Why Americans suck at soccer (well, the men)

We’ve got a theory, and it involves the soccer wars.

In this episode of Vox Almanac, Vox’s Phil Edwards puts forth a theory about terrible American men’s soccer.

There are a lot of reasons Americans suck at soccer - but if you look at the history, you’ll find a surprisingly compelling explanation for why American soccer never took off. In the 1920s, soccer was a surprisingly successful sport in the US, with massive matches and a robust league. What went wrong?

American soccer and English football first diverged in the 1800s, when American colleges like Harvard and Yale started playing a more rugby-like game. But America quickly caught up with soccer in the 1920s, attracting large crowds and even stealing away European players.

Then the soccer wars happened. Constant battles in the 1920s between the ASL - American Soccer League - and USFA — United States Football Association — carved up American soccer’s cash, fans, and talent. By the time the depression hit, American soccer was so weakened that it couldn’t rebound as well as European and South American soccer culture did. The subsequent half-century of sports build up gave Americans a permanent handicap when it came to building a robust soccer culture.

It’s a theory — but the success of the US Women’s National Team bears out the idea that something is specifically wrong for the men. And it just might be the case that 1920s soccer wars are the reason.

[parthgajjar]

They sucked so hard, they picked up the ball and started running with it and called it football.

[MRFlackAttack]

The choice of background audio is all over the place.

[_S]

A key point that you're missing is that everywhere in the world footy is a working class sport open to everyone. The expensive equipment and expensive youth leagues in the US mean that it is purely a middle class or upper middle class game, heavily policed by adults. Go anywhere in South America and you'll see kids playing informally in their neighborhoods, developing the creativity on their own, which is crucial to playing the game well. As long as youth soccer consists of just well-off kids competing in highly controlled settings, the game will not flourish in the USA.

[mabrenz_n]

for starters stop calling it "soccer."

[duckmasterflex]

The only reason the USA succeedes in womens soccer is because all other countries barely invest in womens soccer

[AshHughes]

1) USA finished 4th*** at 1930 World Cup
2) Only 13 teams competed, compared to 32 teams at 2018 WC
3) Qualification wasn’t required for the 1930 WC and because of its location in South America, most European teams chose not to play due to the high costs associated with travel

[egilleinarsson]

when iceland a country with 338, 000 people are ten times better

[burhancityreal]

the music be like: nanana.... nanana.... BOOM DUN DUN DUN BOOM DUN DUN!!! nanana.... nanana....

[TheNon]

I can't concentrate with the video because of the freaking music 🙄

[yummyjackalmeat]

the music selection and sound design are truly terrible.

[eqjvoov]

i dont care if amercains call it soccer i just dont understad who was thowing an egg around and thought football was a good name to call it

[hareega]

Diego Maradona said, “the best place to learn soccer is the street”. The majority of great players were poor and “soccer” is their game. In the US it’s mostly for upper middle class. Many poor are immigrants who may have amazing talent but don’t get involved much in the leagues

[Dan-xsnm]

The editing in this video is downright jarring, audio is random seemingly and the shots change so rapidly. It's quite distracting.

[donal]

For a starters its because you call it soccer.

[RahatAlam]

clean your laptop vox :| You aren't in college anymore.

[jerryerickson]

As an american who raised two boys in brazil and participated in the whole soccer thing - training, tournaments, etc., I would say that the united states doesn't stand a chance in men's soccer. In brazil, most boys start kicking a ball before they can walk (their father or uncles help), and after they can walk, its soccer nearly 365 days a year. For many formal soccer school training starts at 2 years. Rich and poor kids participate in these schools and most are very inexpensive. Kids from poor families get a discount or even train for free. Tournaments start at about 5 years of age, and by the time your kid is 8 years old the tournaments start getting serious. There are tournaments of all types everywhere all year, many repeatimg twice a year. By the time boys are 10 years the better players can do every trick and dribble, and the big club teams are already snatching up players from the poorer families. Many are separated from their families to go train with a top division club at 11 or 12 years (sometimes the father or family will move with the boy, and the club helps the father with a job, etc). Or if they don't go to a top division club, there are all types of other local clubs to train with. They train year round to the physical limits of the body (hours are regulated by age to not over train and damage growth, joints, etc). On average, brazilian boys interested in soccer (a lot) will end up training 10 to 20 times more hours than an american and their young brains develop the neurological connections for the tecnical skills at a much earlier age. What I concluded is that a soccer brain must be trained early and the more hours you train the better you will be. So brazil ends up with an enormous pool of skilled players to choose from. 80% of brazilian sports is soccer, and a lot of the boys, especially from poor families, dream of being a soccer star.

[zCopyCatz]

Dafaq if this music? Pick either a flute or a drum beat, don't mix them.

[malacki]

This background music is making me laugh for no reason 🤣

[brandona]

It’s because the US is pay to play. Only way through is academies. Academies can cost a kid as much as 10k a year to just play on a youth team. I grew up with some amazing youth players. Anyone with talent either goes abroad or doesn’t have the money to make it to the national team.

[christyguy]

"british and scottish talent" Vox aren't British unionists, confirmed