Americans should be proud of our history in the sport...not proud like Brazil or Spain or what have you, but we've done pretty well, all things considered.
Personally, I'm an Army Brat, and when I was 8, we were stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. At the time, the only "pee-wee" games in town were soccer (football) and football (American).
My Dad, being an MD, said no to the latter- especially since my best buddy broke his arm twice in one year playing it- so I took up soccer. I played mostly Fullback and Goalie.
Funny thing- at the time, there were only a few leagues, so American kids often got to play against the Germans, so I got good quickly. And I played it up through college, though only as an intramural sport- I didn't want to go on team trips because I was there for study, not sport.
By way of contrast, I found Hockey when we moved to Denver and got to see the Colorado Rockies (who later became the Devils, who, with the Stars, are my 2 teams to root for), Football didn't get my attention until I was in HS, I didn't pay attention to basketball until I was in college and David Robinson was drafted by the Spurs (I was in San Antonio), and I didn't become a fan of baseball until I was in law school. I was still damn good- the varsity players occasionally asked me to try out.
So Soccer holds a special place in my heart, and I was in tears when we lost to Brazil in the FIFA Confederations Cup last year...so GO USA!
Go Argentina!
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
