Landon Donovan was right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

The USA is at a disadvantage.

We don't have the money and facilities to compete with the rest of the world

Because soccer in America doesn't even sniff the big 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

The USA is at a disadvantage.

We don't have the money and facilities to compete with the rest of the world

Because soccer in America doesn't even sniff the big 3.

I believe it was sarcasm

[Anonymous]

According to data collected by STATS LLC, a professional basketball player runs around 2.55 miles on average during 48 minutes of the gaming session.

The average NFL player is physically moving for only about 11 minutes per game. Wide receivers and cornerbacks do the most running, covering about 1.25 miles per game.

These are the sports with the best athletes according to some.

Soccer players are averaging around 10K distance covered per game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:All of the points people are making here are interesting, but I don't think they are realistic or constructive. Soccer and youth sports in the US are different than the rest of the world. That's a strength ! We should lean into our strengths and not try to imitate something we are not and will never be. The US formula can work in other sports. It works fairly well in women's soccer. Focus on what we can be great at and design our strategy, development, and rosters based on those strengths. Differentiate based on strengths, not a watered down version of somebody else.

Women's soccer works because of title ix. Now that pro leagues are starting to gain traction in europe, I doubt the US keeps its edge on the women's side

Who cares about an edge? That is not girls soccer in the US. It is about college not pro. Most do not care if we have some national edge. The product here is different.

What product is different? How?

Women's soccer in the US is built on collegiate soccer being the end goal, if you have ever watched a college soccer match you would see that it is night and day different than what is needed to play internationally. Nobody cares about the national team. This will change however with all of these new rules coming out for collegiate sports.

Nobody cares about the national team? Hook me up with whatever cocktail you are taking to cloud reality, please.

You must be new around here, most parents on this board don't care about the successes of the national team, only if their kid can get into college.

What kind of low-brow board is this not to care about the national team?

You'll be surprised. You should dig into some of the old threads where people debate how collegiate soccer needs to change. It is the one part of the pyramid that doesn't make sense and doesn't prepare players for the international level or the pro level really. Collegiate soccer does not line up with FIFA, and when discussing the NT you're basically referencing a fraction of a percent of players, so most don't care. But to be competitive on a world stage, the game must be taught to be played the right way and players need to be developed in that manner, the way it is currently is geared toward collegiate play.

If you don't care about the national team, then you really don't care about soccer.

ok. Most incluidng those playing do not care about soccer.

Which is true when your goal is college soccer

+1

You can tell how serious a player is about going pro by whether they watch professional soccer and whether they enjoy doing that. If you’re not watching/studying, college is the goal

Not even about going Pro

If you don't really like the sport outside the social aspect, why put in so much effort?

No one said the kids don't like the sport. They love it. But the goals are to play to have fun or to paly in college. They watch the national teams but college is the end goal -- as it should be. Only an idiot would play women's pro soccer. same is true on the men's side except there is some money to be made. Neither like NFL, MLB, NBA, or even NHL.

Village Idiot found

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is the reality that makes the true soccer people so mad. The reality is that soccer just isn't that important to most people in this country. The youth and college structures reflect that. Most parents are perfectly happy with the way things are and will continue to pay to play all the way to college. They don't care about the soccer national team any more than they care about how many medals the swimmers win in the olympics.

That is why parents with serious players who do want to go pro aren’t on this forum or don’t listen to what is on this forum.

They just focus on their kids development and keep them in clubs where they are improving and learning, getting plenty of playing time, and competing against hopefully high level of competition.

And their kids are not on social media because they know the ability to withstand the grind and become resilient comes from the kid’s desire and work ethic, and not from the likes or exposure or wins, etc.

Or the parents of kids who actually are serious come here for a good laugh once in a while

+1000 this is my morning coffee way more laughs then anything on YouTube

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is the reality that makes the true soccer people so mad. The reality is that soccer just isn't that important to most people in this country. The youth and college structures reflect that. Most parents are perfectly happy with the way things are and will continue to pay to play all the way to college. They don't care about the soccer national team any more than they care about how many medals the swimmers win in the olympics.

I would argue they care more about the Olympics than soccer. Also Olympics more than Hockey.

But I have a question -- why should people care? The goal for most is a fun kid game that all kids can do. A subset of this group takes it a little more seriously and does travel. A subset of that group tries to move up in travel and play in top leagues. A subset of that group makes it to ECNL or MLSNext or GA. A subset of that group plays in college. And a small small subset of that group plus a few that opt out of college or go pro early go pro and/or play on the national team.

How is the national team relevant? Fun to watch and talk about, sure but why would people care beyond that?

There are people in Europe and South America that don't care about their national soccer teams much.

But, they ain't gonna be spending thousands of dollars and driving/flying miles every year for soccer

They ain't got the income of the people in the US spending that money. On the girls side it is a rich girl sport. Not a hardship. And it helps with college and is fun.

So it costs them less/nothing and they still aren't gonna be doing all the traveling etc if they don't love soccer

btw... why do rich girls need soccer to go to college?

Cause they white and belive athletic hooks are common

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

The USA is at a disadvantage.

We don't have the money and facilities to compete with the rest of the world

Love it 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

Where can we find the source of this alleged fact that we, America, have the best athletes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to data collected by STATS LLC, a professional basketball player runs around 2.55 miles on average during 48 minutes of the gaming session.

The average NFL player is physically moving for only about 11 minutes per game. Wide receivers and cornerbacks do the most running, covering about 1.25 miles per game.

These are the sports with the best athletes according to some.

Soccer players are averaging around 10K distance covered per game.

So is a half-marathon runner a better athlete than a soccer player?

The fastest ever recorded speed in world football is 23.35 mph, achieved just this year by Micky van de Ven. Prior to that, the fastest recorded speed was under 23.

DK Metcalf clocked 22.23 mph in an NFL game, carrying a ball, and wearing restrictive clothing, a helmet, and pads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

Where can we find the source of this alleged fact that we, America, have the best athletes?

Nobody said the best but . . . . this is easy: population numbers, the olympics, etc.

Are you trying to say that Portugal, a tiny country with one of the best soccer teams and best soccer players in the world, has better athletes and therefore they are better at soccer? Don't get all upset because somebody says the US has great athletes. There are 330 million people. They are bound to have more and better athletes. Just stick to your argument that other countries are better at soccer because of the culture. It's much stronger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to data collected by STATS LLC, a professional basketball player runs around 2.55 miles on average during 48 minutes of the gaming session.

The average NFL player is physically moving for only about 11 minutes per game. Wide receivers and cornerbacks do the most running, covering about 1.25 miles per game.

These are the sports with the best athletes according to some.

Soccer players are averaging around 10K distance covered per game.

So is a half-marathon runner a better athlete than a soccer player?

The fastest ever recorded speed in world football is 23.35 mph, achieved just this year by Micky van de Ven. Prior to that, the fastest recorded speed was under 23.

DK Metcalf clocked 22.23 mph in an NFL game, carrying a ball, and wearing restrictive clothing, a helmet, and pads.

Do you know what marathon runners do?
They only run, at about the same pace continuously without need for agility or sudden change of direction.
That part of your education complete, the only athletes mentioned on this topic are NFL, NBA and MLB players.

What does a top speed clocking have to do with soccer skills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

Where can we find the source of this alleged fact that we, America, have the best athletes?

Nobody said the best but . . . . this is easy: population numbers, the olympics, etc.

Are you trying to say that Portugal, a tiny country with one of the best soccer teams and best soccer players in the world, has better athletes and therefore they are better at soccer? Don't get all upset because somebody says the US has great athletes. There are 330 million people. They are bound to have more and better athletes. Just stick to your argument that other countries are better at soccer because of the culture. It's much stronger.

The PP is literally responding to someone who said the US had the most and best athletes.
Do you not read before responding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

Where can we find the source of this alleged fact that we, America, have the best athletes?

ehhh Do you watch the Olympics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

That’s your problem right there…you think it’s all about just being an athlete….anyhow the USA is huge…we still dwarf other countries for kids who participate in soccer believe it or not…we lose against Panama despite having so many more soccer players to choose from…you Americans make me laugh

I know it's hard for the soccer exceptionalists to hear this, but there is nothing about your sport that would overcome the numbers. It is absolutely true that countries with an entrenched soccer culture outperform the US by a large margin per capita. They support more professional teams, there are more avenues for high quality training, there are better coaches, and there are more opportunities to just go play. It is also true that soccer relies less on height and weight and pure athleticism than basketball and football, partly because the ball is played on the ground for a lot of the game, and a low center of gravity can be an asset. That isn't to say though, that quickness, agility, speed, and coordination aren't huge factors. In all of these physical attributes the United States would have an advantage simply because we have more and better athletes. If more kids grew up in the game, specialized early, learned from great players and mentors, and had access to professional academies, the United States would absolutely compete with the top soccer nations. It's just numbers. It's also extremely unlikely. Those 3 million kids who "participate in" soccer are not all kids who live the game. Most of them will move on to other sports, or no sports. And that's great. I know it's a soccer forum, but preeminence in soccer probably isn't the most important thing to worry about. (although not getting out of the Copa America group stage is pretty embarrassing)

Where can we find the source of this alleged fact that we, America, have the best athletes?

Nobody said the best but . . . . this is easy: population numbers, the olympics, etc.

Are you trying to say that Portugal, a tiny country with one of the best soccer teams and best soccer players in the world, has better athletes and therefore they are better at soccer? Don't get all upset because somebody says the US has great athletes. There are 330 million people. They are bound to have more and better athletes. Just stick to your argument that other countries are better at soccer because of the culture. It's much stronger.

No one that knows soccer on this thread is claiming best athletes have an impact.
Some are saying the US would be better if the real athletes played soccer.

Your Portugal reference analogy makes no sense therefore.