You don’t have to embrace it to appreciate it

In 2006 it was estimated that a billion people in more than 200 countries tuned-in to watch Italy take the World Cup against France. How many people tuned-in to watch the 2010 Super Bowl? 106-million people. Looks like soccer truly is the world’s most popular sport.

That being said America still haven’t embraced this beautiful game the way the rest of the world has. There are three factors that play into the lack of nationwide acceptance of soccer. 1. The sport doesn’t receive the same commercialism as the other big sports, so players aren’t paid the big bucks making the youth of America say “I want to be like Landon Donovan.” 2. The number of jaw-dropping, athletic plays seem few and far between to the casual fan. 3.  We are already too far behind the rest of the world.

Not The Big Three
Soccer will never compete with the big three (baseball, basketball and football) until the athletes are paid like the other athletes, and this will never happen until it generates the revenue of those other sports. The top soccer players in America, though well-paid, don’t come close to the LeBron James’ in terms of salary and endorsement deals. Therefore soccer players don’t receive the same recognition and face-time of the other athletes of America. By no means do I think this is unjust. These sports organizations are ran by top business men that know how to market their leagues and how to get the best return on their investment.

“Real” Athletes Use Their Hands
Since we were kids, we have watched some of the most amazing athletes run, jump and fly to exhibit the athleticism the rest of us dream of. And all of these plays are ultimately made with their hands. The way these, often, men gigantic men are able to maneuver their bodies and make it look so simple is what keeps us on the edge of our seats and going home to tell the story. These are the plays we have grown up watching. An diving catch in baseball, an alley-oop in basketball or the perfect throw from a QB are the plays that we have associated with the best athletes in the world. However, you can’t take anything away from an individual who can run at a full sprint, changing directions and manipulating a ball effortlessly with only the use of his feet. Soccer players display athleticism that is undervalued in the USA because of the way soccer is viewed, though it cannot be ignored.

Trying to Play Catch Up?
While the youth of America are growing up to be the starting point guard or the star quarterback or the best pitcher , the rest of the world is in the streets playing soccer trying to become the next Lionel Messi. It is obvious that the USA has basketball, football and to an extent baseball dominated. The result is that the best athletes grow up wanting to play one of those sports, not soccer. The rest of the world has their best athletes playing soccer, putting the USA a leg (no pun intended) behind. This is not a trend that will soon change, leaving us as a second or third tier soccer nation.

Bringing the World Together
There are no timeouts. No huddles for play calling. No line-changes. No pitch count. This is the beautiful game, played across the world by people of all ages, races and economical class. The simplicity of the game adds to its beauty. All you need is a ball. In some countries if a ball is hard to come by t-shirts tied together or cardboard taped up will do. But everywhere else in the world you would be hard-pressed to not walk the local streets and see some form of soccer match in action. It is the international sport.

And now it’s time for the world’s most popular sporting event, the World Cup. The world is watching, from a small village in Ghana, to the large city of Paris. All eyes will be on the Cup for the next six-weeks. Even though it may be hard for many to fully embrace the game of soccer, it is impossible to not see the passion each nation has for its team and feel a sense of patriotism for our own.

There is no other sport in the world that breaks international borders or breaks language barriers or can bring the entire world together the way soccer does.

This is the beautiful game.