just imagine

[bighead]

Imagine if every american loved soccer we whould of won 3 or 4 world cups by now

[Colorado_GAUCHO]

It doesn't mean anything.

England loves the sport and they had a hard time to win a single one. Spain also loves the game and they have never won, and I believe they never will. There's plenty of examples out there. It takes more than just love to win a WC. To win a WC several times... than you really have to be part of the greatest.

[Pina9]

It doesn't mean anything.

England loves the sport and they had a hard time to win a single one. Spain also loves the game and they have never won, and I believe they never will. There's plenty of examples out there. It takes more than just love to win a WC. To win a WC several times... than you really have to be part of the greatest.


Yeah, the only diffrence is that California and Texas are roughly the same size as Engalnd and Spain. Did I mention that there are 48 more states? That's what he's talking about. I believe that if soccer was the top sport, we would win the WC rather easily. Think about it. The NCAA doesn't even have it in the Big 12 thing and yet we continously beat our soccer-loving neighbors of the south. Now imagine if all our future-great athletes would turn to soccer. I believe we would be too strong.

[MNAFETSC]

I constantly think about this. If are top athletes were going for soccer instead of football would we be the top nation and have the most world cups? If the NFL was soccer yet still brought in the same money it does would the best players come to america? Or would europeans stay in europe and wed fight for the best of south america? Would mexican teams be able to compete against u.s. teams in continental cups or would these have no value to american teams?
What would have happen to our football had soccer been chosen over it?

[Pakalolo]

look at the Netherlands. they are great even though they have a tiny population. look at basketball, the USA has the best players, but in international competitions, that means shit. look at baseball, the Dom Rep produces some of the best players in the world with their small population...













why do I even bother to argue? this whole thread is stupid, absolutely ignorant towards other countries and the history of soccer, and just plain stupid. :D

[Prawn Sandwich]

Yeah, the only diffrence is that California and Texas are roughly the same size as Engalnd and Spain. Did I mention that there are 48 more states? That's what he's talking about. I believe that if soccer was the top sport, we would win the WC rather easily. Think about it. The NCAA doesn't even have it in the Big 12 thing and yet we continously beat our soccer-loving neighbors of the south. Now imagine if all our future-great athletes would turn to soccer. I believe we would be too strong.
ROTFLMAO

[Dr. Wankler]

why do I even bother to argue? this whole thread is stupid, absolutely ignorant towards other countries and the history of soccer, and just plain stupid. :D

There was a time when the "Soccer in the USA" forum was actually pretty good. Now, for every good thread, there are ten like this one. That's good for generating material for the "Dumbest Post" threads, but it was a lot better here before the short bus started dropping off its passengers.

[Antonio81]

Winning a World Cup will never happen overnight. Spain, Portugal, Romania, Holland, Iran, and every African and most Latin American countries live for soccer and most will never win it. It takes years of qualifying consistently, having a good national league, winning regional tournaments at both club and international level, and having your best players in world-class leagues.

[leg_breaker]

Yeah, the only diffrence is that California and Texas are roughly the same size as Engalnd and Spain. Did I mention that there are 48 more states? That's what he's talking about. I believe that if soccer was the top sport, we would win the WC rather easily.

Having a lot of people playing the game doesn't mean you'll have a good team. You need good coaching at all levels, you need your best players to all be at peak form and fitness all at the right time, you need your opponents' players to be off form or unfit, you need a good manager, you need the team to gel, and you need a huge slice of luck.

America's 'win at all costs' mentality at youth levels like you see in Friday Night Lights may well come at the cost of long term development. Expect high school coaches to pick the biggest and fastest players who'll never amount to anything over the skillful players with potential, as all the parents on the bleachers eating nachos demand instant results.

Think about it. The NCAA doesn't even have it in the Big 12 thing and yet we continously beat our soccer-loving neighbors of the south. Now imagine if all our future-great athletes would turn to soccer.

You beat Mexico at home, never in Mexico. On the other hand Mexico has a good record against South American teams and is more consistent in tournaments. Team USA flops in every other world cup.

[MNAFETSC]

Yes population isnt everything but it does help. Im sure the 180 million people living in brasil having the potential to being super stars helps it in it overall talent pool. Of course theres other factors. My point is if we had take this form of football instead of ours with our population and training and top class league would we be a power house? I think so.

[Colorado_GAUCHO]

Yeah, the only diffrence is that California and Texas are roughly the same size as Engalnd and Spain. Did I mention that there are 48 more states? That's what he's talking about. I believe that if soccer was the top sport, we would win the WC rather easily. Think about it. The NCAA doesn't even have it in the Big 12 thing and yet we continously beat our soccer-loving neighbors of the south. Now imagine if all our future-great athletes would turn to soccer. I believe we would be too strong.

dude,

your neighbors of the south suck so bad that I wouldnt rely on betting them as a sign of anything, look at the numbers

2000: USA 3 Mexico 0
2000: USA 2 Mexico 0
2001: USA 2 Mexico 0
2001: USA 0 Mexico 1
2002: USA 1 Mexico 0
2002: USA 2 Mexico 0
2003: USA 0 Mexico 0
2004: USA 1 Mexico 0
2005: USA 1 Mexico 2
2005: USA 2 Mexico 0
2007: USA 2 Mexico 0

that only tells me that they are horrible ( I already knew that) so you guys need some real competition to know where the american soccer stands.

[ButlerBob]

You beat Mexico at home, never in Mexico. On the other hand Mexico has a good record against South American teams and is more consistent in tournaments. Team USA flops in every other world cup.


My only comeback is that we do better at pks then you. :D

[M]

My only comeback is that we do better at pks then you. :D

That's odd, I don't recall the US having a pk shootout in the WC. I guess if you get knocked out in the first round, there aren't too many opportunities to have them.:D

********in' hilarious thread, btw, keep going...

[Monkey Boy]

look at the Netherlands. they are great even though they have a tiny population. look at basketball, the USA has the best players, but in international competitions, that means shit. look at baseball, the Dom Rep produces some of the best players in the world with their small population...


Basketball is the perfect example of it takes more than popularity to be the best. BBall is a top sport across the US and has been for a long time. We still produce the best players and athletes.

Now that basketball has become popular in other countries, the US is struggling to win international tournaments. The development of basketball players in the US is not as good as other nations, who are focusing on fundamentals instead of great dunks. The quality of play in the NBA has actually gotten worse in the past 10 years. That is why we now see so many foriegn players making a big impact in the NBA.

Therefore, we obviously cannot assume that having a soccer passionate nation where it was the #1 sport would lead to us winning the WC everytime.

On the flip-side, continued increase in popularity of the sport has lead to better results for the US. Also, I do believe that increased passion for the sport will attract more great athletes to play soccer instead of BBall or Football. If we combine the better athletes with strong development programs, then we will definitely see better results for the US. This could one day lead to us winning a World Cup. But that will not be easy because of the head start that other nations have -- good development programs and their best athletes play soccer. With good development, other nations are turning great athletes into great soccer players.

Patience is key. Development for soccer players is improving. It's got a long ways to go, but there's no question it's getting better. Also, we're seeing more and more young kids playing soccer. We're also seeing families like mine where soccer is the most watched and played sport.

The US is now a favorite to get to the WC finals every cycle. It's actually a disappointment not to get out of the 1st round at the finals while playing in the group of death.

It's a fun time to be a US soccer fan. We have a long ways to go, but there is much reason to be optimistic about becoming a power around the world. Crying about not having enough support across the nation will not get us anywhere.

[MNAFETSC]

Even though the rest of the world has caught up in basketball were still the number one ranked team and still make it to at least the semifinals of the fiba and olympics. And their lack of success has less to do with the rest of the world having better talent than it does with the NBA marketing who likes to emphasize indivduality as oppossed to team work.

[Monkey Boy]

Even though the rest of the world has caught up in basketball were still the number one ranked team and still make it to at least the semifinals of the fiba and olympics. And their lack of success has less to do with the rest of the world having better talent than it does with the NBA marketing who likes to emphasize indivduality as oppossed to team work.

Results don't lie. The US should still be the top ranked team because bball is still catching on in other countries, just as soccer is catching on here. The US had been the top team for decades with no one else even close. As the rest of the world continues to improve, the US struggles.

Compare that to soccer where it is the top sport in other countries and it's logical to conclude that the US would still have a tough time winning a tournament if it was the top sport here.

I do agree however that the US would be a major power in soccer if it was the top sport here though. But that doesn't mean that we'd be the favorite to win the World Cup each cycle.

The key point in all of this though is that lamenting about the popularity of the sport in the US will get us nowhere.

[MNAFETSC]

Yah I agree if this was the top sport in america we still wouldnt be the favourtie for every world cup. Wed be one of the favourites along with brasil, germnay, italy, argentina, etc. And I believe wed have at least one world cup. This is a very intresting whaat if topic and Ive day dreamed before about this. I would really have like to seen how our league would have turned out in the relation to concacaf and the world in general. And if the US was a super power in this sport would Mexico be a better team? Many have stated mexicos past short comings have not been helped by not having another strong side in concacaf to push it.

[bighead]

USA population is 301 million

England is i think 50 million

[Pakalolo]

USA population is 301 million

England is i think 50 million

China: 1 billion+

[M]

China: 1 billion+

Netherlands 16million and two WC finals