USA vs Belgium

[eagleqb_14]

Will be very tough for the US. I've watched Belgium throughout the World Cup, and they have some talent. But... I believe that we will WIN! Go USA

[Rabid Cougar]

Mind numbingly BOARING!

[caleb_mccaig]

Well, the U.S. run ended yesterday, but I can't say anything other than I'm glad how well we did. Most were saying we wouldn't win a game in the group stage let alone score a goal and we proved everyone wrong. That last 15 minute period of extra time was the most intense 15 minutes of sport you will see in 2014. If you missed it then I feel sorry of you. After Julian Green scored, at the age of 19 on the biggest stage in the sport's world, the intensity jumped to another level.

I wasn't expecting to win this game, I picked Belgium to win it all six months ago when the draw happened, and we were very close a few times to sending it to penalties and even winning it in stoppage time if Wondo doesn't sky a free shot at goal.

The U.S. will be competitors in 2018 in Russia. DeAndre Yedlin is 20, Julian Green is 19, Altidore is 23 or 24, Bradley is 26 and the list of others goes on. Soccer fever whether you like it or not is catching on in this country and we have individuals in the youth ranks that are becoming more and more talented and the MLS is getting more competitive. It's going to be exciting going forwards.

[Yoe_09]

I have watched some of the world cup but hardly ever watch soccer in general. I am be no means a soccer hater as I played the game for a numbers of years and enjoyed my time doing that....it's just something I do not follow very closely anymore.

Sports are big here in the U.S. just like they are in a host of other countries around the world. Most countries are big on soccer, but that still is not really the case here.

Population:

USA: 314 million
Belgium: 11.14 million

I do believe soccer has become more popular, but will it ever really exceed the big 3? Does it need to? How much more participation is needed to get to an elite level? http://sporteology.com/top-10-most-popular-sports-in-america/

[Txbroadcaster]

I think as more parents divert there kid from football because of injury concerns you will see better athletes playing soccer

[Leopard4Life]

I think as more parents divert there kid from football because of injury concerns you will see better athletes playing soccer

There are various study's but soccer has as many injuries as American football and most importantly as many concussions. The top 3 concussion sports are Soccer, Hockey and Football.

[Saggy Aggie]

Makes sense. Those headers when they kick the crap outta the ball ain't nothing to play with

[caleb_mccaig]

There are various study's but soccer has as many injuries as American football and most importantly as many concussions. The top 3 concussion sports are Soccer, Hockey and Football.

An athlete has their highest chance of going professional and earning a decent wage playing soccer. There are leagues all around the world in almost every country where Soccer players are the highest paid athletes. That is one thing the sport has going for it, it's a much more realistic sport to go professional in. Football is really only a good living in the United States (A friend of mine from high school is playing in Europe right now and makes about as much as I do at my job.), and hockey is only big in a few countries in Europe. You could argue for basketball, but it's the same as hockey, only big in several countries.

On the concussion discussion, I didn't know that but it doesn't really surprise me. Regardless, I think parents who are concerned about their children's safety will always consider soccer a safer sport than football.

[Rabid Cougar]

The only high school contest at which I witnessed a Careflight land in the field was soccer game just this year.

You have to understand, the most elite athletes are soccer players in almost every othr country in the world. They play in the most elite league in the world, the Premier League in England. The announcers were raving about how big and strong the Belgian strikers were and how they muscled their way toward the American goal. Just think of all the NFL DB's and WR's and the NBA point guards and forwards and let them train in soccer from the age of three. Just think.

[caleb_mccaig]

The only high school contest at which I witnessed a Careflight land in the field was soccer game just this year.

You have to understand, the most elite athletes are soccer players in almost every othr country in the world. They play in the most elite league in the world, the Premier League in England. The announcers were raving about how big and strong the Belgian strikers were and how they muscled their way toward the American goal. Just think of all the NFL DB's and WR's and the NBA point guards and forwards and let them train in soccer from the age of three. Just think.

Haha then we'd be the best in the world.

[caleb_mccaig]

The game Tuesday had a higher viewership than the NBA Finals and the World Series. It really wasn't even close either.

[Rabid Cougar]

Probably so on the viewership compared to the NBA( majority of America can give flip about) and snoozer stand around. Compare it to the Super Bowl(s). As in the Most Viewed TV Broadcaste EVER!

But you have to see this clip...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_puN-S5OM

[caleb_mccaig]

Probably so on the viewership compared to the NBA( majority of America can give flip about) and snoozer stand around. Compare it to the Super Bowl(s). As in the Most Viewed TV Broadcaste EVER!

But you have to see this clip...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_puN-S5OM

Hahah I saw that clip earlier this week! Hilarious!

Just remember, Tim Howard can save anything. http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/tim-howard-star-wars.png?w=650

[Saggy Aggie]

I don't think comparing the World Cup to the most watched tv event in America is really all that great of a comparison. But the fact that a 3 pm 2nd round soccer game has a higher viewership than the championships of the other 'major' sports... .. Well I think that DOES say something. I think Americans are becoming more interested in soccer. I know I have been, also in part to going and playing weekly over the last couple months

[icu812]

I watched because it was team USA not because I enjoy soccer. If they would have been playing rugby or lacrosse I would have been watching just the same. I don't think viewership was up entirely because soccer is catching on with the traditional American sports fan. The reason for that has less to do with the game and more to do with other factors at play such as media hype pulling in new viewers that traditionally do not watch sports (heck my wife was watching and she never watches sports lol) and the influx of culture from other countries. After all team USA recently got booed in their own country, by their own citizens who were supporting the other team. No doubt it is becoming more popular though and will probably be all the rage once every 4 years. Like others have said soccer is a great game to play but much less exciting to watch than football, hockey and basketball. No doubt if our elite professional athletes grew up playing and training for soccer like they do football they would dominate the sport.

[PhiI C]

Unfortunately I am afraid that by this time next year U. S. interest in soccer will be back to normal - low. :(

[Cam]

Unfortunately I am afraid that by this time next year U. S. interest in soccer will be back to normal - low. :(

I don't know about that......but I'm in the mood to bite someone!!!!.....:devil:

[Phantom Stang]

I


I do believe soccer has become more popular, but will it ever really exceed the big 3? Does it need to? How much more participation is needed to get to an elite level? http://sporteology.com/top-10-most-popular-sports-in-america/
You can tell English ain't the writer of that article's first language.:D

[Rabid Cougar]

Texas 5A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 54, 347. 4A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 33,745.

Texas High School State Championships were held at a high school soccer field in Georgetown with seating for 500 fans.

MSL Soccer averaged 18,000 fans in the US in 2013. FC DALLAS has never sold out it's 21,000 seat stadium in Frisco.

Soccer is very popular. :kiss:

[Yoe_09]

I do believe that with the popularity of the the sport on a world-wide level, it drew quite a few fans from here in. To me, this is just for this particular event though. The sport may be growing somewhat, but I don't think you're going to see a significant amount of carry over from this to participation numbers in terms of players and viewer ratings/attendance to high school, college or professional soccer.

Just look at Texas A&M. Kyle Field, once fully renovated, is going to seat over 100,000 people. The A&M soccer facility seats 3,500. I had attended a Belton playoff soccer game at Mesquite Memorial Stadium (20,000), which is one of the biggest in Texas at the high school level. From my understanding, Belton is actually higher on their soccer compared to most, and they were ranked nationally that year. This was my first playoff soccer experience, and I didn't really know what to expect. I would like to say there was probably not more than about 200 or so people at that game. Allen and DeSoto played a playoff football game there in 2013, and I'm sure that thing had to be pretty closed to sold out.

[caleb_mccaig]

Texas 5A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 54, 347. 4A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 33,745.

Texas High School State Championships were held at a high school soccer field in Georgetown with seating for 500 fans.

MSL Soccer averaged 18,000 fans in the US in 2013. FC DALLAS has never sold out it's 21,000 seat stadium in Frisco.

Soccer is very popular. :kiss:

FC Dallas has gone through some tough years as of recent. Only time I've ever been to their stadium was for the Ivory Coast game before the WC this year and a Kenny Chesney concert and both of those were sold out haha.

Most MLS teams build "soccer specific" stadiums, or a capacity of between 15-25,000, to focus on keeping in crowd noise. If you go to a Columbus Crew, Seattle Sounders, who sell out almost every game at the same stadium the Seahawks play at, or a Sporting Kansas City game those are almost always sold out.

[Txbroadcaster]

There are various study's but soccer has as many injuries as American football and most importantly as many concussions. The top 3 concussion sports are Soccer, Hockey and Football.

But here only football is getting all the news about head injuries

[Txbroadcaster]

Texas 5A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 54, 347. 4A Division 1 High School Football Championship in AT&T Stadium - 33,745.

Texas High School State Championships were held at a high school soccer field in Georgetown with seating for 500 fans.

MSL Soccer averaged 18,000 fans in the US in 2013. FC DALLAS has never sold out it's 21,000 seat stadium in Frisco.

Soccer is very popular. :kiss:

Yes FC Dallas has sold out games

btw

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12752071/2/5-major-league-soccer-teams-outdrawing-baseball-in-2014.html

[hollywood]

Haters will be haters.

FC Dallas stadium sold out beyond capacity in January of this year... The USWNT vs Canada. I was there. We took the entire soccer team. Electrifying atmosphere I must add.