As nations across the globe go absolutely gaga over the World Cup, ask yourself this:"Why not football?"
Filipinos fell in love with the wrong team sport—basketball. It’s the cold, hard truth, and it’s painfully, embarrassingly, uncompromisingly obvious. Still, most Pinoys continue to worship at the altar of Dr. James Naismith’s game.
Now there’s nothing wrong with loving a sport that doesn’t love us back, but if we Filipinos truly want Team Pilipinas to excel globally, it’s high time that we shift our focus to a sport that can love us back: football.
Yes, it’s about time for us to give football a long, hard, serious look.
The reason is simple, and it’s fairly obvious: football is tailor-fit for Filipinos. See, football is about the only team sport where height isn’t always might. Instead, it is a game where speed and skill and wit are far more important than length and height and heft.
Want proof? Google Pelé and Diego Maradonna, long considered as the two greatest footballers in history, and look at their height. The irrepressible Brazilian is a five-foot-eight wunderkind. The hyper-intense Argentine, on the other hand, is a diminutive five-foot-four.
Not convinced yet?
Of the 10 previous winners of the FIFA Player of the Year Award, three stood less than six feet—Luis Figo (5-11), Fabio Cannavaro (5-9), and Lionel Messi (5-7)—and no one stood over 6-1. Since 1991, in fact, the tallest FIFA Player of the Year has so far been Marcel "Marco" van Basten of The Netherlands, who at 6-2 is pretty tall, but not exactly imposing.
Moreover, some of the game’s greatest players, in fact, stand 6-2 or less:
- Franz Anton Beckenbauer of
- Oliver Khan of
- David Beckham of
- Samuel Eto'o Fils of
- Thierry Henry of France (6-2)
- Ronaldinho of Brazil (6-0)
- Kaká of Brazil (6-1)
- Wayne Rooney of England (5-10)
- Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (6-1)
- Lionel Messi of Argentina (5-7)
Want more proof?
The Brazilian national squad, a perennial powerhouse in international football, has 11 players under 6 feet. In all, 18 of its 23 players stand less than 6-2. Another perennial powerhouse in international football, the Argentine national team, has 17 players standing less than 6-2 (9 of them are short of 6 feet).
Clearly, height is not all might in football. Maradonna and Pelé proved this in their respective careers, and the diminutive Messi is proving it yet again now. If these three greats, all shades under 6 feet, can dominate the football field, then there’s absolutely no reason why average-sized Filipinos (5-4 to 5-8)—often graceful and cat-quick and fleet-footed—can’t play football at the highest level.
This much is obvious, only, most Pinoys don’t really care. Filipinos love basketball to a fault, and it’s a shame because basketball doesn’t love us back, and it probably won’t for the foreseeable future. It’s sad, but at the same time, it’s just the cold, hard truth, and it’s painfully, embarrassingly, uncompromisingly obvious too.
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