I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if this has been mentioned. People mentioned how small countries (i.e. Italy, Montenegro, etc) have such great soccer teams compared to the US. Well, our best athletes don't play soccer. Maybe they will in the future, but the best athletes growing up eventually get shuttled into the other popular american sports, i.e. football, basketball. That being said, imagine if the best athletes played soccer strictly and then the US fielded a team. We would DWARF any other country EASILY! It wouldn't even be fair.
Take Rajon Rondo in his basketball prime. Even now. Send him to a summer camp for goalies and have him do nothing but learn how to be a goalie. He comes out the other end probably the best goalie in the world. Huge height, excellent hands, great vision, and a gargantuan wingspan.
Soccer is climbing nicely in popularity here in the US. Every world cup, you see them doing better and better. There are more American players in the international leagues than ever before (they just don't happen to be stars on their teams). Soon, there will be a day when the USA will be fielding a team that will be bigger, better, faster, and frankly dominant.
One thing that bothers me about the way the US plays though. I feel like the US needs its own style of soccer. Everyone hates flopping and the faking of injuries and the lingering on the pitch while rolling around for a while after a tackle. The US doesn't do that very much, and I think that's just awesome. In the NFL, it's a mark of pride to get up quickly after a hit to show that one is not hurt. I don't know what the rules are in soccer about this, but I want to see the US play physical, tough, and intimidate their opponents. Sure, they'll take on a few more fouls, but knock them down hard every now and then if they want to fake injuries. And if the opponents are flopping and faking, why not taunt the crap out of them while they are on the ground? Why not refuse help from an opponent to get up (done in basketball all the time) and only wait for your teammate to help you up? When after a flagrantly dirty tackle, when the opponent is looking all apologetic and begging not to get a yellow card from the ref and trying to at the sportsman with the guy he just knocked to the ground, why not talk smack and refuse the apology, taunt, and threaten? That's what I see a USA brand soccer in the future. Big, fast players, NFL / NBA caliber (corners, wide receiver types), that make the sport tougher with a uniquely USA attitude towards soccer.
