Wikipedia says that Americans coined the term "soccer mom" in 1995. That’s 15 years ago. Those kids so assiduously ferried to sylvan suburban fields are now in their 20s. And the young American team was beaten by Ghana today, a country a tenth our size, soundly (yes, after two inspired American performances against teams that are already out of the World Cup). I can’t remember a great American goal. Landon Donovan was OK. But he did nothing to compare with the magic goals of this World Cup that I’ve seen, from the Brazilian Maicon, from the Slovakian guy Vittek, the German-Turkish guy Ozil, the Uruguyan with the hair, that Ghanaian today in overtime, and the devilish David Villa of Spain.
Villa seems like a tough street kid. Is that the problem? Are American soccer players too middle class? Do the best athletes come — generally speaking — from the poor? Or does the U.S. lack a truly developed soccer culture to rival basketball, football and baseball culture in the imaginations of child athletes? And if we lack it, how long will it take to create one? I don’t know anything about soccer, as I remind readers. Commenters, please explain.
