We must be watching different games then. Besides, professional soccer players can kick a soccer ball near the same speed. And there are far more ways to get seriously injured in soccer than just a stray ball.
I've been watching a lot of the World Cup (played the liberal sport of soccer in HS back in the day). Some of the players' skill is mesmerizing (I'm thinking of Ronaldinho--guy has amazing moves). With the tight marking going on in this last round, it was a joy to watch some of the quick decisions that led to scoring chances. Of course, it was also painful to watch some of the ineptitude and lack of quality play (the Swiss-Ukraine game was, for the most part, embarrassing to watch).