There have been rumors of the U.S. embrace of soccer for quite a while now. It was going to happen in 1990, when the national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. And in 1993, when Major League Soccer put professional teams across the country — including the Chicago Fire. And in 1999, when the U.S. won the Women’s World Cup. And in 2002, when the men advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals. And … well, truth is, it hasn’t happened. The sport has made tiny inroads into the American psyche, but has never advanced much beyond a passionate subculture.
After all the false starts, it looked like that might have changed this year. The U.S. has shown more interest in what the rest of the world calls “the beautiful game.”
We are not a soccer nation. (That’ll happen…right after we go metric.) But more Americans, at long last, have divined an appreciation.
Look at television ratings: a 68 percent boost for the first three U.S. games compared to 2006, according to Nielsen Media Research. The last game played by the U.S. was watched here by a whopping 14.9 million on ABC and 4.5 million on Univision.
What happened? Some theories:
*We were the underdog. We love the little guy. We tied the mighty Brits 1-1, a result so unlikely it felt like a smashing victory. We were one with the American revolutionaries again.
*We wuz robbed. In a 2-2 draw against Slovenia, a game-winning goal was disallowed by a referee who suspiciously wouldn’t explain his call. There’s nothing like a common grievance to bring a nation together.
*We won. Even more than underdogs, we love winners. When we beat Algeria 1-0, scoring in the waning moments of the game, we won our group of four for the first time since 1930.
Ok, then we lost to Ghana, which has the 99th largest economy in the world.
With that loss, World Cup fever in the U.S. pretty much broke. But we do think more people found the temperament to appreciate soccer. If you watched Landon Donovan masterfully guide the ball past Slovenia’s goalie, you saw precision and artistry on par with Michael Jordan.
Tough comparison, we know. Air Donovans are not going to dominate the U.S. sneaker market. U.S. sports culture will still focus on baseball, football and basketball.
But World Cup soccer has made a splash this year that will have some lasting impact.
Can’t wait for 2014. Ghana, we’ll be back.
