Bring Futbol (soccer) to the US....again

It has been so long. Too long. I apologize to all 4 of my followers. You are too good to me.

I have been posting things on my facebook linking to the World Cup page. The link is a petition that people in the US can sign to help bring the world cup back to the United States.

Basically, FIFA is deciding who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. Next summer 2010 it will be in South Africa and 2014 will be in Brazil. The US has a bid for both 2018 and 2022. Along with Australia, Belgium-Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Spain-Portugal. Also, South Korea and Qatar have bids for 2022 only.

We are leading the way for the 2022 games. I'm guessing FIFA doesn't like to bring the World Cup here too much. They have only done it once. We are not a huge soccer country which makes sense that we shouldn't be aloud to host. But, the issue is a bit deeper than that.

First off, most likely the only reason we even have a chance is because of our American Football. What am I talking about? Well, soccer stadiums hold anywhere from 20,000 to maybe 50,000 fans. Some are much bigger. But soccer stadiums start small at 70,000. We can hold more people and we market well. The World Cup made more money in 1994 when the US hosted than any other World Cup. What's greater is that in 1994 they had 24 teams qualify. In 2008 they changed that to 32. That means that we even made more money than other World Cup tournaments with more games.

So, they are torn. We don't hold the same respect for the event but we make the most money for it. The reason that we need to have it here within the next 15 years is the MLS (major league soccer). Soccer in the US is at a crossroads. It has never been as successful as it is right now. It makes money and more money every year. More teams are added and more talented people are sought out.

I read a book called How Soccer Explains the World and it shows that more kids in the United States play soccer than baseball. Soccer is actually the number one sport played by US kids. No joke, people.

So, all this talk and no point...it's what I do. The MLS brought in David Beckham and Blanco and Juan Pablo Angel. They did this to raise the bar but more importantly, to sell tickets. It worked and it worked well. We've got people who are giving it a chance. And the world knows that if you just see a match, it will hook you. But the MLS is at that crossroads I mentioned earlier. They need something dramatic to happen or the jig is up.

They may lose all of these fans but with a couple simple events, they could change the face of soccer in the US.

First, We need to host a World Cup and soon. 2022 would be just fine. That's not too far away. If you don't think hosting will do anything for soccer in the US, ask your parents how big soccer was before 1994. (I'm assuming you're youngins like me reading). Soccer really didn't exist much beyond little kids playing. The World Cup in '94 stimulated our nation with soccer. We wanted more and we would get our wish. Hosting the World Cup will make more children want to play. Hosting will also surround us all with so much culture and excitement. Soccer or no, these other countries know how to party. Who doesn't like a good party.

Secondly, the USA needs, badly, to perform well in the next World Cup. We NEED to. If we don't, all we have worked for could be lost. We took an early exit after the first round last World Cup. We were ranked 6th going in an moved up to 5th at one time. That is a ranking of every country in the WORLD. We were that good. Or at least people thought we were. Then we played terrible on the world stage and it was a bunch of build-up for nothing.

We must perform well. The rest of the world thinks we're a joke and our whole country think soccer is a joke. That's deadly if we play bad. We just played very well in the Confederations Cup. We don't need to win the World Cup, just get deep into the tournament. Show everyone that we can be a soccer playing nation.

So, I'm done, I suppose. What you can do now is sign the petition. This shows FIFA that we as a country are serious about having it here. Also, if you sign, you put in your zip code and it votes for your closest big city to have games there. I live near Cleveland and Cleveland is still in the running for cities.

Click here to see if your city is still in the running.

Then VOTE HERE!!!

Long live soccer, everyone.