Why don't black athletes dominate soccer?

Jurgen Klinsmann said it as much after the US lost to Ghana. Soccer everywhere else is played by kids who have nothing but what's around. It's a lower-class sport. In America, it's a middle-class suburban sport. The urban kids won't play soccer. It's hoops and football for them.

 

Jürgen also says America is the only place where soccer is used as an avenue to a college scholarship rather than national glory, which he suggests hinders the game here.

 

At the risk of crossing the politically correct line, the difference is actually a lot larger than that. Because, let's be honest here, what you're actually talking about in this thread is the central and West African "black" ethnic background that most of the African Americans who dominate football and basketball descend from.

That's NOT who makes up most of Italy's 7.5 percent. Instead, most people of African descent in Italy are either of North African Arabic background from countries like Egypt, Algeria, Lybia or Morrocco or from Eastern African nations like Ethiopia and Eritrea. Similar story for France and the Netherlands where a much higher percentage of their African Immigrants come from Arabic North Africa, not the part of "black" Africa you obviously were referring to in your original post.

 

That's because Soccer is passionately and deeply imbedded into their culture, it is universally undestood as THE game of the working class and poor, and they're taught to hold soccer stars as role models almost from birth. That ain't the case at all here.

Yeah, if poor kids in the U.S. were taught to idolize Maradona, were taught that soccer was a path to status and potentially a better life, we'd have a lot more soccer stars. But kids in the U.S. don't have the first clue who Maradona is, instead they're taught to idolize Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. And they're conditioned to percieve soccer as the game for suburban yuppies and guys who can't make it in football or basketball.

That perception is gradually changing. But it's a VERY slow grind.

 

You seriously don't know the answer to these questions? Good lord.

 

Yes, Stoney. I know the answer. Look at the post I was making a comment about.

 

Soccer requires an odd combination of fast and slow twitch muscles along with being a certain height and weight.

I don't want to get all Al Campanis here but most black Americans are taller and heavier than their African counterparts. The same can be said of white Americans. They are taller, heavier and have a greater proportion of muscle mass, than their English cousins.

Just generally speaking, most American men are just too big for soccer.

American women don't have this problem and tend to be more athletic as a group. So American women have had no problem being dominant at international soccer.

 

Please tell me you're drunk right now.

Peter Crouch is 6-foot-7, he's a starter in the EPL and, honestly, should have seen more time in the World Cup for England.

Oguchi Onwyeu is 6-4, 210. He plays in Serie A and his lack of fitness after a long injury layoff was part of the USMNT's problems in South Africa.

Not every player is Andres Iniesta's size (5-7), in fact he looks like a midget these days when he's on the field.

 

Yeah, and Muggsy Bogues was 5'3" and had a long successful NBA career. Citing the exceptions hardly proves the rule.

What is the optimal height of soccer players? I say that out of curiosity, I have no idea. I know some of the all time greats, like Maradona, have been short little pip squeaks, but I don't know what the average is.

That said, I do know that Farrer's theory that "American men are just too big for soccer" is complete bunk. The Netherlands and Germany have the two tallest average populations on earth, yes even bigger than Americans, and they're both perennial soccer world powers. Obviously that ain't the explanation.

 

Height is not a huge factor. You can get benefits from being tall or short. Shorter players have lower centers of gravity that may help them make quicker cuts with the ball. Taller players have the advantage in the air provided everything else is equal. Most goalies tend to be taller because taller guys can cover more of the net.

 

This is laugh out loud funny.

 

The offset for American women is their big American breasts which at times makes it hard to see the ball at their feet.
Historically the countries with smaller breasted females tend to dominate.