I must admit I am a huge soccer fan, and when the world cup comes around it saddens me to see the greatest country on earth either never make the world cup or get eliminated fast.
The world cup is such a huge event. I have noticed in the last eight years there is more people watching it at sports bars but nothing compared to what comes to watch basketball and football games.
Do you think we will ever come to embrace soccer as a country? The world cup is a lot of fun, it would be nice to see the U.S. be competitive in it
America will get serious about soccer when America has some success in soccer. I think one issue is that America doesn’t have the robust academy system that most European clubs have. And tho i mean this as no disrespect, MLS seems like second rate soccer compared to European soccer. I’ve recently taken to saying MLS is where great players come to die. Ibrahimovich. Perlo. Rooney. Many more. It’s just not the same. As for national soccer the men’s side needs a lot of work. Obviously they’re struggling to find talent. And again I think it’s because we don’t grow soccer players the way other cultures do. Sadly the women’s game doesn’t appeal to most. My daughters and I are crazed about women’s soccer. But we don’t really know anyone else who is that nuts. And that sucks because the women’s game is in a great place worldwide right now. So many talented nations and we are one of them. I just wish the men’s side could get its ■■■■ straight.
I think that Americans like lots of scoring. I think it is why, over the decades, football and basketball have surpassed baseball, which is a slowly dying American sport, kept alive in large part by stats geeks and its historical significance.
We should be able to get a good team, it’s hard to think a country the size of Croatia which has less people than that of metro Phoenix, can make it to the finals, yet we didn’t even qualify for the world cup :(.
I am hoping there will be more people like your family that adores the sport and maybe it will gain more traction. It just sucks being left out of such a world sport phenomenon that is the world’s cup.
America will never be successful at soccer because whereas other countries get their very best athletes on the team in America our best athletes go into professional football, baseball, basketball, and even hockey. Our soccer teams are comprised of athletes who for whatever reason (size, speed, strength, etc) weren’t quite good enough to be a professional athlete in one of the leagues where you actually can make a lot of money. Doesn’t mean they are bad athletes, they just aren’t the elite ones like you get from other countries.
As a sports fan though I don’t care. Soccer is the one sport that makes baseball look exciting and baseball is a snoozefest anymore to watch.
I just can’t extract any excitement out of watching soccer. I’d be down with taking the Latin American play by play announcers and integrating them into NFL broadcasts though.
I’m not sure what the OP is on about. USA soccer is currently ranked #1 in the world, wins World Cups and always goes deep into the World Cup and regional championships if it doesn’t win and has a strong development program.
Yeah. I’ve got a teen daughter who is in the Olympic development program so I get a little grumpy when people forget about how well womens soccer does in the US.
USWNT is really what a national program should look like. Tons of development. Young players getting calls to camp to really see who can hang. And 3 World Cup stars on their kits. The old guard is moving on but there are so many great young stars. It’s just disheartening to see that the men’s side can’t bring it together like that.
It goes back to what I was saying about the best athletes. There is no NFL, MLB, or NHL for women. There is a WNBA but its a joke propped up by money from the men’s NBA. And basketball has a natural deterrent called height that exclude many otherwise elite athletes.
So the best female athletes that aren’t tennis players and want to go into sports end up in soccer. Whereas as I said on the mens side the soccer team gets the athletes who for whatever reason couldn’t make it in one of the big four sports.
The US will get “serious” about soccer when the money being paid to the players is on par with the current major sports. Until then, our top athletes will participate in the sports that potentially pay the best.
