Horse racing is known as the Sport of Kings but soccer, or football,, is the King of Sports. The name soccer comes from from the phrase 'association football', and at least helps to distinguish the global sport, from the totally different ballgame played in North America. People have gathered together to dribble a ball, or other spherical object around, for centuries. Rules for the game, we have come to know, were determined in the United Kingdom, in the middle of the nineteenth century. Before this the sport had a somewhat tarnished and violent reputation, to the point that it was prohibited periodically, by the king.



It would be easy to oversimplify the game of football, and the role of soccer players, but the sport requires continuous training. Because of this top footballers are popstars, and an accomplished few can be paid wages and bonuses running up to tens of thousands of dollars per week. The struggle to reach the required standard is severe, but there are numerous examples of gifted children from poor surroundings, progressing to become first rate players. It is a fact though, that those that do make the highest grade, to earn the millions, are something like one in a million, and the vast majority will have to be satisfied with simply enjoying the game.

This wide appeal of football is the upshot, not only from supporters flooding into huge sports grounds through the turnstiles, but also from television exposure, where vast sums are paid for the privilege of broadcasting fixtures. Going back to 1930 the major prize, the world cup, has been won in more or less equal measure by European and South American national teams. International football is a a gigantic enterprise. From turnstile receipts, to television rights, big time sponsors, to replica football shirts, a major sporting enterprise has come about. Grown men and small boys, and some girls and women, want to wear the shirts of the leading clubs or footballers. Many of them dribble a ball around in parks, waste ground, and also on quiet roads.

International football has been a great unifier but that hasn't been without a measure of difficulty, during the process. Soccer players from all nationalities have become recognized because of their abilities, when they have been sought after by teams outside the country of their birth. Major players from Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the United States are idolized, and they are frequently transferred for vast sums of money on the international circuit. This has achieved a great deal in breaking down prejudiced racial attitudes.

Not that long ago, boxing was one of the few sports, providing an avenue of opportunity, to escape from poverty. It might be considered that football has taken over, and though very few aspirants make the grade as professional footballers, they exceed those who succeed as boxers. In many parts of the world young people from deprived circumstances gather to practice ball skills. One or two could be discovered as being brilliantly talented, and may be rewarded with opulent living standards, to become football idols, of the sporting world.