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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I continue to argue that when watching the USMNT play, you are not watching the best that the US has to offer. When watching other countries, you are. USWNT is another story. There are not many sports that women can play that lead to serious opportunity than Soccer. Basketball, track & field, volleyball and soccer are the sports that are accessible and can lead to opportunities beyond HS and college. If you are a boy there are a dozen such sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track & field, etc. Again, this is not about the biggest or fastest athlete but about having enough of a pool of talent and enough opportunities to drive dedicated athletes to the sport. There is just so much wrong with the way our youth system is run and the fact that we don't have a nation that values soccer does not help. [/quote]

This post, along with the post with Pulisic’s quote hit the nail on the head as far as crux of the issue with USMNT. Culture (and high paying professional opportunity) are intertwined. The athletic culture in the US still favors football (first), basketball (second), baseball (third), and then, finally, a grouping of sports including tennis, swimming, golf, track, soccer, and lacrosse. The first three are favored as they pay the most because of the success of NFL, NBA, and MLB. Trust me that if soccer were as ingrained in our culture like football, we’d be the best in the world.  It would almost be like how dominant we are at basketball. But, soccer is not that way here and may never be. Too many alternative for the top male atheletes here. There aren’t as many alternatives for the women here, so the better atheletes stay in the game. Hence, we win more than anyone else on the women’s side. It is not always population overall per se, but the elite population, the desire to become great at that thing, and proper development (thru mix of individual practice and coaching). And no, you can’t just be a great atheletes. You also have to hone your skills, but the elite athleticism puts you over the edge as far as dominance. Even Messi is an elite athelete, despite his height. His balance, quickness, coordination, and strength are world class. If you watched the U20 team play Ecuador you’d have noticed how much bigger and stronger (while being equally skilled) they were than our team. That was the difference. Only Weah and Keita could compare. The rest looked like boys agains men. Until all the above this changes, the US will not be consistently elite and even worse will struggle more and more, even in Concacaf. [/quote]

"The world is catching up. The world is catching up. We are being surpassed." That's all you hear in reference to the USWNT.

Question: How did the non-US women catch up so fast? [/quote]

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