'It wasn’t the glorious finale they may have hoped for, but members of the U.S. World Cup team can hold their heads high after a spirited showing in Qatar,' writes CharlieCamp6ell FIFAWorldCup
. For Adams, “celebrities and non-soccer-related people are having a bigger interest in the sport” and really pushing its popularity.
“It’s an ascending wave of interest that always peaks right around the World Cup,” Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch, one of only three Americans to have coached in the English Premier League , tells TIME. “[Plus] there’s a real excitement in the young [national] team that we have right now.”ANP/Getty Images
Of course, soccer fans have been gleefully predicting America’s belated love affair for the global game for decades. The North American Soccer League , founded in 1968, was expected to transform the U.S. into a nation of soccer devotees. While David Beckham’s 2007 transfer to Major League Soccer is seen as a major inflection point for soccer in the U.S., many forget that the NASL had already attracted some of the, including Pelé, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff.
In hindsight, critics say that NASL attempted to grow too quickly. The MLS, however, has taken a slow and steady approach that is now paying dividends. MLS attendances this seasonover last. While soccer has been popular amongst American women for decades, as evidenced by the four World Cups and similar number of Olympic Gold Medals the USWNT have won since 1991, men are now getting in on the act.
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