I'm talking about the final of the World Championship of Football (or soccer for you Americans). Did you see how Abby Wambach behaved after the loss of the final? It was really remarkable. All US-players were shocked by the defeat but Abby walked over to the cheering Japanese and congratulated each of them, giving every single player a shake hands. Through the whole following ceremony you could see she was like in a trance by failing to reach her ultimate goal to win the championship (what actually was her last chance to do so). But she held her head up high and applauded the competitors. I really think that you can recognize much of somebody's personality in a defeat. And I think her good mind was shining in that moment. In my opinion she is a great sports(wo)man.
I take that with me to future tournaments.
Baron of Frankfurt
> Joscha wrote:
> I'm talking about the final of the World Championship of Football (or soccer for you Americans).
>
Although its used in the U.S. , I think this term, "soccer", originated in England.
> TorranceCircle wrote:
> Although its used in the U.S. , I think this term, "soccer", originated in England.
>
No way. AFAIK it was and is since the beginning football. Hugh, could you enlighten us please?
Baron of Frankfurt
> Joscha wrote:
>
> > TorranceCircle wrote:
> > Although its used in the U.S. , I think this term, "soccer", originated in England.
> >
> No way. AFAIK it was and is since the beginning football. Hugh, could you enlighten us please?
>
www.usembassy.org.uk/rss/transcripts/worldcup2006a.html
"Soccer's etymology is not American but British. It comes from an abbreviation for Association Football, the official name of the sport (for those of you who have never heard the team "Association Football" before, it was named after the Football Association, which still governs English soccer, to differentiate itself from the other major type of football, Rugby Football, which was named after the Rugby School. FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, is French for the International Federation of Association Football… F-I-F-A). For obvious reasons, in the 1880s and 1890s, English newspapers couldn't use the first three letters of Association as an abbreviation in their pages, so they took the next syllable, S-O-C. With the British penchant for adding "-er" at the end of words: punter, footballer, copper, and, of course, nicknaming rugby, "rugger," the word "soccer" was soon born, over a hundred years ago, here in England, the home of soccer. We adopted it and kept using it because we have our own indigenous sport that we call football."
Jussi Hattara
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