Sports

Top 3 Reasons Why Filipinos Should Tune into the World Cup

FOOTBALL HAS DEEP ROOTS in Philippine history. Before the Americans taught us how to put a ball into a hoop, football was already introduced to us by Englishmen, as well as Filipinos who came home from studying in Hong Kong and China. Unfortunately, the sport wasn’t able to capture the hearts of Pinoys as much as basketball did, but it isn’t too late.

Over the last decade, the popularity of football in the Philippines has grown significantly. And although the country isn’t represented in the world cup, the tournament is a good chance for Filipinos to further familiarize themselves with the beautiful game. Here are three (3) reasons for you to tune in to the biggest sporting event of the year:

It’s a chance to relate more to the Azkals’ journey

The recent rise of football’s popularity in the Philippines can be attributed to the success of the Azkals, the Philippine National Football Team. For so long, the goal of the Azkals was to qualify for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which is where the Asian teams that are to compete in the FIFA World Cup are selected. There were many defeats and heartbreaks along the way, but they achieved that goal recently by defeating Tajikistan, 2-1, last March 27 to secure qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Watching the World Cup will give Filipinos a better perspective on how tough the competition is on the world stage, which hopefully gives a better perspective of the Azkals’ journey to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup. Aside from getting a peek at how big the football world is, tuning in to the tournament will also give Pinoys a glimpse of the passion football fans have when it comes to supporting their national teams — something Filipinos have no shortage of.

It’s a way to get immersed in ‘the beautiful game’

In a country where basketball is king, football will seem like a strange sport to many Filipinos. The way teams are constructed and how many players are in the game all at once, the rules when it comes to physicality, the slower pace — are all in stark contrast to basketball. Most of all, there’s the difficulty in scoring, a deal-breaker for many. But hey, one of the reasons it’s called ‘the beautiful game’ is precisely because of those few magical moments when goals are scored, despite their difficulty.

The World Cup is a way for Filipinos to learn to appreciate the slow build-up, the mini-battles on the field between players, the spectacular saves by the goalkeepers, and of course, the magic of made goals.

It’s the world’s favorite sport and we shouldn’t miss out

Since football is the most popular sport in the world, the World Cup is watched by hundreds of millions of people around the globe, from London pubs to shoddy bus stations in developing countries. In the 2014 World Cup, approximately one million tourists flocked to Brazil to join the festivities. That’s how big this event is, that even fans from non-participating countries tune in, with some even making the trip to the host country. The whole world is literally watching, so let’s be a part of it.

For Filipinos, there’s no better chance than the World Cup to immerse ourselves in the sport and absorb everything that comes with it — from the tournament’s exciting matches to football’s rich history that has seen it transcend everything from art to politics. In a world that continues to become smaller, where more bridges are being built and more walls are being torn down, let’s start speaking one of the uniting languages of the human race: FOOTBALL!

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