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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[b] American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8.[/b] 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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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 [/quote]

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)

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