Remember in american football, where whatever team got the ball in OT usually won cause of field goal = game over?

Its a crappy way to decide a game, but most casual fans enjoy the PK's and the excitement that comes with it.

Generally speaking the reason most Americans dont like watching soccer is because half the time they have no idea what they are even watching. All they see is a ball being kicked around and wondering why its not going into the net... Its hard for anyone to enjoy watching a sport when you dont even understand the basics of the game (not saying that you dont, just others who have a negative view on watching soccer). The build up of the game, the possession, the moves, the chances, the suspense, the simple beauty of the game is why its hands down the most popular sport bar-none in the world.

Also, its a harder sport for casuals to follow along and get into with the multiple leagues they have around the world, where here in america, its pretty simple with one league to rule the entire sport like MLB/NFL/NBA (best players all play here)... There are a lot more leagues world-wide for soccer where the best players are spread throughout all the regions.

TBH most people outside of the U.S. find our sports very boring, MLB/NFL in particular. To them, NFL is a constant stoppage fest. the game is 60minutes, but it takes 3 hours to finish the game, including commercials etc, and to them they dont understand why they are standing on the line for 30seconds trying to force a offside, which is similar to why a lot of Americans dont understand what is happening in a soccer game to soften a defense or to find a opening etc... You could say WOW look at that through ball, and half the people watching the soccer game complaining about the sport dont/wont even know what a through ball is..

Good take. I can certainly see why it turns some people off but to me, matches like Russia v Spain are akin to watching a game of chess played out on a pitch. It is interesting in a different way.

I really enjoy watching international soccer but it is very hard to deal with the diving. Twice today players dove instead of playing the ball in what would have been a very dangerous spot. Ramos did it before PK's and just before in this game.

Would really like to see tournaments give heavy fines and yellow/reds post-match to try to curb it. Hell use VAR too.

Turtle Turtle

I agree to some extent as far as why people don't like it or find it boring... most people are casual fans and they aren't going to put any effort into understanding the game. I think people who watch and appreciate other sports will at least put the effort into understanding what they're watching. I can appreciate the skill and passing, set plays, etc.... it's just very strange that a game that's not offensive and has rules like offsides to keep teams from scoring, goes to the extreme opposite to decide games. It would be like CFB rules for OT, but you only get 3 players on defense.

Playing it yourself definitely helps, and soccer is inexpensive... I didn't appreciate hockey nearly as much until I started playing roller hockey.

But then there's this bit of fun

<blockquote class="reddit-card" data-card-created="1530472377"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/8v1yze/neymar_is_on_a_roll/">Neymar is on a roll</a> from <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/funny">r/funny</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//embed.redditmedia.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

This boring ass game is going to penalties.

Tuuuuuuuuuuurtle

I love the penalty kicks.

One of the better reasons to watch.

Where is the red card?

Amazing save!

That should have been a red card, but that was one hell of a save!
That last gasp tackle reminds me of the Suarez hand ball on the line vs Ghana in South Africa. Deny the opponent an easy goal in order to give your goalie a shot.

The Croatian player still should have been able to get the shot off.

That was exciting.

That's what I was thinking... looked like an extra step.