FIFA World Cup: The State of United States Soccer

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is wrapping up this weekend in South Africa, and I want to take this opportunity to weigh in on where the United States' currently stands in terms of the global game.

The question of soccer remaining here to stay in America is as old as Bob Barker, and as pointless as Alexis Lalas.

There is no doubt about it, and there is no need to continue asking the same tired old question. Face it, soccer in America will not regress past this point (off the field, of course).

FIFA stated that of the 2.8 million tickets it sold, over 130,000 went to persons living in the United States—the single largest amount by any nation other than South Africa.

ESPN and ABC reported after the first week of games, that the amount of people watching rose 64 percent from the same period back in 2006, reaching a total of 3.35 million viewers.

The USA-England match was the single most watched World Cup game in American history, as it drew over 13 million people to the television screens.

These numbers, of course, do not account for people that are watching the games in public locations such as bars, pubs, and out in the streets at various organized public viewing parties.

Those figures are also do not for any Spanish language stations showing the games, or those viewers that are watching online.

There are about 310 million people in America and with such a high number, there will always be some who will still shun the sport.

It is important to realize, however, that even if 50 percent of the United States population is interested in the sport, ranging from occasional to diehard fans, over 150 million Americans would be interested in soccer.

This number is close to soccer powerhouse Brazil, whose population is just over 180 million.

However, the domestic future for the sport is cloudy.

The MLS sucks. Period.

The league is run just like all other American sports leagues, and that is the first problem in comparison to the world's game.

Here you have a “draft” for college players, just as in other sports. The problem is that no other nation does something like that.

The NCAA is a big thorn in the side of potential methods taken by the MLS to possibly bring its content to a more acceptable international level.

Americans just need to accept the fact that its domestic league is limited, but it is still okay. This doesn't have to negatively affect the state of the game in the U.S.

Comparisons no longer need to be made—no longer do people need to be given a “crash course” in soccer prior to each broadcast.

ESPN, for one, should look at who it has covering the sport and evaluate how much, if any value, these individuals are bringing to covering the game.

Anyone considering Alexi Lalas to be the next coach for the United States should really consider counseling.

During this World Cup, the United States was given an invitation to join an international club that contained all the world's soccer powers in its membership roll.

Right after Maurice Edu scored in the 86^th minute against Slovenia, America became the newest member of the “We Were Robbed” club.

This wasn't a useless stat ESPN pumped up, this was an actually legitimate claim.

The fans were outraged, and the topic dominated sports media all over the nation. Everyone who watched this match was sure to watch the next game, something that would not have been guaranteed had the United States lost the game, or even if they had won in a different manner.

Everyone who didn't watch it had to hear about how they missed something so great—ensuring at least some would care enough to watch that final match.

To top it all off, the ending of the USA-Algeria match kept the ball rolling.

The last second score by Landon Donovan vindicated everyone for watching the game.

It even vindicated us caring about it.

No longer were the masses of Americans who were giving soccer a shot let down in a quick fashion.

In 1994, it started with hosting the World Cup. It failed to build upon the mediocre success when in 1998, Team USA managed to score just one single goal in three matches.

No one was watching in 2002 when the U.S. surprised everyone by advancing from the group stage and eventually reached the quarterfinals. Again, after promising success in the 2006 World Cup, the team managed just one little point from a tie.

The manner in which this 2010 World Cup side left South Africa will not be forgotten by American fans. In fact, it will help build the interest in the team and the sport here.

This World Cup reached and took a hold of people's actual feelings, something never before seen in America. We felt robbed and cheated, and we want revenge the next time around.

Simply qualifying for future World Cups will not be enough for Team U.S.A., it will be expected each and every time. The United States will probably even be expected to finish in first place each time around.

Mexico isn't that great—America has everything needed to be able to dominate the region.

However, none of this is built overnight.

The United States is on its way, but it will take time.

Perhaps it will be because of a generation, or more, where young kids are brought up in an already accepting environment with regards to soccer.

There is little chance somehow the men's team could win a World Cup in the next few editions, but it really will happen eventually.

This year, either Spain or Holland will win their first World Cup, leaving the loser as the “next” team to win a first title.

Guess who just cut in line to get in as the second team behind them?

Yep, the United States.