Explaining the World Cup (or soccer) to Tom.

AWFUL performance, 2018 may be a bit early. I agree the ranking system is horrible, but I think I heard they are revising it a bit. Their only quality opponent in CONCACAF is Mexico.

I'm not sure how is soccer in USA, but I think it's really hard to USA team be that good in just 10, 12 years... Brazil is a top team since the 50s, Italy is a top team since the 30s, it's not only getting a few players together and teaching how to play the game.

Anyhow, good luck to USA, today Brazil will face Croatia. Go Brazil!

the players in 2018 are 10 years old today. they could have the finest training of anyone in the world and be great. it's not like you have to be born into a soccer culture to be trained properly, but you do have to be able to find the kids with the skills and natural talent, which may be overlooked in the US.

Talented kids in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain, get recruited by football clubs as young as 12 years old, and they get some serious training until they get VERY good, it also takes a ton of money, but that's a different story

The US has had a strong youth soccer program since the 1970s. I played socccer as a kid and when I was 11 our team won the city championship. We had a Brazilian coach of course LOL.

Since that time the sport has grown more and more popular. YOuth soccer soon turned into legitimate high school programs. When I was in High School our star Quarterback broke the gridiron coache's heart by playing soccer his senior year.

As the programs have matured the competition at higher levels has improved.

Indoor soccer, used to build interest with a faster lighter game in the 1980s, gave way to a real professional league in the 1990s. US goalies have become a desired commodity.

Now the US team has a wealth of players that have been trained from a young age for the first time. The 2010 date takes all this into account and hinges on the fact that good athelets have started to take the sport seriously at a young age and continued playing it into adulthood.

So while nobody will ever be able to easily beat Brazil, it is conceivable that the US soccer program can produce a top-flight team by 2018.

As to the rankings, I was in agreement with you when I expressed my surprise at the rankings and the odds. The odds are a better reflection of the reality I think.

a clear example was the game between Trinidad and Sweden. Trinidad the smallest country ever to participate in the world cup (first timers).

They managed to hold Swden to a 0-0 draw.

There is sports in the US, then there is sports in the rest of the world....

I think that instead of calling it 'World Cup' they need to rename it to 'Rest of the World Cup'.

We, in the US, really don't care.

I'm from the US and I care. I was born in the US too. Apprently the folks at ABC seem to think others care too since they are showing EVERY game LIVE either on ABC or ESPN/2.

And to answer Vernoica's question about Cobi Jones, no he's not playing anymore. He's old and not so good anymore.

Cobi Jones was a good player, but he didn't have many chances, he played a while in Vasco da Gama in Brazil, he was a professional bench warmer there... But he's quite good.

If Veronica is looking for cute soccer player, she could take a look at Kak

even n their own sports (baseball, basketball) they are getting beat up too....

Lets not forget who wins all the medals in the olympics

I believe our (the U.S. team) only took the bronze in basketball in the last Olympics. It was a tasty serving of humble pie for our cocky kids that thought they'd cruise right through to a Gold. Argentina and Italy were first and second, respectively.

So no, we don't win all the medals all the time

-Kevin

I must say I don't see soccer gaining much more popularity until the US reaches a WC final. Unfortunately, with the WC only coming up once every four years, the speed in which this happens may be slow at best. Yes millions of kids play soccer, but it is clear that most of the adult population has no interest in soccer. Most kids play soccer until they reach 13-14, and then they move onto other things. Sure, the kids that stick it out until there are 18 love the game, but how often do you see a 12-13 year old soccer player actually WATCHING soccer on TV?? We in the US have been trained to enjoy games that are high energy, high scoring, and have multiple stoppages for trips to the fridge. Some things are just more fun to play then to watch. Take video games for example. Millions of people play them, but does that mean a televised league will work? Not likely.

Guess what those "millions of kids" who play soccer grow up into - adults. We didn't have soccer in our school when I was a kid but my nephews back east now go to that very same school and they have a soccer program in place now. Interest WILL continue to rise, especially as America's population continues to expand from our neighbors to the south (that point seemed to be forgotten from my last post). I'm pretty sure immigration far outpaced the birth rate in America since 1990 onward. And (trying hard not to make this statement sound like a bad stereotype) the latino population is heavily catholic and birth control is a strict no-no. So the face of America is changing right before your eyes. And that face, increasingly, likes Soccer.

Also. thanks to continued neglect in public school funding, a lot of schools can no longer afford the insurance required for Football and the equipment cost and are therefore turning to Soccer. The primary cost with Soccer is a ball or two and a couple of nets. It isn't going away.

I'm a HUGE college football fan and I would hate to see it disappear as one of America's favorite sports but I also see the writing on the wall. There is certainly room enough for several sports but as American high schools are forced more and more to turn away from the cost of supporting Football programs, the talent pool will continue to shrink and other sports (like Soccer) will move in to fill the void.

As for Americans being "trained to enjoy games that are high energy" I have one word for you... Baseball <yawn>.

-Kevin

It isn't like soccer didn't exist back in my day (I'm not THAT old). Millions of kids played back in the 80s as well, and plenty had high school teams. I know I did, I went to indoor soccer games (go Steamers!), etc. And while I still am an avid soccer follower and referee everything from youth to men's amateur matches, I don't think most of the people I played with are into it anymore. Sure, the kids who play through high school will be interested, but just looking at our local leagues; you see a MAJOR drop off in participation after age 12-14. Kids don't watch soccer, they play soccer.

I really do think you are overestimating immigration's impact on soccer as well. Again, it isn't like immigration is a new thing. And really, immigrants mostly follow their former country's teams, not those in the MLS. My grandfather (immigrant) thinks MLS is horrible and only watches the Premiership/Bundas League matches on FSW. I rarely see an MLS game sold out, and ESPN is not beating down their door to get more programming. Every poll I've seen on ESPN.com or SI.com shows a major disinterest in the WC. Yes, not scientific, but valid enough to show a trend. So while soccer may be growing in relation to itself, I don't think football, baseball, or basketball will be worried about losing out to soccer anytime soon.

Interesting view on the high school football though. I can't say (around here at least) we are losing football teams due to cost cuts, but perhaps in other areas it is more prevalent. Soccer could easily move in to fill the void, but I doubt it. While some football players may be able to transfer over to the world of soccer, I don't think it will be a mass exodus.

Is soccer going away? No. Is soccer ready to take over as one of the 3 major sports? No. However, soccer knows its fans and can do fine without trying to be something it is not.

As I see it is that the American advertiser has yet to find a comfortable way to make it work. It's not a game easily interrupted like Football, Basketball and definitely Baseball.

However, Advertisers are already being forced to look at different models for getting their message across as DVRs (TiVO) has changed the way Americans watch TV. In fact, Soccer might just be primed and ready to step right in and show Americans how on-field advertising works.

As for immigration affecting the numbers, I believe the immigration figure since 1990 averages something like 1.25 million per year. Yes we've always had immigration since the day this country was founded but since 1990, the numbers have been skyrocketing. A quick search on the internet will fill the picture in much better than I can. I believe its impact will be significant. Some might argue that since those immigrants tend to get funneled into the lower end of the American socio-economic bracket, advertisers won't pay much attention so what does it matter. But I think those numbers will eventually have an impact if they don't already. You are correct though, new immigrants tend to cheer for their country of origin. But all of their children will grow up as Americans and they will adopt that national pride. The question, of course, is how soon? Tough to say but I think sooner - much sooner (less than a decade) - rather than later.

-Kevin

After all, McDonald's is the single largest sponsor for the World Cup.

The Superbowl happens every year.

So, we in the US will get to regale non-US people with our talk of US football more often than the non-US people will inundate us with talk of soccer.

There is just something about soccer that 'feels' so... so... (uh, what is the word, oh yeah) [flame retardant gear on] socialistic about it. OH, Yeah, I know now! SOCcer and SOCialism both start with SOC!

(Oh, but so does dressing my feet. I start with SOCks.)

Well, at least I am walking on my socks hidden in my shoes, instead of wearing them on my sleeves.

You don't need special gear, shoes, helmets, oddly shaped fields, anything.
a hallway and a crumpled piece of paper will usually suffice for playing football in the office, and a couple of rocks for marking the goal posts is usually enough outdoors.
you can play it with a $150 No. 5 ball, or just some socks stuffed inside each other.
That is exactly why Football is the most popular sport in the world.