The United States and soccer: A curious disconnection

I was born and raised in Mexico for fifteen long years of my life. As everyone knows, soccer isn't only a sport in my native country. It is a religion. You are born a soccer fan. In the year 2003, I went to see a soccer match in Texas between the United States and Bolivia. Arriving at the stadium, I was astonished at the fact that there were no crowds, cars were circulating as if nothing important was occurring, that there were no people selling flags. The day kept on as usual, traffic was flowing, television continued with normal programming. I understood that what I saw was a good symbol of the importance of soccer in the United States: the United States could play, but it wasn't of importance for the middle class citizen. After all, it was not a football game, nor basketball or baseball.

Once in the stadium, I discovered that most of the spectators were Bolivian immigrants. There were also other Latino immigrants (Mexicans, Salvadorans, etc). The result of all this was that, that afternoon in Texas, Bolivia was playing as if it were local and the United States was a visiting team in their own country. I should not have been surprised, I had in fact seen the United States play against Mexico in Los Angeles, and the environment in the field was even aggressively offensive against the United States.

More than a decade later, things have not changed. The average citizen knows who David Beckham is, but if asked who Landon Donovan is, everyone looks at you with confusion. The United States is still playing away in states like California, Texas and Florida. The National League (MLS) has been consolidated, teams have their fervent supporters, but this is because this country is so big that even a cricket league could function without trouble: there's enough immigrants to support the most exotic sports.

There is a curious disconnection between what is happening in the streets (and screens) and in the field. The United States plays better, and FIFA considers it one of the 15 best teams in the world. The last time Spain lost, which was the favorite team of the world, was against the United States. With its  usual physical deployment, the Americans have been improving, over the years, tactical discipline and tranquility when out playing; nothing like running like headless chickens out in the field.

Even the future is on the side of the United States: Soccernomics, Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski reach the conclusion that there are certain factors that influence much the result of a match, including having an impressive GDP and a huge population. Because of that, Szymanski and Kuper are predicting that between the great powers of the soccer of this century will be Japan, Australia, Turkey and the United States.

A strong team with a great future, a world with enough fans to fill the main bars in Boston, New York and other big cities... what more can we ask for? As to me, I will anxiously wait to see this upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil... sitting in an American bar, that is.


Kuper, Simon, and Stefan Szymanski. Soccereconomics. N.p.: Harper Collins, 2012. Print.