Football is the most beautiful, sexy, exciting sport on earth. To play and to watch. It is. And the world cup is the Paris Fashion week of the football calendar. Only it only comes once every 4 years. That, my dear girlfriends, is delayed gratification right there.
I played right throughout university. Sure, it was 3rd grade women’s division in a small town in N.S.W, and any goals I scored were accidental, and usually off my bum or boobs – but I loved every minute of it. Never have I been so physically fit - during that time my thighs were a thing of wonder.
And here’s why – Players cover 8-12km during a match, consisting of 24% walking, 36% jogging, 20% coursing, 11% sprinting, 7% moving backwards and 2% moving whilst in possession of the ball (1).
That is an exceptional work out by any standard. Fat burning, cardio intense, and great for toning your legs and butt.
But football is also the perfect spectator sport for women. It’s full of drama, tears, pain, love, passion. Yes, the players can seem histrionic, manipulative and sulky at times – but I could use those adjectives to describe myself and most of my girlfriends. You recognize the game play, ladies.
If rugby is the sport of ugly blokes (broken noses & battered ears) cricket the sport of slightly flabby public school boys, formula 1 the sport of short men….. then, surely Football is the sport of lovers? All that passion and tanned skin? A 90 minute game is like a summer affair on the Italian Riviera.
But why don’t more ladies love the game? The reason is almost certainly the fans. Big, bald, bellied men downing pints and scratching their bums. Taking up all the room at the bar. Crash tackling each other in the stands after every goal – it can be more than a little intimidating.
I also blame WAGS who seem to have defined the only role for women in football. The very definition of ridiculous.
But please – don’t blame something so beautiful for having so many hideous stalkers. It’s not footballs’ fault.
Football is beautiful to watch – check out Zinedine Zidane’s goal in the Champions League grand final in 2002. Football can make you burst with national pride – check Michael Owens’s world cup goal against Argentina (but ignore the rest of his career). Football can make you cry (lucky for Gazza, I can’t find a link.)
So get into the world cup ladies! Follow the fun on Twitter. Check out the upcoming matches here. Learn as much as you can on ITV and the BBC‘s world cup sites. It’s going to be a cracking few weeks.
Oh, and football is for women because its full of fit, sweaty, rich blokes. 22 on the field at once! In case you needed another reason.
