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95% of football clubs are named after their hometowns. Learn the original stories behind the rest.
Football and superheroes are both immensely popular across the globe. Yet, their universes very rarely intersect. We’ve found 6 soccer variants to fix that.
Football is by far the most popular sports across the world. Behind its main form played with two teams of 11 players, many variants of the sport make it inclusive for just about anyone – including your favorite comic characters. Keep reading to find out which football variant the likes of Black Widow and Superman would choose if they had some time to spare after defeating bad guys!
First up, we have the infamous Suicide Squad – a team of imprisoned villains and anti-heroes. If they were to play a game of football, The Suicide Squad doesn’t really have much of a choice in their variant seeing as they’re locked up in jail. So, playing indoors it’ll have to be! Luckily for them, there are different types of indoor options to choose from, such as futsal, indoor soccer and jorkyball.
What’s great about football is that you can play it basically anywhere you want to. The versatility of this sport makes it easy to adapt to different environments – just like the Sandman. Soccer on beaches, swamps, streets – the options are endless! The Sandman can alter his body by changing any part of it he desires into sand. I think he’d love to play football on the beach, at a swamp or even on the street.
Beach football is pretty self-explanatory. It’s played on the beach or on some form of sand-like surface. Swamp soccer (yes, it is as messy as it sounds) is played in bogs or swamps. This variant is believed to have originated in Finland where it was played by soldiers and athletes as an exercise activity. Lastly, we have street football which doesn’t really follow the strict rules of association football. This soccer type is informal, it’s played on the street, and it involves very basic set-ups.
While the most common perception of football involves strict rules and guidelines, that doesn’t mean that the adaptations of the sport cannot be unconventional and non-conformist. Just like the Black Widow, whose character is far too complex and free-spirited to follow the rules of the game. If the Black Widow was into soccer, she’d probably prefer unorthodox football variants that show off her rebellious nature, such as football tennis, three-sided football and freestyle football (similar to keepie uppie).
Football tennis is played on a court that’s divided by a net. The aim of this type of football is to hit the ball across the net using any body part except your hands in a way that makes it difficult for your opponent to hit it back to your side of the net.
Three-sided football is played with three teams – as opposed to two – on a hexagonal field. The aim of the game is quite the opposite of association football as the winner is the team that scores the least goals.
Freestyle football is probably the most unconventional (and stylish) of the lot. This type of soccer involves juggling a football with any part of your body except your elbows to your hands. Freestyle football is creative in nature and often incorporates football tricks, dance, acrobatics and music.
Now this is what makes football and its variants so remarkable – the inclusivity. There really is something for everyone, including those who have impairments. The diverse options include goalball, torball and powerchair football. The visually impaired Daredevil might be a fan of one of these, when he’s not fighting crime, of course. I think his “radar sense” would make him pretty good at it, too!
Goalball is a type of soccer that was specifically designed with those visually impaired in mind. Instead of a normal football, players use one that has bells embedded in it. A key rule in goalball is that you can only throw the ball by hand and are not allowed to use your feet. Goalball is played indoors in teams of three and relies on ear-hand coordination.
Torball is also an adaptation of conventional soccer for those who are visually impaired. It’s similar to goalball in a number of ways, but a key difference is that it’s played in the middle of a field, which has three cords stretched across the width of it. Torball is played by two teams of three players in each and they use a ball with bells inside. Players roll the ball under the three cords and into their opponent team’s goal. The team with the highest number of goals wins.
Powerchair football is a football variant that’s designed for those with physical disabilities. This variant originated in France and was invented by teachers who wanted their disabled students to be able to play sports along with their peers. Players use specially designed wheelchairs to control the ball when playing. The power chairs have footguards to attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch football.
So, you want in on the football action, but you also don’t want to participate in something too strenuous that’s going to tire you out. I mean, if Spiderman and Superman have some time to kill at home before needing to run off and save the world again, I don’t think they’d want to put on their cleats and waste their valuable energy on soccer. But they might opt for a game of table football or subbuteo…
Table football is loosely based on association football. It’s a table-top game that requires you to move the ball into the opponent’s goal by manipulating rotating bars which have soccer figures attached. You can control the figures using the bars by holding them up, passing or ‘kicking’ the ball.
Subbuteo is also a tabletop variant, but it’s quite different to table football because you have to flick miniature figures with your fingers. The figures are mounted on weighted bases and you need to flick them across the tabletop pitch towards the ball. Unlike table football, the figures used in subbuteo come in hundreds of different team kits and accessories. Most of the team designs represent real football teams such as Real Madrid and Chelsea and the range of accessories include special figures for free kicks, linesmen, ball-boys, streakers and policemen.
As is the case with pretty much anything in this digital age, a new variant of football that combines the sport with technology has emerged. The world of football has taken on this new twist, as an online game that’s played behind a screen from the comfort of your home. With this introduction of technology, I can’t help but think that Iron Man would make for a great gamer (in an alternate universe, of course). Maybe Stark Industries would even design their own!
Gamers who are into sports are spoiled for choice with the plethora of platforms available to them. FIFA, eFootball and Rocket League appear to be the most raved about at the moment. It’s a series of video games that’s developed and launched every year. FIFA ‘s popularity can be attributed to its availability in 51 countries and 18 languages. The most recent installments of FIFA games include exclusively licensed leagues and teams from across the globe.
Konami’s eFootball is a series of football simulation video games. So far, there are 18 main installments and quite a few spin-off style titles. eFootball is believed to be a long-standing rival of FIFA and is the second-largest football game franchise, coming in second to FIFA.
Psyonix’s Rocket League is a vehicular soccer game video. It’s typically described as “soccer, but with rocket-powered cars”. The game is played by two teams of up to eight players that use rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into their opponent’s goal.
It’s no surprise that soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially now that we have something for everyone, including our much-loved comic characters! These variations are anything but boring and they truly give football a new lease of life. It’s highly unlikely that the fascination of this sport is going to die down anytime soon.
What did you think about our comic character tie-in? Which variation do you think your favourite superhero or villain would choose? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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Written by Prenelle Pillay.
Feature photo by Michael Li.