Here's Why Soccer Will Never Be Big in the U.S.

For decades the powers that be have tried to create a soccer craze in the United States. It's never caught on. Not the great Pelè, not the tabloid king David Beckham, nor anybody or anything else has been able to ignite the passion in American sports fans that is felt throughout the rest of the world.

The truth is that soccer is the most popular sport across the planet, and it's not even a close race. So how come no matter what happens here in the U.S. we hardly seem to care? Here are the top 5 reasons why soccer is not popular in America.

5. Kid's Play It: You would think that kids playing soccer would be a great thing for its popularity, but despite the millions of children that play, that popularity never spread. How come? It's because unlike kids growing up playing football or basketball, the kids playing soccer usually don't grow up aspiring to do it for a living. Most are shoved into soccer leagues by age 4 as a means of getting some exercise. Kids don't grow up wanting to watch tag on TV, or be a professional tag player, and that's really how soccer is viewed by most kids who play it. It's fun, it's outdoors and it involves running around, but that's about it.

4. Low Scoring: One of the many downfalls of the NHL before its lockout season was that the scoring went down dramatically for a variety of reasons. Well in soccer, the scoring was never up to begin with. I know, I know, the goals that do happen are immensely exciting because so few actually occur. But Americans don't care. 90 minutes for maybe 3 breakthrough moments? I don't care how loud you yell 'Goaaalllll', that's not good enough.

3. Not Enough Stats: Americans love our stats and this is especially true since the fantasy sports world exploded. I've actually come across some soccer stats that were actually more detailed than what I figured was available - for example ProZone measures stats such as high intensity runs, percentage time, entries into the opponent's zone - but none of those are easily relatable. Give me scoring zones (where each player scores the majority of his goals on the field), tackles vs. misses, Hp90 (headers per 90 minutes played)... or something!

2. Metric System: What does the metric system have to do with soccer? Nothing. However, the United States stubbornly refuses to adopt the system that the rest of the world uses. Along the same lines, we call the game soccer, while the rest of the world calls it football, which actually makes sense, you know, considering they play this version of ball with their feet and all. Don't expect us to move off our position anytime soon either.

1. We Haven't Won: Ultimately, Americans like things that we're good at, and while our soccer team has been good from time to time, it's never won The World Cup, which is what it's all about. In the 2010 World Cup, the United States will have a solid chance to make a run, with a favorable World Cup Draw and riding the waves of some of our best international performances ever. However, anything short of a deep run into or near the finals will leave fans unattached to the team's future prospects.

Of course, there are probably other reasons why soccer will never be big in the United States, or at least reasons why it hasn't gotten its big break yet. However, these are at the top of the list, and will continue to be until the way we perceive the game or the way we play it is changed.