Not sure where you're going with that disjointed rant, but the bottom line is that with good athletes choosing to play football, basketball and baseball, less people play soccer, which results in less talent in the pool of soccer players in this country.
I agree the MAN U fans will have no problem welcoming back Ronaldo. They will absolutely love the guy again after he score his first post-WC goal for Man U. But it will be interesting to see him and Rooney play together. They will be frontline partners for Man U in a lot of games. It is said that Rooney is so pissed off at Ronaldo that he wants to punch the guy when he sees him again.
you don't need to be a good athlete to be a good or great soccer player....see diego maradona and johan cryuff for examples
The point is that many athletes (regardless of whether or not they are "good" athlete) in the United States choose one of the bigger sports (football, basketball, baseball, etc.) to focus on during their younger years. If some of those athletes would instead focus on soccer, the pool of soccer players for the U.S. would increase substantially. Imagine if the guys that end up as second or third string running backs in college, would have instead focused on soccer their entire lives. An increased pool of players who have focused on the game since they were 12 or so, would make the U.S. much better. There is a shortage of quality players to choose from. I would think you would have to agree that the more athletes that participate in a sport, the better the talent pool is to choose from.
I think portugal and argentina flops more than italy does. Im rooting for Italy in the final, nut I dont mind if Zidane retires winning the cup, I was glad that Germany gets the 3rd place.
from what i understand soccer is the most popular sport amongst kids in the u.s. if the pool of players increases and if a second string running back focused on soccer his whole life that doesn't mean the talent level is necessarily going to increase....soccer is the most popular sport in china, which means they probably have the biggest pool of players to choose from, but their national team isn't very good...also, the nigerian national team has a lot of tremendous nfl/nba type athletes on the team, but they didn't even make the world cup now if more people focused on soccer their whole lives in the u.s. the talent pool might improve, but the opposite is also true for soccer players....i'm sure a lot of them would be tremendous at other sports, but they play soccer instead....that's the way it is
It is popular among younger kids, but once they get to the "decision" age when they tend to focus on one sport, I am sure it is down the list. And your last paragraph is exactly what we have been saying. Unfortunately for U.S. soccer, not enough people focus on soccer their entire lives which leaves a huge pool of untapped talent.
i'm not trying to nitpick or start an argument, but you said younger kids in the u.s. focus on bigger sports fair enough in relation to the rest of what you said, but i said it might increase the talent level, but it also might not...you guys are assuming that just because more people play the talent level will increase and to me that's an incorrect (see my examples of china and nigeria above) the real question here is do you think oliver kahn looks like sabertooth? also, espn is now showing the best flops from this past world cup last, what is the longest thread in clutchfans history? is it this one?
You said soccer players in H.S. were the sissies and weaklings. That is NOT a fact, but an overgeneralization. Most soccer players are very good at other sports. Most of my friends who play soccer as well as those I played with in high school are very good at basketball and american football. Those saying you do not have to be athletic to play soccer do not know what they are talking about. Maradona was not a ****** (he got that way in the early 90's when his career declined b/c of coccaine and alcohol). Cruyff was great but to say he was unathletic b/c he was tall and lanky is not correct. Tall players like Ibrahimovic, Henry, and Luca Toni have amazing skill and are quite athletic. Again, soccer is not merely an endurance contest, toughguy. Come get your shins, heels and feet stepped and hacked on, or get a nice powerful shot hit your face. I've seen people who think they are athletic and have endurance try to play soccer and come away embarrassed and more appreciative of the sport. I do agree though that if more americans focused on soccer than the other sports, there would be a greater pool to choose from. That is obvious but they need to start playing from an early age and continue throughout. I do think this WC has brought in a whole slew of new fans who never thought they would like the sport. The coverage of it and enthusiasm for it, even with the U.S.' dismall performance, has been amazing.
One thing that I will say that was my point earlier in this thread in regards to Soccer in the US. One reason I highly believe you don't have more involvement in the youth levels is because the only kids that are really playing soccer in organized leagues are more of a suburban nature. Their families have the money to put them in leagues and things like that. It can be an expensive sport to play much like baseball. In the US you don't find pick up games just anywhere like basketball. You can't just walk down to the park and join a game of organized soccer to get better and then eventually play in high school etc. As someone stated before that in Latino communities there are games going on all the time...but once again ....most americans are not going to drive down to Latino communities unless they already live there to play in pick up games of soccer. So any inner city kids or any type of kid that does not have the financial backing to play in organized leagues are not going to be exposed to it as much as lets say basketball which you don't need anything but a playground with a hoop and kids already playing.
That's the thing. I grew up playing soccer. I was on some of the top select teams and was one of our better players, if I do say so myself. I gave it up to play other sports, like most good athletes in the US do. I'd still whip your butt out there today, and I haven't played soccer in ages
Ronaldo wants to leave OT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/5120332.stm That's fine with me, we'll get a ton of money from Real for him, and use it to completely rebuild our midfield. I've said for the last year that we need to sell him.
I am rooting for Italy to win, but this video is funny http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-464697376783183629
back in high school, our best WR was a soccer player. We hardly threw the ball to him because we had a pretty good blue chip rivals100 four star RB. Our WR ended up doubling as our Field Goal kicker also because our original starting kicker shanked one too many fieldgoals and pats. He's currently playing ball at UAB, and his older brother played ball at UConn, and is currently playing for some scrub team called FC Dallas.
I gotta ask...please name the "select" teams you've played for. And please don't say they were in Canada or something like that. I'm not saying you didn't play as a youth, but I highly doubt your proficiency. No one who played a a high level would come in here and constantly bash the game as you do.
I want to apologise to italianrocket. I should have just said I don't want the Italians to win or I hope they get spanked and leave it at that. The azzurri really bring out the jerk in me but in all honesty it's not that hard to bring out the jerk in me. I hope it's a good game. I wish teams could play the final game like most teams play the 3rd place game.
