why America MUST win the World Cup

we have so far failed to discuss the GLOBAL implications of a particular team WINNING the World Cup



indeed, neither have we covered what it would mean for the winning country HIMSELF

think about it

if Brazil win, it means NOTHING

sure, millions of Brazilians would be happy, have tears in their eyes, and buy a few more Nike shirts

but would a title win CHANGE the country for the better or worse ?

would it change the sport as such ?

NO

Brazil is already doing well economically

the country is on the up; will host the World Cup and the Olympics and everybody loves Brazilian football and the country's lifestyle ANYWAY

in other words

Brazil winning would be utterly meaningless for world peace or the development of the sport

so who else do we have ?

England winning would be the END of nearly 50 years of hurt; but let's face it, it's only hurting 50 million Englanders + a bunch of HK bankers

England winning would however, trigger the kind of media-madness that the world would not survive

we would not hear the end of it for the next 200 years

Germany winning is neither here nor there either: we had our epiphany in 2006, where merely HOSTING the event change the country entirely

getting the fourth star would be nice , cause a massive street celebration

but it would also allow Löw to stay on, and give the awful Merkel government enough time to regroup, when really they should just resign

an AFRICAN country winning would be BRILLIANT and could change the perception of an ENTIRE continent



and Japan winning the title, could re-establish Nippon as a MAJOR force to balance Chinese power in the Asian-Pacific region

it would also be a HUGE boost to the Japanese economy and change society dramatically: after all, football is the sport for REBELS and MODERNITY whereas BASEBALL is the establishement sport

when you think about it carefully, you will find that AMERIKA

ie, the USandA

MUST

win the World Cup

the WORLD needs American optimism and ENERGY

but Bush and Co have made it the most DANGEROUS and HATED country in the world; and whereas Obama seemed to counteract a lot of this

he is quickly turning into an unpopular megalomanic as well

STILL

an AMERICAN win at the SOCCER World Cup would change AMERICA fundamentally

football, after all , is FUNDAMENTALLY UN-AMERICAN

at the moment, American CONSERVATIVES are LOBBYING AGAINST football

because they consider it to be LEFT-WING

Glenn Beck, Fox, Sarah Palin, the Tea-Party Movement... are NOT AMUSED by the "soccer boom"

which is why we should all pray for America to lift the CUP

VERY interesting article about this topic (in German)

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/0,1518,702999,00.html

If my country wouldn't have the slightest chance of winning the WC, I'ld come up with crap like this too.

I don't think things will necessarly change in the U.S if they win the W.C, because American like other sports way more than "soccer".

Maybe they will appreciate it a bit more but they won't because huge fans overnight. I would really hate it if they win it, because they are not a nation of football and that would be a total humiliation. Would gives a fuk about economical benefits. Football isn't about money. When i see my American friensd eract when they see a football game: "It's boring" WHy can't players score 10 goals in a game, etc... I erally don;t think it will ever be popular in the states and that is better like that.

I would much prefer Brazil, Ghana, Portugal, Spain or Holland to win it for several reasons.

Brazil ARE the team to beat during world cups, a bit like New Zealand in Rugby, or the US in basketball.
Brazilian are proud of their team, which is loved everywhere in the world.

As for Ghana, it will represent hope not only for Ghana but also for all African nations.

For Holland, Portugal, and Spain they are big nations of football and that would be the first time they would have won the W.C. They also have great players...

If US ever win a WC I'll be joining Al Quaeda

The last thing I want is Yankee's way of experiencing entertainment and sports to contaminate even football.

The USA will win a world cup.

In this century.

Why do tey think football is left wing otto?

Do you have any links?

We're bound to win it one of these days, presently we have more kids in youth squads than just about anyone, its finding the 11 amazingly skilled kids that will be the problem.

I remember reading somewhere that as a percentage of population, England watches more of its WC matches than any other nation.

Not sure if this is accurate or whether its red top jingostic patriotism.

Roughly 20-25m have watched our games so far - about 45% of the population. I expect this to be much higher tomorrow. Probably 30-35m

Tweesus wrote:Why do tey think football is left wing otto?

Do you have any links?

1. It's perceived as a "foreign" sport, not America's own.

2. American football is a religion in the South, and the rednecks also hate real football...this region is most of the base for the right wing.

3. Most of the growing football TV audiences and players are in the big metropolitan cities on the East or West coast.


I do think that this World Cup has a higher than ever audience in the US, even better than 1994. The amount that are watching on TV, generating online "buzz, discussing the results with their friends/family/co-workers is something I haven't seen or heard of before. There's a genuine "football fever" for tonight's game against Ghana.

I hope the US continue to do well and improve as a football nation. I don't buy that they will ruin the game with their cheerleaders and annoying ads. This is a well established sport with history, at best the Americans can only make minor changes within their own league (something they've already done). FIFA is not going to suddenly introduce timeouts because the Americans are ranked 5th in the world.

Cheers Kas

Who cares what the rednecks think anyway?

It seems as though 'soccer' is being picked up by the more intellectual populous of the USA.

The rednecks are a pretty large chunk of the population though. I don't think 'soccer' will ever catch on in the "deep South". For them it's not just the pro leagues of American football and basketball they are crazy about, but even college basketball, college american football, and even high school american football

Well with football, quality of play is clear to see - which is why no-one gives a flying fuck about secondary school level football in this country. I know the system in american football is different, what with their draft system - but it would be the same as everyone going crazy about the under 19 euro championships I guess.

School football is more of a community event. In the midwest, deep south, and other "lonely" areas of the country, the major cities are generally several hours away in terms of driving distance.

So you have a large number of people living in small towns, and for them going to the local high school's game on a Friday night, against a school from some town 5 hours away, is a bonding experience for the local community.

It'll grow and grow. But it'll only become truly significant in club terms when Man Utd are playing FC dallas in the champions league final or something like that. Until that can happen America rightly so wont jump on soccer since they have nothing to support properly except their own country in a world cup

Not necessarily...there's been talk of expanding the Copa America (equivalent tournament for CONCACAF is the Gold Cup and it's basically a boring series of warmup games against Honduras, Jamaica, and co. before Mexico and the US inevitably play off in the final)...

There's also a possibility of including MLS teams in the Copa Libertadores. There are some obstacles to that in terms of logistics (teams may have to fly 7/8 hours for an away game) but I can see it happening if the MLS keeps improving.

And the other part of the growing football awareness in the US is that European games are now finally available easily to Americans. Premier league, FA Cup, Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga...all are easily available on major TV channels. In big cities, you have sports bars showing the big games, you have people waking up at 8am on a Saturday to watch a big derby game in England.

Also, one other factor helping the growth of football there is that more and more American players have the quality to be able to play at European clubs. For now it's still mostly midtable clubs, but that will only improve. So fans have something to follow when they watch foreign leagues.

And the player quality will be keep getting better when the kids of the current huge Hispanic population (now ahead of African-Americans as the 2nd largest ethnicity after Caucasians) grow up to become professional footballers.

One thing I'll say though - the game there is still coached and players still develop in a very rigid style, similar to traditional American sports. ie. "you pick up the ball here, run there, then move to the outside, then cross it in". Rafa Benitez would do great with the US national team

It's all rehearsed and "mathematical"...as much as you can do in the framework of football anyway. What they need is at least one or two players that are pure creative geniuses, someone who can play a free role and produce some magical moments. Even if it's one player who makes it big by being renowned for flair rather than just a "facking runner", that can change the entire mindset.

kas wrote:Also, one other factor helping the growth of football there is that more and more American players have the quality to be able to play at European clubs. For now it's still mostly midtable clubs, but that will only improve. So fans have something to follow when they watch foreign leagues.

And the player quality will be keep getting better when the kids of the current huge Hispanic population (now ahead of African-Americans as the 2nd largest ethnicity after Caucasians) grow up to become professional footballers.

One thing I'll say though - the game there is still coached and players still develop in a very rigid style, similar to traditional American sports. ie. "you pick up the ball here, run there, then move to the outside, then cross it in". Rafa Benitez would do great with the US national team

It's all rehearsed and "mathematical"...as much as you can do in the framework of football anyway. What they need is at least one or two players that are pure creative geniuses, someone who can play a free role and produce some magical moments. Even if it's one player who makes it big by being renowned for flair rather than just a "facking runner", that can change the entire mindset.

Yeah, one lil superstar could change everything.... I really hoped Freddy to become that guy, the hype was there, but he turned out to be shite... Or maybe if Rossi had decided to play for USA, but that did not happen either... but it will happen sooner or later...

Di Caniooooo! wrote:We're bound to win it one of these days, presently we have more kids in youth squads than just about anyone, its finding the 11 amazingly skilled kids that will be the problem.

Even if you have a billion kids, you still lack the educational system (especially when it comes to footy). You need a proper footy infrastructure.