***Official Soccer Thread***

[POND_OF_RED]

Creating a new thread for soccer discussion since the Euro’s are done.

Most leagues are in preseason and Sporting KC are currently in a battle for the best record in the league to win the shield. We just sent Busio who’s a young Sporting youth academy player and possible future American star to Venezia to compete in the top division in Italy for a 6.5 million dollar transfer fee with up to $11 million with incentives and a 20% future sell-on rate if they sell him to another team. Not to mention another past youth academy player from Lee’s Summit and another possible World Cup starter Erik Palmer-Brown looks to be joining him at Venezia soon as well. If you’re looking for an Italian team to start rooting for with your new Paramount+ subscription they would be a good candidate with some local flavor.

The U.S has built a little power shift in the CONCACAF region with their wins over Mexico lately in Nations and Gold Cup finals and look to be in really good shape heading into the World Cup qualifiers next month.

Messi looks to be on the move as well. Let’s hope it’s not a worthless one to PSG for everyone’s sake.

Ok, CP feel free to remind me how gay soccer is now. Don’t care. Sporting is kicking ass and so is the USA. It’s a good time to be following along. Discuss…

Spoiler!

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Boy that was a brutal way to go. Can't let another team survive like that.

This squad never really put it together. The game seemed too big for them in big moments.

Will be interesting to see who the next coach is. Vlatko is not the one.

And with all the bravado they went into the tournament with, it's even worse. Let's hope they learned a lesson and come back with a much better team next time.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

This felt like the US throwing away a world cup to do a farewell tour for their geezers. Even if that meant playing out of position.One thing to roster rapinoe, but to play her, then to allow her to flub corner after corner then kick a crucial penalty. Despite an obvious lack of firepower they went favored slow and ineffective experienced geezers over young and dynamic inexperienced young players.

May be for the better. Coach seems nice but is wildly out of his depth. Veterans got too smug. they should have passed the torch instead of trying to run it back.

This....

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Non US related that performance by the Sweden goal keeper was one of the best I have seen in a while.

Yes it was...

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

They got their pay and yet in spite of their dominance the US is at significant risk of losing players to Europe and have an underinvested pro league. Men don't care yet we feel the need to white knight them... They make a shitload in their pro careers and they recognize that growing the women's game is good for US soccer overall. But by all means, maybe we shoild be more American and lose to Europe on soccer development. It's too entrenched to change that for men's soccer, but there's no excuse for the US not to be dominating women's soccer.

Agree, soccer is the one professional sport where the ladies could make a huge showing on the globals stage if they play their cards right. And **** the WNBA, it's a joke. But they'll need to resist the politics ranging from the "equal pay" drama, to the "anti-America" appearance, to the pre-freak agenda they're drifting to. So Rapinoe going away should help as long as they don't allow another Rapinoe to take the leadership role and waste time on overly divisive non-soccer issues/agendas.

Just go play soccer.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

They got their pay and yet in spite of their dominance the US is at significant risk of losing players to Europe and have an underinvested pro league. Men don't care yet we feel the need to white knight them... They make a shitload in their pro careers and they recognize that growing the women's game is good for US soccer overall. But by all means, maybe we shoild be more American and lose to Europe on soccer development. It's too entrenched to change that for men's soccer, but there's no excuse for the US not to be dominating women's soccer.

Why do you think they have under invested in soccer in the US? I mean the reason, not the dollar numbers.

Also will growing the women's game be good for US soccer overall? There is a pro women's soccer league in the US, why is it struggling? What is the fix? How do they increase popularity of the game?

The US women have been dominant for quite a while and I question how much success that has led to for US soccer overall. Is the MLS more successful because of the success of the US women?

Honestly I would love to see the game grow in popularity overall, but curious what the solutions are.

[ToxSocks]

Shoulda just put Messi in a wig and trotted his old ass out there...

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

Agree, soccer is the one professional sport where the ladies could make a huge showing on the globals stage if they play their cards right. And **** the WNBA, it's a joke. But they'll need to resist the politics ranging from the "equal pay" drama, to the "anti-America" appearance, to the pre-freak agenda they're drifting to. So Rapinoe going away should help as long as they don't allow another Rapinoe to take the leadership role and waste time on overly divisive non-soccer issues/agendas.

Just go play soccer.

That is a reasonable take. I wish more critics shared it. But sadly I think a lot of the critics go well beyond the "shut up and dribble." Most of the uswnt was lowkey but still got sniped. Nfl fans moved on after Kaepernick went away and I think uswnt will drift there too, but I don't know that many critics will move on. Some seem hellbent to cut women and girls down, regardless of their social stance, and that aspect of some of the criticism is gross to me. It's cool to see the sport grow and to see girls excited with dreams to aspire to. Like youre doing you can push back on that messaging without cutting girls down

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Why do you think they have under invested in soccer in the US? I mean the reason, not the dollar numbers.

Also will growing the women's game be good for US soccer overall? There is a pro women's soccer league in the US, why is it struggling? What is the fix? How do they increase popularity of the game?

The US women have been dominant for quite a while and I question how much success that has led to for US soccer overall. Is the MLS more successful because of the success of the US women?

Honestly I would love to see the game grow in popularity overall, but curious what the solutions are.

It first starts with FIFA. they notoriously underinvested including tournament pay. They're hopefully starting to finally realize the benefit. They can grow the women's game without cutting down the men's game. They're raking in a shitload from sponsors like Nike who can now explode sales on sports bras. Or women's hygiene product sponsors, for example. The women's international sport is growing which is good for soccer overall. The US losing actually adds to intrigue since the sport is so dependent on international competition. So clearly there is untapped growth potential.

Understandably the focus in the US has been on building a better US men's team. It should be that way. So US soccer went all in on building MLS. They arguably even were willing to skunk the US national team by blackballing men's players who dared to play in Europe. Thank God thats changed. During those years the women did carry a lot of weight. The men lost a lot of money when they sucked and women's revenue helped US soccer rebuild anyway.

MLS and men's soccer are at a maturity point where they can invest in women's soccer. In fact they have more incentive because of equal pay. It's now a collective goal where growing women's soccer also helps men's soccer. And that's doable because they arguably have very distinct audiences. It's not like you're cannibalizing MLS profits. It's a chance to grow new fans and sponsors.

[JohnnyHammersticks]

Seeing this disgrace to America cry really warms my heart. Karma is an even bigger bitch than she is/was. Good riddance.

Megan Rapinoe is a clown. pic.twitter.com/d3dLTXeq5E

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 6, 2023

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks

Seeing this disgrace to America cry really warms my heart. Karma is an even bigger bitch than she is/was. Good riddance.

Megan Rapinoe is a clown. pic.twitter.com/d3dLTXeq5E

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 6, 2023

Anyone with blue hair is a clown.

[AdolfOliverBush]

Equal pay is a joke. I checked out the last few minutes of the match out of curiosity, and within seconds it was obvious that even the highest level of women's soccer is on par with boys high school soccer.

[BWillie]

Someone should do some soccer exhibitions with 6 or 7 soccer players on the field instead of 11. It would be waaaay more exciting. Tough to score goals when so many players on the field mucking it up and less players would make more 1 v 1 situations which is exciting. Would also help the more athletic soccer players thrive.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

Equal pay is a joke. I checked out the last few minutes of the match out of curiosity, and within seconds it was obvious that even the highest level of women's soccer is on par with boys high school soccer.

That reminds me I once practiced in high school with a girl who went on to be a longtime Canada women's national team player and I was a fair amount better than her. Now I was a decent soccer player in high school, but I never got a scholarship or anything for college (nor did I seek one because I wasn't good enough).

It's certainly not a high level at all, at least if you're comparing to the men.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

Equal pay is a joke. I checked out the last few minutes of the match out of curiosity, and within seconds it was obvious that even the highest level of women's soccer is on par with boys high school soccer.

Why does this matter? Of course women's soccer player aren't nearly as good as men. What matters is what money they pull in. Unlike the wnba women's soccer pulls in a shitload and the growth potential is massive. Little girls idolize Alex morgan the way we idolize players like kelce and mahomes. They pull in entirely different fans and sponsors than men's teams. Do you realize how much money athletic apparel companies have made in women's apparel like sports bras since the women's first world cup?

[AdolfOliverBush]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Why does this matter? Of course women's soccer player aren't nearly as good as men. What matters is what money they pull in. Unlike the wnba women's soccer pulls in a shitload and the growth potential is massive. Little girls idolize Alex morgan the way we idolize players like kelce and mahomes. They pull in entirely different fans and sponsors than men's teams. Do you realize how much money athletic apparel companies have made in women's apparel like sports bras since the women's first world cup?

Does women's soccer generally bring in more revenue than men's, or does that only happen during World Cups?