THE “SOCCER ” GAME

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11247, 27 June 1922, Page 10

THE “SOCCER ” GAME

AS SEEN BY A RUGBY SASSENACH. (For the "Times.") "Come and see how football is played," said an Association enthusiast to me; "your Rugby game is a mixture of handball'and football, while ours is football all the time." Well, and what did we 6ee at Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon, when presumably the best players in New Zealand and Australia gave an example of how the Association game of football should be played? The first thing that Btruok me was that the fellows in this match had a similar failing to a lot of our Rugby forwards—they could kick the ball all right,- but they had not the least idea of controlling their kickß, or of sending the ball within yards of their objective. A fellow would dash up the outsido of the field, with an opponent chasing him or running alongside him. When within distance of the goal he would centre it—as the “Soccer" enthusiasts call it—and the ball would either cross the line yards narrow of the goal, or sail away over the top. There would be a little thrill for a moment or two only to be damped altogether because of the uselessness of the effort. Again, a player would put a hefty boot behind- the ball and it would sail away down the field to rvhat wo call the dead-ball area at Athletio Park, while all the players on the field would stand still and watch its progress. Maybe, I may be told that the players did not give a good exhibition of the game as it should he played. If an Association player cannot get his foot to the ball he can use his head, a pretty style of play hut a dangerous one all the same, especially when two players—one on each side, as happened on Saturday—decide to use their heads at the one time. There is one man in a "Soccer” team who can üße his hands, and that is the goalkeeper—the fellow that really counts. H'e is allowed to catch the ball, push it over the bar if necessary, or do anything ho likes so long as he stops the ball getting past him. Tho disposition of the players on the field is hard to understand. Tho forwards on one side are up amongst the backs on the other, and are "on side” as long as they have three opponents between them and the goal-line. Even then they occasionally get “off side.” In throwing the ball in from the touch the man Yvith the ball must keep his feet firmly on the ground, hut he may throw the hall in any direction. It was some time before I could settle myself down to watch the game, and, although I was quite willing to be interested, I must confess that not once during the play did I feel at all thrilled. There were many clever exhibitions of footwork, but there was an awful lot of fiddlling with !the hall. Maybe this was a good feature of the play, but there was at no time the tang about the exchanges that stires the pulses or raise the spectators to any degree of enthusiasm. Shortly, then, if this international game is a fair sample of Association football, nono of it for me, thank you! The forward rush, the passing run, the tackle, and all the other features of Rugby football make far more exciting and entertaining incidents; and, although my "Soccer” friends may be happy in their beliefs, they will have a hard job to convert the many Rugby enthusiasts at Athletic Bark on Saturday to their way of thinking.