Divided Nation: Maybe we should call it 'foccer'

A News.com.au reader poll which has attracted 4,012 votes at the latest count reveals that exactly 2006 people voted for football, and 2006 for soccer.

The poll mirrors the response of you, our readers, who argued in the comments section for both terms with equal passion in a story we ran yesterday.

In that story, we noted that Alessandro Del Piero has repeatedly referred to the game as "soccer" since arriving here to play for Sydney FC in September.

Del Piero is a 38-year-old from Italy who won a FIFA World Cup and became a legend at one of the the world's most famous clubs Juventus.

His choice to call the game "soccer" flies directly in the face of local authorities who have more or less abandoned the use of the word "soccer" - with the obvious exception of our national men's team, the Socceroos.

Most publications at this media organisation have chosen to use the word "football" too in their coverage of the game, so perhaps you might note that point before you call us haters.

So with opinion divided down the middle, we're back to where we started. What do we call the game?

Actually, you guys have solved the problem. What you have clearly told us overnight is that it is perfectly OK to call the game whatever you feel comfortable calling it. Soccer or football, it's your choice.

In other words, she'll be right mate. No wukkas either way. When you think about it, that's a typically Australian solution to a tricky problem.

Then again, perhaps we could just call it "foccer."