Do you think basketball is not far behind soccer for THE global participant sport?
546881
Shahz you have no idea what you're talking about. Soccer is currently the global sport. Basketball and Rugby(yes Rugby) aren't far behind. As for the top American sport: Football.
1099534
i dont think soccer is bigger than hockey in the in n. america\nhockey could catch on anywhere, but i dont know where you are at now, do i?
635641
It's slowly starting to get noticed around the world. A few minor competitions are being played in America, Japan and a few other counties. But it's still at a low level, Here's hoping it takes off in a big way
999331
First and foremost, I don't think that the dedication to the game of soccer is strong enough in the States.  There isn't anything a coach or more money will help if you don't have players that play the game from the time they learn to walk.  Americans have so many things on their plates, that they don't dedicate 100% to any particular sport.  In order to be competitive in the world arena, we need to have programs that offer the sport more than four months a year and the players need to dedicate their sporting lives to the game.  If they don't, we will continue to be mediocre.
1130804
Nope.  Soccer doesn't fit in with the American mindset.  First of all, soccer is nationalistic, and the U.S. isn't.  We like to divide up and go at each other, not unite as one big team to play other countries.  Second, we're an insular nation.  Since the overwhelming number of Americans wouldn't be able to find a single World Cup participant on a map, it's unlikely they would enjoy the competition.  The rest of the world is a mystery to us.  Third, the U.S. has developed an "MTV/ADD" mindset.  Soccer is too slow for us to pay attention.  All sad, but all true.
1009692
Now the Polaks are talking.  Where were you when you had a Nigerian player play for you in 2002 world cup. If a player moves to a country at a very young age, learns his football there, and adopts the country as his own it is well within his right to play there. Murat and Hakan Yakin of Switzerland are Turkish. Mithat the point guard for Germany basketball team is Turkish. Alex is Brazilian plays for Japan. Hell Zidane is Algerian. Lets be objective.  It is a global world.
366445
its a b or c division in any other country. the fact that it still exists makes the league a success. the u.s.a. is a brutal sportsmarket costing millions and billions of dollars. it is an oversaturated market vying for entertainment dollars. i don't believe soccer in the u.s. will ever hit the level of passion that u see everywhere else in the world. why? that would be a great research paper.
1110399
Yeah, and what's your point? Tony Parker says it, so it's now definetely something to believe?\n\nlol. Of course soccer is the number one sport in the world. Not in America, but everywhere else, hell yeah. :-)
1091514
Basketball has much more action. How can you even compare the two. It is probably more appropriate to compare baseball with golf. Although at least with golf the grass changes.
760110
soccer is a game played world wide
219028
I think it's an excellent idea. It will be great to bring a little bit of national spirit to the game and watch different countries have a friendly competition with one another. i would love to see it grow into something big like the world cup of soccer. I'm really excited about it and i hope it turns out to be a success.
700789
Well Singapore has always been a soccer crazed country, basketball was always ranked behind it in terms of participation, fan-following and tv-viewership. It's mainly due to our culture, after all Basketball is still deemed in some quarters as the game the americans invented , unlike soccer which is played worldwide.
589536
No.\n\nAmericans have invented many sports but they are not always the best at them.\n\nLook at basketball.  Who won the last world basketball championship?  Wasn't it Argentina?  And the U.S. came in like 5th.  And the Olympics?\n\nLook at baseball.  The South Koreans won that recently.\n\nLook at volleyball.  No idea who won the last time they had a worldly competition but I'm sure it wasn't the U.S. in the mens' anyway.\n\nIt's true Americans have very good individual players but team and cohesiveness are more important sometimes.
494347
While I do think there will be some interest among non-soccer fans, I think the World Cup will go largely unnoticed unless the US team does very well. This is unfortunate as many people are just not very open to different sports, but this is similar to the situation of baseball in Europe. Many European sports fans think baseball is boring and stupid, but have never really given it a chance.\n\nI think the best hope for soccer in the US is for Major League Soccer to get stronger as the kids who play soccer grow up to become soccer fans. This will take time, but I think things are looking up.
1157454
Soccer all the way its not even close.  For second here I would say basketball.
1082688
No, I don't think so. I mean, in 2002, they got to the Quarter Finals, so they're pretty  good. Even though they've never won, can you blame them? In America, soccer ( football ) is not the biggest sport played. It is Baseball, Football, and Basketball. The US soccer league ( MLS ) is not as big and rich as the NBA, or the NFL or the MLB, so you can't really get much fame off of it. In my opinion, USA should keep on trying and may eventually get to the finals.
451655
I FEEL THAT IN THIS DAY AND AGE WITH THE WORLD BE SO GLOBALIZED ANYWAYS IT ADDS A WHOLE NEW ELEMENT TO THE GAME. THE GAME ITSELF BENEFITS AND THAT IS REALLY ALL THAT MATTERS, I THINK THE RESOUNDING EFFECTS WILL BE SEEN ON THE PITCH THIS UPCOMING WORLD CUP... \n\nI GUESS ALL AND ALL IT IS WHAT IT IS I HAVE NO RACIAL OR SOCIAL QUALMS WITH IT, AND IT MAKES FOR GOOD GOOD PLAY.