The playing fields of the World Cup are composed of grass developed in Manitoba.  Wow, I didn’t think a soccer fact could get any more boring…until I found out that the grass was Canadian.

It has been estimated by the U.S. Soccer Federation that, on average, the World Cup referees run 12 miles (19.31 km) in a soccer game.  That’s 5 miles (8.05 km) more than the average player.  They also get less rest too.  For example, a soccer player from Ghana can lie on his back delaying the game for minutes…the refs don’t have this luxury.

I’m over it.

In 1863 England, the rules of football (not American football) were revised to distinguish association football (soccer) from rugby football.  The term “soccer” started being used in England in the 1880s as a slang abbreviation of the word “association.”  Of the 45 FIFA countries which use English as a primary language, only three (the United States, Canada, and Samoa) call the sport “soccer,” instead of “football.”  The United States, Canada, and Samoa….  Soccer powerhouses. 

Maybe.  I don’t know.  This post took me an hour to write.  Not really a huge soccer fan. 

But I am a huge Samoa fan.