Adam Snow

Soccer is a tool for understanding the world. As a youth soccer player in Colorado, the sport was my first exposure to cultures beyond my own. Before I had ever taken a Spanish class, I knew how to encourage my Spanish-speaking teammates in their own language. My Honduran coach taught me that Latin-American soccer is open and free-flowing. There is room for self-expression, for creativity, for attack, for flair. Contrast this with the German Gegenpress, which is calculated and requires intense discipline and fitness, or the Italian Zona Mista, in which players fulfill their roles to artfully dictate the tempo of play. Each system is unique, rooted in history and beautiful in its own way. These are cultural expressions, and they are fascinating to watch, study and write about.