Athletes vs. Footballers

Over at Salon, a couple writers have a pet theory. After the US - Ghana match, King Kaufman found himself shocked that Ghana had 'better athletes' than the US. How could that be when America is a much bigger and richer country then Ghana? A couple weeks later, Andrew O'Hehir, took up the cause
parroting King's sentiments.

The basic argument is that "America's Best Athletes" leave soccer, forcing the athletic dregs to represent the US at the World Cup. King and Andrew went on to fantasize about several non-soccer athletes, usually drawn from baseball, basketball and football. If only, they say, we could get some of the ABAs to stick with soccer, then we would have a chance.

I've pretty much been through everything I want to say about this on the Salon comments, but I think this sort of thinking is a sort of defense mechanism. I think Americans are used to being the best at everything, so when they continue to underwhelm at the top levels, it must be because they're not really trying. Never mind that the people they keep talking about don't resemble in any way the top players in the world. Ignore the fact that the match that prompted all this talk was won on skills and determination and not athleticism. If we just had some big tall guys, then we'd be set.

America's soccer future is dim indeed.