OT: If soccer was the #1 sport in USA

[CS707]

I’m just laughing at the notion that 5 foot nuthin Messi is genetically gifted.

Messi is meant to play soccer as he is Argentinian of Italian & Spanish descent, & technically perfect but he had issues when he was a kid as he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.

His health issues are common knowledge but where he grew up is cultural influence, not genetics. Soccer might be the sport least reliant on superior athleticism of any of the majors. Messi, Iniesta... shoot, that entire Barca squad. Modric, fat Ronaldo, etc. Mo Salah isn’t much athletically and he’s tearing up the most physical league in the world. There’s a position, team, and league for just about every body type.

[life_saver]

I’m just laughing at the notion that 5 foot nuthin Messi is genetically gifted.

Or France's Antoine Griezmann, Spain's Andres Iniesta...

What is often overlooked in evaluating athleticism / ability required to play football is coordination. Neither of the players listed above is a gifted athlete in the sense that they can run and jump out of the building. But they possess great balance and coordination and on top of that great football IQ. So I don't buy the argument that the US would automatically be an elite nation if let's say the Russell Westbrooks picked up football instead of basketball.

good post...this is what people don't understand....you look at Spain national team which dominated international football over last decade....they are one of the least physical teams ever.

[AdagioPace]

The US is a continent. Even if they do absolutely nothing there's already a chance for a golden generation to appear. The key is consistency. Accessibility and natural passion too. Almost every kid in europe and south America plays soccer in the streets after school for several hours on any surface,in any condition before some kids are brought to "football schools" in the afternoon by their parents. Organised soccer comes always second imho. Kids develop a feeling for the game quite early and often parents play a major role in passing their passion to their kids. This is a structural/cultural change that wont be easy to embrace,even with all the money in the world

[Xherdan 23]

Zlatan is half Croat, hald Bosnian... Larsson is a half African.

These two are still Baltic, what's the genetic difference?
Also, good job avoiding everything else I talked about (Son, elite US athletes in every other sport, difference between Western European countries...).

You seem to be extremely poorly educated about how genetics work. LOL at you thinking Messi or Iniesta are genetically superior to Steven Gerrard or Michael Owen.

They are Balkan not Baltic, poorly educated here is you.

Gerrard & Owen never had technique any close to Messi & Iniesta & ethic background is the main reason here.

I'll concede I'm ignorant of world geography.
Now you concede you have no idea how genetics work and apologize for writing your borderline racist nonsense.

[Jagic Mohnson]

I call it futbol because im a snob and soccer sounds violent like sock her.

[MrSparkle]

Honestly, unless the MLS starts signing the best players in the world, it’s just not gonna happen. And it probably will never happen.

Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United... these are global empires, way bigger than even the Dallas Cowboys, NY Yankees and LA Lakers, because there’s no professional league that really owns over them like in American pro sports. NBA/NFL brands are #1, not their teams.

If Lebron, Durant and Curry were playing in Europe, they’d probably have a stronger culture of youth basketball development. Kids just obsess with their idols and it feeds exponentially off that. There’s no obsession with soccer cause MLS is the equivalent of their FIBA ball. Sure, excitement grows each decade, but it would be an impossible monumental power shift to trade places.

[JunkYardDog6ix]

I am sure USA, Canada or Russia will never produce players caliebers of today's Ronaldo & Messi. Not even players close to their level.

Lol okay buddy , this is wrong.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andriy_Shevchenko

lol what? Shevchenko was a great player, one of the best strikers of his generation but please he isn't anywhere on the same level as Messi.... Messi is once in a lieftime player. Shevchenko wasn't even best striker of his generation ffs.

I never said he's the best I just gave an example of a good player coming from a "northern" country , there are many more examples.

[Oscar9992]

LOL, people here upset what I've said...

Certain nations are good at certain sports.

India, China & Russia will most likely never produce World Class Soccer player but they will produce a lot of good players in other sports. India will produce good Cricket players, China - Ping Pong players & Russia - Hockey players. Every nation is good at some certain sport but suc*s in other some other sports. You can't be good in everything.

[JunkYardDog6ix]

The US is a continent. Even if they do absolutely nothing there's already a chance for a golden generation to appear. The key is consistency. Accessibility and natural passion too. Almost every kid in europe and south America plays soccer in the streets after school for several hours on any surface,in any condition before some kids are brought to "football schools" in the afternoon by their parents. Organised soccer comes always second imho. Kids develop a feeling for the game quite early and often parents play a major role in passing their passion to their kids. This is a structural/cultural change that wont be easy to embrace,even with all the money in the world

Wow nice US is a continent ? Is it called US ?

[Prince187]

We'd easily be among the best. It's the sheer size of the country along with the fact that we're a melting pot that would give us an advantage over smaller nations.

The hardest part would be digging back out from years of not prioritizing it as a sport and building the right culture etc., but if you're asking where the US would rank had soccer always been the #1 sport in the USA, the answer is unequivocally among the best of the best.

The sheer size/population of a contry does jack when related to soccer.
CHina sucks.
India Sucks.
Indonesia Sucks.

WHilst Belgium or Netherlands are frankly good.

And ICELAND is actually becoming a good team.
ICeland.

300mil inhabitnts or something like that.

You skipped the second part about how we are also a melting pot. We have Chinese, Indians, Indonesians, Belgians, Dutch, French, Nigerians, Australians etc. Not only do we have a ton of people, but we have incredibly diverse people which gives us the best cross-section to create a team.

That's why I said in the 2nd paragraph the hardest thing for us to overcome would be the years not prioritizing the sport and building the necessary culture to turn that talent into a wining team.

Diversity has no benefit in terms of building a good soccer team. It's not like one race is good at defense, another at offense, then goalie, etc

[JunkYardDog6ix]

This is both racist and stupid.
Koreans have a better genetic pool in your expert's opinion? Because Son is absoloutly elite.
Also, is there a reason USA has amazing athletes in basketball, baseball, football, running ect but not in soccer? How does that work for genetics?

As for "Northern countries" not having good genetics, can you explain the difference between Germans and Brits/white french?
Also how are Scandinavians Like Zlatan or Henrick Larsson fit your race theory?

Zlatan is half Croat, hald Bosnian... Larsson is a half African.

What about David Beckham , Wayne Rooney , half african also ?

[AdagioPace]

The US is a continent. Even if they do absolutely nothing there's already a chance for a golden generation to appear. The key is consistency. Accessibility and natural passion too. Almost every kid in europe and south America plays soccer in the streets after school for several hours on any surface,in any condition before some kids are brought to "football schools" in the afternoon by their parents. Organised soccer comes always second imho. Kids develop a feeling for the game quite early and often parents play a major role in passing their passion to their kids. This is a structural/cultural change that wont be easy to embrace,even with all the money in the world

Wow nice US is a continent ? Is it called US ?

you know what i mean. It embraces a surface comparable to a continent ( in the loose meaning). It has lots of people. Its a huge mass.

[Oscar9992]

Honestly, unless the MLS starts signing the best players in the world, it’s just not gonna happen. And it probably will never happen.

Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United... these are global empires, way bigger than even the Dallas Cowboys, NY Yankees and LA Lakers, because there’s no professional league that really owns over them like in American pro sports. NBA/NFL brands are #1.

If Lebron, Durant and Curry were playing in Europe, they’d probably have a stronger culture of youth basketball development. Kids just obsess with their idols and it feeds exponentially off that. There’s no obsession with soccer cause MLS is the equivalent of their FIBA ball. Sure, excitement grows each decade, but it would be an impossible monumental power shift to trade places.

Honestly US has the best Stadiums & Arenas in the World. Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for example...

[Hellcrooner]

LOL, people here upset what I've said...

Certain nations are good at certain sports.

India, China & Russia will most likely never produce World Class Soccer player but they will produce a lot of good players in other sports. India will produce good Cricket players, China - Ping Pong players & Russia - Hockey players. Every nation is good at some certain sport but suc*s in other some other sports. You can't be good in everything.

Russia ( soviet union) has already produced some of the best players ever like Lev Yashin or Oleg Blohkin, nd after the separation there have been some excellent / star plyers coming from russia or ex-soviet countries like Kanchelkis or Shevhenko.

[Ascrilas]

People underrate the importance of an existing system, a youth system, a coaching system, infrastructure in the higher ranks, all that stuff.
Population is not everything, as many have already said.

To establish such a system, you'd need at least 10 years, probably even 20. Once this has happened, the USA could easily contend to be a Top 5 nation. But before? Quarter-finals exit at best. Probably lower.

Just as a comparison:
Russia has a population of nearly 150 million, is a country which has been known to excel in various sports (yes, also just imagine the obligatory doping joke) - and football is actually the most popular sport in Russia according to studies, even above ice hockey. Apart from 2008, they've been absolutely **** for decades.
The United States have a population of 325 million, I don't think you can take it for granted to become good when you look at Russia as an example.

Belgium has a population of 11 million and has been equal to Russia over the past decades, sometimes they were irrelevant and much worse, sometimes they were stacked and much better (e.g. now).
The Netherlands have a population of 17 million and have been one of the 6 or 7 best countries in soccer between 1970 and 2010.
Uruguay has a population of 3 million (!) and have been a perennial semi-final contender for years.

Now let's not take China or India or Pakistan as an example because soccer is not the #1 sport there, and the same with African countries because they mostly lack infrastructure on all levels, but look at a country like Indonesia (260 million) - surely they're not a developed as a country like the US, but they're far from being a shithole, too, and have proven to be able to excel at some sports (like badminton). Yet in soccer, they're one of the worst teams in the world.

So, what I wanna say is, it's not that easy. It's not easy to translate a theoretical talent base into an existing one, and it's not easy to translate an existing talent base into an existing talented team.

[Collymore]

You are forgetting that northern countries like the USA don't have the same makings as the more southern European countries.

[peja_the_legend]

If soccer was #1 sport in usa this board would even exist

i am from Europe and trust me,you dont want soccer to become as popular as it is here..It leaves no freaking breathing space for other sports.It dominates like NFL in Usa only 20 times worse..I'm kinda pissed it's getting so popular in Usa.

[Hellcrooner]

Is there any good training available in the states, relative to the top countries? How do you know who is qualified?

I'd like to put my kid into soccer when he's older, but I know zip about soccer and don't want to be swindled.

if he shows signs of being good get him tried out in HOLLAND.
they are GREAT at developing young players.

[Illmatic12]

Chrisitan Pulisic?

Pulisic trained in Germany from a young age.

Which is simple proof that the US does actually have a large potential pool of talented players, what’s lacking is the infrastructure and coaching for them to develop. Other countries are waaay ahead of America in that regard.

16 isn't that young, he was already starting at 17 for Dortmund and USMNT. He was also the youngest ever CL player, he was already a developed talent before he moved to Germany.

I agree with your second paragraph in general but I think it's more about tradition than anything else at this point - soccer doesn't seem to be a sport most great young American athletes consider, especially compared to basketball, baseball and football.

There are plenty of talented 16yo players who don't develop as they get older.. Pulisic imo would NOT be the player he is if he remained in the states and hadn't come over to BVB academy when he did.

And to your last point.. tbh there are plenty of young American athletes who love and play soccer. US has a huge immigrant population and there are millions of young kids from first-generation Hispanic, West Indian or African families that are soccer/football crazy. But too often talented players from low income communities are weeded out because higher level youth soccer in the US is a pay-for-play system designed for wealthy kids. Even from my own experience - I was a pretty good player as as a kid, tried out for the U13 travel team in my region and made it.. but all the various fees were so expensive that my parents pulled me out, and I never played organized soccer again.

Soccer will never be the #1 sport here in terms of popularity, but this is a country of 300 million we have more than enough people to produce better talent than what we've got right now. The developmental system is broken imo

[dosun]

If soccer was #1 sport in usa this board would even exist

i am from Europe and trust me,you dont want soccer to become as popular as it is here..It leaves no freaking breathing space for other sports.It dominates like NFL in Usa only 20 times worse..I'm kinda pissed it's getting so popular in Usa.

Soccer dominates in Europe because in other sports European countries are not that good/great, if we compare with the 5 most popular sports in USA, Europe only beats them in soccer and not every Europe National team.
Basketball Europe have great National teams, but USA is better;
Ice hockey USA and Canada are better;
Baseball and Football, Europe don't have that.
So of course soccer dominates in Europe, Europe and South America are soccer continents. North America is not a soccer continent. And to tell you the truth would be weird if was the other way around. lol