being on the field.

Cristiano Ronaldo went down twice with a knee injury early in the first half of the match and as seen in the pictures above he realized the second time he went down that his hopes of getting a trophy for his beloved country Portugal might have just went out the window. The tears running down his face, the look in his eyes, his teammates and coaches’ eyes; they all shared the same feeling. As the second half started you didn’t see Ronaldo pouting on the bench wishing he were out there playing with his fellow countrymen; he was hobbling up and down the sidelines with his head coach cheering and directing his team to a 1-0 victory in extra time as seen in the pictures below.

There is a certain feeling about winning the World Cup or even winning any event for your country, something you can’t describe but wish to experience. Mazin Khalil, class of 2015 graduate of trinity college who played soccer in college and now is a founder of a young male empowering group, in my opinion said it best when it comes to how important the world cup and other world soccer tournaments are to players. “The World Cup is where national heroes are made and where national heroes are destroyed because of their inability to carry their teams.”