History of Soccer Rich in Tradition and Legends

The history of soccer is rich and full of great stories, many of them true and maybe some the stuff of legends.

While England is recognized as the birthplace of the modern game, it is believed that a form of the game was played centuries ago in ancient China. There are also reports that the sport was played in Japan 3,000 years ago and that there was even a game between the two Asian countries.

In England, the sport started out as a battle between towns, with townsfolk kicking an inflated pig’s bladder across the boundaries of rivals towns. Eton College first formulated the rules for the game, which at that time was called football and not soccer, at around 1815 and this provided the foundations for modern laws and regulations.

The term “soccer” is actually derived as a nickname from association football. When rugby evolved out of football, the two codes were split into association football and rugby football. The “soc” from the third, fourth and fifth letters of “association” was adapted to make “soccer” while rugby became “rugger”, a term that is still used even today.

So, while many countries use soccer exclusively, the correct approach is to use both football and soccer because the latter is merely a derivative of the original association football.

England, as would be expected, is the first country to set up an organized league in the late 19th Century. However, despite being fathers of the modern game, England did not take part in the first World Cup for national teams, which was held in Uruguay in 1930 and won by the host country.

England’s only World Cup triumph came in 1966 when they were hosts and beat Germany in the final at Wembley Stadium.

The most successful international team is Brazil, who have won the World Cup five times and continues to be the richest source of world-class players.

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