MEET THE USA: Sports

Soccer

What the rest of the world calls football, is known as soccer in the United States. Originating in England, the term is derived from 'association football' to draw a distinction to 'rugby football'. In the United States, this term has been adopted and marks a difference to American football.

It is little known that the beginning of soccer in the United States dates back to the 17th century. History holds it true that soccer-style games were already played by the Native Americans as well as by the early pilgrims but the modern form of soccer was invented much later in the early 1830s in England. In the US, it started largely as a college sport. The Oneidas of Boston, founded as the first soccer club outside of England in 1862, for example consisted of a group of high school students. But college soccer did not last long. The development of the game was continued by arriving immigrants from Europe who brought along their soccer traditions and formed teams mostly located in the industrial Northeast. The first attempt to form a truly professional soccer league dates back as far as 1884 when the "American League of Professional Football" was founded but closed again during its first season.

The United States' Landon Donovan controls the ball against Cuba in a Gold Cup soccer match in Seattle in this July 7, 2005 photo. (© AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Already in 1913 the United States joined the international scene with the creation of the U.S. Soccer Federation as the driving force in advancing and establishing the popularity of soccer in the United States. The same year, the U.S. Soccer Federation as the national association joined the world governing body FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association as one of the world's first organizations.

1914 saw the institution of the predeccesor of the U.S. Open Cup as first official truly national championship tournament which still accounts for the oldest continuous team sport tournament in the United States.

1921 marks the founding year of another regional league. Matches drew regularly respectable audiences, still soccer continues to have a varied history. The game was not widely played until the 1970s, when the North American Soccer League (NASL) brought international stars like Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer to the United States. The NASL did not last; however, the league left a legacy of growing American involvement in the sport, especially at the youth level with remarkable increase in numbers. The "American Youth Soccer Organization" was founded in 1964 with nine teams, today it is serving 50,000 teams and 650,000 players. "US Youth Soccer" has become the largest member of the "United States Soccer Federation" growing from 100,000 registered members to 3,000,000 youth players today. Thus by the 1990s, soccer was recognized as the fastest-growing college and high school sport in the United States.

The increased American interest in soccer, sparked by the 1994 World Cup, which took place in the United States, led to the formation of a new professional soccer league, called Major League Soccer (MLS). The league, now consisting of twelve teams divided into an Eastern and a Western conference, began play in 1996. But unlike the former NASL, many of the players of this league are now homegrown talents. In 2000, the U.S. Soccer Federation approved a five-year-business plan aimed to lay the groundwork for the future of the sport in the United States through player and facility initiatives. An outstanding event was the 2003 opening of the U.S. Soccer National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA as a state of the art training facility for player development.

United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller makes a save during training in Norderstedt, Germany June 9, 2006. (© AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Soccer exchange with Europe reportedly started in 1905 when a British club traveled to North American followed by many other European club teams. In 1950, the Hamburger SV was the first German club to send a team on a trip followed by more well-known German Bundesliga teams like Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. But this did not remain a one-way-street. Today, it is not unusual for American soccer players to have contracts with prominent European clubs.

On the international scene, both the men's and the women's national team gained wide respect since the nineties. The women's national team is a very successful international player winning the first Women's World Cup ever in 1991 and again in 1999. In 2003, the U.S. women's national team finished second to Germany.

After World Cup appearances in 1930, 1934, 1950 the men's national team qualified for the fifth consecutive time since 1990 for the 2006 FIFA World Cup taking place in Germany. With the best result dating back to 1930 in the inaugural world cup, the team steadily improved its performance and again reached the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup where it lost to Germany. This year, coach Bruce Arena enters the competition with a highly motivated team incorporating experienced players as well as young talents.

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