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Sigh: Washington Post’s John Feinstein Says Soccer Isn’t A Real Sport

We suppose this moment was inevitable. After the second impossibly thrilling victory for a United States soccer team in as many years, the U.S. women’s team’s shootout victory over Brazil in the Women’s World Cup aided by a stunning last-ditch goal from Abby Wambach, someone was going to tear it down.

Well, we now know the identity of that buzzkill: columnist John Feinstein. The infuriating crank’s contention: soccer – be it men’s or women’s – isn’t a real sport. He recently sat down with Washington Post colleagues Ivan Carter and Mike Wise for Washington Post Live and shared that opinion, his reason being that it is possible for a game (or such a high-stakes game, at least) to be decided in a shootout. It was spoken like someone who either desperately wants to hate soccer or desperately wants to be a contrarian.

If Feinstein was trolling, he did so effectively – both Wise and Carter (thankfully) shouted him down. If he was for real…come on. You’re really going to say top, finely conditioned athletes in constant motion for 90 (or more) minutes playing a game of teamwork and precise execution doesn’t count, because games in which two teams have done everything possible to prove themselves equals are decided based on a goal-scoring contest, when the point of soccer is to score goals? Apparently. Video below.

Photo via Getty (Scott Heavey)