I will admit that I am not much of a soccer fan. Going into the World Cup four years ago, I only knew four things about soccer: Pele, David Beckham, Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal (look it up on Wikipedia) and the futility of the United States in the sport. And I assume that is pretty much the same list for most Americans.
Of course everyone knows who Pele is. Just think back to high school. In almost all cases, the best player on your respective school's soccer team got the nickname Pele.
But World Cup fever hit four years ago, as Team U.S.A. advanced to the quarterfinals. All of the sudden, unknown names like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley were all over the landscape. People like myself actually bought the FIFA World Cup 2002 game on Playstation 2. But predictably, the popularity wouldn't last.
To be honest, I don't know if soccer will ever make it big in the United States. It seems like in every World Cup since 1990, sportswriters and soccer fans predict that this will be the year soccer hits the mainstream.
The 2006 World Cup was again designated to be the coming-out party for the U.S. Experts said this team had the talent. The team was ranked fifth in the world going into its opening match against the Czech Republic.
Instead, the Americans laid a humongous egg, losing 3-0. If any team needed to win its opener it was the U.S. But on the grandest stage, the team decided not to show up. The stars, Donovan and Beasley, both had horrendous games.
If anything, Tuesday's game showed why good soccer countries don't take the United States seriously. The respect the U.S. supposedly earned in 2002 is non-existent. Maybe it goes deeper than just the World Cup. Do the U.S. athletes (and fans) just not care as much as the rest of the countries in these things?
Look no further than the World Baseball Classic. The WBC was designed to be baseball's version of the World Cup. However, a multitude of U.S. stars decided not to play in it, leaving players like Jeff Francoeur and Randy Winn to earn significant playing time.
I do realize it was the first-ever WBC, but let me put this in perspective.
Brazil's Ronaldinho, widely regarded as the best player in the world, is a very rich man. If any soccer club wanted to buy his contract out, it would cost $154.3 million to do so. If you think Alex Rodriguez makes a lot of money ($25.2 million per year), Ronaldinho makes a cool $37 million a year. What do you think would happen if Ronaldinho went to the Brazilian soccer officials and was like 'Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and not play in this year's World Cup." He would be vilified and probably be a recipient of a "Colombian necktie" from the rabid Brazilian fans. You won't see Ronaldinho, Beckham or Italy's Francesca Totti skipping the World Cup, whereas the likes of Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson get a free pass on skipping out of the WBC.
Not to make any excuses for American fans or American players, but maybe the pressure (or care) to win isn't as high. Does international competition translate to Americans as not important? Not so to Europeans. Some of the baseball players say they are worried about getting hurt and don't want to risk their careers over the WBC and lose money. But soccer players have the EXACT same issues. Do you think Ronaldinho wants to lose out on that huge salary from Barcelona? What about Beckham, who makes $32 million a year for Real Madrid? And on a lower level, what about Totti? He doesn't make quite as much cash as the other two ($9.5 million for Roma), but he's not sitting out.
In order to become popular, fair-weather fans like myself need a couple personalities to rally around. As unfortunate and cheesy as it is, that's what it would take. Oh yeah, winning helps too. It looks like we're still far away from that happening.
Write to Phil at prfriend@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
