Soccer is the most popular and massive sport in the world. It gives joy to millions of fans, the income of soccer clubs rivals the budgets of some countries, and the fame of the best players eclipses the glory of politicians and TV stars. In this article, the author of the paper help service tells you seven interesting facts about soccer that you did not know.
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It isn’t easy to trace the exact history of the origin of soccer because, at different times and in other countries, there were quite similar ball games. However, the modern version of soccer dates back to the 19th century, when it became a popular game among English college students in which it was necessary to score the ball into the opponent’s goal with their feet or other parts of the body.
Each college had its own rules, which made friendly matches very difficult. The first attempt to create uniform regulations was made in 1846. A little later, in 1855, the first Sheffield Football Club was founded. In 1863, after lengthy negotiations, a set of rules by the Football Association of England was adopted, which can be considered the birth date of modern soccer.
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In many English-speaking countries, soccer is called the word “soccer” (soccer). This name comes from a modified form of the word association soccer (“association soccer”). The same Football Association of England we told in the previous paragraph. As a rule, the name “soccer” is popular in those countries where other kinds of soccer, such as rugby league, American soccer, and Canadian soccer, are also played.
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The symbol of soccer is the ball. But not all fans of the sport know that 80 percent of professional soccer balls are made in Pakistan. In this far from the most football-friendly country on the border with India is the town of Sialkot, whose factories handcraft the best leather balls in the world.
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The biggest score in history was recorded in the Football Championship of Madagascar. Club AS Adema won the decisive match against Stade Olympique l’Emyrne with a score of 149-0. And all the goals were scored by the players for their purpose. The thing is that the players of one of the teams were offended by the unfair, in their opinion, decision of the referee and, in protest, started to score the ball in their own goal. By the end of the match, they had achieved almost a hundred and fifty and went down in history.
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One of the strongest soccer teams is the Brazilian national team. It has won every possible award and defeated all its opponents. And only the Norwegian team was able to resist the Brazilians. Incredibly, but this is the only team out of all the teams playing with Brazil which never lost it. A total of four meetings between these teams, of which the Norwegians won two times and twice reduced the match to a draw.
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The popularity of soccer in Latin America has no limits. Once upon a time, soccer passions in the region became so heated that it caused a real war between El Salvador and Honduras. Because of a series of matches to qualify for the finals of the 1970 World Cup in El Salvador, Honduran players and fans were beaten, and Honduran flags were burned. Then a retaliatory wave of attacks on Salvadorans, including two vice-consuls, swept through Honduras. Many people were forced to flee the country. This sparked a heated conflict between the two countries that lasted six days and claimed the lives of several thousand people. A peace treaty between the countries was not signed until 10 years after the end of the war.
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Usually, during a soccer match, the players race the ball on the field while the spectators watch from the stands. However, some reckless characters do not like this order and run onto the field, often in the nude. Such people are called strikers, and Mark Roberts is the most famous. On his account, he has more than 300 appearances in the nude at various sporting events. We can only wonder how this man, whose name alone horrifies the security services at all the stadiums, manages time after time to deceive them and still make his way onto the soccer field.
