Americans and soccer

keane2097

irishh_bob wrote: »

the ball is out of play twice as much in rugby yet they have video technology

The ball being out of play a lot is a reason why video technology can be implemented easily.

I think you misundertood the thrust of my post.

Walsh

You can't compare International Football to the Club Sports of the USA? We have a Champions League Final each year which is our Superbowl! You don't see the USA competing against other Countries in American football, Why? Because people think it's over-commercialised boring Sh*te. Fair enough with Basketball it's non stop and at international level it's competed at every 4 years just like the World Cup but just because you've watched a supposedly below par World Cup, theres no need to compare it to the shiny Super-Bowl?

parker kent

I agree with davyjose, soccer is in danger of disappearing up itself. I love it more than any other sport and I'll defend it to the hilt in the face of the "rugby is real sport" type of debates you get these days, but there are so many issues that need to be addressed in soccer.

First off, cheating is endemic in the game. Every decision, every corner, every tackle is met with protesting, feigning injury etc. It is terrible to watch grown men throwing themselves to the floor when their shoulder is brushed by a hand. Watch what happens when 2 team-mates run into each other by accident, they stand up like the strong, athletes they really are. The likes of Ronaldo and Drogba are over 6 feet tall, built like a tank but fall over like a toddler learning to walk every time somebody comes near them. I could type all day about the other forms of cheating and "gamesmanship" in football but you all know what I am referring to.

Then away from the pitch, FIFA are a collection of corrupt, dishonest shysters. The likes of Jack Warner and Sepp Blatter are a disgrace. The Observer have a weekly column that specialises in highlighting the hypocrisy from FIFA.

If football were to become even more popular in the USA (acknowledging that 20 million people watched the Ghana game) it needs not just to match the organisation of the US sports, but to be better than them. It is no use to pick holes in baseball or basketball. FIFA need to dump the corrupt and let football people run the game.

patmac

tolosenc wrote: »

Well, at keast it's not this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1khn0OxDLA

Well that is because supporters are kept of the pitch, they weren't the only thugs on display yesterday just look at Van Bommel, and the referee was amateur as opposed to the much hyped English referee.
There was an incident at the end of that match when a Meath player got a punch in the face and instead of rolling around the ground like he was shot, he just pointed it out to the linesman and got on with it, at least that crap hasn't entered the GAA yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Soccer is in a state, I love the way Spain play the game going forward, but their's and everyone else's play acting is destroying the game, my 2 nephew's 8 and 10 are making playacting an artform, this should have been stamped out year's ago but now everyone is at it.
This and the obscene wages players get are killing the game.

Walsh

patmac wrote: »

Well that is because supporters are kept of the pitch, they weren't the only thugs on display yesterday just look at Van Bommel, and the referee was amateur as opposed to the much hyped English referee.

There was an incident at the end of that match when a Meath player got a punch in the face and instead of rolling around the ground like he was shot, he just pointed it out to the linesman and got on with it, at least that crap hasn't entered the GAA yet, but it is only a matter of time.

If it was any kind of a sport people wouldn't be getting punches in the face? GAA is just barbaric.

patmac

Walsh wrote: »

If it was any kind of a sport people wouldn't be getting punches in the face? GAA is just barbaric.

I'm not getting into that, but the Dutch were just as barbaric yesterday.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055962357&page=77

Fr Tod Umptious

irishh_bob wrote: »

heard a guy from espn on off the ball recently who explained very well why he believed americans have never taken to soccer

1 . thier isnt enough constant excitement ( scoring )
2. you cant use your hands , americans dont like being restrained
3 . most important of all , america didnt invent it and they dont make the rules, FIFA is some foreign org like the U.N or the EU

that is kinda true.
There is a great book called 'Soccer in Football World' by David Wangerin, that is essentially a history about soccer in America
One reason for it's failure to become popular was because in the early part of the 20th century, when America was a very insular state, soccer was always run by immigrants, Scots mainly, and seen a a very closed shop, and this did not really endear the game to Americans.

I listen online to a Boston sports station, WEEI, and the morning show presenters are both 50 something Americans. They are typical non soccer fan middle aged Americans and their discussion about the WC final was, 'What the hell are people telling us to watch the WC for when it was a pathetic 1-0 game' and how most of the WC was the same.
They also alluded to how easy soccer players dive, fake injury, whine at the ref etc. All of which are very valid points if you ask me.

You often hear Americans mention that when they were young they were always told that two things would become popular in America in the near future, one was soccer the other was the metric system.

Johnny Utah

Anthony Walsh wrote: »

You know what annoys me most about football these days and one person has pointed it out is the fact that cheating is some what apart of the sport now, a player running into the box and goes down and the commentators say he was playing for the free kick, a few years ago there would have been up roar over this petty behavour, what happened to real men in the sport. Watch the hurling yesterday and John Mullane took a whack across his legs with a hurl and jumped up. The likes of drogba(who at the end of the EPL last season wasn't as bad) going down in the box or outside the box is ridiculous, look at the size of the boy. As a Man U fan I used to think Rooney was like the 'ardest man but I must have been blinded, against AC Milan I think it was he rolled around as if he got shot and jumped back up (I could be wrong about the match might have been Man City). American Sports though, I hear about very little of this petty and unwanted behavour. Ok there are other scandals but at least its left off the pitch and the fans can enjoy the game.

patmac wrote: »

Well that is because supporters are kept of the pitch, they weren't the only thugs on display yesterday just look at Van Bommel, and the referee was amateur as opposed to the much hyped English referee.
There was an incident at the end of that match when a Meath player got a punch in the face and instead of rolling around the ground like he was shot, he just pointed it out to the linesman and got on with it, at least that crap hasn't entered the GAA yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Soccer is in a state, I love the way Spain play the game going forward, but their's and everyone else's play acting is destroying the game, my 2 nephew's 8 and 10 are making playacting an artform, this should have been stamped out year's ago but now everyone is at it.
This and the obscene wages players get are killing the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHuU3EdJ1NQ





The GAA, where men are men and shorts are short!

keane2097

Way to make a complete bollocks of a decent thread lads :rolleyes:

Johnny Utah

keane2097 wrote: »

Way to make a complete bollocks of a decent thread lads :rolleyes:

This thread was never decent. American sports are shite, conveniently interspersed with television advertisments. American sports are boring and stupid, hence why they're only played by Americans. The Baseball World Series-> ffs :rolleyes:

MrStuffins

Johnny Utah wrote: »

This thread was never decent. American sports are shite, conveniently interspersed with television advertisments. American sports are boring and stupid, hence why they're only played by Americans. The Baseball World Series-> ffs :rolleyes:

May i subscribe to your newsletter?

eightyfish

Johnny Utah wrote: »

This thread was never decent. American sports are shite,

"Us" saying that "all your sports are ****" it the same as them saying "all your sports are ****". Either way it's ignorant. There are great sports on both sides of the pond.

The difference is that America doesn't, on a national level, partake in any world-team-sports. When your whole country gets behind your team in an international sport be it football, rugby, cricket, or whatever - it is one of the most fulfilling things in life. As a kid, the world cup - which is the most widely-played of these sports, teaches you all sorts of stuff about all sorts of countries you've never heard of before. It's brilliant for making us realise our place in the world and leads us to have an international conscience.

Americans, aside from the proportionally small number of football fans, don't get this opportunity. The "world series", as pointed out, is just the US and Canada. It insular. It's unhealthy.

titan18

eightyfish wrote: »

"Us" saying that "all your sports are ****" it the same as them saying "all your sports are ****". Either way it's ignorant. There are great sports on both sides of the pond.

The difference is that America doesn't, on a national level, partake in any world-team-sports. When your whole country gets behind your team in an international sport be it football, rugby, cricket, or whatever - it is one of the most fulfilling things in life. As a kid, the world cup - which is the most widely-played of these sports, teaches you all sorts of stuff about all sorts of countries you've never heard of before. It's brilliant for making us realise our place in the world and leads us to have an international conscience.

Americans, aside from the proportionally small number of football fans, don't get this opportunity. The "world series", as pointed out, is just the US and Canada. It insular. It's unhealthy.

Ice-Hockey and Basketball in the Olympics would be seriously contested.Matches between the US and Canada in ice-hockey are incredible.So much of a rivalry between the players and fans there

ctrl-alt-delete

Why do we need Americans to like football again?

pickarooney

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Why do we need Americans to like football again?

Maybe so there'll be a real sense of satisfaction when we beat them?

tolosenc

Johnny Utah wrote: »

The Baseball World Series-> ffs :rolleyes:

The World Series is so called as the Chicago World newspaper first comissioned it. The winners of the National League against the winners of the American League had never formally happened before.

The NFL does refer to the Suerbowl winners as World Champions, though.

eightyfish

titan18 wrote: »

.Matches between the US and Canada in ice-hockey are incredible.So much of a rivalry between the players and fans there

Yeah but that's kind of the point.

Krusader

USA will win the world cup within the next 30 years, there I said it

irishh_bob

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

that is kinda true.
There is a great book called 'Soccer in Football World' by David Wangerin, that is essentially a history about soccer in America
One reason for it's failure to become popular was because in the early part of the 20th century, when America was a very insular state, soccer was always run by immigrants, Scots mainly, and seen a a very closed shop, and this did not really endear the game to Americans.

I listen online to a Boston sports station, WEEI, and the morning show presenters are both 50 something Americans. They are typical non soccer fan middle aged Americans and their discussion about the WC final was, 'What the hell are people telling us to watch the WC for when it was a pathetic 1-0 game' and how most of the WC was the same.
They also alluded to how easy soccer players dive, fake injury, whine at the ref etc. All of which are very valid points if you ask me.

You often hear Americans mention that when they were young they were always told that two things would become popular in America in the near future, one was soccer the other was the metric system.

america is still a very insular country

Fr Tod Umptious

Johnny Utah wrote: »

This thread was never decent. American sports are shite, conveniently interspersed with television advertisments. American sports are boring and stupid, hence why they're only played by Americans. The Baseball World Series-> ffs :rolleyes:

Your right, obviously Americans a stupid in the way their sports are named, not like us Europeans and our 'Champions League'

Fr Tod Umptious

irishh_bob wrote: »

america is still a very insular country

So what if it is

Le King

irishh_bob wrote: »

america is still a very insular country

Go on to explain. And explain in the concept of sport with what we are debating about. I could not agree less with this comment.

We are not insular at all when it comes to sport. Soccer/football has had more time on TV in the states than ever. Numbers are always rising.

speedboatchase

Osu wrote: »

Go on to explain. And explain in the concept of sport with what we are debating about. I could not agree less with this comment.

We are not insular at all when it comes to sport. Soccer/football has had more time on TV in the states than ever. Numbers are always rising.

Ah come on now - any sport that is non-North American in its origin is nowhere near as popular as the five most popular sports, which all have North American roots (American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, NASCAR). Football, Rugby and F1 all have a long way to go in the US and their lack of connection to America in their history and identity will always be a hindrance

rossie1977

the nba finals this year sh*t on the wc, the final match in the staples center was incredible, the atmosphere electric (not the non-stop drone that we saw at the wc)

the gold medal match between the states and canada at the winter olympics had more excitement in overtime than the whole wc put together

i think people need to boarden their horizons a bit

tolosenc

speedboatchase wrote: »

Ah come on now - any sport that is non-North American in its origin is nowhere near as popular as the five most popular sports, which all have North American roots (American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, NASCAR). Football, Rugby and F1 all have a long way to go in the US and their lack of connection to America in their history and identity will always be a hindrance

Don't forget the Monster Trucks. Higher viewership than the NHL or NASCAR.

Hockey and Basketball have a wider appeal than NFL or Baseball and are the main arenas for international competition.

Le King

speedboatchase wrote: »

Ah come on now - any sport that is non-North American in its origin is nowhere near as popular as the five most popular sports, which all have North American roots (American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, NASCAR). Football, Rugby and F1 all have a long way to go in the US and their lack of connection to America in their history and identity will always be a hindrance

Actually football/soccer is more popular than NHL in the US now. Attracts more TV viewers than NHL. If you factor in all soccer broadcasts. PL, MLS, La Liga, Primera División de México and the International games etc.

However if we look at attendances etc. Soccer does not touch the big four? Why on average MLS clubs will receive $70 Million less than Ice Hockey clubs. Despite similar enough viewing figures on an overall basis including US soccer games.

Where I grew up Soccer was probably 4th most popular in New York, with Baseball dominating the field.

Statistically it's the cities with the larger immigrant populations where soccer flourishes.

F1 and rugby will never take on. From anybody I've spoken to who is a racing fan loves "Wheel-to-Wheel" racing rather than the F1 style which many find boring.

Soccer is gaining momentum. It's only going to keep growing. But it won't ever be as popular as NFL or MLB.

The MLS was poorly run previously, so let's see where the new era takes us.

Fr Tod Umptious

Osu wrote: »

Actually football/soccer is more popular than NHL in the US now. Attracts more TV viewers than NHL. If you factor in all soccer broadcasts. PL, MLS, La Liga, Primera División de México and the International games etc.

However if we look at attendances etc. Soccer does not touch the big four? Why on average MLS clubs will receive $70 Million less than Ice Hockey clubs. Despite similar enough viewing figures on an overall basis including US soccer games.

Where I grew up Soccer was probably 4th most popular in New York, with Baseball dominating the field.

Statistically it's the cities with the larger immigrant populations where soccer flourishes.

F1 and rugby will never take on. From anybody I've spoken to who is a racing fan loves "Wheel-to-Wheel" racing rather than the F1 style which many find boring.

Soccer is gaining momentum. It's only going to keep growing. But it won't ever be as popular as NFL or MLB.

The MLS was poorly run previously, so let's see where the new era takes us.

MLS suffers the same way as LOI here

People in the US have no problem getting out of bed at 7am to watch the premiership but will not bother thir ass going to see the nearest MLS team, or even watch them on TV

Hazys

Crosáidí wrote: »

USA will win the world cup within the next 30 years, there I said it

Interesting point.

In the 80's the US had 500,000 registered youth soccer players (when the majority of the current national team would have played), currently they have 4,000,000.

So the team is decent at the moment, but they could be very good in 10/15 years. US to win the World Cup in the USA in 2018!!


This world cup has generated a lot of interest on this side of the pond. This world cup had 75% more viewers than the last one in germany. 17m people streamed the US Algeria game...probably not still big enough for people to take the day off but enough to reduce workplace productivity! Yesterday the game was on at 2:30pm i got down to my local square at 1:20pm and all the bars had massive queues outside, so i had to got to my 5th choice bar!!


But i do feel the level of cheating aka flopping (diving) and poor officating is hampering the growing level of interest in the US. Rugby and Football (american) are my two main sports, and i lost interest in soccer a few years back but this world cup brought my interest back, but again i get left v fustrated watching grown men collapsing to the ground on the slightest impact and ridiculous decisions which you dont see in the NFL or Rugby.

Le King

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

MLS suffers the same way as LOI here

People in the US have no problem getting out of bed at 7am to watch the premiership but will not bother thir ass going to see the nearest MLS team, or even watch them on TV

Yup, however LoI is still badly run. MLS seems to be fixing that. LoI will never be massive in Ireland simply due to the fact of the clowns running it.

Another League of Ireland problem is that any stand out player at youth is signed to an English club or Celtic.

carlop

rossie1977 wrote: »

the nba finals this year sh*t on the wc, the final match in the staples center was incredible, the atmosphere electric (not the non-stop drone that we saw at the wc)

the gold medal match between the states and canada at the winter olympics had more excitement in overtime than the whole wc put together

i think people need to boarden their horizons a bit

I don't watch a huge amount of American sports, though I do tend to follow the play-off phase of the NFL and the NBA, but I think the atmosphere is quite poor compared to Europe. A chant of 'defence' backed by an organ is so cheesy and 'high-school' like.

This is an electric atmosphere.

davyjose

parker kent wrote: »

I agree with davyjose, soccer is in danger of disappearing up itself. I love it more than any other sport and I'll defend it to the hilt in the face of the "rugby is real sport" type of debates you get these days, but there are so many issues that need to be addressed in soccer.

First off, cheating is endemic in the game. Every decision, every corner, every tackle is met with protesting, feigning injury etc. It is terrible to watch grown men throwing themselves to the floor when their shoulder is brushed by a hand. Watch what happens when 2 team-mates run into each other by accident, they stand up like the strong, athletes they really are. The likes of Ronaldo and Drogba are over 6 feet tall, built like a tank but fall over like a toddler learning to walk every time somebody comes near them. I could type all day about the other forms of cheating and "gamesmanship" in football but you all know what I am referring to.

Then away from the pitch, FIFA are a collection of corrupt, dishonest shysters. The likes of Jack Warner and Sepp Blatter are a disgrace. The Observer have a weekly column that specialises in highlighting the hypocrisy from FIFA.

If football were to become even more popular in the USA (acknowledging that 20 million people watched the Ghana game) it needs not just to match the organisation of the US sports, but to be better than them. It is no use to pick holes in baseball or basketball. FIFA need to dump the corrupt and let football people run the game.

This is exactly what i was getting at. Again, the idea behind this thread wasn't to compare the sports, but more of an example of how multi-billion dollar/pound/euro sports can be run. America is the only other nation, afaik, where sports that aren't soccer compete in terms of salary, popularity, etc.

No they aren't perfect, but i still think there is a lot FIFA can learn from them.

carlop

davyjose wrote: »

. America is the only other nation, afaik, where sports that aren't soccer compete in terms of salary, popularity, etc.

.

Surely Australia, South Africa and even our own country fall in this category? I'd say there's plenty more too in Eastern Europe where ice hockey or basketball compete too.

European basketball is actually quite big, it just receives no coverage here whatsoever.

everdead.ie

rossie1977 wrote: »

the nba finals this year sh*t on the wc, the final match in the staples center was incredible, the atmosphere electric (not the non-stop drone that we saw at the wc)

the gold medal match between the states and canada at the winter olympics had more excitement in overtime than the whole wc put together

i think people need to boarden their horizons a bit

Ah hear I like to watch the nba but the vuvzela horns destroyed the atmosphere it was a drone because you couldn't hear the people over it.

eagle eye

Hazys wrote: »

Interesting point.

In the 80's the US had 500,000 registered youth soccer players (when the majority of the current national team would have played), currently they have 4,000,000.

Not many of the current team would have been 80's youths in fairness. But there should be an explosion of youth about to happen. The World Cup in '94 is 16 years ago now and the game really took off over there after that. The midfield and forwards for the US were pretty young in this World Cup and I'd expect to see some more youth added by the time the next one comes around.
*Still haven't given up on Freddy Adu, he is still only 20.

Hazys wrote: »

So the team is decent at the moment, but they could be very good in 10/15 years. US to win the World Cup in the USA in 2018!!

They are only going to get stronger and stronger. They could win the next one and certainly I'd expect them to be a force to be reckoned with from 2018 onwards.

Hazys wrote: »

This world cup has generated a lot of interest on this side of the pond. This world cup had 75% more viewers than the last one in germany. 17m people streamed the US Algeria game...probably not still big enough for people to take the day off but enough to reduce workplace productivity! Yesterday the game was on at 2:30pm i got down to my local square at 1:20pm and all the bars had massive queues outside, so i had to got to my 5th choice bar!!

You in Boston? Davis Sq?

Hazys wrote: »

But i do feel the level of cheating aka flopping (diving) and poor officating is hampering the growing level of interest in the US. Rugby and Football (american) are my two main sports, and i lost interest in soccer a few years back but this world cup brought my interest back, but again i get left v fustrated watching grown men collapsing to the ground on the slightest impact and ridiculous decisions which you dont see in the NFL or Rugby.

Yeah gotta say that the diving really annoys me and it turns me off the game sometimes.

Hazys

eagle eye wrote: »

Not many of the current team would have been 80's youths in fairness. But there should be an explosion of youth about to happen. The World Cup in '94 is 16 years ago now and the game really took off over there after that. The midfield and forwards for the US were pretty young in this World Cup and I'd expect to see some more youth added by the time the next one comes around.
*Still haven't given up on Freddy Adu, he is still only 20.

They are only going to get stronger and stronger. They could win the next one and certainly I'd expect them to be a force to be reckoned with from 2018 onwards.


You in Boston? Davis Sq?


Yeah gotta say that the diving really annoys me and it turns me off the game sometimes.

Central Square Although it does help that Cambridge has so many immigrants so there is a huge interest in soccer but to be fair the yanks were well represented.

tbh Cambridge has been a great spot to watch the games, all games had great atomshpere because there was so many people people in bars supporting their own country.

LuckyLloyd

#15 wrote: »

Great posts davyjose, you are spot on.

The showpiece of the sport was tarnished by one team of thugs, and another team of whining cheaters.

As soccer fans, we have become somewhat blind to the extent that cheating is tolerated.

An outsider is not blinded to it though, and I can understand when I see people criticising the sport.

People like Van Bommel and Busquets are ruining the sport. It's an unusual mix of hatchetmen and crybabies.

Even the very best players in our sport are cheats - Ronaldo, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Gerrard, Rooney, Henry, etc etc etc.

It's a mess.

Brilliant post. You only need to watch the USA team at this world cup to see how different their attitude to sport is. No diving, no rolling around on the ground crying (and then bouncing up 30 seconds later as if nothing happened). The culture of football is rotten to the core. It becomes less of a man's game with every passing year.

flahavaj

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Brilliant post. You only need to watch the USA team at this world cup to see how different their attitude to sport is. No diving, no rolling around on the ground crying (and then bouncing up 30 seconds later as if nothing happened). The culture of football is rotten to the core. It becomes less of a man's game with every passing year.

+1.

I spent Sunday down in Thurles at the Munster Hurling Final. Good hard honest sport, where players shipped huge hits and just got up and got on with it. The attitude of the players was fantastic.

Diving and the general histrionics of the modern soccer player are making me more and more disillusioned and cynical towrds the game. Soccer is well down the road of no return to becoming a non contact sport, where any sort of tackle and the inevitable over the top reaction to it means players a punished for even trying to win the ball.

Howard Webb has ben criticised severely the last few days. But his job was impossible. On the one hand he has the phenomenon of diving to deal with, where players over react masivley to any and ever type of tackle. Then when a team ike Holland do go over the top he's criticised for being too lenient. Perhaps if players reacted honestly the 99 times out of a hundred a hard but fair tackle comes in, referees wil be better able to pick out the really bad stuff? A case of the boy who cried wolf perhaps?

tolosenc

flahavaj wrote: »

Perhaps if players reacted honestly the 99 times out of a hundred a hard but fair tackle comes in, referees wil be better able to pick out the really bad stuff? A case of the boy who cried wolf perhaps?

+1

There needs to be a bit of a clampdown. All too often we see players go down and appeal for a foul, only for the referee to gesture at them to get up. Isn't that supposed to be a yellow card?

Another one that grinds my gears is the "book him, ref" thing players do. Again, this should be a yellow card. Same for telling the ref that the guy dived.

In these cases, nasty tackle + "he dived" gesture and diving + "come on ref, that was a booking" could both be straight reds. I'd imagine clubs wouldn't be too happy with things like that, and that players would think twice.

Another thing that might be considered, though I'd question how useful it'd be given the application of diving laws, but punishment for embellishment, ie "Yes, it was a foul. It wasn't bad, so stop rolling around in feigned agony and cop on. Foul reversed."

pickarooney

It should really be a straight card for anyone stupid enough to 'roll around in agony'. Nobody rolls around when he's in serious pain, surely?

censuspro

Maybe this has something to do with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCGc_ngufDM

tolosenc

pickarooney wrote: »

It should really be a straight card for anyone stupid enough to 'roll around in agony'. Nobody rolls around when he's in serious pain, surely?

For example, taking it back to 1998, when Beckham kicked out. There was minimal contact (it was a red card, I'm not disputing that), but the guy rolled the guts of 10 yards.

Busquets against Inter is another example, right as rain once Thiago Motta had been given his marching orders.

FatherTed

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Brilliant post. You only need to watch the USA team at this world cup to see how different their attitude to sport is. No diving, no rolling around on the ground crying (and then bouncing up 30 seconds later as if nothing happened). The culture of football is rotten to the core. It becomes less of a man's game with every passing year.

I was watching an old England vs Scotland match from 1979 the other day on Fox Soccer Channel here in the US. They were kicking lumps out of each other, no diving, rolling on the ground or moaning to the ref. It was refreshing to watch compared to the sissys who play nowadays.

On the sport in the US, it is getting more popular as shown by the viewing figures that came out for this WC, 24.4 million watched the final on ABC+Univision up over 40% from 2006. MLS is getting stronger and now has 16 teams, compared to 10 a few years ago with 2 more teams coming next year and probably up to 20 in 2012. With the exception of Demerit, Torres, Cherundolo and Spector, all the US squad at this world cup started out in MLS.

The big task for soccer in the US is to tap into the immigrant and hispanic base. One of the issues with teams at higher youth level is that the better coached youth teams are mainly in suburban areas. Also, in the US, they have a program call ODP (olympic development program) where scouts watch the premier youth teams and pick out the best players for state and regional teams. Each year, a handful of the best players, I'm guessing about 20-30 are accepted into the Bradenton Academy in Florida which is a full time residency programs for 16 and 17 year olds. The likes of Donovan, Beasley and Altidore came through Bradenton.

The problem with premier youth clubs, ODP and Bradenton is that it's pay to play meaning that they charge large amount for coaching. That's fine for suburbanites who can afford it but not for most of the inner city or hispanic kids. Indeed, some Mexican teams have scouts in Texas, Arizona, California etc and sometime identify kids who are on high school teams and bring to Mexico for trials. There is a huge untapped potential in certain areas and if the USSF can ever figure that out, there could be an explosion of talent. Some MLS clubs have seen this and started their own academies a few years ago and these are now beginning to bring players to the MLS first team squads.

Also, in the US, getting into college is a priority for most parents above all else. Good youth players can get into a soccer program in college but the coaching is poor and the season is short. By the time they graduate college at say 22, their development has stagnated and by then it's too late. A few like Dempsey and Onyewu who came through the college system are the exception rather than the rule.

Hazys

censuspro wrote: »

Maybe this has something to do with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCGc_ngufDM

Wow that is so cringe to watch...and thats only from the first two rounds of games, i'm embrassed just watching those guys.

tolosenc

Hazys wrote: »

Wow that is so cringe to watch...and thats only from the first two rounds of games, i'm embrassed just watching those guys.

Doesn't even show the worst one of all, Capdevila versus Portugal...