US Qualifies for World Cup 2010 Does any one care?

The US Men’s National Team (USMNT) qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2010, woop-dee-dooo! It still amazes me that soccer has not blown up in the United States being that is it so popular around the world. US Soccer has a fan base, well mayber perhaps not US Soccer, but soccer in general. On Saturdays and Sundays in some pubs in the Washington DC area there are fans waking up early to catch English Premier League games. On week days when there are UEFA Champions League games in the afternoon, there are small gatherings.

But does anyone really care about the US qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. This is nothing against Charlie Davies, I wish him a speedy recovery, but if he wasn’t seriously injured in a car accident the US vs Costa Rica would have gone unnoticed. It was a fairly meaningless game for the US. Costa Rica had something riding on it so did other teams.

I saw this video today about the Honduras fans celebrating after they qualified for the 2010 World Cup, startling difference than in the United States.

 

You wont see this from a New Yorker dancing down 5th Ave in their underwear.

When the US qualified for the World Cup the game wasn’t even televised. It was on closed circuit TV. You have to go to “authorized” bars to watch the game. You also had to pay a $20 cover. What fan would do that to watch Connor Casey score a goal. Who is Connor Casey? Exactly. Americans would rather watch the college football game of the week on ABC.

If a team wins a Super Bowl, you might get this kind of Honduran like celebration. If a team wins an NCAA basketball championship the campus might get crazy like the video of the Hondurans celebrating. If the Lakers win the NBA Championship you would see a parade the next day. Instead the US win and qualification gets no respect. I would put US Soccer and the World Cup in America atleast at the level of a college winning a championship in softball. The softball championship would atleast be televised on National television.

Im not sure what how to end this post. I guess you can consider this a call to action. Is the US Soccer team popularity going to grow leading up to the World Cup probably not. You may see a spike when the World Cup starts, however, since the World Cup will be played in South Africa there will be a time difference. Who is going to leave work to watch the games? This blogger will. But then again, I am not your ordinary fan, I do wake up early on Saturdays and Sundays to catch EPL games, I do leave work to go catch some Champions League games. Even if the US wins the World Cup which I doubt they will, the sport and the US Men’s National Team will still not be as popular as the likes of players from other countries in their home countries. Simply put it Americans will always be caught up with Kobe, Lebron, Peyton, and Favre. There is no time for Donovan, Altidore, and Davies.