Via Streaming – “This is Football”

In 2018, about 3.6 billion people watched the World Cup, almost half the world’s population. However, this impressive statistic does not seem that surprising to anyone who knows the sport. Football does not end in ninety minutes, twenty-two players and a ball, but in a feeling shared between players and fans in search of a victory that is not always limited to the scoreboard. To better explain this inexplicable set of emotions, Amazon Prime will release the documentary “This is Football”. The series is divided into six one-hour episodes, and in each one it is told in a different way how football actively participated in improving the quality of life in each community.

To show the weight that sport has on the world stage, the first episode, “Redemption“, explains how football was essential to rebuild the morale of the inhabitants of Rwanda after the 1994 massacre that killed more than 800,000 people. In a place plagued by a tragedy of unbelievable proportions, sport has become an important way to recover the courage and move forward, despite so many casualties. In addition to this chapter, the heroic Icelandic classification for the 2018 World Cup and the impacts of competition on the national atmosphere are also addressed. The documentary also highlights the importance of women’s football in the context of gender, with stories of women’s achievements on and off the field.

In general, football became easily popular due to the ease of the rules and the low cost to play. With two pairs of slippers and something that resembles a ball, it is already possible to experience the many emotions of those who play a world cup final in a state-of-the-art stadium. Not only for the little investment needed, but football is also recognized for its role as a socially transforming instrument. “This is Football”Shows that, for both those who watch and those who play, football is not just a sport. And it never will be.