Confessions of a New Soccer Fan
Whaddya Mean No Score?
I would never have believed that any game—especially our neighborhood games—could have any value if it ended with no points scored.
Whaddya mean, no score? Who wins? Who brags? Who makes All-America?
That is, until I learned about soccer. I have my grandchildren to thank for that.
Early on, when they were young, their soccer was a participatory sport. It was a social event where we met parents, grandparents, and hugged our grandchildren. Everyone won, scores notwithstanding.
Then, as my soccer-loving grandchildren moved forward in their athletic journeys, I realized how emotional and exciting the sport truly was—even those matches ending scoreless. So, I promised myself I would learn the game.
And little by little, I did. My education sped along as the competition grew, and they reached college level. Soon, I was jumping up and down. I was moaning, groaning, screaming, and raising a fist at a score, a brilliant block, or a precise pass.
Yet, I still didn’t know the difference between a red and a yellow card.
As the World Cup approached, I needed more. So, I became more than an observer; I became a student; now beginning to understand a red card, a yellow card, two yellows, a substitution, a time stop, a time expansion, goal kicks, penalty kicks, etc.
I subscribed to a soccer website. And to another that was dedicated to the World Cup.
Now, where am I?
Well, I’ve taped every World Cup match to date, and I have watched many of them.
Goal kicks, pass ins, strikers, midfielders, cross, set piece, corner kick, you bet. I know what an offside is. I know what it means when the lineman holds up the neon substitute sign.
I marvel at the players’ athleticism, speed, and strength. I marvel that I marvel. Do you marvel?
The word “fan” comes from the word fanatic. I’m not quite at the point of needing a psychiatrist, but I now happily consider myself a fan.
I’ll see you at the pitch.
© 2026
Nice piece, Ed. Three of my four children played soccer when they were very young. I saw their games progress from a bunch of excited children chasing and clustering around the ball to real position play, etc. None of them played in high school. My youngest son’s roommate in college is from London, so that got him interested in the Premier League. I was never a fan (in a manner of speaking) until now. The lure of the World Cup has led me into watching more soccer games over the past couple of weeks than what I’ve seen in my lifetime. (Even the commercials are great.) Watching the Norwegians row, the Scots take over Boston, and other cultures express themselves loudly, enthusiastically, and joyfully has been a delight. And I’ve gained an appreciation of the skills and athleticism of the game. I’ll be watching until France wins it again. Until then, it’s been fun watching some of the minnows take a bite out of the sharks.
Hi Ed,
If I may offer a more negative view. For all the athleticism on exhibit for a few split seconds, there is an awful lot of just hanging around. Like baseball, to be honest. But, with such a huge goal area, one would expect a lot more goals than actually occur. But the thing that really turns me off is this: Never knowing definitively when the match is about to be over. There is no sport that I know of that ends arbitrarily on an official's whistle. To me that smacks of corruption, or at least the appearance thereof. And certainly international "football" has not been a stranger to corruption. So, if you take it that I am NOT a FAN, you'd be right. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood given what the Sox just did to my Yankees.