Soccer for the Casual Sports Fan: Winning and Losing

With the start of the inaugural El Paso Locomotive FC four days away, I have decided to share a series of thoughts that apply specifically to the game soccer keeping specifically in mind the casual El Paso sports fan that will be attending future Locomotive soccer matches.

Soccer, at times, can be pretty much like life...it isn't fair. This is something I tend to remember from time to time when a soccer match comes to the end, the result becomes official and the match has a winner and a loser, not ending in a tie.

A side (soccer term from a team) may win a match not really having outplayed their opponent in some cases being thoroughly dominated by the opposition and after 90 minutes come away with the 3 points a side gets for winning a match. If you are a fan of a team that did this you will feel as if you have stolen 3 points knowing well that your team or side may have not necessarily deserved the victory.

An opposing side could have dominated ball possession, created more clear opportunities to score and the ball simply did not go in them. On the flip side, your team went down the field once, possibly on a counterattack and scored. That can be the difference in the final outcome of a soccer match that is born out of a simple and single lapse of concentration. Pretty much like life, its all about the little things and taking advantage of the moment because you may not get another opportunity.

While yes at the end of the day final results, wins, loses and draws and the a team's position in the standings are what teams are ultimately judged by in soccer it is possibly more important to be attentive to how the team functions on the pitch (aka field of play). The record of a team isn't necessarily indicative of how they team is developing over the course of the season. A subpar record, especially over a given stretch of the season may not reflect how the team or club is performing or that it is executing the nuances of sport that may not be obvious to casual fan, and while the results may show it in terms of wins and loses, that development will eventually turn a season around. In no sport may this be the case or be more evident in than in the sport of soccer.

Thus, like in life sometimes what you get in regards to a win or loss isn't necessarily what you deserve and other times you get lucky and deep down you know you didn't necessarily deserve to.