What it takes

 

In America, every four years the word “football” is surprisingly unclear. Americans know the word “football” to mean a sport played with an oblong ball and very little foot. In the rest of the world, the word “football” refers to a sport that is played almost exclusively with a foot. Hence the name of the sport. Why do Americans refer to this sport as soccer? Because the word football was already taken by a sport largely independent of the foot. Go figure.

Yes, it’s time once again for the World Cup so let us consider… soccer! What makes someone great at soccer? Many things. But strangely, size is helpful but not, like in basketball, a starting point. Pele was 5’8”. Lionel Messi is 5’7”. Diego Maradona is 5’5”. Even Johan Cruyff, the best Dutch player in history, was only 5’10”. So that’s something. What else? You need dexterity – with your feet, whatever the word for that is. You need precision, timing, vision. You will need strength, bursts of pure speed, and stamina.

But the skill that can separate the good players from the elite is one I might call a soft skill. It’s hard to see on paper. For example, you won’t see it on the stat sheet. And you won’t see it in the Xs and Os on the plays drawn up by the coach. And you won’t hear about it in the post-game interviews. But it remains an invaluable skill that is honed, even perfected at the highest levels in the world. In fact, I would argue, you cannot be a world-class player in the sport without this skill.

The skill you have to have to play soccer at the absolute highest level is the ability to act. It’s not the kind of acting you see on TV and film. There is no dialogue. There are no props. Acting on the soccer pitch is completely physical.

Imagine two players sprinting, shoulder to shoulder, toward the ball. Their upper bodies vie for position while their legs try to propel them ahead of the other. But there is a law in physics that says two objects cannot occupy the same space at one time. Thus, these two players become, inadvertently, intertwined. They each fall to ground. But perhaps “fall” isn’t specific enough. Player One collapses like a rare, beautiful bird shot from the sky, plunging like dead weight. Player Two’s descent is more animated, unimaginable pain expressed with gestures, arms flailing, legs akimbo. Player Two doesn’t fall outright. He staggers, stumbles, topples, head over heels.

On the ground, Player One convulses like his new condition will require longterm medical care. Player Two writhes in excruciating agony. His suffering is torturous. The anguish and distress of both players is visible and palpable. This is acting.

Because you saw the play with your own eyes. There was no foul. Yes, there was contact. Yes, they got tripped up. Then you see something the Head Referee will not see: A replay. You watch the play again – in slow motion. There is absolutely no foul. This is the objective truth. But both players are very convincing. The question is whether either performance is convincing enough to earn a penalty.

The Head Referee is not unlike The Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts and Sciences. He is privy to many magnificent performances. In soccer, like in Hollywood, the thing that separates a good performance from one that changes hearts and minds is often subtext. A breakout performance is one where a player pleads not for himself – but for a cause.

Dear Head Referee, Sir, I do not ask for a penalty for me personally. I can endure these humiliations. I do not ask for a penalty for the people of my country. Though they are poor, they too know what it means to endure. But, dear Head Referee, Sir, perhaps you would consider… for the children?

The Head Referee renders his verdict. The Players pop up like a jack in the box. Their performance is over.

I happen to know former players liken different countries to different styles of acting. Germany is more serious, stern, focused, like a dramatic Robert DeNiro. Brazil is more like Jackie Chan, one part grace, one part slapstick. And Mexico, home of the telenova, like to really lay it on thick – like Jim Carrey.

Yes, most of soccer is not acting. Most of soccer is a beautiful game played by world-class athletes competing for the love of the sport – and a lot of money. And, yes, almost every sport has a bit of acting. But soccer is the only sport I know that has a penalty (yellow card) for bad/over acting. Now that’s pressure to perform.