It takes a lot of strenght to carry yourself as a 9-striker or a center back in soccer, obviously not the same emphasis as NFL, but thats just that attribute they focus on, while soccer has a focus on many other qualities, its a oddly thing to compare, but you can see a mixture of everything in soccer, just like NFL. NFL athletes gets a timeout very 20 seconds and are on vacation half a season. Their endurance is inferior to soccer players,
So your comparing the best NBA player to the worst soccer player? I dont quite get it. Like you mentioned earlier, while a lot of athletic attributes are required to make it to the TOP, you also need skills, perhaps the Asians lack both, their tactical skills are inferior to the Europeans, simply because they are behind in development and budgets compared to what we see in Europe. So academies in many countries in Asia are really really behind, it doesnt function the same way as in the USA. Basically we are comparing the whole world within 1 sport, to 1 or a few more countries to 1 sport. I passed my 138 pounds some time ago, and i do boxing, i prefer boxing over soccer. I sure as hell like NFL and NBA as well, i just dont blindly ignore or put down any of the sports, as i can reflect and put some understanding to the requirements of each sport.
It's okay Wongzen, clearly there is no point in talking to you because we are not going to agree.
No, my point was tying into my first response where I said that there is a massive pool of soccer fans and players, but not all of that "big number" are going to compete in the sport or even have a chance to become top tier.
Asian countries, and the vast majority of African players...from you know Africa. That was my point. Then you said it was the national sport. Okay, well how many asian players are there in the EPL right now? Ever?
From what I could find there's like 5 notable players all of Korean and Japanese descent only. Maybe there's some more guys, but my point is it's not like out of the billions of people who mostly follow soccer as their primary sport in Asia and south Asia, tons are playing in the top clubs of the sport. Am I wrong? I'm not a huge fan of soccer but like I said I do follow it somewhat and used to follow it a lot more, whether you want to believe that or not.
That was my point. You rationalizing or even legitimately giving reasons as to why doesn't really matter, because it just supports my initial point.
Maybe you do like the NFL and NBA, but I doubt you understand the sports of the level of athleticism required then. Messi is one of the best soccer players in the world, he had to take growth hormone due to a disorder apparently to even reach 5'6. He's probably very fast and athletic compared to an average man, but compared to an NFL or NBA skill player? He's probably below average I'd easily bet. Combine that with size and strength -
which are an important part of athleticism and then we see that the top soccer player in the world can be there despite not being even close to the best athlete.
That is my point. Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, surely you know them. Tom Brady is the best football player ever. Would I ever call him one of the best athletes in the sport in terms of pure athleticism? No fucking chance. He's a mediocre athlete by "sport" standards and an
awful athlete by NFL/NBA standards. He simply plays a position that is about 75-99% skill based and requires arm talent. He's big and has big hands, that's part of it and counts, he's obviously a good athlete compared to normal people.
Soccer is a skill sport. I'm not saying everyone is a bum or a Tom Brady either, it has some legit stud athletes and speedsters, sure. But it's not a requirement. It is a requirement in the NBA or NFL, otherwise you're pretty much never making it. That is my entire point...and my final one because clearly no one is going to be convinced either way.
