World Cup
We watch the World Cup soccer matches at home. We've been watching since 2014. That's the sum of my experience with soccer, really. I played one year of intramurals freshman year in college, then some pickup games sometime later in college, maybe at the beginning of grad school. But that's it. I don't understand the game. The rules are simple. I get that part. But the tactics, the strategy, the flow, etc.—I'm not a native, I don't understand what's really going on.
There is one thing, though, that really blows my mind about soccer. The same sort of play shows up in ice hockey (which I also don't understand, but let's not let that trip up the analogy). Someone gets the ball (puck) along the side of the field of play, and the defender is right there, trying to knock out the ball (puck) from the person who has it. Pushing, jabbing, elbowing, etc. Everything but a full body tackle.
In hockey, they have to stand up on their ice skates to while defending the puck from the defender, which seems like it would be difficult. But they get to use their stick to control the puck. In soccer, the player with the ball has to use the same feet that they're using to stand up to also control the ball and keep it from the defender. I can't imagine it. When I play that scenario through in my head, I just imagine flopping over on the ball as gravity takes over my unbalanced, unmoored body whose legs are kicking uncontrollably. Other sports that I know better, like baseball or basketball, I can at least imagine doing the things that the most skilled players do, even if I can't do it myself. But the most basic things in soccer are too much to even imagine.
(Go USA)