Is this world cup going to change the way Americans that are not soccer fans feel about sport of soccer?
474569
I think it will - especially since USA is ranked  it.so high in the fifa rankings. I also think ESPN addicts (98%  of the US male population who has cable) will be watching it. I'm hopeful, I love this sport, I don't see enough of it in this country.
370061
I believe that it is the nature of America.  We like movies with explosions and quick action.  We love sports that have a lot of scoring like basketball.  Soccer is boring to us, we don’t appreciate 0-0 ties.  Also, our athletes here tend to be better suited for stop and go sports.  Like sprinting rather than marathon running, football and baseball, where the action stops constantly and we can have commercials.  Having said that, I could see soccer becoming bigger, as young kids here are playing it more and more so we’ll see.  Plus the last world cup brought together a great deal of people in America b/c we actually won something for once.
1112458
no.  why should it.  World Cup team won't go that far, there is no interest in it professionally here, and there is too much competition for the sports person's attention between football, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, hockey, golf, tennis, etc.\n\nSoccer is a distant thought for most people.
1076329
Yes, the World Cup is being watched by over 5 Billion people. Plus lots of people have lost interest in the olympics due to it's dope issues.
1026858
Yes.  Just because not everyone has a TV set doesn't mean they won't watch it.  You can go to bars or other places to watch games -- which a lot of people.  I've been down in Brazil during a world cup and can tell you that 95% of the population is watching the game somehow.  Believe it or not, almost everyone in the ghetto had at least a small tv.\n\nI'd say with Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and a good portion of the US, you probably have close to 2 billion people watching games (on the internet or tv).\n\n\nAfter taking a second, more empirical look at this, I crunched some numbers and came up with a little under 1.8 billion.  This total included the populations of all the countries participating in the WC, and a very modest and trimmed assumption of immediate surrounding countries which may bear some interest.  One caveat to this was the United States, where I assumed at most only 20% of the population would have even taken a look at one of the games.  China, India, and most African countries were completely excluded.  The number 2 billion is likely a slight rounding up from 1.8 from the TV networks.
330946
Thats a good Question, but the answer is No. The World Cup is the most well known sporting event across the world, and if something like that took place, I beleave it would have a bad effect, not only on the World Cup, but on the sport of Soccer as well, and seeing how soccer is starting to become a huge sport in the states, I hope something like a war between two countrys would not have an affect on such a beautiful sport.
1181746
Oh, come on...  Let's stop with the derogatory answers about the US and soccer.  I, for one, absolutely love it.  I've had a great time watching the World Cup.  My roommates (both Americans) and I have recently spent our afternoons watching the games.  I'd also really like to play, but I'm pretty bad at sports so I don't know how that would go over.  \n\nHowever, not everyone in the US loves soccer.  I think this has something to do with the fact that soccer is televised without commercial breaks.  This makes the major television companies less likely to carry it (even though there is a Fox soccer channel you can subscribe to) because they make a lot of their money on advertisements, which sports like (American) football allow for.  Still, soccer is a popular sport in American high schools, and I hope to see its popularity increasing as people become more drawn into the World Cup this year.
219028
I think it's an excellent idea. It will be great to bring a little bit of national spirit to the game and watch different countries have a friendly competition with one another. i would love to see it grow into something big like the world cup of soccer. I'm really excited about it and i hope it turns out to be a success.
1146265
YES, i agree all the way, but i still dont know why most americans dont like the World Cup\ni hope they realize their team is representing the entire nation
1162635
First, I'd just like to say that I know plenty of people who are extremely excited about the world cup. Like getting up in the middle of the night, having huge parties to watch the game, painting their faces, getting crazy and unruly excited about it. America as a whole is not a soccer country, but there are plenty of soccer fans in the U.S.\nSecond, while this guy was sort of an ass about his dislike of the sport, I do see his point. America gets a lot of criticism from the rest of the world for not liking soccer. But it's not like we are required to. If another country, smaller, less influential country chose not to be fanatic about a sport, no one would care. I think this is used as another chance to attack America. And, believe me, there are lots of reasons to dislike America (this coming from a proud American) but the fact that we generally dislike a sport that everyone else likes is a pretty superficial reason for attacking America. And I think that's what the author of the article is reacting to. He's being defensive because he's constantly being treated as having less intelligent, less complex (or whatever) taste just because he doesn't like soccer. \nSo, yeah, this guy is sort of a jerk. But you must not take his view as the one that all Americans have. And you should also understand that Americans are a little sick of people telling them that they SHOULD like soccer just because everyone else does.
356073
I do not think they it is about respect.. most of the people that do not understand the history or meaning about the sport.Have to be educated on  what the game is about and why it is played the way it is played. With the MLS making its march in our sports culture, things can only go up and the people will be educated more and more every year. They will see that soccer or futbol is a worldwide sport that is played all over the world with alot of passion. ,and soon the whole country will wonder why we have not won this prestigeous trophy. The USA has a good program from youth to professional and the more people see that hard work they will wonder how Brazil has won the world cup as many times as they have,or maybe they will remember the NASL and so many good teams and players that participated in making a lasting impression on the American sports culture.. The USA has alot of potential and always have ,,look in 1934 the USA did well on a world stage and in 2002 ,we were a post shot away from being in semifinals against Turkey. The Country is doing well and they support the USA team,but with a World Cup win that would really get people even more exited every time a soccer game is played.
1176602
It isn't just Australian fans.  Soccer fans in general are extremely nationalist except for the United States team.  We just don't give a hoot.
1067325
I don't think it is all that surprising to to the US competing and pretty competantly in the 2006 World cup. \n\n Hey ...but the US benefits from a vast pool of 298 million inhabitants - the 3rd largest country in the world. It also has money, healthcare,  training and sports facilities that many countries can only dream of.  Don't forget that you have a massive headstart.   \n\nEcuador got thru to the knock out stages and they are not known as world class footy players. Only 6 million people in what is a poor country. \n\n Australias national sports are Aussie rules football (where you can pick up the ball) and cricket - but they do pretty well for a country of 20 million - and look set to get to the knock out stage.\n\nI'm not knocking the US at all, in fact its good to see them doing so well  - the match against Italy was particularly good.  But I'm more surprised to see Togo at the world cup than the USA team.\n\nCheers.....
440806
I think that eventually in the US, soccer will be as popular as most of the other sports in the US. First, soccer in the US is one of the most growing  sports among kids who play it, the number is rapidly increasing. Second, with the World Cup just around the corner I think that if the US has a good tournement, more people may start to tune in to soccer over the next few years. Afterall, as the rankings go now, the US is sixth in the world, so we could have a pretty good cup. Next, with soome of the great players in Europe and the whole world thinking of maybe coming to the MLS like Ronaldo, Zidane, and Beckham more people would want to watch the MLS to see some of the worlds greats. Lastly, i think that with Americas major sports T.V. networks such as ESPN starting to show more soccer on T.V., such as like Uefa Champions League, more people could but interest in soccer in the US. It would be hard to get the popularity level as high as say baseball or football in the US, but I think over the next few years, soccer in the US could become very popular.
451655
I FEEL THAT IN THIS DAY AND AGE WITH THE WORLD BE SO GLOBALIZED ANYWAYS IT ADDS A WHOLE NEW ELEMENT TO THE GAME. THE GAME ITSELF BENEFITS AND THAT IS REALLY ALL THAT MATTERS, I THINK THE RESOUNDING EFFECTS WILL BE SEEN ON THE PITCH THIS UPCOMING WORLD CUP... \n\nI GUESS ALL AND ALL IT IS WHAT IT IS I HAVE NO RACIAL OR SOCIAL QUALMS WITH IT, AND IT MAKES FOR GOOD GOOD PLAY.
452993
The U.S. is such a huge country that we're completely content to compete against each other.  California is practically a different country from Texas.  There's plenty of rivalry there.\n\nI'm a World Cup fan, but there is simply no way you can expect Americans to enjoy soccer the way it's enjoyed everywhere else.  Many, many, many have tried and failed.  It's just not going to happen... especially now that television has changed how we enjoy sports.  American football, baseball, basketball: these all have built-in spots to break away for commercials.  Soccer doesn't.  That hurts its chances of gaining significant telelvision time here in the States.
1179486
I don't think the country is being converted, and frankly don't think it will ever be popular than the major American sports. That being said it's popularity has indeed grown lately. ESPN is playing most of the World Cup matches, and the national sports news reports on the scores from the matches. It was not this way a few years ago, so it is gaining at least some popularity.