![]() ![]() ![]() For whatever reasons, American’s sports taste did not gravitate towards soccer since the very beginning (1869) and not because of our lack of success after 1930 or because “we sucked at it.” No, it was because our best athletes chose to compete at sports where there were professional leagues – first baseball (MLB and the Negro Leagues), then American football (NFL), and finally basketball (NBA) in 1946 (I am excluding hockey since most the players from the six team NHL were from Canada at that time). Hence, Americans do not inherently suck at soccer and their success at the first World Cup did not make soccer popular in the U.S. team still managed to place 3rd place out of 13 countries in the first World Cup in 1930. (Baseball was introduced in 1846, soccer and American Football both in 1869, basketball in 1891, and hockey in 1893.)ĭespite soccer not being popular in the U.S. College football was somewhat popular and professional football was starting to become popular. In the first half of the 20th Century, there were only three major sports in the U.S. ![]() It really is that simple and this is not meant in a bragging sense. has in population, resources (i.e., money), and the racial melting pot that exists in the U.S., Americans are capable of excelling at any sport Internationally that they put their mind to.Īnd it is not because Americans are better than anyone else, but because these huge advantages give us a significant edge in developing world-class athletes. However, because of the advantages that the U.S. I am not saying this saying this because I feel a need to defend Americans or because I am dying to tell the rest of the world that America is a great country. It is not because we are not capable-if it was an important national goal - of being an International soccer power. ![]()
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