2006 USA World Cup Predictions

Although soccer continues to grow in popularity here in the United States, Americans are still reluctant to embrace the sport. Team USA’s 3-0 defeat, which is like losing by 20 points in a basketball game, doesn’t do much to help this cause, especially with all the hype surrounding this 2006 USA World Cup team.

With the World Cup taking center stage across the globe, it has caused me to ask the question why is soccer the most popular sport in the world and yet it is a ways down on the depth chart in the United States? America has a frantic society seeking instant gratification. American sports fans want excitement. They want high scoring basketball games, hard hitting football games, and lots of long balls in professional baseball.

If you watch an international soccer game, you will notice that fans cheer over a great dribble move which may not result in any scoring opportunity at all. They cheer for a great pass or string of passes as the Brazilians are famous for. Near goals make the halftime highlight real as well as made goals. The world gives more respect to the game because it understands these aspects to be brilliant displays of artistry. The American mentality is that we want to see goals. It seems impossible for America to ever embrace the sport of soccer as much as the rest of the world because it doesn’t entertain in the way Americans want to be entertained.

With that said, I think it’s time to shock you a little bit. Soccer is like baseball, America’s past time, in many ways. If you enjoy the game of baseball for any of the reasons I’m about to highlight, you may want to consider giving soccer a chance. Did I just say soccer is like baseball? Both of these games are not only sports, but art forms which rely on tactics and positioning as much as individual performances by talented players. They are games which go against America’s fast paced mentality.

You can argue that baseball’s popularity was suffering before the resurgence of the long ball. But there are plenty of fans who appreciate a diving stop up the middle by Derek Jeter to save a run even though he isn’t able to get an out on the play. There are fans who appreciate shifting for Bonds or Big Papi when they hit right to the shortstop playing on the second baseman’s side of the bag for an easy out. The strategy of bringing in certain pitchers to face certain hitters or the strategy of using small ball to manufacture a run in a tight game is grasped and appreciated by some fans.

If you ever watch the Italians play soccer, they are known for scoring a goal and then clogging their opponents offensive attack by bringing back more players to play defense. This strategy is comparable to a manager taking out his outfielder, who has been playing because of his bat, and replacing him with a glove late in a game. A shot which seems destined for the back of the net, but is batted out of bounds by the goal keeper at the last second is like a great blast robbed by a center fielder leaping over the fence to make the grab.

Perhaps, this scenario more than any other, illustrates what soccer is all about. Scoring a goal brings great excitement just as hitting a homerun does in baseball, but a play in which ultimate effort can be seen by both sides is what sets soccer apart and is what fans across the world really appreciate. It didn’t used to be did you see Frank Robinson’s home run? It was did you see Robinson take Whitey Ford’s best pitch out of the ball park? If you can sit back and watch a baseball game and appreciate all of it’s intangibles, you may also be able to see some beauty in the game of soccer. Tune in to the World Cup to see what the rest of the world sees in this underrated game by American standards.

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