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.