Team sports are simply the best

The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and no matter how late the game goes on, people will stay up to watch the matches, especially if their favourite team is competing. In fact, even if you're not a fan of the game, you can't help but get caught up in the fervour.

When England was playing last Sunday night, millions of Britons stayed up late to watch until the game concluded around 4am on Monday morning. The following morning many called in sick at work with a myriad of ailments. I'm sure employers knew what their game was and it wasn't football. But I think that the excitement of England getting through to the next round was far more important.

I can understand people getting worked up over who wins in a game like football. It's not really about the players per se. And it's not really about the game either. It's about the country. When England's Harry Kane scored a goal or converted a penalty, yes England fans were cheering him on but in their minds it's not him they’re cheering. They're cheering on England. This I can understand. Football matches are about different countries, counties or establishments competing with each other.

When a member plays well for his team, naturally fans applaud him but they do so because he did well for his team and whoever the team represents, be it a university, county, city or country. And it’s the same for basketball, hockey, cricket, American football, baseball and any other game where teams are the competitors as opposed to individuals. When these teams win, no one lists every single player's name to say they won. They merely mention the country they represent.

With this said, it always baffled me how people idolise ice skaters, tennis players or golfers. For example, when Jannik Sinner wins a tennis match, the sports commentator doesn't say Italy won. He says Jannik Sinner won. Individual sportsmen may hail from a specific country but they're not really representing their country. They're representing themselves, which is fine. There's just something about a team sport that creates loyalty. When a fan roots for a team, they're rooting for what the team represents whether it's a country or a region within a country or their company or university.

I used to be an avid watcher of Wimbledon and an avid cricket fan and I always felt that the two sports had a very different atmosphere about them. The comradery amongst the supporters of the same team was intense whereas it was totally absent in tennis, swimming or car racing. In my day when Jimmy Connors won a tennis match, no one said America won; he was playing for himself.

There was money involved, yes, as it is in all sports, but the victory went specifically to him. In team sports, the victory never goes to a single player. It goes to his coach too as well as the club or establishment that provided the team with facilities in which to practise and to the entire establishment for supporting them and encouraging them. The cup won by a university's team is always on display in a prominent place so that the whole university can enjoy it. But when an individual sportsman wins a trophy, it's only displayed in his home.

The other problem with individual sportsmen is that they’re idolised to the point that people start worshipping them like they're some kind of deity. Yes they're celebrities but often their celebrity status overtakes what they do as professionals. Moreover, individual sportsmen tend to be curt towards those around them. During a match, they love grandstanding by making a show of themselves by doing things other than playing the game. Many tennis players in my day would smash their rackets against the net or have shouting matches with the umpire because they disagreed with his ruling. To be honest, many of these players are often only remembered for their rowdy behaviour during a game which would then be on the front page of every newspaper.

I, for one, would prefer a team sport any day of the week.