Quote:
Originally Posted by GloryDayz
The men were in the championship game, but I get your point.
To be clear, having grown up in Italy, I can assure you that people in countries like Intaly, Germany, Mexico, etc, etc, etc, grow up playing nothing but this game pretty-much every waking moment they aren't in school. While that doesn't automatically make them better, it doesn't hurt.
And I'll add that it's a different culture, where we have our kids playing football, baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, SCUBA diving, taking flight lessons, scouts, and playing musical instruments (so they can figure out the things they love) many of these places don't distract their larger young population with such diversity in activities. That's not an excuse, it's just a reality for parents/families trying to break the "one sport wonder" kid.
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I mean, imagine Lebron James playing soccer. And I bet he could. He'd be unstoppable. Still I think we have enough athletes that we should be much better. A few potential issues.... SUM has been accused of favoring developmental players who can afford developmental camps. Basically camps for rich people in suburban neighborhoods. A lot of the best international soccer talent comes from people with nothing to lose so they practice nonstop. And it's so easy for them to do because unlike hockey where you need to buy hundreds of dollars for equipment, all you need for soccer is sneakers and a ball. Soccer can't just be a game for rich kids. The best talent should be developed regardless of ability to pay. The other fixable thing is that we shouldn't wait til the last minute to send someone to Europe. Our best talent at a young age should develop in Europe. Period.
Our usmnt will probably always struggle to recruit the best American athletes because they play different sports. But theres no excuse for us to be this bad.