Why do most African Countries support overseas soccer, is it because of the quality of the soccer or the pictu
465847
i had this same discussion with a friend/co-worker from nigeria, his name was sam larbi, and he asked why it is that people in the united states were not as passionate about the mls as they were about the european leagues, i think it's as simple as the person watching....if you are a soccer player yourself you have an appreciation for "the best" you want to see the most skilled players in the world, and the fact that MANY african players are good enough to not only play in the champions league but to thrive, should make anyone native excited enough to follow it HOWEVER they can, i think it's great that someone would cry when they're favorite team loses, soccer is the WORLD's game...and to answer my friend sam's question i simply said..."americans don't care about soccer, they aren't good enough to, yet" but guys like samuel etoo make it fun to watch, i still make every attempt to just try-out for one of those teams, that alone would be an honor, i would sell my house and move their just to try-out....and because soccer to europans is like basketball to americans...it makes us fellow followers of the best game on earth want to see the best players on earth play...you see, i applaud you for goin to watch the games at a friends house, i would walk miles and miles to see barcelona play !!!
377475
I really don't think that there is a lot of difference.  Soccer (futbol) is popular as much in Latin America in general as it is in Europe.  Latin America players play in the European leagues too.  I am from South America so I know how crazy we are about futbol.  Also have a lot of friends from Europe and I know they are too.  This is nothing like we see in the Unites States with sports as "American" Football or Basketball.  Soccer is the true global sport.
1091820
It's kinda simple. Europe has alot of countries which gives it a better chance to qualify in the World Cup. And also Europe's countries have very good soccer players. An example is England, England is one of the best soccer teams. England can beat brazil and Argentina and win the World Cup. All because it has good soccer players. So Europe has more countries and good soccer players.
1037574
My wife tries to make the world cup a struggle of class against class (I thought that was a political struggle, not a sports struggle).  But she doesn't complain when her country wins (Brazil, not exactly a rich one).  So it seems a bit hypocritical.  I didn't see the Ivory Coast match, but from what I've seen in the past, African teams play rougher among themselves than non-African teams do and so when they have to play outside of Africa they get called for more fouls.
987163
Soccer has been has been my favorite for years. The rest of the games are aight but they just don't compare to soccer, and it doesn't acquire all the different components you need to play the "beautiful game." Period.
326240
South American football is more creative and is more focused on "one-touch" passing which refers to many short interlinked exchanges between players interspersed with dribbling the ball. The South American teams are generally regarded as being   more creative and having more flair. \n\nThe Europeans teams on the other hand tend to be more structured and defensive. They lay a mixture of short passes and long balls and are morely likely to operate more complex defensive systems.
1156083
Most south americans are good at soccer because:\n-it is their main sport, here theres no single sport that the entire nation likes and watches, in south america, its soccer (futbol, rather)\n-kids grow up playing it, its what they do in their spare time. even nowadays most kids in south america don't have video games, so they all play in the streets and in the school courtyards and stuff\n\nsorry, that came out sounding very stereotypical, but it wasn't intentional.
1164557
Australia by being in the WC have already elevated the status of soccer in the country. I'm sure the young generation will see the game in a new light and the country will produce worldclass players because the Australians are truly a remarkable people. They have the knowhow to be the best in the world when they put their minds to it. They'll be back.
1182855
No.  Soccer is not very important nor popular in this country like other countries.  You watch like a two hour game and only see like one or two goals.  Very slow and boring game to watch on TV.  Might be more exciting if you could be at the game itself though as the people are very entertaining and it would be cool to see some fights.
395759
Irish clubs have nothing like the money, the numbers of supporters or the talent pool available to UK clubs. Ireland has a population of 4 million compared to 60 million in the UK, and soccer is not even the biggest sport here. Consequently the Irish clubs cannot afford to pay their players the large wages available in the UK, and  because the wage differences are so high, any good Irish player will jump at the opportunity to go to the UK to play for a big club. As a result very few top-class Irish players continue to play in the Irish leagues. \n\nIn fairness though, many people in Ireland support local soccer teams while also supporting a major UK club like United or Celtic etc.
543323
Basically money. There is generally more money available in the UEFA comfederation than in South America, Asia, Africa....etc.\n\nThats all it boils down to really.
1046610
It's nothing to do with racism. There's a shortage of african teams because not many of them are good enough to qualify.\n\nas for the USA v Ghana game, Ghana got away with murder on pitch, not to mention a decidedly dodgy penalty that gave them the winning goal.
302083
MONEY, which basically ties in to some answers already given. The best talent on teams like Chelsea and Barcelona is not local home-grown talent, but rather foreign stars. The African clubs simply cannot attract and pay for that kind of talent. Even their best, like Eto'o for example, bolt for the cash, and even, again like Eto'o, resettle in their host soccer country.
440422
Because the World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime event to see.  They only have it once every four years and it probably won't be in your country but once in your lifetime.  The passion and intensity is something that is rarely seen in all of sports (except the Olympics) and to see the amount of pride that the players take in their respective nations is astounding.  If only us Americans appreciated soccer more instead of sports like the thuggish NBA or "put me to sleep" MLB that we watch.
1021687
Yep. look at Togo most of their country lives in poverty and they want more and more money. They even attempted to boycott their soccer game at Germany because of a pay dispute.\n\nSo although there might be sum who do it for the love of the game they are very scarce.
1129068
Part is given to the participating nations. A lot is spend for teams from developing countries to get their football up to the standard.\nFIFA itself is a huge organization that needs quite some amount for their normal operations.
1156582
africa produces an immense amount of talent...however, they have two problems at the moment, many africans are taken by their former colonial masters (i.e. zidane born in algeria, went to france)...the other is the political and economical problems in these countries...However, several African teams are steadily improving and about 5 or 6 compete with the world's best...Will an African nation win in this time? No...Will an African team win in South Africa in 2010? I think one or two will make a good run, but Africa will not have a world cup winner...Will an African nation win eventually? Yes, but it will not be that soon