When Jules Rimet, the president of FIFA, was asked before the first world cup where he wanted football (soccer) to go he answered “I don’t know where this game is going or what it will become by the time I’m dead. All I know is that I want it to unite the world.” Every year billions are united together with passion, heart, and loyalty by soccer. The dream that Jules Rimet sought became a reality beyond his wildest dreams. Soccer has become the global game that has more than half of the world rooting for more. How did soccer start? Many early versions of a kicking game began to appear in China, Japan, Greece, and the Roman Empire. The earliest coming in 200 B.C. when the Chinese developed a game called Tsu-Chu where they had to kick a ball into a small hole. In Japan during the Shin dynasty a similar game called Kemari was being developed. The goal of the game was to keep the ball up without letting it drop. Greek and Romans both made similar games of kicking the ball. Many other variations followed but with the same essential rule of kicking a ball. During the …show more content…
Historians believe that the beginnings of the World Cup and the depression becoming an afterthought contributed to soccer’s popularity growth. Even during World War II soldiers brought balls to play with. Soccer kept growing steadily that by the time the 1980s came, an estimated 1 billion people were soccer fans. Countries like the US and Saudi Arabia created leagues for their growing population of soccer fans. Youth systems to get kids into soccer at a young age began to become popular. Women’s soccer became popular as well. Women had always played soccer but hadn’t started leagues until after the Women’s Rights campaign. Even then they were amateur leagues with no actual followers. Women’s soccer went basically unnoticed until 1991 when FIFA president Joao Havelange decide to make a women’s world cup. Women’s soccer achieved worldwide recognition after