I was about to say this, only in Rugby, kicking is a far more important part of the game than in NFL. Kicking for territory is essential part of the modern game. More like 5% foot.

And for those who say there aren't many goals in football, that's true. But the that's because they're playing at such a high level of football. To score it takes a lot of skill, team work and technique, or something rather special from an individual to produce a goal, so when they do happen, it can be extra special:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIILBHTsfc&feature=related

They don't call it the beautiful game for nothing :P

Don't worry America, Aussies aren't big fans of soccer either. You're not alone in your dislike!

I hope Tim Howard kicks Roony in the nuts  lol

yes TIM HOWARD will cause ROONEY will score goals against him

i think ROONEY will be fine with it as long as USA loses

Haha pretty much this.

I really have nothing against the sport of soccer.  A lot of people like it and that's cool.  I like to watch it from time to time but I can watch almost any sport (except the WNBA haha).  

Seriously though, I would like to see hockey become increasingly more popular in America.  Loved the sport for quite some time now but not a lot of others do.  I also think it is one of the most difficult sports to play and up there with baseball.  Just a lot of finessed technique and athleticism involved.  

But let people like their different sports and deal with it.  As a former athlete, I never understood why people liked basketball all that much.  Was dull to me and didn't take much talent imo (a ball in a hoop hell I can do that).  But ever sport has its challenges and passionate fans to enjoy it (except the WNBA so let's just leave it at that.  

There is so much stupidity in this thread that I don't know where to begin. Why isn't soccer more popular in the US? Simple. Most of the popular sports in the US had established professional sports leagues in long ago. Major League Baseball has been around since 1869, The National Football League has been around since 1920, The National Basketball Association was founded in 1946. Each of those leagues have been a constant presence in the US since their inception. No Soccer league was able to entrench itself. While there professional leagues established in the early 20 century, the ASL comes to mine, they were regional for the most part confined to the Northeastern part of the US. 

Also calling people the US, Yankees or Yanks is ignorant. That may fly in the North Eastern U.S. but calling someone a Yankee in the Southeastern part of the country could be a serious issue. 

It is popular, very popular, just watch argentina, brazil and other american countries, its the biggest sport.

On the USA thing, I think they use sports as an excuse to eat a lot and watch stupid commercials, and football doesnt have much time for those things.

Honestly, that's less then I would of thought.  I'm just pumped I have tommorrow off.  All I hope is that the US keeps it competitive.

For a comparrison to show the difference though... something like 15 million is what is expected in the US.  That's less not even considering the populaton difference.

Still... not too shabby if it pans out that high.

I just feel that nothing really happens. They move quickly but theres very little chance any one attack will actually do anything. Score lines of 0:1 or 0:0 are way too common. Baseball is interesting because every time the batter goes out to hit theres a decent chance something will happen and NFL is the same because its unpredictable.