(06-17-2018 06:36 PM)Loco Bearcat Wrote:  

(06-17-2018 07:17 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  How can Iceland (a tiny, frigid country with a population less than Wichita) earn a World Cup slot but not the USA? Disgraceful.

Iceland invested a lot of time and $ to developing coaches and players. Here in the US it's all about making $ off rich kids and pretty much excluding the talented immigrants from Latin America and Africa who have great skill and knowledge of the game. There has been little effort to grow the game in the poorer and blue collar neighborhoods.

Nailed it, here soccer is about the swag you get and the money your family spends.

Everywhere else futbol is what they do and a dream to a better life.

If we treated soccer the way basketball is we could easily when a world cup. But we treat it like water polo. The desperate need to be the best just isn't in our current soccer dna.