Open Mic: Would the U.S. Dominate Soccer If All Americans Only Played the Sport?

A previous Open Mic column has prompted me to pose this question in this article:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/30517-Open-Mic-Only-Hope-for-US-Soccer-is-the-Impossible-180608

Football (soccer) is, without a doubt, the most popular sport in the world.  However, it draws little to no interest in the US. What if the sports culture in the U.S. was just like the culture in the rest of the world?

All the best athletes in every country around the world except for the US are playing soccer. Naturally their national soccer teams have the best talent in the country.

Now imagine if there were no NFL, MLB, or NBA in the U.S. and all the athletes had to choose soccer if they wanted to make it big. As much as the world hates to admit it, the U.S. soccer program would be among the best in the world.

It may be an arrogant statement, but it does not seem hard to me to prove that U.S. athletes could dominate the soccer world if this was our main sport.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-time_Olympic_Games_medal_count

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