There is something pretty cool happening right now.
First things first, promise me you WILL NOT be that fan that says, “Soccer sucks, I’m a hockey guy.” I mean, OK if you are, but Canada just became one of the sixteen best soccer nations on Earth!
Let that one soak in for a minute.
Last week, I wrote an article called Soccer, Made EASY, for the Typical American. Looking back, I had the wrong audience.
That article was fun. Americans needed football comparisons, a few Buc-ee’s jokes, and constant reassurance that nobody was going to make them switch what football they went nuts for.
Canadians? Yeah…This is going to be a whole lot easier.
Not because you already know soccer, but because you’ve been watching its closest cousin your entire life.
My job here is not to turn you into a soccer expert.
My job is to help you, the new Canadian Soccer Fans see the game better so you can enjoy it without being the person who stands up and cheers because everyone else stood up and cheered, then immediately leans over and whispers:
“Wait…what just happened?”
We can do better than that.
And yes, I have a little skin in the game. I have the street cred to teach you this!
I write performance books. I coach kids. I recently put together a how-to-coach-soccer guide built especially for parents who somehow got volun-told they were going to coach their kid’s team.
You know how that happens.
You sign your kid up for soccer, check the box that says “willing to bring snacks,” and three days later someone hands you a whistle, a bag of cones, and twelve children who all believe the correct formation is “everyone chase the ball at the same time.”
Don’t tell me you haven’t seen some brand-new soccer coach show up with an old CCM hockey bag full of soccer balls up there.
So yes, I feel like I can explain this game as well as anyone.
Let’s make soccer easy.
Hockey Fans Already Have a Head Start
The biggest mistake people make is trying to compare soccer to football. Don’t. Hockey is a much better comparison because Canadians already understand almost everything that makes soccer interesting.
Ever notice nobody loses their mind when a defenseman circles behind his own net instead of forcing a pass? Nobody in the arena screams, “Wrong way!” We all understand what’s happening. They’re regrouping. They’re stretching the defense. They’re waiting for a better opportunity.
Now flip over to a soccer match and somebody makes the exact same decision.
Half the new fans immediately ask, “Why are they going backwards?”
They’re not.
They’re doing exactly what your favorite hockey team has done for the last fifty years. The surface changed. The strategy didn’t.
The Goal Started Thirty Seconds Ago
One of my favorite things about soccer is that the best play often isn’t the one that ends up on the highlight reel.
The goal gets replayed all night but the run that created it usually gets forgotten.
Watch Canada’s outside backs sometime. Every now and then one of them takes off down the sideline like he completely forgot he’s supposed to be playing defense. He didn’t forget. He’s creating a problem. Somebody has to go with him or slide over to help. A midfielder rotates back to cover the empty space, and suddenly the defense is trying to solve three problems instead of one.
By the time the ball finally reaches the scorer, the hard work has already been done.
It’s the same reason hockey fans get excited before the shot.
You can feel something building.
Soccer Doesn’t Have Positions. It Has Responsibilities.
One of the hardest things for new fans is understanding positions.
Actually…
Forget the word positions. Think responsibilities.
Sometimes your outside defender is attacking OR your striker is defending AND your midfielder is everywhere.
If one player leaves an area, somebody else quietly fills it. Nobody blows a whistle. Nobody calls timeout. The game simply keeps flowing.
Honestly, it’s one of the reasons soccer is so much fun to watch once you stop trying to memorize where everyone is “supposed” to stand.
Can We Please Stop Yelling “Shoot!”
I’ve coached enough youth soccer to know this one by heart.
Every parent has done it.
The kid gets within forty yards of the goal.
“SHOOT!”
Why?
There’s a defender in front of him. Another beside him and the goalie is standing exactly where you’d expect a goalie to stand.
What are we hoping for here?
Imagine Connor McDavid crossing the blue line and someone yelling, “SLAPSHOT!”
Every.
Single.
Time.
Sometimes that’s the right play.
Most of the time he’d rather keep possession, make one more pass and force the defense into a bad decision.
Soccer works exactly the same way. The best players aren’t hunting shots. They’re hunting great chances.
There’s a huge difference.
The Pass Might Be the Best Part
Kids love goals.
Parents love goals.
Grandparents definitely love goals because goals usually lead to ice cream or $5.
The funny part? The player who made the goal possible is often the best player on the field.
Hockey fans figured this out years ago. Sidney Crosby can make a pass that leaves an entire arena shaking its head. Nobody says, “Yeah…but he should’ve shot it.” The pass was the magic.
Soccer has those moments constantly. A first touch that settles a difficult ball, a bending pass that somehow misses every defender or a perfectly timed through ball.
Those are elite plays.
Don’t wait for the goal before deciding something exciting happened.
Low Scoring Doesn’t Mean Nothing Is Happening
This one has always made me laugh.
People see a 1-0 score and assume nothing happened.
Really?
Canadians have spent generations glued to 2-1 hockey games.
Nobody ever walked away from a playoff overtime game saying, “Well…that would’ve been better if somebody scored twelve times.”
Soccer builds tension the same way.
You’re waiting for one tiny crack.
When it finally appears, everything happens at once.
The Goalie Is Still the Weird Guy
Some things never change. Every sport has that one position that’s just a little different.
Hockey goalies are wonderfully strange human beings. Soccer goalkeepers aren’t far behind.
Let’s be honest…it probably takes the exact same personality to stop a slap shot as it does to dive headfirst at somebody’s feet while they’re trying to kick a soccer ball.
The Beautiful Part Isn’t the Goal
People always ask why soccer is called The Beautiful Game.
It isn’t because the goals are beautiful.
Sometimes they’re ugly.
Sometimes they bounce off three people before finding the back of the net.
The beauty is everything leading up to it. One player pulls a defender out of position while another quietly fills the space behind him.
The ball moves backward before suddenly moving forward.
The defense shifts one step too far.
Then…7 passes that may or may not ever touch the turf and someone nails a banger! With their foot??!!! or their head!?
GOOOOOOOAL!!!
By then the play has already been unfolding for twenty or thirty seconds.
Once you start seeing that, you stop asking why people are cheering over a pass near midfield.
You already know. Everyone else is just catching up.
Welcome to the Party
Soccer isn’t asking Canadians to replace hockey. That would be ridiculous.
It’s simply asking for a spot at the table.
The funny part is you’ve already been preparing for it. It’s not like there hasn’t been a team before, it’s THESE GUYS are repping Canada really well! And you guys are prepped.
You know what happens when defenders get caught out of position. You’ve watched enough unbelievable goaltending to appreciate a keeper stealing a match. Even the in-game language isn’t much different.
So enjoy Canada’s run.
Wave the flag.
Learn a few names. Pretend you’ve known who Alphonso Davies was for years. We won’t tell anybody.
And the next time somebody beside you says, “I don’t get why everyone is cheering…”
Just smile.
You’ve already figured it out.
