Why don't black athletes dominate soccer?

OK, I guess I feel like starting a shit storm, but hopefully this will stay on point.

In America, the NBA and NFL are two sports dominated by black athletes. At some positions (small forward, tailback and cornerback) you are hard pressed to find a single non-black player.

Many in the NFL and NBA have always felt that the speed and athleticism of the black athlete to be far superior to the non-black athlete, and many non-black athletes are not given a chance to excel at that position.

But after watching the World Cup, where speed and athleticism seem to be a very important part of what is needed to be a star soccer player, we did not see a disproportionate number of black players. I don't even think the continent of Africa has even won a single World Cup.

So what is going on in America? Why are the NBA and NFL leagues so top heavy with black athletes?

Do they work harder at a young age to be pros? Is there a bias in the thinking of GMs?

Seriously. What does everyone think about this?

 

Well, you go to any park in the country and there are basketball hoops.

Finding an open field in the inner city might be a little more difficult. Football is a little different because most people don't start playing until they're much older than when kids start playing soccer.

All of the best soccer players at my high school were from wealthy families.

 

But kids tie together plastic bags or strips of cloth to make a soccer ball in the poor countries of the world and play in the street.

I don't think $$$ has that much to do with it around the world, but you are right about the AAU kids being the best players in America.

 

Yeah, it certainly doesn't have to be a rich kid sport, but it kind of is because the kids who are the best at it usually start playing by age 5 and maybe there are less leagues in the inner city. I don't know.

 

Pele and Drogba - among several thousand others - are confused by your question.

Did you mean "black"?

Or "people of color"?

Or "African-American"?

 

But what caught my eye was not our American teams, but the teams overseas. Why isn't the English team or German team 75% black?

 

You knew exactly what he meant.

 

I really didn't. And I'm not sure he does, either.

But thanks as always for your clairvoyance.

 

Good quesion.

Would Pele's ancestry trace back to Africa? Are the indigenous people of Brazil black?

I don't want to use African-American because this is a question that is world wide.

Maybe African-ancestry might be a better term than black. Actually, it probably is.

 

Well, I didn't see any honkies on Ghana and they got the job done twice in a row.

There are tons of top-level international soccer players who happen to be black. If you're specifically discussing African-American athletes, that's a whole other argument.

 

But the world powers of soccer do not have a ratio of players with an African heritage. Nothing like the ratio you see in the NBA or NFL.

 

I wonder how many of France's players from 1998-2000 were of African descent. I know Zidane is, if Algeria counts in this discussion.