I love it. I'm just wondering how many other stoners enjoy it not many i know like sports in general. i'd particualrly like the views of americans and canadians. Is it growing in popularity with the more exposure it gets there? I find it hard to understand why America and Canada are the only two western countries in the world where football/soccer isn't the number 1 sport or at least most popular. In my opinion it's the perfect sport where the need for skill and tactical thinking is paramount and physical attributes are not so important.
I'm a Manchester United fan. They just have that passion & pedigree about them. Wer'e doing great so far this season being 9 points clear at the top of the league and have reaching the last 16 of the CL. We've been playing some brilliant football.
Have any of you heard of Wanye Rooney? or Cristiano Ronaldo? In my opinion potentially two of the best players in the world. Ronaldinho who plays for Barcelona is said to be the worlds best player. I know you've probably heard of David beckham, we flogged him to Real Madrid when he was getting past his best. Not a particularly great player but a brilliant passer of the ball. Freddy Adu who plays in Los Angeles i think had a trial at united and might be making his way there when he turns 18. No ones sure of how he'll shape into the European way of playing tho.
Thanks for your comments

Played it for 7 years as a kid, but rarely play it anymore. I like the game and all, but hockey is much more interesting. Much faster paced, and if you don't think thats hard I like you to show me a sport that takes more skill to play.
Footballs great, I like watching the world cup but thats really the only time you will see much of it on American television.

i think it's the standard of football u watch over there that you base your judgements on and u like to see big numbers on the scoreboard. It takes alot more skill, luck and determination to craft a goal in football than say basketball or baseball.
Some european/south american football can leave u in awe with what some players can do with the ball. with other sports you have to be big or fast or strong with football u don't necessarily need any of these it's all about the mind. It's alot more complex than other sports. It's a thinking mans game.
Can the north american race be that different to everyone else in the world.

[burn586]

Soccer is my life. I've played since I was 4, through college, and even for the chicago fire reserves for a bit. I've always wanted to go for trial with a euro club, but the cost to go is so high.

I agree with biftaman, it truely is a thinking mans game. People here in America think its just kickball. It gets no respect.

[naga_sadu]

I love football (soccer) but my national team sucks...and shows no sign of improving either Watching it get drubbed 12-0, 6-0, 8-0 by third rate teams in the world made me lose lotsa interest in the sport. But that wont stop me from watching the world cup. Arrrrrg, I just wish I had a home / national team to cheer for...

[Pops]

Actually, soccer in the U.S. has only recently started to become popular. I had both my sons involved in soccer(football) about 25 years ago. At that time, it was very hard to find anyone who could coach the sport. The YMCA teams generally had a coach who was a person who had read a book on the subject. No playing experience. To show you how desparate they were, I became an assistant coach, and I knew nothing about the game. I did however, have a 11-passenger van capable of carrying the team to games. I very much enjoyed the 7 years that my sons played soccer. It simply was not seen as an American sport. In more recent years, it has been discovered that the sport is much less expensive for towns to set up and supply teams than American football is. Though there are still injuries in soccer, they are not as severe, for the most part, as are the injuries in American football. When we first started our sons in soccer, it was more a game for easteners and wealthy kids, kinda like golf. Nowadays, many boys and girls are playing soccer all over the U.S.. However, the level of coaching at the lowest levels, is still not as great as in Europe or S. America. I believe that the sport has become popular because of the ease and lowered expense of set-up ,which has enabled poor communities or countries to compete with wealthier ones.

[PazVerdeRadical]

earlier today i watched the man.u vs. man.city game, i liked how man.u played, although cristiano ronaldo sucks, whatever peeps say. rooney is very cool though that is for sure. i'd like to see tevez and rooney on the same team, now that would kick some serious ass. the best team in the world of course is boca juniors, we schooled the whole globe
peace.

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Americans don't like games with ties, anyone who has sat through a 13 inning Baseball(my sport of choice) game knows what I'm talking about.

But I would say that the number one reason Soccer is not popular here is because Baseball and American football(and Basket ball) were already firmly entrenched facets of our culture before soccer really came to world stage.

Thats why Metric hasn't caught on, we already built a very strong economy based on our own standardized measuring system, before metric became standard outside our borders. Also consider that we use our vowels differently from every other English speaking country on earth.

As our country continues to take on immigrants from Latin America and other places where soccer is popular, you will see its popularity grow here as well.

[Pops]

Actually, I like to watch the american womens soccer matches better than the men's. It seems that our women play smarter soccer with crisper passes and better attacks. Plus they are better looking.

[gnosis]

I don't watch soccer on tv (kinda boring) but it's a fun way to spend a sunday with friends. It plays on grass (mainly) so falling is not dangerous, it's physical but doesn't involve jumping on each others heads, you only need a park, a ball and 4 sweaters/trees/bags for the goals, the rules are simple enough (chess too have simple rules btw, it doesn't mean that the game is not intellectually demanding) for anyone to join the game. What more to ask ?