Lehmann, why do you hate him? I don't know too much about him. Ruud, I don't know what's happened to him. He used to be such a "good boy" back in the Dutch league (as far as I can remember)... now he seems to be diving and doing all sorts of annoying things on the pitch. I don't know if it's because of the rivalry but still....
Lehmann's a jerk who thinks he is god's gift to goalkeeping. As for Ruud, I think he does try to make a meal out of most close brushes but people tend to single him out because of his high profile. Diving I think is more of a European problem than anywhere else (This is just MY opinion) So I hope Uefa and Fifa can clean up it's image at home (Europe) so they can show they mean business as far as diving is concerned. I'm glad the Arse lost
All of the attempts to derail this thread have got me wondering, why is soccer, the world's most popular sport, so unpopular in the US? I guess the popular response would be that we have so many more sports such as football, basketball, and baseball, but is this really the reason? Basketball is continuing to gain popularity in Europe, but cerntainly not at the expense of soccer. Football has never caught on overseas, despite NFL Europe. And its not like soccer is the only popular sport in Europe since rugby and cricket also have large followings. Any thoughts?
I think one of the reasons American Football is not popular is because of the fact that Europe sees itself as having a preferred equivalent in Rugby. I guess that because of that Europeans are not eager to take on the American version of the sport. This might come due to American unpopularity but that's just a guess. I have no idea why football is not popular in the US. It's a bit strange... but things like culture, tradition, the want to be different, and all sorts of things on both sides make this true.
its thread titles like these that need brackets like "[soccer]" or "[not a real sport]" so I know not to read them...
While this was true in the past, it simply doesn't hold anymore. Over the past few years, America has been emerging as a potential power in soccer. With a national team currently stocked with great talent under the age of 25, an extremely strong youth teams, not to mention possibly the best 15 year old in the world, US soccer is on the rise. World Cup 2006 will be a great lithmus test to see where we actually stand in the world of soccer.
I have no idea..I've tried watching some on ESPN2 but I just couldn't get into it the way I get into basketball or football I never got into baseball until this year when the Astros got Clemens If Houston had a pro soccer team, and it was covered on local or national television I would probably get into it as well a question..is the U.S. in the upcoming World Cup?
They're still in qualifying, but have already clinched a spot in the final stage. As good as the team is, and considering the US hasn't missed a World Cup in a while, it's a very safe bet that they'll be in Germany in 2 years.
Top ten fifa ranking. quarterfinals of the 2002 WC. 2nd round two of the last four WC after a 40 year absence. Just as many americans playing soccer in europe as europeans playing in the nba. The US doesn't want to be a part of something unless it wins, even though I doubt that if the men's US soccer team won the WC that we would have the same type of fan hysteria like France did in 1998. In fact I think the opposite would happen. The World would be just as shocked and slightly outraged if the US ever won the WC. I don't think the world is ready for it, just as a large majority of US sports fans don't care one way or another. But the US sports fans so should keep one thing in mind when boo hooing the US men's or women's soccer team. They're playing for our country, and if you want to give them grief for not winning it all why don't you save it for the Men's basketball team who should win it all every time they step on the court. Anyway the US men's soccer team will win the WC in the next 14 years. Not one f!@#ing doubt in my mind.
Soccer's lack of popularity in this country is all due to history, familarity and the fact that we already have three major established sports, and another two or three that are trying to grab some attention. It's just hard for a newer sport (don't tell me how old soccer is, it's still a new pro sport in the United States), to grab away viewers when people are unfamiliar with it, and don''t have a history of watching it. NFL Europe is a good example, because the reason it's not popular in Europe is the same reason that Soccer's not popular in the US. I mean, I'm not going to be spending a lot of time following Soccer to the expense of following the NFL and the NBA. And a sport's not really worth spending a lot of time on, if I don't know much about it. Watching Soccer would just involve too much investment into learning the strategies and players involved for it to be worth my time. And I spend enough time as it is, in the sports that I follow.
