Soccer and football merge, in a way

This is an intriguing development. German soccer reporters are noticing that some strikers have more running and more creative responsibility in their job description. One aspect at play here is the similarity with US football:

(English translation follows) "...mitunter wirken die Laufwege wie die von Wide Receivern im Football - einem Sport, bei dem Spielzüge und Laufwege vorher angesagt und auf dem Spielfeld bis ins kleinste Detail abgestimmt sind. Andrej Woronin etwa startete beim Spiel seiner Berliner Hertha gegen den FC Bayern vom Mittelkreis aus, bewegte sich auf die rechte Seite. Nach zehn Metern schlug er einen Haken und lief diagonal in Richtungs des Strafraums, um seinem herandribbelnden Mittelfeldspieler Cicero Platz zu machen. Auf Höhe des Strafraumkreises folgte der zweite Haken, Woronin lief nach rechts in die Gasse. Dorthin spielte Cicero den Ball, Woronin schoss ihn an Michael Rensing vorbei ins Tor." http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/527/466112/text/4/
"...[strikers in soccer] sometimes appear to be running patterns like wide receivers do in American football - a sport where plays and running patterns are called [in the huddle] beforehand and are defined down to the most subtle head-fake detail. At the beginning of the Hertha BSC match against FC Bayern for example, Ukraine star striker Andrey Voronin of Berlin started running from the center circle toward the right flank, then veered in a "V" pattern back from the sideline, running diagonally towards the penalty area, which cleared a path for the dribbling midfielder Cicero. At the top of the penalty area, Voronin again cut back on a second hook, spurting into a "seam" and taking a pass from Cicero to kick the ball past goalie Michael Rensing into the goal."

This choreography can be seen in knowing looks before the beginning of a half or during extra time in championships. See 22-yr-old Pitroipa's mischievous smile at his teammates in Hamburg two nights ago just before the whistle blew for 15 more minutes of overtime. Lo and behold, a play had been called with a "pattern" just like in US football, with a double pass involving Jonathan Pitroipa which failed, but was agreed on beforehand. What a shame that the young striker was stopped (and "taken out") by Bremen goalie Tim Wiese in the final minutes. The outcome of the 120 minute ordeal hung on whether the Burkina Faso playmaker's dash for the goal and cunning foot-flick of the ball around the last defender, would culminate in a rousing victory. It was oh-so-close to becoming a great play-of-the-day. He is player to watch who HSV management want to groom and develop over time with a contract till 2012. He plays all over the midfield and can dribble into dangerously close range of the opponent's goal on his own or with a give-and-go or speedily recovered an errant ball with his lithe and heads-up moves.

If one of his striker teammates like Petric, Olic or Guerrero are saddled with an injury or benched for accumulated yellow cards, his hour will have come.