Why Do Americans Hate Soccer?

Soccer is the biggest sport in the world. All over the globe, people play and enjoy soccer with great enthusiasm. In many places one could say that soccer has taken over the place of religion in everyday life. Soccer is unique in it's universal appeal, the game is played under the same rules all over the planet.

There are many reasons why soccer has failed to make the impact in North America that it has achieved all over the rest of the world. Among these are a few misconceptions that are commonly reinforced by media and popular opinion in the US. In this article I will offer a look at some of these misconceptions from the point of view of a soccer fan.

Soccer myth: Soccer is a sport for sissies

This is an opinion often offered by American Football fans. On the surface American Football seem to be a much rougher sport than soccer. The frequent high impact collisions and tackles in football makes the game seem more physically challenging.

Football and soccer have different dynamics, while football encourages short explosive bursts of action soccer puts a lot more emphasis on stamina. In soccer no player can afford to take time off from physical training in the off season while the opposite is often true in football. In fact, if a player works on their physical condition during the NFL off season this is often hailed in the media as an example of outstanding commitment. In soccer it is rare that a player will go more than two weeks without organized physical training by their team. Even in these off periods most players maintain their physical shape individually.

Still one could argue that soccer players are still sissies since there is no hitting and limited physical contact in soccer.

Anyone who has played soccer at a competitive level knows that this is not true. One of the key factors that determines the outcome of a game is the physical domination of the midfield. Players face body tackles, elbows, sliding challenges constantly through a game. After spending the last hour running, a well placed shoulder in the lower chest area feels anything but sissy-like. Football fans often forget that soccer is played without any form of protection outside the mandatory shin guards. Soccer players don't even wear a cup. It's easy to be fooled by the loud crunching tackles in football but football players all wear exoskeletons that absorb most of the impact and creates that impressive noise.

In part, this misconception is reinforced by tackles that hit players in the lower leg area. In many North American sports fans eyes, soccer is all about players writhing in agony one second, only to make a miraculous recovery once ice spray has been applied. While diving and faking injuries continues to plague the game, most players that go down after a late challenge are legitimately in great pain. Kicks and knocks to the shin and ankles are very painful. Immediately after someone has inserted their studs into your ankle it feels like you will never be able to walk again. It is a curious fact though, that in about one or two minutes the pain is overcome by the adrenaline in the body. The ice spray does nothing to ease this pain, it is applied to keep the swelling down so you will hopefully be able to walk on the foot tomorrow.

Finally, in football players frequently miss games with minor injuries. A broken pinky finger for example is enough to put a player out for a couple of weeks. Soccer on the other hand is full of anecdotes and histories of players that realign a broken finger and keep playing without even a break in play. Famously, Bert Trautmann finished a game after having broken his neck while making a save. Soccer is not for sissies.

Soccer Myth: Soccer is boring

This is another popular idea. And while it is impossible to argue against someones subjective idea of what is entertaining and what is boring, there are a few things that can be said about this misconception.

Sports fans in the US will often claim that soccer is boring, yet find great entertainment in a game of baseball. Conversely, a soccer fan will no doubt claim that baseball is a much more boring sport, that nothing seems to happen during the game and that the game is for sissies and requires no physical skill to play.

These kinds of ideas stem from a lack of understanding of the fundamental aspects of the game in question. In the US, everyone understands the basic mechanics of baseball. They understand the difference between a ball and a strike, and enjoy the tension of the game based on the count, the score, what inning, the previous performance of the batter vs. the pitcher and a myriad of other small details that go into understanding baseball. Without this knowledge, baseball seems meaningless and utterly boring.

The same applies to football. Without the basic knowledge of the game's mechanics football degenerates into a bunch of men piling up every 5 seconds interrupted by someone randomly kicking the ball away every now and then. To a soccer fan the constant breaks in action in a football game is terribly boring.

So it is with soccer, for a spectator that does not understand the game it will seem meaningless and dull. I have heard professional sports casters slam soccer and expose a deep and thorough ignorance about the rules of the game at the same time.

Soccer is ultimately a game of territory just like football. The main mechanic in soccer is to create and manipulate space. Every pass, run and tackle has this as the end purpose. To either create or close down space. This process is ever dynamic and teams will spend a lot of time manipulating defenses trying to create holes and openings. Space can be created in a fraction of a second, or it can take several minutes to manifest, and as soon as it is created the defense will work to destroy it.

Against this backdrop, the threat of a goal being scored is almost constant in soccer. For fans who can't understand the flow of the game it might seem like there are never scoring opportunities or goals in soccer. For someone brought up with the game they see the underlying structure of the game and the potential for a goal is ever present.

Soccer Myth: Soccer is a European game

With the renowned resistance of the US to outside influence, the reputation of soccer as a European, and even socialist, game is keeping it from reaching the mass market in the US. In many American minds a soccer fan is a Prius driving liberal who has their kids playing soccer because it is more refined and less dangerous than football. This stereotype is not going to win over the average US sports fan.

It is easy to see why this myth prevails. Soccer was by most accounts invented in Europe, the first formal rules of the game being developed in England. To this day, the resources of the European countries ensures that the best players all play in Europe. However, soccer today is truly a global game. It's reach is far beyond that of any of the major American sports, including basketball. In fact, one could argue that soccer today is as much an American game as it is European.

Some of the most powerful soccer nations in the World are American. Argentina is a constant world power, Uruguay has won the World Cup multiple times, and Brazil is a Mecca for any soccer fan. Despite soccer being hugely popular throughout South and Central America, the US and Canada still hold onto the notion as soccer as an outsiders game. The game everybody else plays.

It is even possible that the global popularity of the game makes it harder for soccer to gain a foothold in the US. The American mindset is still very much to resist outside influence. For an excellent example of this one needs look no further than the strong and prevailing resistance to the metric system in the US. While it is impossible to argue that the imperial system makes much intuitive sense, most Americans emphatically reject the notion of the metric system. This opposition is not based on the merits of the metric system itself, but rather is a result of Americans not wanting to adopt someone else system.

Soccer is a growing sport in the US. More and more people play the game as kids and learn to appreciate 'the beautiful game' for themselves. Unfortunately, the inherit bias against soccer is not likely to go anywhere soon. As long as the American public hold on to the common misconceptions of soccer, soccer will remain a fringe sport in the US.