Every year on December 10, the world informally, but traditionally celebrates World Football Day. In this way, the international community pays tribute to this sport, which for many millions is not just a game, but a lifestyle.
Of course, in honor of the holiday, many football matches of various levels and scales are held.
Nobody knows for sure when this game first appeared. Historians found the first mention of football as « about kicking » in Chinese sources dating back to the second millennium BC. The game was called Tsu Chiu, which means «push with foot». Playing football allowed Chinese warriors to maintain good physical shape.
Some argue that the precursor to football was the wild play of the Saxons, who lived in England in the 8th century. On the battlefield, after battles, they kicked the severed heads of the enemy.
Football was played in both Ancient Greece and Rome about two and a half thousand years ago. In Greece, this game was called «battle for the ball», from which it can be assumed that they played it accordingly — using all kinds of martial arts techniques.
But over time, the game began to take on civilized forms, especially in England. Where football began to be cultivated in privileged educational institutions at the beginning of the 19th century, as a useful activity for young people. This changed not only the attitude towards the game, but also the game itself, which was increasingly gaining popularity.
In 1904, the International Football Federation (French) was founded. Federation Internationale de Football Association, abbr. FIFA, in the Russian transliteration of – FIFA), which has now become a global football community uniting 211 national football associations. All football tournaments on a global scale are held under the auspices of FIFA.
Interesting some football events are:
— On 23 March 1891, the net was used for the first time on a football goal during a match between the North and South of England teams;
— On October 24, 1897, the first officially recorded football match was held in Russia;
— On July 13, 1930, the first ever FIFA World Cup began in Uruguay;
— On May 31, 1942, a football match was held at the «Dynam» stadium in besieged Leningrad;
— in the summer of 2018, the final part of the FIFA World Cup was held in Russia, which for the first time in its history became the host country of the world football championship, in addition, the World Cup was held for the first time in Eastern Europe.
Postcard «December 10 — World Football Day»