Why American Sports Fans Hate Soccer..

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is winding down. We are down to the “final Match” that will decide who the World Champion will be. The two teams left are Spain and the Netherlands.

I, like many Americans, only took a partial interest in the World Cup in the past, and mostly followed the United States team and games.

I took a different approach this year though. I decided to watch as many games as I could. I wanted to see why they loved the sport so much compared to those in the United States. As I watched more games, I started to get into the sport more. It went from "oh this is boring" to being on the edge of my seat on every single match.

After watching about 15 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I can now see why the sport does not appeal to Americans so easily.

The most popular sports in America are generally ones where there is an abundance of scoring, with very strong individual stars that can make or break a team. Football, basketball, and even baseball to a lesser extent have enough scoring where there is constant action.

You do not have to think about it to be entertained.

The individual star power in popular American sports is strong. The expectations are easily defined in those sports.

If Peyton Manning has a great game, it is easy to claim him the hero. If he throws four interceptions, it is very easy to coin him as the goat.

The expectations heaped on the best players in American sports are tremendous. Most of the time, if they do not play well their team does not win.
Soccer is a bit different.

I only knew of one top level international soccer player before the World Cup. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. That was only because of the many women I run into that want to mother his children.

I knew who most of the players on the United States team were. However, most of them are not considered big time “stars” on the international level.
As I watched, I started to learn players like Wayne Rooney, Kaka, and Lionel Messi just to name a few.

The funny thing is all of those players I named did not score a goal in the World Cup. Yet all of their teams made it to the elimination round.

Soccer is one of those sports where your best player does not score every single game. However, there are things that player does on the field that set up scoring chances for other people. This is very similar to dominant wide receivers in football drawing a double team, or someone being pitched around in baseball to get to a weaker batter.

The part that I believe is frustrating for most Americans is it is nearly impossible for a star player in soccer to win the game on his own.

Kaka is not going to get the ball from his goalie, dribble it down field past 10 defenders, and kick it into the goal. It just isn’t going to happen.

Americans are used to the star athletes being able to take matters into their own hands if the rest of the schmucks around them are not showing up to play. This is very difficult to do in soccer. There needs to be a lot of pieces around players in order to be successful.

If Ronaldo was stuck on a team of stiffs, that team would be horrible. There is no way he could score enough goals by himself to make the team competitive.
In basketball, LeBron James on a team with a bunch of scrubs would actually be competitive, at least some of the time.

I am by no means an expert on soccer.

However, after sitting down and giving the game a chance, I started to pick up on the little nuances of the game.

Look at how ESPN marketed the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was the same as we do with our sports. They put the biggest stars in the commercials; when those players did not do much, the commercials seemed off.

Germany, Netherlands, and Uruguay did not have one single player in any of those commercials. Those teams are in the final four.

Americans will fall out of love with soccer once the World Cup ends.

I, however, gained a new appreciation for the sport. The excitement lies in the lack of scoring rather than the abundance of scoring we are all used to.

When I found myself jumping at the shots on goal that almost went in, I realized why 1.8 billion people around the world love the sport.

By Marcus S. Feartured Columnist at The Bleacher Report.

I don't concur with the author's backhanded slap at the American sports fan at all. We have other sports that are uniquely American, that we grew up with, that we participated in and that we understand and love.

Soccer is the new kid on the block, nothing more, nothing less. That we need a star player and simple game nonsense is just that, nonsense.

The author is now a self-proclaimed soccer fan, and like most members in the media, he thinks he's smarter and more sophisticated than others. It's hip for them to bash "simpleton Americans".

I hate soccer because I can't stand all of the fake injuries, acting and fake penalties. Do that shit in the NFL and you would get your ass kicked.

Best sport in the world...........but USA citiizens prefer the NBA


HILARIOUS

I don't agree with the guy who wrote the article.

First of all, Americans don't HATE the sport of soccer.
They simply don't find it as exciting as other sports in the United States, primarily NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and even fighting now.

Secondly, although the game does include a lot of scoring as many like to bring up as the reason Americans don't like it, that isn't necessarily the reason because we see plenty of exciting defensive battles in NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.

And I know I'm going to catch hell from the Non-Americans again for what I'm about to say, but here it is.

Are these soccer players good athletes?
Yes, of course.

But I believe one of the reasons Americans don't like it that much is because we see what types of athletes we have in the NFL, NBA, etc., and kind of make a comparison, and just don't see these soccer players as being on the same talent level as what we have.

Let's go back 20 years.
Take some of America's top athletes in the Untied States' major sports.
Now 20 years later, are you going to tell me these American athletes who are huge, muscular, some of if not the quickest overall athletes in the world, and running 40 yard dash times of 4.2, who now have learned the game of soccer & how to handle the hell out of a soccer ball, aren't going to dominate these guys from other countries? Our athletes would run circles around these guys, IF they knew the game.

I think as Americans we are the only ones who get it and believe that we could be much better in soccer if we chose to do so because we see the level of our athletes on such a long term basis, then see these guys in soccer, and automatically see that there's a big gap in the athleticism dept....

O i could type all day on this 1.........

still despise soccer

For me, it's never been so much the lack of scoring leading to an entertainment deficit. Baseball can go for hours without a score as well (but you will eventually have a winner, based on actual game play, not a skills competition). At one point during the prelims I added up the goals scored for the total games played -- 28 goals in 17 games (and that included a 4-0 and 3-0 game). That's 1 1/2 goals per game - that's just enough scoring to differentiate the teams on the field reliably. Hockkey is low scoring , but the o/u is about 5 1/2 - 6, MLB more like 9.5 to 10. You can dominate a team in soccer and still end up 0-0. An equivalent NBA game has the better team winning by 20. Add to that the ability of refs to completely affect the outcome with one call. The game needs more scoring not to be more entertaining, but to give fairer results.

Fishhead said:

Best sport in the world...........but USA citiizens prefer the NBA


HILARIOUS

Click to expand...

I dont care what the rest of the world likes.

I think the american fan base don't really have a connection to any of the major players. All we get in the MLS are former european league stars that are WAY past their prime. If you live in Europe, it's easy to keep tabs on all the leagues and follow the major players. We just don't have the interest to follow a overseas league in the morning when you will have a baseball game, football game, tennis match, or a golfing round to keep our interests on the weekend.

i do think there was a fair amount of interest in this world cup, but yes i agree that the football/soccer interest will be gone when the world cup ends. one thing the world cup has going with it is little competition from other american sports this time of the year. once nfl and college football starts, people will go back to watching pregame shows from 10am on instead of tuning into the premier league matches that will be on at that timeslot. i have always watched the sport from day one, and dont really care if the states like it or not, to me you cant beat the constant play of 45 minutes while in other sports you have too much delay. im glad that no one has brought up that lesser athletes play it, cuz that is definitely not the case, except in this country.

Hache Man said:

But I believe one of the reasons Americans don't like it that much is because we see what types of athletes we have in the NFL, NBA, etc., and kind of make a comparison, and just don't see these soccer players as being on the same talent level as what we have.

Let's go back 20 years.
Take some of America's top athletes in the Untied States' major sports.
Now 20 years later, are you going to tell me these American athletes who are huge, muscular, some of if not the quickest overall athletes in the world, and running 40 yard dash times of 4.2, who now have learned the game of soccer & how to handle the hell out of a soccer ball, aren't going to dominate these guys from other countries? Our athletes would run circles around these guys, IF they knew the game.

Click to expand...

Would the US be better, if soccer was bigger in the States? I'm pretty sure about it, as soon as more people start playing (esp. at a younger age) and the players get better training when they are young, the overall level of play will increase, the players overall skills improve, the coaches get better etc etc.

But to say they would dominate the sport is ignorant³...
If it was just about athletic ability or speed, Jamaica should be great or on the other hand even a country like Germany, where the "fastest" tracks guy probably runs 10.2sec in a 100m dash, should field a team with some track guys...just because your physical abilities make you a good basketball player or tracks guy, the same skills dont have to translate into making you a good soccer player.
And if it was for the size of a population, a country as small as the Netherlands should stand no chance against teams like Brazil or Germany. But still the Dutch are a steady force year in and year out...
There is a lot of team play and tactics involved, which have nothing to do with all the physical abilities of players. Pretty similar f.e. to Basketball, where the US probably had the best individuals/athletes on the court for the last 20 years, but during their "drought", when Spain and Argentina won some titles and beat the US, these teams still beat the US because of better tactics, team play (and these are also skills, even though most people will believe, that you can learn them more easily than improving physical skills like your vertical leap).

mclosin said:

im glad that no one has brought up that lesser athletes play it, cuz that is definitely not the case, except in this country.

Click to expand...

That's pretty much the same argument you would get over here in Germany by many people, if you would talk about baseball f.e.

mclosin said:

im glad that no one has brought up that lesser athletes play it, cuz that is definitely not the case, except in this country.

Click to expand...

Actually, I brought that up and know I get ragged for it, as Soriano gave it to me further above, but I stand by it.
Better overall athletes in the United States, period....

the united states also has way more athletes to choose from then germany england spain any of those countries keep that in mind.

Soriano12 said:

Would the US be better, if soccer was bigger in the States? I'm pretty sure about it, as soon as more people start playing (esp. at a younger age) and the players get better training when they are young, the overall level of play will increase, the players overall skills improve, the coaches get better etc etc.

Click to expand...

Soccer is a very popular youth sport already in the US. It's not played everywhere like baseball, but where it's played, the participation is as high as baseball. Where I live (Maryland) soccer is probably the most popular youth sport (kids < 10), but the best athletes just don't stick with the sport - it's crowded out by too many other sports that are more popular (and lucrative).

onemwtheone said:

Soccer is a very popular youth sport already in the US. It's not played everywhere like baseball, but where it's played, the participation is as high as baseball. Where I live (Maryland) soccer is probably the most popular youth sport (kids < 10), but the best athletes just don't stick with the sport - it's crowded out by too many other sports that are more popular (and lucrative).

Click to expand...

But over here or in the Netherlands f.e. you have residential schools particular for soccer talents. So you actually have kids going to school and practice in the afternoon several times a week with some of the best youth coaches. Thanks to the "system" over here, which is completely different to the system the major US sports use (with their college drafts) you get better "educated" players in countries like Netherlands.
And you brought up a good point with more lucrative sports: It would be similar with baseball over here. If baseball players were better paid than soccer players and kids would play baseball several times a week (or dad played catch with his son instead of kicking in his backyard), Germany would probably be a better baseball nation in a hurry.

@HacheMan: I'm not ragging ;-) I just disagree with you. It doesn't matter what country you take in my opinion. A bigger population just gets you more people to chose from. But just because someone is born in Germany, US, Japan or whereever else, it doesn't make him a better player or athlete. So imo pretty much every country could reach a certain level of quality in every sport, maybe limited by the size of the population.
It just depends on the population's preference, in which sports they excell in and as soon as training facilities and coaching improves and maybe you increase the player pool to select from, the quality level will start to jump more or less immediately.

Hache Man said:

Actually, I brought that up and know I get ragged for it, as Soriano gave it to me further above, but I stand by it.
Better overall athletes in the United States, period....

Click to expand...

Those so called better athletes couldn't win shit at the winter olympics, until American Centric sports were added.

Also, just because some basketball and football players maybe better athletes, doesn't mean their talents will necessarily translate.

Soriano12 said:

@HacheMan: I'm not ragging ;-) I just disagree with you. It doesn't matter what country you take in my opinion. A bigger population just gets you more people to chose from. But just because someone is born in Germany, US, Japan or whereever else, it doesn't make him a better player or athlete. So imo pretty much every country could reach a certain level of quality in every sport, maybe limited by the size of the population.
It just depends on the population's preference, in which sports they excell in and as soon as training facilities and coaching improves and maybe you increase the player pool to select from, the quality level will start to jump more or less immediately.

Click to expand...

I know my friend, it's just a friendly debate.

It's called sports talk :toast:

I'm not saying jumping higher, or running faster, or being stronger, or being quicker automatically makes you better in a particular sport.

But when you combine ALL OF THOSE INTO ONE, you have the typical American star athlete.

And we all know the the truth & bottom line is, it's because of African-Americans.
And please guys let's not compare regular africans, Jamaicans, Nigerians, or any others to African-Americans, because there is none.

Anyone that truly knows sports, knows that the best overall athletes are the best basketball players.

If you are good at basketball, you are normally pretty decent at all sports.
Maybe not the best of course, but pretty good all-round at everything.

That's not the norm in other sports.

So, who has the best basketball players on the planet?
The United States of course.

Now, we also can't go into that arguement about how the is becoming less fact because we want to bring up these ridiculous games in which a team from another country has beaten us when we send our scrubs to play when our better guys didn't want to participate, because when our best players do play, they bring the rest of the world back to reality by kicking azz & taking names.

Of course I sound biased because I live in the U.S., but honestly it doesn't matter if I lived in England, Brazil, Turkey, or wherever, I would still just have to bury my pride and accept the fact that the best true athletes, overall, are in the United States.

Not from better training facilities or anything such as that either, it's simpy in the blood & genes.

But we can agree to disagree....:toast: