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This disconnect with of rest of the World is not bad to USA .In a sport that fascinates the World whole less
USA ,why ?
What do you think?
Its been discussed many times on this forum, if you listed countries where football (soccer) is not the most popular sport it would include, The USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, what they have in common is they are all former British Colonies. It's far more than a coincidence in my opinion.
To give you an idea, Australia and England have been playing cricket against each other pretty much every three since the 1870's. It's one of the oldest international sporting contests in the world. Australia and England played only their second ever football (soccer) international against each other last week.
It's called soccer!! And no, USA is not really interested. They like big scores, they don't have good players, they don't like ties - the fact that soccer matches can end in a tie in the World Cup does not sit well with many of them.
Soccer is not "predictable" either - often the better team is NOT the winner. Every controversial foul that leads to a penalty kick, would probably end with a lawsuit
And lastly - kids don't aspire to be soccer players, because everyone dreams about big $$$
Keep in mind some basic American values: America is a culture that values winning, extremes, money, and the perception that people get what they deserve. And because until they win, interest will not grow, but until interest grows, most American youth will be unlikely to turn down opportunities in other sports to focus on soccer.
Whilst as the Austrialian Forumer pointed out other countries also enjoy other sports such as Cricket and indeed Rugby which has some similarities with US Football.
In terms of American Football it does have a growing following outside of the US and there are now a number of games played in London, with talk of a franchise. So we are embracing each others sports more than ever before.
Didn't Football (Soccer) used to be more popular in the USA? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_...968%E2%80%9384)
In the 1970's/1980's you had world class players like Cruyff, Pele, Best, Beckenbauer, Eusebio etc. etc. play in the American league.
What went wrong?
Other points not mentioned yet is that the US populace love 1 vs 1 situations in sports. It's two gladiators with their strenghts and weaknesses against each other. Basketball, American football, hockey, NASCAR and the batters in baseball. Alas, in our football the most basic thing is the triangle. Player #1 passes to #2 who passes to player #3. And so you have gotten past two opponents not even being close to the guys. Sure, there are 1 vs 1 situations in soccer too, but they are a nuance of the game. Battle for a head-ball, 1v1 on the wing, marking in a corner kick and so on, but they rarely are gamechangers, they just bring small advantages. And even that is just a poor substitute. In US sports it has to be the same guy all the time. In basketball and American football it's a given, but in Saturday's Champions League final it was Cristiano Ronaldo vs Godín, Savic, Juanfran, Gabi and Saúl depending on the situation. Not good enough for Americans.
The second point is the rules of the game. Soccer is a very sneaky sport. Like elnina said, you don't always get what you deserve. The fact that you can get a penalty kick by acting on a minor foul doesn't fit the minds of Americans. Players like Filippo Inzaghi, who was one of the most profilic goalscorers in early 2000's European football, could never be huge in the US. He wasn't technically very good, he was quite skinny, many times offside during a game, often accused of acting and was quite the rat otherwise too. But he was very fast and intelligent, had excellent situational awareness and exploited every mistake by the defenders, and that was what made him great. Inzaghi is still the 4th all-time top goalscorer in international European competitions. Loved and hated by some, feared by everyone.
If Americans could choose the rules of soccer, the stars would be like Emile Heskey. He would tackle mercilessly all defenders in a corner kick, punch the goalkeeper in the face and BOOM kick the ball into the net with full power. (Of course the Americans would dictate that only X number of opponents can be in the penalty box to maximise goals).
Actually the Champions League final was an excellent example why Americans don't embrace soccer. IDK who watched the game, but Real Madrid scores an offside goal. Atletico Madrid equalises, and yeaah, a draw! It was a hot day in Milan, temps were in the 80's F during the game, the intensity high and during extra time the players start to break up. Almost half of the players suffered from cramps, and the last 5 minutes was just waiting for the inevitable penalty shootout. Gareth Bale even got a cramp during his penalty kick when he spurted the 3 metres to kick the ball. 120 minutes to wait for the result, and all the players totally finished. Except Pepe who died and resurrected. Not even Emile Heskey would have the energy to punch the goalkeeper in the face. Not very heroic.
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