Soccer is one of the oldest sports around the world with records showing that people had partaken in a sport involving a ball and feet as far back as 2500 B.C. in places such as Greece and China. There is no major sport out there that has a history as rich and golden as soccer does; unless you count the Olympics but for the sake of this argument we will only look at sports with a major following across the world. So why is it that, even after all the glory it boasts in across the world, across four of the seven continents, does the world’s biggest sport fail to draw crowds and fans in the world’s most prominent sporting country?

There’s no question that when it comes to sports in the 21st century, no country is a bigger flag bearer than the United States American Football and Basketball boast numbers like no other. I would say Baseball but let’s be honest, it's not looking so great for baseball these days. Let’s look at the numbers here for the time period between 2004-2014. According to the data collecting website, The Roosevelts, between that ten year period, the FIFA World Cup has amassed over 3.5 billion cumulative viewers. That’s absolutely incredible. That means that from first round to finals billions across the world tuned in to watch the sport. The Summer Olympics came in second with 2 billion cumulative viewers. Neither the NFL nor the NBA playoffs came close to the top ten in total cumulative viewers (In the US they rank in the top 5). Yet, soccer seems to be an afterthought in American sports culture.

But why is this the case? Well here’s the thing, when I came here and told my newfound peers how I was a big soccer fan, they laughed at me and called soccer “boring” or as my high school European history teacher put it, “like watching the slowest paint in the world dry”. Well put Mr. Fidalgo! Exactly what I was thinking…not! But I learnt something over time. Americans don’t necessarily hate soccer, no, they just have supplementary sports. When you have a sport like American Football or Basketball or Hockey, as the primary sports in the country, who needs soccer? Soccer, a sport where America has historically failed quite miserably in international play. Well, why is it that we always fall short of the chip you ask? Well its quite simple really. Children in the UK, Spain, Brazil, Germany, etc. grow up dreaming to be a Beckham or a Cantona, a Pele or a Maradona.

Here, they dream of becoming a Jordan. The youth system pushes money into football and basketball instead of soccer because let’s face it, those are the sports that make the money around here. You look at a Tim Howard, who had to go all the way to Everton in the UK to become the storied American Goalkeeper he is today. (He’s coming back to the US this year tho!) Children in Europe and South America are brought up in soccer culture. The youth system brings in 17-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo’s who make the world spin with their feet alone at such a young age. So when international play comes around, these battle-tested superstars are an incredible force to be reckoned with compared to the weaker American teams.

So a lot Americans have become used to this stigma of “Oh, soccer? Well, we suck at that so who cares? Hey, look it's American Football! We’re good at that!” Americans enjoy seeing 300-pound lineman and explosive receivers make plays down the field. They enjoy seeing back and forth action with high flying dunks and Curry-esk shooting. They substitute slow and steady finesse with explosiveness and constant action. It really is the American way, if you think about it. I mean it makes sense really, why put your time into something you’re not good at when you have homegrown talent right here tearing it up. You can also see why hockey isn’t that big a sport here either especially in the south. The Montreal Canadiens have the most titles in the Stanley Cup era. The Canadiens! A lot of Americans find losing to Canada as quite discreditable just like losing a match to another country in the World Cup is. America is supposed to be “the best” at everything. They have the best athletes, the best coaches so when a “foreigner” beats them it hits them right in the heart. Pride can be a strong tool especially when an entire country’s pride and honor is on the line.

I guess this is where the hatred for foreign sports comes from. Because we’re not the best at soccer and won’t be in a very long time, possibly ever with the constant stars being produced these years. But things are changing. Recently our Woman’s team has been tearing it up on the international scene. And our Men’s team made headlines last WC with their exceptional play with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard becoming hometown heroes in a matter of weeks. My boys Manchester Utd and other teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich make occasional trips to the US. Even US teams like the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers have storied rivalries with thousands of fans filling the stands. It’s not that they dislike soccer, it’s the lack of success in the sport that pushes them away. As a lifelong soccer fan I’m optimistic of the future of arguably the greatest sport in the world in the greatest country in the world. The future is bright for futbol in America.

“Without football, my life is worth nothing.” —Cristiano Ronaldo