Sports: The World Looks On Germany

(Drivebycuriosity) - The world looks on Germany, at least the part which is interested in team sports. The Deutsche Bundesliga, the German Premier Soccer League, restarted her game series (the 52nd season in her history), following a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before the restart all players have been quarantined and frequently tested for COVID-19 - and the tests will continue twice a week. If a player will be tested positive it will be treated as regular injuries, followed by a two-week absence. Apparently they are canaries in the coal mine. Fingers crossed.

They games are happening in the usual big stadiums, but with empty seats. These "ghost games" are all shown on TV and streamed on Internet, reaching a global audience. I live in New York City and have been watching the games on the US networks FS1 & FS2 which stream all games. Apparently the Deutsche Bundesliga has a monopoly in the moment. They are the only providers of major sport events on the globe. This way the COVID-19  pandemic gives the German soccer teams much more international attention as usual, an advantage against the leagues in UK, Spain & Italy - and also against US football, baseball & basketball.

The situation is also a chance to grant soccer more international attention. In the US soccer is neglected -  way behind American football, baseball, basketball & ice hockey. I understand that many Americans find soccer games boring because they have to wait for some severe action. And there is only one break after 45 minutes.

The games I watched so far showed the strategical & tactical appeal of soccer as a kind of dynamical lawn chess. Successful soccer is based on brain &  physical effort. Successful combinations of attacks - players move with the ball like the draws of a check game - can lead to dramatic actions before the goal box.  On last weekend, the 27th Spieltag (match day), which spread from Friday through Sunday, the 18 teams scored 32 times, including the 7 goals thriller in the game Bayer München versus Eintracht Frankfurt. Some games got spiced with penalty shootings & red cards.

I think a successful restart of an important sports event could be seen as a good omen for a general restart of the global economy. Maybe the rest of the world can learn something from the Bundesliga, not only the sports world.