Darrell KSR
04-20-2017, 12:03 PM
I didn't want to throw this on WildcatChat in the baseball thread and bore all the baseball fans, so this will make it easy to ignore for everyone here.
You know I like to kid about soccer scores a lot, and "pretend" that every goal scored is a touchdown. That way it if it is a 4-3 soccer game, I say one team won "28-21," to make it more like football.
But in reality, I think a 1-0 soccer game is the most exciting game in soccer. I watched a soccer game last night where one team (the good guys) won, 1-0. Every possession was intense. Could we score and move the lead to 2-0, and possibly put the game away? We hit the post, and it bounced off (you think a field goal bouncing off an upright is disappointing?). We hit the top crossbar, and it bounced away. We had a one-on-one with the keeper, and the striker toe-balled it just right of the goal.
Meanwhile, on defense--which is similar to basketball to me, more than football, because on average each team has a good possession for about 45 seconds--we had to worry each time they got the ball. Would they tie it up with this possession? Ball enters the penalty box (the 18-yard area in front of the goal; a prime goal-striking area), would they get a shot off? Could we stop them? If you foul them in the penalty box, they get a penalty kick--a near-automatic goal where the ball is placed just twelve yards away, and only the keeper there to stop him. We'd kick the ball out across the goal line, giving them a dangerous corner kick. Ball is lofted into the penalty box, around the six-yard line, and dangerous because that's where erratic, unpredictable "headers" come from that can be dang near impossible to stop.
The tension is very high in a game like that, and it's very exciting when the game can be tied literally at any second.
I told Dan in the baseball thread that at this level (my son plays lowly JV soccer currently), I'd rather them lose a game 2-1 than win one 7-0 (soccer 7 goals, not my football scoring), because a) it's more exciting and b) they develop more in a 2-1 game against good competition.
They've been involved in 9 games (out of 20) this year that have been decided by one goal, which is the best. Six more have been decided by two goals, so 15/20 were one or two goal games. A two-goal game is not a blow-out by any means, and they often say the most dangerous lead in soccer is 2-0. That first goal by the opponent, and they have momentum, down 1-2, and here they come.
One of our rivals was playing for a playoff spot against another of our rivals (Spain Park v Mountain Brook) last Monday. Mountain Brook, at home, grabbed a 2-0 lead. Spain Park came back, scored to make is 2-1, and then Mountain Brook launched a near-perfect shot in the "upper 90" of the net, only to see an incredible save by the Spain Park keeper knock it over the net and out for a corner, keeping the lead within striking distance.
It gave Spain Park amazing "juice," and with that energy they stormed back, tied it 2-2 at halftime, and scored 3 goals in the 2nd half to win, 5-2 going away.
So much fun.
And so boring for many.
But I just wanted to spend a few minutes explaining why I love the 1-0 soccer game. It's not even the way I love a 2-1 pitching duel in baseball (I do). The 1-0 soccer game can be filled with offense, but without scoring. I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but it can have equal parts of offense and defense, and be an incredible, low-scoring game.
You know I like to kid about soccer scores a lot, and "pretend" that every goal scored is a touchdown. That way it if it is a 4-3 soccer game, I say one team won "28-21," to make it more like football.
But in reality, I think a 1-0 soccer game is the most exciting game in soccer. I watched a soccer game last night where one team (the good guys) won, 1-0. Every possession was intense. Could we score and move the lead to 2-0, and possibly put the game away? We hit the post, and it bounced off (you think a field goal bouncing off an upright is disappointing?). We hit the top crossbar, and it bounced away. We had a one-on-one with the keeper, and the striker toe-balled it just right of the goal.
Meanwhile, on defense--which is similar to basketball to me, more than football, because on average each team has a good possession for about 45 seconds--we had to worry each time they got the ball. Would they tie it up with this possession? Ball enters the penalty box (the 18-yard area in front of the goal; a prime goal-striking area), would they get a shot off? Could we stop them? If you foul them in the penalty box, they get a penalty kick--a near-automatic goal where the ball is placed just twelve yards away, and only the keeper there to stop him. We'd kick the ball out across the goal line, giving them a dangerous corner kick. Ball is lofted into the penalty box, around the six-yard line, and dangerous because that's where erratic, unpredictable "headers" come from that can be dang near impossible to stop.
The tension is very high in a game like that, and it's very exciting when the game can be tied literally at any second.
I told Dan in the baseball thread that at this level (my son plays lowly JV soccer currently), I'd rather them lose a game 2-1 than win one 7-0 (soccer 7 goals, not my football scoring), because a) it's more exciting and b) they develop more in a 2-1 game against good competition.
They've been involved in 9 games (out of 20) this year that have been decided by one goal, which is the best. Six more have been decided by two goals, so 15/20 were one or two goal games. A two-goal game is not a blow-out by any means, and they often say the most dangerous lead in soccer is 2-0. That first goal by the opponent, and they have momentum, down 1-2, and here they come.
One of our rivals was playing for a playoff spot against another of our rivals (Spain Park v Mountain Brook) last Monday. Mountain Brook, at home, grabbed a 2-0 lead. Spain Park came back, scored to make is 2-1, and then Mountain Brook launched a near-perfect shot in the "upper 90" of the net, only to see an incredible save by the Spain Park keeper knock it over the net and out for a corner, keeping the lead within striking distance.
It gave Spain Park amazing "juice," and with that energy they stormed back, tied it 2-2 at halftime, and scored 3 goals in the 2nd half to win, 5-2 going away.
So much fun.
And so boring for many.
But I just wanted to spend a few minutes explaining why I love the 1-0 soccer game. It's not even the way I love a 2-1 pitching duel in baseball (I do). The 1-0 soccer game can be filled with offense, but without scoring. I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but it can have equal parts of offense and defense, and be an incredible, low-scoring game.