Gooooaaaallllll!!!!!

There wasa comment on my Six Reasons Americans Do Not Like Soccer to the effect of soccer is boring to watch, but fun to play. I am in no shape to give the game a real whirl, but the comment did prompt me to search for some way i could give the game a try online.

I found this game.

It is a simple game in which you can play an exhibition match from a bird’s eye view. You may choose from the 32 national teams which qualified for the 2010 World Cup, the time of the halves, and skill level. The direction arrows control your player. For passing, you press “A.” For shooting, press “S.” The computer automatically switches the player you control to the one closest to the ball.

While it is certainly not a very deep game, I have had fun with it . I can verify soccer is indeed more fun to play than watch. I am letting my personal prejudices get in the way, of course. There has been an added satisfaction to beating up on France and North Korea that I do not get from defeating, say, Mexico. The fact Mexico’s goalie has my number has nothing to do with it, either.

A few observations:

1. Shooting from an angle increase your chances of scoring. The goalie has an uncanny ability to dive in the correct direction when you take a shot straight at the goal.

2. Passing is frustrating because you do not get a large enough view of the field to see where the rest of your team is. The computer rarely has them in convenient spots.

3. Learn to zig zag down the field. The other team can steal the ball simply by crossing your path. Trust me, it gets irritating. On the hardest skill level, you will be more concerned with keeping the ball than actually scoring with it.

4. It may be my imagination, but the opposing team seems to get a second wind after the half. The majority of the scoring against me ha come I the second half. Could be dumb luck, but watch out for it. These foreign teams must determine they are not going to lose to the Americans.

If anyone has another game similar to this one to suggest, feel free to leaveacommet. If something out there has a little more strategy involved, I would like to try it.