The Beautiful Game? By Haakon Moller “Maybe the game has developed in a wrong direction that way, that when a player goes somewhere and cost £37million and he’s earning £200,000 a week he is happy just to get the money. Maybe the focus of playing football is the second most important thing.“ Samii Hyypia, former manager of Bayer Leverkusen Many say that soccer has lost its passion. Even if increased competition has forced players to dedicate every moment of their lives to the sport to keep up, today’s players are criticized by their predecessors and fans alike for lacking dedication and passion. So, if players are putting in more hours in the gym and on the training field than ever before, how can we say that they lack passion? The Last Bandiera The answer is that most soccer fans still have a romantic view of the way the sport is played. Fans expect undying loyalty from those that have the privilege of pulling on their clubs’ storied colors, and it is becoming increasi...