American Footballs National Football League - Essay Example

Soccer is actually a term used by Americans and Canadians to refer to a game known elsewhere as football. The official name of this sport is association football. Americans developed a distinct type of football in the 19th century which has subsequently come to be known as American football. This game has basically grown out of two sports, soccer, or association football, and rugby football. Both these games remain separate sports with each having its own specific set of rules.

The international body governing soccer is FIFA, or Federation Internationale de Football Association. The immensely popular World Cup, held at four-year intervals is organized by FIFA, and it also governs all levels of soccer, including professional games on the international level, Olympic competitions and youth leagues. The FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly the sport’s premier event, pitting national teams from 32 countries against one another.

American football’s National Football League or NFL is the most popular and major professional league in the world. However, over the years, several other leagues have been formed in North America and Europe. The comparable soccer league known as MLS or Major League Soccer has many teams which have fans worldwide and some of the most famous teams are A.C. Milan of Italy, Ajax Amsterdam of The Netherlands, Manchester United of England, Real Madrid of Spain, Boca Juniors of Argentina, São Paulo of Brazil, and Colo Colo of Chile, among others.

Both forms of the game, soccer or association football and American football have some things in common, namely, both are played between two teams, in which players try to score a goal by hitting the ball into the opponents’ goal, by using any part of their body except the hands. Players thus have to use remarkable skills of using feet and heads as they kick, dribble, or pass the ball toward the goal or to another player.

Although this much remains common to both games, there are some important contrasts and differences. For instance, the first difference is the area in which both games are played. For soccer, the playing field is 90 and 120 m (100 and 130 yd) long and between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) wide. American football is played on a pitch that is 120 yd (110 m) long and 53 yd 1 ft (48.8 m) wide.