2010 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers

[HdoubleD]

mmmmm... you still have not answered my question. You are talking about the present. I'm talking about the future and the possibility that if the USA starts upping their game and winning some cups, then people would become interested in the sport. Plus, as more immigrants from other countries where this is the main sport keep arriving to this country and adopt the US team as theirs (especially since their kids play in kiddie leagues here in the states), the more popular it'll become. I'm not saying this will happen next year, but maybe in 10 years it will reach major importance.

IMO There are a few things holding football back in this country:

A) There are little to no stats involved in the sport. Americans love deciphering stats and figures, which, quite frankly don’t matter in soccer nearly as much as Baseball, Basketball or even football.

B) The best players in the world are not American or even from North America.
A. Football is dominated by Americans, Basketball is dominated by Americans, and baseball is to an extent as well (although its been changing since the mid 80's to Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and other Latino countries, but with the huge Hispanic pop. here, its not a weakness, but a strength in regards to ratings). Do you ever see an American becoming a Fifa World player of the year in the next 20 years? (and I mean a skill position, not keeper)

C) Joe Six-pack from middle America will never support anyone named Ronaldo or Messi. It just won’t happen. The markets where soccer does have a niche following are the Northeast, parts of Texas, Florida and the west coast, or in other words places that have significant recent European and Latino immigrant populations. The "red" states display alot of Xenophobia, especially to Latin America and Latin Europe (France, Italy, Spain).


D) Lack of soccer tradition. The US did not qualify for a single WC between 1954 and 1986. That, along with the fact that the domestic league’s over expansion and over reliance on gimmicks caused it never to take root, caused 2 or 3 generations of Americans to not grow up with the sport, and thus have no connection to it.

E) Until the MLS provides a better pool of talent, the great players wont play here, and domestic talent will continue to stay stagnate and not develop.

Is soccer destined to become bigger here? I think so, but it will never touch the big three or even Hockey for that matter. We do have the financial resourses, huge population and big selection pool (the mixture for sucsess). With proper management, the US should be seriously competing for a WC in about 20-30 years. Soccer’s popularity in the country, on the other hand doesn’t look as bright.

 

[Puay]

The next round of matches continues on the 10th of this month. I hope Denmark can make it to South Africa.

 

[Puay]

Tonight is the night!:emperor