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2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

We have to count on Algeria to beat Germany for us. It reminds me of something but I can't see what.

Skywalker said:
Brazil - Chile
Columbia - Uruguay
Netherlands - Mexico
Costa Rica - Greece
France - Nigeria
Germany - Algeria
Argentina - Switzerland
Belgium - USA
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I agree on everything except the last one : Belgium is a better team than what they showed in 3 matches and by far a better team than the USA.
I also expect a suprise I just hope that's not going to be Nigeria :lol:
 
And here I thought war metaphors for football matches involving Germany were the domain of the English press :lol:
 
Are we thinking the US World Cup run ends against Belgium? If so, is this good enough a result to inspire more US fans for football/soccer?
 
Brolan said:
Are we thinking the US World Cup run ends against Belgium? If so, is this good enough a result to inspire more US fans for football/soccer?
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Wouldn't count on it.. American Football, Baseball and Basketball are too firmly entrenched and are mostly more suited for US viewers with their higher scoring games.

Football (that's how the rest of the world calls it and not soccer because it's actually played with feet :p) is, from what i hear, mostly regarded as a kids game (thus the term soccer mom) and not something people would turn out in the tens of thousands each week for the match as they do with American Football.

The image has improved but it's a far cry from being an established prime time sport in the US.
 
For Futbol to reach a new level of popularity in the US, the USMNT (god they need a nickname) will need to advance to really spectacular level, say the Semifinals.

That kind of success would be miraculous.

I agree with the majority of posters here that even if they sneak past Belgium, they won't get by Argentina.

So the brief flare of attention the WC generates will very quickly be drowned out by the NFL pre-season.

Which is depressing on many levels.
 
Soccer has slowly but steadily been growing in popularity here in the US ever since we hosted the 1994 World Cup. The creation of Major League Soccer has been a big part of that. While our domestic league still isn't all that great, it, too, has slowly been getting better, and as that league improves, more and more people start to watch it. We also have much better access to quality leagues like the Premier League and La Liga now, which really helps. NBC and its dedicated sports channel started airing EPL matches last season and drew record ratings.
Shaytan said:
Skywalker said:
Brazil - Chile
Columbia - Uruguay
Netherlands - Mexico
Costa Rica - Greece
France - Nigeria
Germany - Algeria
Argentina - Switzerland
Belgium - USA
Click to expand...
I agree on everything except the last one : Belgium is a better team than what they showed in 3 matches and by far a better team than the USA.
Click to expand...
I totally agree, I'm just being a homer with that pick. ;)
 
Skywalker said:
Soccer has slowly but steadily been growing in popularity here in the US ever since we hosted the 1994 World Cup. The creation of Major League Soccer has been a big part of that. While our domestic league still isn't all that great, it, too, has slowly been getting better, and as that league improves, more and more people start to watch it. We also have much better access to quality leagues like the Premier League and La Liga now, which really helps. NBC and its dedicated sports channel started airing EPL matches last season and drew record ratings.
Shaytan said:
Skywalker said:
Brazil - Chile
Columbia - Uruguay
Netherlands - Mexico
Costa Rica - Greece
France - Nigeria
Germany - Algeria
Argentina - Switzerland
Belgium - USA
Click to expand...
I agree on everything except the last one : Belgium is a better team than what they showed in 3 matches and by far a better team than the USA.
Click to expand...
I totally agree, I'm just being a homer with that pick. ;)
Click to expand...

I just don't see it getting beyond a certain point... maybe NHL numbers?

Although with the steadily changing demographics (including larger numbers of Hispanics) you could be right.

I hope so, I am tired of large numbers of American young men putting their futures at risk to play a very violent and dangerous sport.
 
I think soccer could potentially eclipse hockey and basketball (currently the country's third-most popular sport), maybe baseball. But to be honest these sorts of things are cyclical anyway. Baseball used to be the dominant sport in the US until maybe twenty years ago, when American football started to take over. As the demographics continue to change, American football's popularity could decline, for all we know.

I think money is the biggest reason why most American kids who grow up to be professional athletes choose sports other than soccer. A lot of American kids play soccer when growing up, but there isn't as much money in the sport here in the US as there is in the others. Maybe as MLS gets bigger and players there start earning more, some of them might be more inclined to stick with soccer, which would be a good thing for the development of the sport.
 
Skywalker said:
I think soccer could potentially eclipse hockey and basketball (currently the country's third-most popular sport), maybe baseball. But to be honest these sorts of things are cyclical anyway. Baseball used to be the dominant sport in the US until maybe twenty years ago, when American football started to take over. As the demographics continue to change, American football's popularity could decline, for all we know.

I think money is the biggest reason why most American kids who grow up to be professional athletes choose sports other than soccer. A lot of American kids play soccer when growing up, but there isn't as much money in the sport here in the US as there is in the others. Maybe as MLS gets bigger and players there start earning more, some of them might be more inclined to stick with soccer, which would be a good thing for the development of the sport.
Click to expand...

There is also the stigma attached at the high school level that the best athletes play football and the not so great athletes play soccer.
 
Baseball is low-scoring as well and I think a good portion of Americans enjoy a tense pitcher's duel. But Baseball is a good summer sport where you can drink a beer, chat with friends, get some food, etc. without missing the action. In Soccer, if you do that, you could miss the only goal of the game.

Soccer is gaining support in the United States and good performances help that. I think growth in support will be slow at best (and there will eventually be people who will never be sold), but it's growing. Would losing here be enough? Well, they lost here last time. American audiences do want to see progress. Perhaps, given the competition, people will be accepting, but beating Belgium would make a huge difference.
 
I like soccer's outlook in the US.

MLB is on the downswing, it's slow and boring for a casual viewer, and corrupt. The average fan age is somewhere in their mid-50s and constantly going up. Honestly if MLS doesn't surpass MLB in the next 20 years I'd be disappointed.

The NFL is a ratings juggernaut that isn't going to be topped anytime soon. But it does have a flaw in that any parent that gives half a shit about their kid will try to push them into playing a sport that isn't going to result in brain damage. That has the potential to improve the US's soccer talent pool further.

NHL seems to be in decent shape for what it is, but it's a regional sport. It's never going to have that much nationwide appeal in the US. It's a winter white guy sport in a country getting less and less white.

I think basketball is probably one of the bigger roadblocks for soccer in the US. In other countries the young and poor play soccer. In the US they all go play b-ball. Sure upper-middle class types take their kids to play on organized soccer teams, but what really needs to happen is for kids to go kick around a soccer ball in more of a neighborhood pick-up game fashion like they seem to do just about everywhere else.

I think to that end, how the US does in this World Cup is very important. Getting to the knockout stages is great... but as a cultural shift, getting knocked out on a Tuesday afternoon by Belgium isn't good enough. Just beating Belgium isn't going to cut it either. Nobody cares about Belgium. Their team is good and all, but the average American has no idea about Belgium being a soccer power. The US needs to face and put up a hell of a performance against Argentina, while the announcers go on and on about how Argentina is one of the favorites, and how Messi is the best in the world. If they could somehow get that scalp, I think it would make a huge impression in the American sports world. We love a good underdog story.

If FIFA went ahead and actually stripped Qatar of the 2022 tournament and handed it to the US, it would do wonders as well.

It seems like ESPN and Fox believe in MLS having growth potential, they're willing to pay up significantly more money than US networks have in the past. That also means they're going to push it and market it harder than in the past. I expect to see a lot more MLS showing up in SportsCenter in the next couple of years.

Also Premier League is super accessible on NBC's networks thanks to their last rights deal which I think also was a huge leap cash-wise compared to the previous Premier League deal. Just the fact that they'll show some highlights of that, and run the scores on the ticker during NFL games is something I wouldn't have believed 10 years ago.

It's tricky to sell Americans on the concept of a world-wide sport where its league is not in the top-tier. Hopefully MLS can reach a tipping point where it can get some top tier talent instead of offering a pleasant transition into retirement for greats that are a bit past their primes.
 
Yoda said:
It's tricky to sell Americans on the concept of a world-wide sport where its league is not in the top-tier. Hopefully MLS can reach a tipping point where it can get some top tier talent instead of offering a pleasant transition into retirement for greats that are a bit past their primes.
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That's always going to be difficult, because the USA is so far away from Europe both geographically and metaphorically (since MLS isn't on the radar at all yet in European football news), that any top player would have to be concerned about ambitions in their national team if they go to the MLS.

This is even a problem for South American players (who don't have the profile of a Neymar or Messi) going to Europe.
 
Starbrow said:
I think Suarez shouls sue FIFA. He can easily win this case. FIFA shouldn't judge players prematurely based on their previous conducts.
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Where are you from? It's a hard punishment against Suarez, but the process is always how this is handled. They had to make a decision before the next Uruguay game.
 
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