Passing in the sport of soccer

Slowly I am beginning to understand soccer more and more. I want to be able to spot and appreciate beautiful quick passing. I appreciate it in basketball, (I love Kaili McLaren because of her passing...Steve Nash and Jason Kidd come to mind from the NBA) and now I want to be able to appreciate it in the sport of soccer.

It's harder for me to see great passing in soccer because I am really new to the sport. Also I think it's easier to pass and see great passing in 5 on 5 basketball. I think it's harder to spot in 11 v 11 soccer. It can get confusing for newcomers with all the changes in possession and direction.

As I rewind my memory of plays from the midfield point view (I only had this view for games on Television and a couple of women's games...I was a goal patrol faithful for the men) in soccer I can think of two times when I did appreciate the passing ability of a UConn player. One of those was Ashley O'Brien. I was impressed at her ability to pass to Annie Yi in the game vs West Virginia in the Big East tournament. It was a perfect pass that was finished by Yi for a great goal.

The other player was Courtney Wilkinson Maitland in a W-League game. The play didn't work out as she had planned because the player she passed it too wasn't prepared for the pass. However, I was impressed with her vision on that play. I stopped and thought to myself, nice pass...in this case nice vision...nice try...will be beautiful once her W-League teammate gets more expierence.

Anyway passing, and the little things are the things I need to begin to appreciate in soccer before I can actually understand the game the way I feel I need to understand it. I think it's hard for American's because we are so often blinded by scoring. We want to see scoring, we appreciate scoring and the dramatic and acrobatic. The intricacies of the game should also matter.

The thing about soccer that gets me is how the best players can kick and place a ball the way a normal person can with their hands and arms. I am also impressed with what they can do with a ball without using their arms and hands. Normal people catch a ball with their hands and arms. Soccer players have to "catch" 40 yard kicks with their heads, chests, thighs and feet. I think in soccer terms that's considered trapping. Anyway just try catching a ball like that. I think that the people who can do those small things well are the people that are usually some of the most important and under appreciated members on a team. I also think it's tough for a casual/new fan to be a fan of anything other than a goal scorer or goal keeper. New and casual fans only see and remember things that involve shots going in or shots being stopped. They often don't understand the great pass that set things up, or the defensive positioning of the left back.