The matches recently and especially LDs goal showed Joe Public that football despite low scoring can be highly exciting and thrilling. Will it make it this time? It will grow I'm sure but I can't see it breaking into the top 4.
No, MLS won't break into the top 4, but it doesn't need to. At the 5th ranking US sport league, it would likely still be bigger (in revenue and attendance) than all but the top two English tiers, the Bundesliga top flight, Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga, and FMF. A big problem USA support has is transitioning support for Team USA to MLS, particularly with Donovan, Dempsey, Bocanegra, Howard, Altidore, and company playing abroad...
From June 11... In an article titled "England Manager warns players: keep it clean The Dunning-Kruger effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_statistics final rankings 1 Spain H 7 6 0 1 8 2 +6 18 2 Netherlands E 7 6 0 1 12 6 +6 18 3rd and 4th place 3 Germany D 7 5 0 2 16 5 +11 15 4 Uruguay A 7 4 1 2 11 8 +3 13 Eliminated in the quarter-finals 5 Argentina B 5 4 0 1 10 6 +4 12 6 Brazil G 5 3 1 1 9 4 +5 10 7 Paraguay F 5 2 2 1 3 2 +1 8 8 Ghana D 5 2 1 2 5 4 +1 7 Eliminated in the round of 16 9 Japan E 4 2 0 2 4 2 +2 6 10 Chile H 4 2 0 2 3 5 −2 6 11 Portugal G 4 1 2 1 7 1 +6 5 12 United States C 4 1 2 1 5 5 0 5 13 England C 4 1 2 1 3 5 −2 5 14 Mexico A 4 1 1 2 4 5 −1 4 15 Korea Republic B 4 1 1 2 6 8 −2 4 16 Slovakia F 4 1 1 2 5 7 −2 4 Eliminated in the group stage 17 Côte d'Ivoire G 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4 18 Slovenia C 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4 19 Switzerland H 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4 20 South Africa A 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4 21 Australia D 3 1 1 1 3 6 −3 4 22 New Zealand F 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3 23 Serbia D 3 1 0 2 2 3 −1 3 24 Denmark E 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3 25 Greece B 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3 26 Italy F 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1 2 27 Nigeria B 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1 28 Algeria C 3 0 1 2 0 2 −2 1 29 France A 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1 30 Honduras H 3 0 1 2 0 3 −3 1 31 Cameroon E 3 0 0 3 2 5 −3 0 32 Korea DPR G 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0
Interesting analysis on the character of US Soccer over the years, starting with Italia '90 and the 'try hard, run fast' era. What is American soccer? Miss you Keith...it will always be 49 weeks to Xmas on WFCForums.
There are still ideas being put forward to see members of CONACAF become permanent fixtures in the Copa America hwich might entail a qualification series. It would be of benefit to CONACAF teams and to those in CONMEBOL in terms of revenue. However there is still great reluctance on the part of CONMEBOL to go through with this and a wish to retain an invite only status with teams. This has resulted in the past the USA and Mexico sending u23 sides with three over age players such as Demerit in the 2007 Copa America. Would be an interesting development but lot's of hurdles to be overcome not least in terms of FIFA's opposition to any such plans.
