International Soccer

 
World soccer spans over all continents, although Europe and South America is where the game is most popular, closely followed by Asia, North America and Africa. Nations such as Brazil, Argentina, England and Italy are often deemed "soccer countries", since here the game generates the same intense passion as a religion.

Argentina has been a constant presence on the World soccer scene and they were always considered a strong soccer country. Argentina managed to reach the World Cup final on its first tournament in 1930, losing in front of Uruguay, who organized the event on that occasion. 

But Argentina's best period was between 1978 and 1990, when they managed to win the World Cup twice, in 1978 and 1986, reaching another final in 1990, but losing it in favor of Western Germany.

Players like Maradona, Burruchaga or Valdano are still considered national heroes for their performances during that period of time and Maradona is considered the best footballer in the World, next to Pele of Brazil.

Throughout history, Brazil had the best performances in World Cup tournaments, winning the big prize on 5 occasions, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 and participating in two more finals in 1950 and 1998. Players such as Zico, Garrincha, Pele, Rivelino sparked the huge passion for soccer in Brazil by winning the first three World Cups and today, names like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario or Dunga are modern heroes that every                                    Brazilian kid has as a role model.

Although soccer wasn't invented in England, since documents of early versions of the game were found all across the World, it's the English that modernized soccer and started the international phenomenon that it's become today. They were the first nation to have professional soccer clubs and it's the English that created the Laws of the Game as early as 1863, the "constitution" that is still the book of soccer rules nowadays (obviously, some of the laws were modified to adapt to modern times).

You would think the English, being the modern "re-inventors" of soccer, would be the dominant nation in soccer history, but in truth they only managed to win one World Cup in 1966, on home ground. They're still regarded as a force amongst soccer nations though and players such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard or Wayne Rooney are international stars.

Although France was one of the first countries to adopt professional soccer, their early performances were nothing compared to the ones obtained in the past three decades. The string of successes at national team level was sparked by Michel Platini and his 1984 France squad, which won the European Championship hosted on home grounds.

Their best years however were at the end of the millennium, when they managed to win the World Cup in 1998 for the first time (again, on home ground), achieve the second European Championship win in the 2000 tournament hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium and recently managed to reach the 2006 World Cup final, a final that they lost after a hard struggle against Italy. Players like Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry or Fabien Barthez are stand poles of these recent performances.

It's amazing how a country which was heavily involved in both World Wars and had to go through major economic, politic and social struggles managed to be so successful as a soccer country. Germany beat all odds, winning the World Cup on three occasions, in 1954, 1974 and 1990, reaching another 4 finals in 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002 and obtaining 3 bronze medals in 1934, 1970 and 2006.

German soccer clubs are also extremely powerful in European competitions and the German Bundesliga is considered one of the top championships in the World, next to the Italian, Spanish and English.

Click here for more details on German soccer...

If England invented modern soccer, it's Italy that brought in the concepts of tactics and defensive play. Basically, Italian players were always renowned for their tactical and defensive prowess and the Italian Serie A is considered one of the toughest championships from this point of view.

The Italy national squad managed to take advantage of these new soccer concepts and won the World Cup on 4 occasions, in 1934, 1938, 1982 and in 2006. Although Italian soccer was always accused of being too score-driven and lacking beauty, it's certainly the most efficient out there.

Spanish soccer doesn't have outstanding performances on national team level, since they only managed to win one title, the European Championship in 1964. However, their national La Liga is regarded by many as the most important club championship in the World.

Some of the best players in the World have gone through (or are still playing in) La Liga and clubs such as Real Madrid or FC Barcelona are constant contenders to the most valuable European competition, the UEFA Champions League.

Mexico slowly built a name in international soccer and despite the fact that they didn't manage to win any important trophy (nor even come close), the Mexican national side is undoubtedly one of the strongest in the Americas.

It's hard to compete with Argentina and Brazil for dominance on the continent, but Mexico could definitely step up for the challenge in the upcoming years, with players such as Rafael Marquez or Giovanni Dos Santos rising on the scene of top flight soccer.

Click here for more details on Mexican soccer...

The United States were generally regarded as a country where soccer was scarcely popular, with basketball, baseball and American football coming on top of the people's favorite team sports. 

However, the past two decades sparked a major interest in soccer in the U.S., with the outstanding performances of the Women's National team (World Cup winners on two occasions), the organization of the 1994 World Cup and the birth of the Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1997.

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb