Ug. People who want to rag on soccer - just go away.
I never watch soccer - except the world cup. Unfortunate that the U.S. is not in it, but maybe it will end up being for the best, in that it may light some fires under some butts.
I really enjoy watching world cup soccer. For a non-soccer playing U.S. football/basketball/baseball sports fan, soccer is not an easy sell. But that's okay. Lot of people think chess and reading are boring. What can you say?
Soccer is an ebb and flow game. There's a depth to it that does not exist in any other sport. It's like two giant sailed wooden ships trying to maneuver for the perfect broad side.
Every sport can improve. NFL needs to cut back on replay time and figure out a catch rule. NBA needs better ref rules and reffing, particularly after the game 1 debacle. Baseball is sloooooooooooow.
For me, soccer would be made better by penalizing dives - far too much of it. Also, the offsides rule creates too much controversy. Every 3rd or 4th goal the goalie and the defenders claim there was offsides, running around with their hands up, caused by the defenders constantly trying to game the back line to put people off sides. Make it like hockey or some variation. Other than that, it's a great sport to play or watch.
I'm cheering for Ibrahimovich's team, whichever that is, if he's still playing.
By the way, the argument that taller guys can't be good at soccer is the same argument as QBs taller than 6/4 or whatever can't make it in the NFL; you have to adjust for % of population. For example, how many 6/4 guys are walking around columbia or brazil or italy? 1 in a 1,000? And of those guys, how many are siphoned off into basketball?