U.S. Soccer Still Not Ready From Prime Time

U.S. soccer is still not among the elite, not even close. The U.S. was essentially dominated for most of the game by Ghana. Ghana had the quicker athletes and more crisp passing. This allowed them to possess the ball much more than the U.S. Once again, turnovers at the midfield led to scoring opportunities for the opposition. Unfortunately, the U.S. finally could not come all the way back.

What I have seen from U.S. soccer this year, and in past World Cups is that we have no trouble putting good athletes on the field, and we are always in great condition. However, we still do not seem to have the ultimate skills to match teams like Brazil, Argentina, The Netherlands and Spain.

The fact is, our BEST athletes do not play soccer. Here in the U.S., our best athletes play football and basketball. Until we are able to convince our most elite athletes to take up soccer, we will never put our best athletes on the field and that is why soccer will never flourish in the U.S. Our best athletes could potentially develop the skills I see from players in Brazil and Spain.

Just imagine if we would have our top NFL wide receivers, running backs and cornerbacks developing their skills in soccer instead of football. Do you think we would ever lose a World Cup? How about a couple point guards? And a goalie with the size and athletic skill of Lebron James? Until these kids see that they can make as much money playing soccer in the U.S. as they can in football and basketball, we will continue to produce decent national soccer teams, but it is doubtful we will ever win a World Cup.