Soccer — An American Sport?
Although the United States lost to Ghana on June 26, the World Cup is still going strong, and Americans continue to pack into bars, pubs, taverns, and other establishments that purvey fine spirits to watch the most popular sporting event in the world. Even though it is regularly maligned as “un-American,” soccer (or, if you must, football) has deep roots in American history.
Soccer was not made into an official game until 1863, when the English Football Association was founded, but the sport is far from a recent development. From the game that involved kicking a ball around that was played by the Chinese over two thousand years ago, soccer has progressed to be what many would consider the world’s most universal sport. While the U.S. is a fairly new country in comparison to the rest of the world, soccer is one thing that predates European settlement on the North American continent. Pilgrims in the Massachusetts area are said to have witnessed Native Americans playing a game called “Pasuckquakkohowog,” similar to what the immigrants knew as football, upon their arrival at Plymouth Rock.
With the refinement of rules and tactics, soccer evolved from a game to a sport, complete with true athletes and competition. Soccer remained fairly casual for many years, but the influx of European immigrants who continued to filter into America eventually changed this. They used any open space available, from shipyards to textile mills, to keep their passion for soccer alive. The first organized U.S. soccer club, the Oneidas of Boston, was created by Gerritt Miller Smith in 1862, and the sport infiltrated into colleges soon thereafter. The first intercollegiate match between Princeton and Rutgers Universities, took place in 1876.
Soccer (or as it is known in the rest of the world, association football) now has universally known rules and is played throughout the entire world, bringing a commonality to the international sporting community. This global connection is best seen every four years during the FIFA World Cup. Originating in 1930 in Uruguay, the tournament is now the top sporting event in the world, even surpassing the reputation of the much better-established Olympics. Although there was a twelve-year hiatus of the games due to the Second World War, the competition continued to thrive after it was re-established. In the sixteen tournaments that have taken place in World Cup history, only seven countries can pride themselves on winning the prestigious title of world’s best soccer team.
While the U.S. has yet to claim the World Cup championship, current and previous teams have been able to bring pride and entertainment for the country through their involvement in the tournament. Although the U.S. has never beaten its own best ranking since earning third place in1930, the U.S. is known as having the biggest upset in international soccer. The U.S. team earned this claim to fame when Joe Gaetjen’s goal won the match against England in the 1950 tournament.
In an attempt to better its presence in international soccer, the U.S. made a formal bid in 1982 to host the World Cup, but the spot was awarded to Mexico instead. Americans were finally given home field advantage when they were able to serve as the host of the tournament in 1994. History was made when over 3.5 million fans came as spectators for the world event, over a million more than the previous record established in Italy four years earlier. In this tournament, the U.S. finally made it past the first round for the first time in sixty-four years.
Soccer fever in America was said to be at an all time high when the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, but this year’s tournament in South Africa is giving that claim a run for its money. Landon Donovan's amazing last minute goal in the game against Algeria not only showed fans how important following every shot is, but also that the U.S. was still in it to win it. In this game they were able to secure their first shutout in a World Cup game since 1950, while progressing to the next round in what should be an extremely high-pressure match against Ghana. The U.S. team is now working toward that goal of finally breaking the third place ranking that was set eighty years ago, with no shortage of fans behind them.
The U.S. Men’s National Soccer team has seen their fair share of ups and downs throughout World Cup history. From placing third in the tournament in 1930 to the memorable upset of 1950 to not even qualifying for forty years, the U.S. has been at both ends of the international soccer spectrum. For now they seem to be moving toward the winning end, with high hopes in the game against Ghana and also in placing bids to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, a dream that is much more likely to become a reality with each win in this year’s tournament.