I've been wondering this for a while. Now soccer is the biggest sport in the world. In many countries soccer is a religion, Italy for example. Now let's take a look at USA, a country that has produced some of the best athlets ever, in various sports. But when it comes to soccer, USA isn't a big name at all. Why is that?
At first I thought, well it's not an "American sport", it's not in their culture to be interested in soccer. But then, the Americans, apart from the native one's, are all immigrants. And many of them from Europe. Surely the latter (After 1870) european and latin american immigrants must still have had an interest in soccer when they moved to USA?
Yes, USA has particepated in the World Cup twice (maybe more?), but why is it that a country that has produced so good athlets in so many other sprots, hasn't got a Soccer Dream Team?
Any thoughts on why the greatest sport in the world isn't bigger in The States?

P.S. I know that when it comes to Womens soccer, USA is one of the top teams, and that is great. But since womens soccer isn't exactly big here in Europe, I wanted your thoughts on the Men's Soccer. D.S.

Its hard to believer that even though the US have no world class stars playing for there Country.But they are ranked in the top 15 of the Fifa Ranking System.Its baffled me has well

Lack of scoring, I think.

It's hard to get excited watching a game for 90 minutes that ends up 1-0 with just a handful of actual scoring opportunities, or watching your team losing 2-0 and knowing that they have absolutely no chance of coming back to win.

I've always said it's how you're brought up. If you're brought up watching a particular sport you'll probably be watching it for the rest of your lives. I'd say that's the case for 95% of football fans all over the world. I mean look at how boring baseball is, but because so many Americans are brought up watching it - they love it. :p

America already has 3 main national sports and a 4th in Hockey if the NHL ever gets sorted out. Football will always be a minority sport there.

Turi:
You might have a point there. Took the time to watch an American Football game once, and was surprised that it was even shown on TV. I have never seen anything as boring as that. Nothing happened! But then again, I haven't been in contact with that sport before.

Plawrence: For the same reason that I couldn't watch (American) football, you may feel that soccer is boring. It isn't a part of your culture and tradition. But what I'm really asking here is;

Apart from native americans, most of the Northern Americans hail from Soccer-loving countries. Isn't it a little strange that the passion for soccer hasn't been brought to the "new country"?

Plaw got it right. Americans, especially in recent years, love to see a lot of scoring. When there are baseball scores of 10 to 9, football scores of 48 to 45 and basketball scores of 120 to 118; watching a scoreless draw in soccer is unappealing. American fans don't understand the other aspects of the game that can make it more interesting to watch, even if there are no goals scored. Americans don't see how chances are being created or defensive stops are being made because all they look for is to see someone score.

As for the U.S. not having any world class players, you are far off De Niro because the U.S. has arguably the best keeper in the world in Tim Howard who is playing for Man U and one of the best strikers in Landon Donovan who made his mark in the 2002 World Cup as a world class player. Eddie Pope has been labeled as one of the best defenders in the world for the past 10 years. They have the players and have been competitive and will only get better, but the popularity may not increase that much, even if the U.S. does win the whole thing one day.

Me being a man utd fan i know of Tim Howards ability,he is a very good goalkeeper but not the best in the world,he's not consistant enough as hes been dropped from the Man Utd first team.

Donovan is a decent player but has he proved it at the top level.

Probley the best player to come out of America is Lexy Lasus and Cobi Jones

Donovan has played at the top level, I just told you how he had a great World Cup in 2002. At what higher of a level do you want him to play at?

And if you have to be joking about Lalas and Jones. They were popular in 1994 because they both had crazy hairstyles that the appealed to the American public which was used to make the world cup more popular while it was being played in the U.S. Jones was good in '94, but Lalas never did anything great for the U.S., he was just a recognizable player cuz of his goatee and hair.

What club team does donavon play for?

Having a good world cup doesn't mean anything,South Korea players had a good world cup where are they now

He plays for Bayer Leverkusen in Germany and for San Jose in the U.S. Last time I checked, playing for a quality team in the Bundesliga was pretty good.

the ranking system means nothing to me, last time i checked mexico were infront of us

the ranking system means nothing to me, last time i checked mexico were infront of us [/b][/quote]Ranking as of December 2004
Rank Team Pts: Nov 04 Rank: Oct 04 Change
1 Brazil 843 1 0
2 France 792 2 0
3 Argentina 785 3 0
4 Czech Republic 777 5 1
5 Spain 765 4 -1
6 Netherlands 758 6 0
7 Mexico 753 8 1
8 England 752 7 -1
9 Portugal 747 8 -1
10 Italy 738 10 0
11 USA 726 11 0
12 Republic of Ireland 716 14 2
13 Sweden 715 15 2
14 Denmark 711 13 -1
14 Turkey 711 12 -2
16 Uruguay 708 19 3
17 Japan 707 17 0
18 Greece 706 17 -1
19 Germany 705 16 -3
20 Iran 697 20 0

Yeah, the only time we really know which teams are the best in the world is the day after the world cup is over. The rankings are just something for fun until the world cup.

First, allow me to thank you Don Larzono for bringing up an all too infrequent soccer topic and a good one at that.
Assuming for the moment that the US League (MLS) is not considered on the same level as other top leagues such as the English Premier League, here is a list of United States National Soccer Team Players that play in serious leagues:

Wade Barrett - AGF Arhus (Danish First Division)
DaMarcus Beasley - PSV Eindhoven (Dutch First Division)
Gregg Berhalter - Energie Cottbus (German Second Division)
Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham (English Premier League)
Conor Casey - Mainz 05 (German Bundesliga)
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96 (German Bundesliga)
Bobby Convey - Reading (English First Division)
Brad Friedel - Blackburn Rovers (English Premier League)
Marcus Hahnemann - Reading (English First Division)
Tim Howard - Manchester United (English Premier League)
Kasey Keller - Tottenham Hotspur (English Premier League)
Eddie Lewis - Preston North End (English First Division)
Clint Mathis - Hannover 96 (German Bundesliga)
Brian McBride - Fulham (English Premier League)
John O'Brien - Ajax (Dutch Eredivisie)
Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege (Belgium First Division)
Claudio Reyna - Manchester City (English Premier League)
Jonathan Spector - Manchester United (English Premier League)
Greg Vanney - Bastia (France First Division)

So, I think indicates that the US is quickly eveloving into a soccer nation. Once Americans take the time to learn the sport, they realize that competition is more than just scoring - its strategy and devloping plays, not just ramming it down the middle.

Although the US style of play is very different than European and the skill level is not that of the South Americans, I think the US style will evolve into a dominant force within the next 5 years. Hopefully, in time for the 2006 World Cup. Americans love a winner and the World Cup may sway US viewers.

Cheers!

That would be great. However, I really don't think that even if the U.S. somehow manages to win a World Cup that soccer will all of a sudden become the new popular sport. Look at what happened when the women's team won in 1999, everyone celebrated it, but it didn't really help the sport grow that much. The women's league didnt even last two season I think. I know that it may be different if a men's team is able to win, but I still don't see it making the MLS or soccer in general a lot more popular across the country. I wish it would, but American fans will always love their high scoring sports over soccer.

You forgot Landon Donovan who plays for Beyer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Thanks Busta - I can't believe I left off Landon. That's one of the biggest US exports since Beasley. I grabbed the list off of the United States National Soccer Team Players Association web-site and it probably isn't updated for 2005 yet.
As to your other reply, don't get me wrong - I never said the US would win or come close to winning WC 2006 (my bet is Brazil, but I would love it if England could pull it off - they were robbed in Euro 2004). I do think that each strong showing the US makes will bring us closer to being a "legit" sport in the US sports-fan's eyes. Look at the turn out for the ChampionsWorld Series that toured the US.

Cheers!

I see what you're saying. I did see the turnout for the Champions World Series and thought it was great. I even went to the game at Soldier Field between Man U and Bayern. There is no denying that there are a large number of die hard soccer fans in this country. However, I really don't see it growing that much more. I went to a game between Argentina and Mexico played at Soldier Field about 6 or 7 years ago and it was packed then. In fact there were more people there than it could hold. There have always been great turnouts for games that feature two great nations or two great clubs playing. As far as coverage and analysis of soccer, it is still rarely seen on channels like ESPN and shows like Sportscenter. When I start to see more games actually shown on national TV and more coverage of it on ESPN or other sports channels when it is not World Cup season, then I will know that it is starting to grow in popularity. However, I don't see that happening unless the World Cup is going on.

As an American, I think soccer is very boring... just guys kicking a little ball back and forth for two hours, and in the process only scoring 1 or 2 points. Football has action, and is full of adrenaline. And it also takes way more strategy than soccer. Most of all, I like the physical slamming and everything. In soccer, guys aren't actually supposed to slam into the next guy as hard as they can. I love the big hits.

Here is my perfect example. As SSA said, he is American and he said exactly what the American fan wants and thinks. It is not his fault when he says football takes a lot more strategy because he doesn't understand soccer, which is why he is unable to enjoy a 2 hour match where only one or two goals are scored. To him, it is "a bunch of guys kicking a little ball back and forth". If anyone wonders why soccer will not become popular in the U.S., look no further than the reasons listed by SSA.

Busta-he said kicking a ball back and forth, not kicking a little black ball

but to say there is more strategy in a game like football than there is in soccer and then to say that there are less points scored in soccer is pretty much a contradiction.

How can there be less strategy in a game where its harder to score

Ha thanks, I'll go back and edit it, I misread it.

You're right tho. Thanks for proving my point more. But he can't really be blamed like most American fans because the majority of them just do not understand the game and that is why they see soccer in the way they do.

I don't care to understand it, just as you probably don't care about American football. I'm assuming you're not American. I've watched many games of soccer, and kicking it back and forth without strategy... to only score 1 or 2 points seems like a complete waste of the other 70 minutes of the game.

Football has waaaaaaaaay more strategy than soccer. The amount of points has nothing to do with it, it's a different game. A touchdown and PA is worth 7 anyway, so if it was 1 there'd be football scores of 2-4 or something like that usually. Besides, look at the monster playbooks and all the plays, formations, offensive and defensive, special teams all the different positions! Football has way more strategy than soccer... soccer is about the same as basketball in regards to strategy.

Plus, action. Americans in general are more physical than Europeans, so we really like a game that sees hard slams, instead of just guys in really high shorts knocking a ball around to eachother.

First of all, if you look on my profile of every message I post, it states I am from Chicago so I am an American. Secondly I do watch NFL games and follow it more than I do with soccer (mainly because there aren't any games to watch here) so don't assume anything.

As far as strategy wise, I'm not going to say one has more strategy than the other because it can be easily argued either way. No offense SSA, but it sounds like you have never even played soccer so I do not see what makes you qualified to say what requires more strategy.

As far as your last paragraph, you are simply proving my point more which is that what Americans see as action in sports is not the same as what all the other continents in the world see as action in sports. I'm not blaming anyone for this or saying it's a bad thing. I'm just saying that's the way it is and that's what makes football, baseball, and basketball popular here and soccer unpopular here.