I’m not a soccer expert, but I’m surprised that the US isn’t better by now. Huge population, and a lot of soccer being played now. I don’t expect them to be Brazil, but at least a little closer to the top 10.

@ChrisDokish Currently 16 in the world ranking if I’m not mistaken and we’re in the top ten late last year

@ChrisDokish I'd say tough to be much better than top 20 if not all our truly best athletes are even considering the sport or giving it a try. Even though you just need ball there are barriers similar to hockey almost

@ChrisDokish It's our 5th most popular sport tho... makes it tough when other countries prioritize it

@jordymiller055 As far as participation, there’s a lot more people playing soccer in the US, then hockey. And probably football, too.

@ChrisDokish Still not even close to a popular sport in high school

@ChrisDokish Our best athletes tend to gravitate to other sports. And, a lot of the training here tends to be about the team game rather than fostering individual talent.

@ChrisDokish Literally the exact same thing was said back in 1994. The best athletes don’t play soccer in the US. Not even close to the top 5 best sport to play in this country. Flopping has made it unwatchable, also needs to implement a blue line like hockey, in regards to offsides.

@ChrisDokish A lot of this is the way that soccer is organized. At the lower levels there is no $$ for travel, so the coaches pick the ones that can play and pay for ODP teams. If you are good but no $ you generally don’t make ODP so you are pricing out a demographic.

@ChrisDokish My wife and I were talking about this last night. It seems to me that all of our best athletes play football or basketball. But it is strange that US isn’t much better.