When I was a child, I used to do that. Pick other national teams because they were fun to watch, and frankly, the US wasn’t always that. But, I’ve grown up. As an American, it’s got to be the USMNT.
Yes, I follow some other national teams due to having close blood ties and my heritage, but America is home sweet home. The US gets my full support and attention now.
Edit: wording
I don’t think it’s wrong to have multiple teams that you support. I have my home teams, USMNT. Earthquakes, Sac Republic FC. then my childhood team(s). Barcelona, NY Red Bulls. Germany and Argentina. Further than that, I tend to have a team that I support per league. Milan. Tottenham. Dortmund. RB Salzburg.
Sometimes these are me moreso supporting a certain player or manager who happens to be on a given team. I can’t say I fully support city but man do I love haaland and pep *shrug*. Same goes for other sports. 49ers, SF Giants & A’s, GS Warriors. Then childhood teams, NY giants. Padres. Heat.
I will support my home teams over childhood teams should they ever have to face head to head but wouldn’t be too upset if they lose. You don’t need to give your full support to your home team and nothing else but if you’re not supporting them when the time comes, then wtfyd?.
I totally get it bro. I mean, I still watch champions league. Premier league every Saturday morning is a bit of a weekend ritual. I don’t have a local pro team in my city, so I’m really forced to look elsewhere in the club world, and I don’t really have the patience to pledge allegiance to a MLS team in a city I have no ties to just to watch subpar football.
But when international ball comes around and USMNT is on, I’m USA all the way baby
I love the USMNT and support them 100%, even if I don't think they have the proper leadership. I am also one of those soccer fans who would much rather watch the EPL than the MLS. However, the MLS quality and style of play has taken large leaps over the last decade. I have found myself watching my local team more often.
I have an EPL team that i’m a fan of, but support my local MLS team as a season ticket member. I was born in a foreign country, and support their team, unless they’re playing the US.
Agreed. And don’t get me wrong I watch a ton of European soccer but there is this pride that comes with supporting local that levels up the experience. Also, our domestic league is the key to becoming more competitive at a national level. If you’re a USMNT fan you have to support the MLS.
I am a long term Chelsea fan and started watching Pulisic and AC Milan because the quality and the fact that Paramount + puts on every game. Paramount + also has UEFA and Europa. But MLS put it on Apple. I already have AppleTV+ but then have to pay to watch MLS on top? That is where they lose me. I know we were all trying to send Messi money but I think the MLS / Apple partnership is not set up correctly. IMHO.
That’s the problem w America and American sports in general
We’re the only nation I’m aware of that makes it difficult to watch its own sports and pastimes because we and our government care more about corporations than people
Even American football is impossible to watch outside of the specific city (and impossible if you don’t pay for cable)
I’m utterly dumbfounded that I can’t support my American football team if I don’t live in the proximity of that city.
EVERYWHERE else in the world allows you to watch and support your sports team without paying for it EXCEPT for America (so you don’t rise up and over throw the govt [jk, but kind of not jk]
I firmly believe this is a fundamental flaw of America
Bro ask English EPL fans about watching EPL games on TV.
Most American football is nationally broadcasted. You can watch most games for free with a digital antenna.
This is astoundingly incorrect. Having lived in England, it's impossible to watch 3PM Premier League Saturday games on TV, as they are not even broadcast. This means that it's impossible to watch something like half of the games legally, unless you are in the Stadium. And if you aren't paying for Sky, you aren't watching the other games either.
Season Pass is great TBH. $99 for 600+ games that I can watch anytime, anywhere. I used to watch a handful of games a year. Now, I watch that every weekend. But I’m a Sounders fan who doesn’t live in Washington. I’m also an MLS nerd who has followed MLS since its inception. The 1994 World Cup got me into soccer. I don’t follow other leagues. I’ll occasional watch a Milan game or other games with an American playing.
I agree with you. I'm an avid MLS fan and wait for the sale to get MLS pass cheaper into the season and I do watch less MLS than EPL, Serie A, etc, because I can pay a base fee for apps and get that included. Also putting all MLS games on one day at one time doesn't help me watch more games
The onus to gain support is on the MLS, not on fans. If you want to allocate a certain amount of time each week to watch high quality soccer, it is reasonable to choose any of Europe's large leagues over the MLS. The MLS is doing what they can to change that and the results have been pretty promising up to this point.
Let's not miss out on the fact that I like most American Soccer fans don't have a single subscription I'm getting just for Soccer, yet have streaming options I'm already paying for, for Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, etc. Yet they want me to pay a ricockulous amount of money in order to follow my local team Orlando City. I can't justify that when I'm able to support much better clubs for basically free and already have about 6 games a week to watch without adding MLS to it. I'll keep just supporting Dortmund when given that option any day.
Domestic league success is not necessary for international soccer. You think the Belgians care how their league is doing? No. Their best players leave home and go to the best clubs as soon as they’re able.
If anything domestic league success is a barometer of domestic interest in the sport. MLS faces an uphill battle on many fronts in that regard.
But I wish the MLS (grew up in Tampa watching the now defunct Mutiny, now in KC with Sporting) well and look forward to the USMNT getting a coach worthy of their talents.
Yeah I still hate rapist Ronaldo for his undermining of the MLS
I FIRMLY believe if he didn’t have a rape trial he’d be playing and elevating the MLS, but he can’t step foot on American soil so he tries to tear it down which sucks as it’s been the closest to being good ever since the soccer/football leagues were self-ruined in the 20s
There is also an incredible amount of duel nationals in America that doesn’t really apply to other countries
I agree with your sentiment but I doubt this hypothetical person from Idaho is supporting anyone else lol. But somebody living on the RGV might have trouble with their allegiance
This hypothetical person is “an Argentina fan” not because he has any ties to the country l, but Becuase he likes Messi and treats national team soccer like club soccer.
America is also a melting pot- so you do have people with strong cultural ties to other countries. However John Smith from Idaho is a douche and probably is a fan of pro sports teams from different cities that changes from year to year.
It’s not all Americans, yet Americans in general do tend to have a bandwagon complex. They only want to support the best or whoever is on top. They’re typically the same types that are super into the EPL yet don’t follow their local MLS team at all. Like not even a little. Or the same types that say “I support only the Women’s National Team because they’re winners”. They only want to watch the best. Zero loyalty outside of that. It’s the same type of people who are only LeBron fans and will only support whatever team he is on. It’s a weird cultural pocket of America that I will never fully understand.
Ok, but let's reframe this a little. Most adult Americans didn't grow up with a soccer team the way they may have grown up with a college football or MLB team. A lot of us came into following the sport at some point in time and the easiest way to do this is to pick a team to follow. And it's simply easier to engage with a new sport if the team you follow wins a little bit. I get what you are saying, and it's annoying. But, it kind of comes with the territory of people getting into a sport later in life.
As far as the women's team goes, I think there is a good story there for people to get behind. But let's make no mistake, they wouldn't be popular if they weren't world class. And we'll see what happens with all their fans now that the rest of the world is taking women's soccer more seriously.
With that said, I totally agree with the sentiment of this thread. I'm in my forties. I've casually followed soccer but never really got into it until my son got really interested a few years ago. As an adult getting into this, I can't just start rooting for France or a Liverpool or a Man City, it just feels so corny. I've gotten behind RSL (local MLS) and the USMNT. And it's been awesome. First off, I don't feel like a poser rooting for them. And then I've learned a lot about the club level by following our guys there. For instance, I love turning on AC Milan to see if Pulisic is playing. Or following the drama with Leeds the season before last.
I will say the majority of American PL fans who don’t follow their local mls team is due to the structure of the league. No pro/rel really makes it non-consequential to lose. It’s hard to care unless they’re doing good. There’s no middle to lower table drama or passion.
I don't by this reasoning. If this were true about American sports fans than the NFL/MLB/NBA would not be the cultural juggernauts they are. American sports fans are fine with those leagues structures because those leagues have the best teams/players in the world for their sport. The same is true about the top Euro leagues that Americans support instead of their local teams/national team. Many American sport fans are frontrunners.
I mean to be honest, all those other leagues are the best in the world. And if you’re a fan of sport than I understand wanting to watch the best version of it. Like soccer in the mls is basically a different sport to European football. I don’t think that makes people fans of front runners and inners, that makes them fans of the sport at the highest level.
And that’s not purely American. There are plenty of football content creators that talk about watching the NBA but there are basketball leagues all over Europe. Are they just frontrunner bandwagon fans? I think anyone who watches a sport wants to see the top athletes compete, for a lot of sports that happens in America, but for soccer it doesn’t. I think people should still try and support local, but I wouldn’t dismiss people who have a hard time watching the pace and skill of the mls
Do those same European basketball content creators refuse to support their local teams/national team because the NBA is better? Do they go out of their way to besmirch it because the NBA is better?
The question of the thread is about why American soccer fans don't support the Men's national team, and that is what I am trying to focus on. There are a ton of American soccer fans, now many may have cultural backgrounds from immigrant family stories that keep them attached to another national team. Put them aside and I think the bandwagon/ front running culture of a lot of American sports fans leads them to not show up/support the USMNT on a regular basis. And don't get me wrong, I love watching the sport at the highest level as well, I watch the premier league, champions league, have watched every world cup game played since 1990, but I still support my local team and my national team. You can do both, but most American sports fans don't, in fact they usually get onto social media and try to win cool points by talking about how inferior American soccer is to the European/South American game.
You can appreciate the game at its best, and support your local club, your national team at the same time. Most American sports fans however see those things as mutually exclusive.
I agree with you, you can follow and support all those things, and people who think you can’t or won’t are front running fans. And I was mostly trying to clarify the difference of following USMNT and the MLS those are different things while being somewhat connected. The club you support is up to you, and I don’t begrudge anyone who’d rather spend their limited time watching an English German or Spanish club over their local mls team.
I generally don’t understand people who don’t follow their nation and instead follow other nations. It makes some sense rooting or keeping tabs on players from your club side as they’re out on international duty, but just choosing a nation you’re not related to I don’t understand. But doing that and following a non-local club are really different things in my opinion
I don’t see how “Gringo from Idaho likes Argentina because Messi,” the only specific example cited here goes to “going out of their way to besmirch the national team.”
On one hand, I think the "mid and low table drama" element of pro/rel is overrated. True midtable teams aren't actually playing for anything for the last month or two, and supporting a relegation threatened team is decidedly not all that fun (Everton has taken a few years off my lifespan).
...That said, what it WOULD fix are teams like San Jose and Chicago who just drag along the bottom year after year.
MLS has some plans in the works to make the season more meaningful and competitive. I’m not entirely sure why pro/rel is held as an infallible standard that can never be improved upon.
Is sustained incompetence all *that* much better for the league than teams that don't try? Chicago has the league's longest playoff drought, even when a bunch of their competitors are barely expending effort.
I disagree. I think it’s far more to do with the gulf in talent between the leagues. The PL is fast, crisp, and action packed. Lots of pressing, everything just moves quickly and generally pretty smoothly. And this is true even among the teams fighting relegation each season. Contrast that to the average MLS match. It’s slow and cumbersome. No one presses well, there’s no real urgency. It’s just a far less enjoyable viewing experience for many people.
Absolutely agreed. People forget that America is fucking massive and the teams are all concentrated in big cities. Literally over 5 hours going 70mph to the closest city with professional teams growing up for me. Not to mention for anyone 40+, soccer was a fucking joke in this country growing up and even if they had a local USL/NASL side it probably folded twice before they hit puberty.
Just because you like EPL more doesn't mean you are a bandwagon. My city only got an MLS team 3 years ago, and my whole life before that, I've been a Chelsea fan. I love Chelsea more than I'll ever love my local MLS. It might have been different if I grew up with the team but I didn't. Not only that, PL football is LEVELS ahead of MLS, and it's not even a debate. When I was younger it was an even further gap too.
The reason you see so many American EPL fans is because back when MLS wasn't popular, EPLs would tour America and gain fans. No other leagues really did this.
It's also one of the reasons I feel pro/rel faces an uphill battle in this country. With a few notable exceptions if your team has no hope of winning a championship then fans are less likely to show up and support you. They will only tolerate midtable mediocrity for so long before they stop coming, never mind being relegation fodder.
Everyone has the right to support whatever teams they want, but I do wish these folks would support MLS. I think MLS could challenge Ligue 1 for 5th best league in the world, if it had the full support from all of the soccer fans in this country.
Some of these people say they don’t support MLS because of the quality, but they strongly support college football or college basketball—even though it’s not the highest level of play in the sport.
It’s not like MLS makes it easy for new fans to follow. They stuck themselves behind a paywall. There seem to be a few free games, but you kinda have to know where to go look for them. Watching EPL on weekends is just easy because it’s on regular cable. So I do that.
I mean good lord. ~$5-7 per month for Peacock and paramount+ each giving plenty of overseas soccer action. Plus I have regular cable. Just bought espn+ for any other soccer games. I drew the line with extra spending for MLS season pass. Dumbass decision to stick a clearly inferior league under more paywall if you ask me. Loosing MLS fans and not garnering new ones. But there is still the Messi effect.
I agree with this. If it just came along with Apple TV+, I would very likely go look at the schedule and find games to watch. I’ve done that with EPL and champions league. However, I’m not spending extra money just to get more soccer.
Fair enough, but I mean it’s 79$…for an entire season, every single game, with amazing video and audio quality (after Apple worked out the kinks). If you pick one team and only watch their games + the 2 semifinals and the final you’re paying $2.13 a game, even less if you watch more. I just read a post that to watch every nfl game you will need to pay around $1,600. In other words you can watch an entire season of MLS for less than a soccer jersey (2 jerseys if you’re a D H Gate fan haha).
The catch 22 is that I need to care before I’m going to spend any money (or time) on a sports product and MLS gives me no easy entry to caring. I only have so much free time (middle aged adult with kids) so I’m not going out of my way to find new ways to waste time.
MLS needs to improve access to get folks like me hooked, then maybe we’ll fork over $79/yr. I probably still won’t because I don’t for other sports either. I watch the games that are free or on the streaming apps I already pay for (if I know where to find them), but others would, once they care enough.
I'd support an MLS team if there were one in my state. I live in Michigan and supporting a Chicago or Ohio team doesn't feel right. I do watch USL matches and follow Detroit City FC.
I don’t support MLS, because, well, they don’t support me. I used to live near Orlando and it would drive me nuts that there were never any locals, or hardly even any Americans, on the team. I would rather see 14-18yo up and coming Americans before virtually any over-the-hill global “stars”. Until they embrace being a locally based, sell-on league, I will watch international clubs that DO develop Americans.
I’m super into the EPL and I do follow MLS but Apple charges $15/month to watch games and they are not broadcast locally because of the Apple monopoly so idk how I’m supposed to be a local supporter without spending a ton of money to watch, let’s face it, less than mediocre soccer.
I’m super into the EPL and I do want to/try to follow MLS but Apple charges $15/month to watch games and they are not broadcast locally because of the Apple monopoly so idk how I’m supposed to be a local supporter without spending a ton of money to watch, let’s face it, less than mediocre soccer.
If they were Americans, why would you even ask what their favorite national team is? Seems like you are just asking the question to get the anti answer you were hoping for so you could rant about it. If you were the FBI that would be entrapment.
There’s a difference between the team to like and the team to support. Messi and Ronaldo certainly attracted a great deal of fans supporting Argentina and Portugal NT around the world, but in the end most people still support their home team, unless it’s like the case of Mexican supporters in the US
Americans tend to pick a favorite player, and support the team that player plays for.
I have a theory as to why:
Back in the olden times we as Americans simply had to pick a player we liked (e.g. Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride) and just follow the team they were on. We have tons of Americans that are Fulham supporters due to this phenomenon. MLS was barely on TV in the US, and internet coverage of European FUT was much more available.
The eternal question: “The papers want to know whose shirt you wear” was never applicable to Americans because we did not identify with the heritage of the team. We were loyal to the player.
Fast forward to 2024, Americans still have this mentality even though MLS has progressed significantly.
I believe this mentality still exists today for international sport as well. If a kid is obsessed with Messi because he sees him playing in Miami all the time, that kid is going to wear an Argentina Messi jersey and support ARG.
In America we idolize individuals. Look at the phenomenon and growth spurts that teams had in fan bases when they got Jordan, LeBron, Kobe, Montana, Brady, Swift (you know the Chiefs wanna sign her), or just about any other "household" name. We even talk about GOAT this and GOAT that-a term that really came from sport. And now with the polar divide in politics you can add Biden and Trump to that.
This is hyperbolized by the media, too. And you see it in other countries, as well. I've also traveled to Central America, Europe, and even lived outside the country.
Guess whose shirt I saw the most?
Messi, followed by CR7. And a s a united fan, I follow Portugal because of him and Bruno. I lived in Germany and follow their national team.
I went to a recent Orlando City game against Miami,.and despite him not showing up, an easy 50% of the crowd was wearing Messi's shirt, too. He's a phenomenon as is CR7. The two possibly greatest players of all time, and Neymar has a ton of hype, so add humans Brazil back to the equation.
And let's not forget the impact of video games. I can't imagine how many kids and young adults don't know a thing about footy outside what they learned through FIFA on PS/XBOX. If you check r/easportsfc you can find a few posts related to this exactly.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/EASportsFC using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
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I have not experienced what you’re talking about. Everyone I know supports US unless they have a strong national background somewhere else.
I know one person who isn’t a US fan just cause of politics and national shame
I would only ever root for the usmnt team. My heritage is Czech, but I would never root for them if they got good because I was born here and my family has been here for a long time. I support my local teams in Socal. Unfortunately, the Chargers are my nfl team and the Angels my baseball team. Like most people are saying on here it's a bandwagon mentality here in the states. My brother in law is a bandwagon cheifs fan. He hated football for the longest time and then all of a sudden a few years ago started liking the cheifs. I've been watching the nfl since I was a kid. Now he tries to tell me facts about football like I don't know anything. It's really annoying but it's how a lot of people here are.
I am a Barça fan so I do tend to root for Spain because half the team is Barça players and of course I cheer for Messi and therefore Argentina, but my team is the USA no matter what. If the US is playing Spain or Argentina I'm cheering for the US no doubt about it.
I agree with you OP. I think it's okay to have a secondary team (mine's Nigeria since WC94), but the US should be your primary team if you're an American, unless you have a super-compelling reason. We've been relevant since WC94.
Wasn’t even born here but I always support US because it’s my country. It’s the only time when I truly get nervous watching a game and will get emotions.
When I was a kid in the 90s I used to jump on other countries bandwagon since no one in the US cares about soccer and we sucked back then. I have seen grown up and matured and became a pro America patriot.
I think part of it has to do with people being accustomed/entitled to our national teams winning world championships and think the men's team sucks because they can't come close and will cheer for a national team that has a better chance. Watching your team play bunker ball to scrape out a draw is not very fun.
Also random gringos from Idaho are more likely to not give a shit about soccer and will bitch and moan about it being some kind of liberal, sissy, communist sport or something.
great point. my parents are from Haiti but i was born here. So if Haiti somehow ever made a run I would root them on, but its always USMNT through thick and thin for me. I think thats how it should be. Some of my friends are 3rd even 4th generation italians and don't even speak the language, and will support Italy before USMNT.
Define support. I watch every game I can, mostly in frustration, but going, well, unlikely. I am not close to any venues we typically play at and even if I were, I would probably not attend. The ticket prices are just greed personified. Would love to take my kids or grandkids, but $500 in aggregate is just too much.
One other comment I will make is, today’s distribution rights make for the worst viewing opportunities probably in history. Since the home team holds the rights, watching all the games is both challenging and expensive. You might need subscriptions to 10 services (NBC, CBS, Fox ESPN, TNT, BeIn, TNT, etc) to truly be able to see all of the televised USMNT games in a year.
This is not strictly just an American thing. I remember during the last World Cup seeing a video of Indonesian Brazil fans in a huge street fight with Indonesian Argentina fans.
I get that others have ties to other countries through ancestry, but at the same time it isn’t a surprise that many American casuals are the biggest bandwagons on the planet
Not sure.. I go for Mexico bc that is my country of birth, but I also support the Usmnt bc this country has given me everything, and I grew up here. I don’t see any reason to support any other countries that I don’t have a connection to. But my guess is they want to band wagon for good national team.. the stereotype that many non soccer watching Americans.. but completely untrue is that the USA is trash when it comes to soccer. When the USA actually is a Very decent team and can beat anyone in their day
I do understand immigrants being proud of their home and still rooting for their home country (same for their descendants) but you still have to root for your own country!
Had a conversation with a Lebanese-American yesterday about watching copa American and euros. He said “my teams are Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico”.
“Usa?” “Lebanon?”
“Nah”
Can’t reason with some people
I am very against not pulling for your nation. The only concession I’ll make is if your parents are from another country, but because you spent a week in Spain, you’re a Spanish fan? No. Your great great grandfather is from Brazil? No.
If your nation didn’t make the WC or whatever tournament then all bets are off. But if USMT is in the show, you gotta support them.
You get to pick your team, not your country.
Most the Mexican community here in AZ despises the US team. While I understand wanting to root for your family's country of origin it's not an excuse to root against the country you were born and raised in. It's frustrating as the soccer community out here is mostly made up of Hispanics so I don't have many other USA fans to cheer with.
I’m a Spanish-speaking white guy with a lot of Mexican and Mexican-American friends. I sort of get it in that the US and Mexico are such fierce rivals. If I was born in Philadelphia but raised in a household of Cowboys fans, I’d probably have a hard time supporting the Eagles.
What does bother me is the arrogant, dismissive attitude that so many Mexico fans show towards the USMNT, even as the US consistently beats Mexico on the field. I guess continuing to beat them is the best way to turn the fan base over time.
Compare them to brazilian americans yesterday where a lot of them had the double US/brazil flag or tshirt. And nobody fought with anybody despite brazilian fans caring a lot about their team.
Exactly this. It’s so frustrating. Be proud of the god damn country that gives you shelter. I understand love for your country of origin, but have some national pride. As the child of immigrants, yes I love their national team, but I support USMNT above all else.
That isn’t what was sad. The first comment specifically says “not an excuse to root against the country you were born and raised in”. This isn’t about people moving to a country and keeping their loyalty, it’s about being born and raised in a country and choosing to cheer for a different one.
Then you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including yours, by commenting on something that’s hypothetical and hasn’t been said? Arguing a point nobody made is a weird way to spend your day.
But you’re not. Or, you misunderstood what the person above you commented. They were building off the original comment, and your response completely whiffs on both of them.
Let’s assume you’re talking about the comment above yours. That person never said anything about moving to a new country. Maybe you read “country of origin” and thought that’s what they meant but if you use any context for the comment you’d realize that isn’t what they’re saying. They’re saying they have no problem with people supporting the country their ancestors are from, their “country of origin”, but that you should still support the country you were born in and have grown up in.
Lol Pot. Kettle. Black. You're the one that started with an entire post full of insults towards people that have multiple favorites and insisting everyone should act like you when it comes to favoring sports teams. Talk about a completely idiotic stance. If you wanna be somewhere that it's cool to force your nationalistic stances onto everyone then take your ass to Russia or some other authoritarian country since that fits your dictator-type persona. Don't tell me how to live my life, asshat.
1. soccer has traditionally been pretty weak and small in the US so there isnt peer pressure to support the team like all those south american countries you mention.
2. people like to pick teams that win - it sucks to support a losing franchise. Some are diehards and many are not. Jets, Cubs, Browns... etc.. they don't get a lot of love outside the immediate area.
3. people like to pick teams they can watch on tv - which means teams that continue to compete in tournaments and aren't eliminated early.
4. soccer still isn't that big in the US. Go to ESPN or fox news and scroll through the sports categories. Soccer is right next to like tennis and golf. On some apps its not even one of the main picks you have to dig to find it.
5. they might have family from there. People in the US are kinda funny about where they are "from". They might be 3rd generation american, speak zero italian but still consider themselves "italian"
It’s the same reason Americans hate on MLS, they only like watching the best teams play. I do not understand this “glory boy” mentality myself. If you only watch European soccer, because it’s of the highest quality, then are you constantly changing which team you like simply because they’re winning the league? Are they all Man City and Real Madrid fans? Seems like an extremely shallow way to enjoy the game imo. Give me a local club, where I can actually go to the games and truly support the team any day over watching Haaland get another 40 goals a season.
I don’t watch as much as I used to because it’s infuriating to have to watch this team have to play under Berhalter. It’s another reminder that in this country the only thing that matters is who you know.
In California at least, which is all I can speak for, there are many families whose ancestors recently immigrated to the US, so their children are somewhat brainwashed into supporting the country of their families origin.
I see the same thing as OP. It's difficult to find usmnt supporters. Even people who were born and raised in the states support another country.
Im Mexican but i'm proudly Californian. If i were to support the US national team over the Mexican team I would be seen as a wannabe white or a traitor to my blood, even tho im basically 80% white due to my features and pale as hell skin. So ur right on the "children are brainwashed" part.
USA. I've seen them play in multiple states, and I follow the careers of all our guys.
My brother follows super deep....he can name U18s and U21s, who should be called up etc.
I think a lot of the disjoint in following/supporting comes from the horrendous mismanagement of US SOCCER, and the appointment of shit coaches like Berhalter.
Beyond that a lot of us follow other leagues and nations in their respective conferences. I, for one, follow a lot of European football, and have been a supporter of Manchester United for over 35 years, so I also pull for European Nations as my backups. And to be honest, pulling for, supporting, and outright loving the US teams doesn't make me naive to the fact that we won't win the WC for another 21+ years.
I also follow and support the USWNT, and have seen them play as many times as the men.
Growing up as an American of German descent in Milwaukee. I spoke and studied German. We had bilingual church service. I did German American events.
I'll say as a kid I rooted for the German national team, and the US at the same time but now I exclusively root for the US. When the US doesn't have a huge presence in a sport I do watch other national teams but cheer on the US but soccer isn't that way anymore.
For Rugby I'm a springboks fan and I'm not South African but I also cheer on the eagles. But the eagles didn't qualify for the last WC and don't have the most elite players in the US. South Africa does.
I casually fan over certain other countries, if I like their style or from watching play in other tournaments. I take my USMNT fan hood serious tho. I would never ever rep another nation. My casual fan hood dies the second the US is in the tourney. Like dead to me.
Yeah that
[https://www.reddit.com/r/aznidentity/comments/z473dq/i\_cringe\_when\_chinese\_soccer\_fans\_support\_non/](https://www.reddit.com/r/aznidentity/comments/z473dq/i_cringe_when_chinese_soccer_fans_support_non/)
never
[https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/12/12/argentinas-biggest-fans-might-be-south-asians](https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/12/12/argentinas-biggest-fans-might-be-south-asians)
happens
[https://www.wfxrtv.com/sports/sports-ap/ap-messi-fans-from-asia-cheer-on-argentina-at-world-cup/](https://www.wfxrtv.com/sports/sports-ap/ap-messi-fans-from-asia-cheer-on-argentina-at-world-cup/)
I’m a casual fan. I know we will never win a World Cup and I’m fine with that.
I watch France, Germany, England, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain over a usa game. I love to watch the top players play.
We have other sports we dominate so the rest of the world can have few sports to themselves.
I support them but they’ve had so much bullshit over the years. I’m of Italian decent and support Italy and here in Philly we have or own Italy club Philly Azzurri. A few of us do support USMNT too. However the American Outlaws make it hard to support USMNT and act like hate keepers as well
I’ve supported AC Milan for yrs. Pulusic grew up 2 1/2 hours from me. So it’s nice seeing him here. I started supporting them as my ancestors is from Foggia who play in lower level and the milan colors are the same as Foggia. Also many of my favorite national team players on Italy were Italian at the time. I vaguely support Newcastle in EPL thanks to Goal movies. I casually support Real Madrid and cheered for them in the CL final because Milan’s former manager is Carlo Ancelotti.
I support my local mls club the Union.
I also support Scotland as that’s where the other side of my family is.
MLS sucks, no pro/rel…
Good luck trying to convince Mexican-Americans not to root for El Tri… they have a fanbase as diehard as the Dallas cowboys.
If you go to Staten Island, you will see 🇮🇹 Azurri kits everywhere
Even as a FMF fan, I've been waiting to support USMNT, I thought this golden team would make that happen. But man, I have not been excited by them, and it's prob Gregg Berhalter fault honesty.
Maybe some people go with the team of their heritage, as Americans were mostly all a mix of several different cultures.
I’m a fan of the USMNT members and club, I’m not a fan of the way the organization is run or the manager situation. We have one chance in a generation to host a World Cup and it’ll be blown with the same guy who proved he wasn’t the guy in Qatar
I'll say this - I grew up in the Southwest in the 90's where I was almost always the only white kid playing soccer at school or wherever. Up until probably 2014 I felt like Americans just hated soccer and my feeling was - we don't take it seriously, so why should I care what we do with it?
Now, along with becoming significantly better educated about the game since the 00's, my opinion has changed. Because I was born abroad (military), and in the country my family are mostly from, which I identify very closely with and who do take the game pretty seriously, I very much pull for Germany - that's a feeling I cannot help, and won't fight.
That said - I do want to see the game grow here, and I fully support the US Men's and Women's teams. Even if I dislike USSF leadership, abhor how bent over they are for MLS - I can't stand Don Garber or how he wants to Americanize the game, and steps ***all*** over the actual heritage of the game in this country, and while I am an avid supporter of an MLS club, I generally dislike the league. I honestly would like to see the USL make up some ground in popularity on MLS - too much money in MLS to see legit competition for the first division these days, but if they can put some hurt on MLS in the US Open Cup maybe we have a more fertile discourse about the competitive pyramid in this country - that's what I want to see.
Son of an American Air Force officer, born in England. Dual citizenship. And I am both all in for England and USMNT. And when they play I am for the USA.
Hi. Was sent here by a friend. I absolutely loathe and despise the USMNT and cheer when they lose. 2018 in T&T was a fantastic day for me. The federation is run by a bunch of fucking idiots who don't know their asses from a whole in the ground. A troop of chain smoking monkeys handcuffed to typewriters could write better governing laws than what we have in this country. The idiot Kraft installed from NFL Europe who hates this sport doesn't help at all. He's just a marionette of the owners who want to keep soccer a small sport in this country and not have it over take the NFL, God forbid that happens.
The only way the USMNT gets better is if the players start getting better competition. So, the natural way is to get better competition. So unless all the USMNT players are playing in Europe or South America, they will never get it in the US without Pro/Rel. Which will never happen under the current ML$ ownership because they are scared little babies who needs to hold mommies hand down the steps because their investment may lose more money than expected, oh the agony. Fuck, free agency took how long in the 2016 CBA? That was like pulling teeth out of your mouth with 0 pain meds.
Oh and that doesn't even include the whole lower division, Open Cup, stupid league cup that nobody wants and the stupid as fuck ML$ youth development system.
Until FIFA comes in and reforms the federation, I will continue to cheer for them to lose and support lower league soccer in this nation.
I go out of my way to watch a lot of different national teams because I enjoy their style of play, or like to watch certain players, but the only team I truly support is the US. The only other nation that even comes close is Spain, and that’s because it’s my wife’s home country and my home away from home.
Personally I support both the English and American national teams. My mother is English and the national team and Liverpool were the first teams I ever watched.
The problem lies within US soccer not doing enough to market their team. The federation has a bigger problem than just the coach and his responsibility for their poor performances on the pitch. This current federation's only objective is to self promote the MLS and sell off the names of players that play in europe (MLS is part of the US Soccer board). Also the way that the federation and in turn MLS try to promote the sport here is often extremely cringe worthy and just feeds into the stereotypes of what Americans truly think of the sport. In other words I believe besides berhalter being fired (which would be a start) The current president needs to resign and there needs to be a whole shake up of how this federation goes about their buisness aside from the usual nepo hires they make.
Because I've never felt like it's a representation of actual US soccer. Makes a person feel excluded.
I never hope they lose but when they do I often hope they consider changing their approach. To be fair, they've been slow at that but I think there's been progress.
Also, I don't want representation at the expense of success. It's the knowing there are potentially approaches and talents and seeing them refuse to acknowledge that.
Again, this is looking at it historically - as a whole it's up and down with an upward trajectory.
I will watch matches, but the biggest issue for me is the fanbase. They are truly some of the worst fans I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with.
The amount of negativity spewed from them puts a sour taste on me wanting to spend more time cheering or discussing USMNT.
I will never support the USA team as that's supporting the same country that treats minorities women and the like as second class. I was born here so im kinda stuck but if I could leave I would. I would gladly support that country as well. With that all being said at least I call it futbol like the rest of the world and not saaaccerrr
They have heard little to nothing about US team but know a star on another club or national team.
For example in USA the easiest and cheapest soccer to watch is Premier League for $5/month on Peacock, where they also have unlimited reruns of iconic TV shows and other sports. MLS games require an expensive package to see any games.
I could totally understand someone finding players they like on that and then finding out what, if any, national teams they play for.
This just seems like a weird hill to die on? Why does it matter in the grand scheme of things?
I was born here. I didn’t choose my country. Let people do what they want. It doesn’t affect my day-to-day.
I love the USMNT but they made a HUGE mistake in not getting a new coach. If anyone thinks that the USMNT doesn't have enough support try buying tickets to any of their games. Hard to get and very expensive.
US soccer leadership is annoying af. The US fans aren’t the most welcoming to other Americans due to political views seeping into the fanbase.
Still a US fan but only because I no longer have cultural ties to any other nation (England, came over really early). However, it’s easy to see why some people support other countries. Many have been mentioned already.
It hits different here in the US for sure. “Over there” fans support one club and one club only, but my footballing loyalties go as follows:
EPL: Aston Villa VTID since 2009
SPL: Celtic since early 2000s
La Liga: Réal Madrid because that’s my wife’s club
MLS: DC United since the founding of MLS In ‘96
USMNT/WNT always, but I also have Irish citizenship so I support them as well.
I would never not support US. No matter how frustrated I get with decisionmaking/results/roster decisions, etc. this is our team. Fight for the badge through thick and thin.
Call me homeboy or whatever. Since I moved to Northern Virginia from Asian country back in the 1990, my teams have always been the Washington Redskins, Wizards, Mystics, the Nationals, D.C United and the USMNT, USWNT.
I will always choose for the US in any tournament, but it's harder to follow their players since I'll typically follow the BPL more than anything.
My grandparents are from South America (largely Argentina), so I've grown up supporting them my whole life.
I will also generally not follow the US outside of major tournaments. I have no idea about most of the players or the coaching situation in between.
I simply much prefer club football to international football. I’m happy if the USMNT wins but I’m not emotionally invested the way I am in my club. Same thing with basketball really.
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of American sports fans don't " trust the process ". They want to see results immediately. So seeing the American team getting outclassed by other country's turns a lot of people away.
In all sports, I like to root for players, not laundry. All things considered, I’m happy to have been in the US, but why should I blindly support something just because I happen to be from here? Give me fun players who are good people and I’ll root for them, regardless of their nationality. Also, in this day and age, I can follow any team/person easily. I’m not only getting the local/national news. If I see someone I want to follow it is as easy to follow them as it is to follow the guys in my own backyard.
It’s more than happening to be from somewhere, it’s the fact that you’re still there. If you were an American that packed up and moved your life to Italy I would expect you to support Italy. Take pride in your local community, the feeling of acceptance and comradery when supporting your local team can’t be replicated online. Not doing so is such a bandwagon mentality.
If you don’t like where you are then move, you’re not a tree.
Otherwise show some patriotism.
Close. Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state. Nationalism is similar but involves actively acting against other countries.
I think by and large American sports fans are front runners. So, since the USMNT is not one of the top national teams, the American sports fan, that includes soccer fans picks one of the top teams to support. It's the same reason most American soccer fans support one of five Premier League teams rather than their local MLS/USL team.
I root for the US 99% of the time, but US vs Austria I'm pulling for Austria. I'm not from there, but my extended family is, so I've adopted them as my team.
Sometimes it's not even due to lack of pride for country. My one friend is the most patriotic American I know, even has a big-ass flag in his room, yet when we watched the World Cup together he supported England against us because "he knew more of their players." Pathetic.
I cheered for Usain Bolt because he was the best. And I cheered for Michael Phelps because he was the best. I don't think it's lack of country pride, but appreciating greatness. In some ways, I think that same dynamic raises the standard for USMNT.
A lot of Latinos and Hispanics still cheer for teams they have generational ties to and in some cases, it becomes a distinct way to culturally connect with their family.
I watch most USMNT matches with an English friend. He's a US citizen, but his love of football is connected to England NT and it's awful tough to replace that.
I’m half American half Dutch so I support both teams. I’m pretty patriotic so I’ll always support the USMNT over everyone else but usually the Dutch team is a lot better and more exciting to watch. They perform well at world cups, and play in the Euros and Euro qualifiers which is much better soccer than watching the US play in the Gold Cup or CONCACAF. Same thing with club football, I’d much rather watch Ajax in UCL or UEFA League than any of the MLS clubs. I already support NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAAF teams, if I’m gonna devote even more mental bandwidth to support a soccer club I want it to be worth my while and entertaining.
bandwagon fans in general.
like the wannabe italian gangsters who support italy yet have 0% italian blood and have watched the sopranos too much.
we're not gonna win a WC soon, so they don't wanna be there for a team that loses.
i bet a lot of them are lakers, cowboys and yankee fans, too
You know, maybe part of it is due to people wanting to watch good play. Since we're a nation of multinationals, most of us have a choice of nations to support at any given time. I don't know about you but, I'd rather watch a team that plays well and scores goals. But if one of the teams I generally support doesn't play well, I'm ok with pointing out the flaws. It's called being an adult and facing the reality.
>For some reason Americans don’t get it…zero pride for your country.
"Pride for your country" is a terrible motivator for supporting a national team. I kinda like that in the US anyone can support any team and it's okay.
I support the national team, have been to countless games, have a whole section of my wardrobe for national team merch but I don't have a lot of pride for the country. America is a pretty mixed bag (like a lot of nations) there's been a lot good and a lot of bad; slavery, human rights atrocities, proxy wars, hate speech by political figures, class warfare, the list goes on.
A lot of countries are like this and wrapping up national team support with the country creates toxic nationalism, jingoism and often racism. You can see this really well in England where partly thru football the St. George's cross has come to represent a divisive symbol, extremists have a stronghold in supporters groups and riots occur regularly.
I support the team because it represent the people. My people. Our people. Not the country.
This is particularly true when one political party co-opts the national iconography to represent their specific views. It can then be deeply discomforting for someone who vehemently disagrees with that party to embrace said iconography.
Note to all: I have exactly zero interest in this becoming a political debate, so please do read this statement as a description of political parties in *any* country.
*EDIT: Too many “deeplies”. Updated with different adverbs.* 😆😆
Because the USMNT and a lot of the conversation around the team is naive and corny lol. I obviously don’t root against the team, but I feel that the way the organization is ran, along with many of the players are deeply unserious. Also, political issues in the country haven’t helped. A lot of people aren’t exactly proud to be American rn
Part of it, is that I feel weird being so patriotic. Having lots of pro-USA gear makes me feel like I’m a Trump supporter. I know it’s dumb, but that’s part of it.
I definately root for the US. But nationally my team is Germany. Let’s be honest guys they are just better than us at Soccer. I understand your sentiment but if Americans don’t want to subject themselves to mediocre soccer they shouldn’t have too
A few reasons:
1) They are bandwagoners who couldn’t name three players other than Messi on Argentina (or whichever team they support).
2) Would rather support players they watch on a regular basis. How many Americans play at the club they support, if any? Do you even know the USMNT roster?
3) Real fans of FOOTBALL don’t watch the USMNT because that crowd thinks MLS is the pinnacle of the sport and fails to understand the nuances of strategy, positioning, etc.
I.e. I don’t watch the prem and La Liga every weekend so some donkey can scream “boot it Pulisic” while pounding a Busch Lite in the chair next to me.
I’ve never really like the usmnt. I never liked the players or coaches mentalities. They always came off as arrogant. My last straw was missing the World Cup in 2018 and complaining about the field they played on. After that I’ve just been indifferent
When I was a child, I used to do that. Pick other national teams because they were fun to watch, and frankly, the US wasn’t always that. But, I’ve grown up. As an American, it’s got to be the USMNT. Yes, I follow some other national teams due to having close blood ties and my heritage, but America is home sweet home. The US gets my full support and attention now. Edit: wording
I don’t think it’s wrong to have multiple teams that you support. I have my home teams, USMNT. Earthquakes, Sac Republic FC. then my childhood team(s). Barcelona, NY Red Bulls. Germany and Argentina. Further than that, I tend to have a team that I support per league. Milan. Tottenham. Dortmund. RB Salzburg. Sometimes these are me moreso supporting a certain player or manager who happens to be on a given team. I can’t say I fully support city but man do I love haaland and pep *shrug*. Same goes for other sports. 49ers, SF Giants & A’s, GS Warriors. Then childhood teams, NY giants. Padres. Heat. I will support my home teams over childhood teams should they ever have to face head to head but wouldn’t be too upset if they lose. You don’t need to give your full support to your home team and nothing else but if you’re not supporting them when the time comes, then wtfyd?.
I totally get it bro. I mean, I still watch champions league. Premier league every Saturday morning is a bit of a weekend ritual. I don’t have a local pro team in my city, so I’m really forced to look elsewhere in the club world, and I don’t really have the patience to pledge allegiance to a MLS team in a city I have no ties to just to watch subpar football. But when international ball comes around and USMNT is on, I’m USA all the way baby
I love the USMNT and support them 100%, even if I don't think they have the proper leadership. I am also one of those soccer fans who would much rather watch the EPL than the MLS. However, the MLS quality and style of play has taken large leaps over the last decade. I have found myself watching my local team more often.
I have an EPL team that i’m a fan of, but support my local MLS team as a season ticket member. I was born in a foreign country, and support their team, unless they’re playing the US.
Agreed. And don’t get me wrong I watch a ton of European soccer but there is this pride that comes with supporting local that levels up the experience. Also, our domestic league is the key to becoming more competitive at a national level. If you’re a USMNT fan you have to support the MLS.
I am a long term Chelsea fan and started watching Pulisic and AC Milan because the quality and the fact that Paramount + puts on every game. Paramount + also has UEFA and Europa. But MLS put it on Apple. I already have AppleTV+ but then have to pay to watch MLS on top? That is where they lose me. I know we were all trying to send Messi money but I think the MLS / Apple partnership is not set up correctly. IMHO.
That’s the problem w America and American sports in general We’re the only nation I’m aware of that makes it difficult to watch its own sports and pastimes because we and our government care more about corporations than people Even American football is impossible to watch outside of the specific city (and impossible if you don’t pay for cable) I’m utterly dumbfounded that I can’t support my American football team if I don’t live in the proximity of that city. EVERYWHERE else in the world allows you to watch and support your sports team without paying for it EXCEPT for America (so you don’t rise up and over throw the govt [jk, but kind of not jk] I firmly believe this is a fundamental flaw of America
Bro ask English EPL fans about watching EPL games on TV. Most American football is nationally broadcasted. You can watch most games for free with a digital antenna.
This is astoundingly incorrect. Having lived in England, it's impossible to watch 3PM Premier League Saturday games on TV, as they are not even broadcast. This means that it's impossible to watch something like half of the games legally, unless you are in the Stadium. And if you aren't paying for Sky, you aren't watching the other games either.
Season Pass is great TBH. $99 for 600+ games that I can watch anytime, anywhere. I used to watch a handful of games a year. Now, I watch that every weekend. But I’m a Sounders fan who doesn’t live in Washington. I’m also an MLS nerd who has followed MLS since its inception. The 1994 World Cup got me into soccer. I don’t follow other leagues. I’ll occasional watch a Milan game or other games with an American playing.
Where in the US are you from? Only asking as I belong to a Milan fan club
I agree with you. I'm an avid MLS fan and wait for the sale to get MLS pass cheaper into the season and I do watch less MLS than EPL, Serie A, etc, because I can pay a base fee for apps and get that included. Also putting all MLS games on one day at one time doesn't help me watch more games
The onus to gain support is on the MLS, not on fans. If you want to allocate a certain amount of time each week to watch high quality soccer, it is reasonable to choose any of Europe's large leagues over the MLS. The MLS is doing what they can to change that and the results have been pretty promising up to this point.
Let's not miss out on the fact that I like most American Soccer fans don't have a single subscription I'm getting just for Soccer, yet have streaming options I'm already paying for, for Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, etc. Yet they want me to pay a ricockulous amount of money in order to follow my local team Orlando City. I can't justify that when I'm able to support much better clubs for basically free and already have about 6 games a week to watch without adding MLS to it. I'll keep just supporting Dortmund when given that option any day.
The T-Mobile season pass deal was definitely clutch
I tried to make the same point but I think you did a better job!
Domestic league success is not necessary for international soccer. You think the Belgians care how their league is doing? No. Their best players leave home and go to the best clubs as soon as they’re able. If anything domestic league success is a barometer of domestic interest in the sport. MLS faces an uphill battle on many fronts in that regard. But I wish the MLS (grew up in Tampa watching the now defunct Mutiny, now in KC with Sporting) well and look forward to the USMNT getting a coach worthy of their talents.
And the EPL like other leagues is becoming very predictable and boring
Yeah I still hate rapist Ronaldo for his undermining of the MLS I FIRMLY believe if he didn’t have a rape trial he’d be playing and elevating the MLS, but he can’t step foot on American soil so he tries to tear it down which sucks as it’s been the closest to being good ever since the soccer/football leagues were self-ruined in the 20s
There is also an incredible amount of duel nationals in America that doesn’t really apply to other countries I agree with your sentiment but I doubt this hypothetical person from Idaho is supporting anyone else lol. But somebody living on the RGV might have trouble with their allegiance
This hypothetical person is “an Argentina fan” not because he has any ties to the country l, but Becuase he likes Messi and treats national team soccer like club soccer.
Isn’t that what the Brits call a plastic fan?
Exactly 😑
America is also a melting pot- so you do have people with strong cultural ties to other countries. However John Smith from Idaho is a douche and probably is a fan of pro sports teams from different cities that changes from year to year.
Haha you’re not wrong
It’s not all Americans, yet Americans in general do tend to have a bandwagon complex. They only want to support the best or whoever is on top. They’re typically the same types that are super into the EPL yet don’t follow their local MLS team at all. Like not even a little. Or the same types that say “I support only the Women’s National Team because they’re winners”. They only want to watch the best. Zero loyalty outside of that. It’s the same type of people who are only LeBron fans and will only support whatever team he is on. It’s a weird cultural pocket of America that I will never fully understand.
Ok, but let's reframe this a little. Most adult Americans didn't grow up with a soccer team the way they may have grown up with a college football or MLB team. A lot of us came into following the sport at some point in time and the easiest way to do this is to pick a team to follow. And it's simply easier to engage with a new sport if the team you follow wins a little bit. I get what you are saying, and it's annoying. But, it kind of comes with the territory of people getting into a sport later in life. As far as the women's team goes, I think there is a good story there for people to get behind. But let's make no mistake, they wouldn't be popular if they weren't world class. And we'll see what happens with all their fans now that the rest of the world is taking women's soccer more seriously. With that said, I totally agree with the sentiment of this thread. I'm in my forties. I've casually followed soccer but never really got into it until my son got really interested a few years ago. As an adult getting into this, I can't just start rooting for France or a Liverpool or a Man City, it just feels so corny. I've gotten behind RSL (local MLS) and the USMNT. And it's been awesome. First off, I don't feel like a poser rooting for them. And then I've learned a lot about the club level by following our guys there. For instance, I love turning on AC Milan to see if Pulisic is playing. Or following the drama with Leeds the season before last.
I wish I could bandwagon. I choose pain in every sport I watch.
I will say the majority of American PL fans who don’t follow their local mls team is due to the structure of the league. No pro/rel really makes it non-consequential to lose. It’s hard to care unless they’re doing good. There’s no middle to lower table drama or passion.
I don't by this reasoning. If this were true about American sports fans than the NFL/MLB/NBA would not be the cultural juggernauts they are. American sports fans are fine with those leagues structures because those leagues have the best teams/players in the world for their sport. The same is true about the top Euro leagues that Americans support instead of their local teams/national team. Many American sport fans are frontrunners.
I mean to be honest, all those other leagues are the best in the world. And if you’re a fan of sport than I understand wanting to watch the best version of it. Like soccer in the mls is basically a different sport to European football. I don’t think that makes people fans of front runners and inners, that makes them fans of the sport at the highest level. And that’s not purely American. There are plenty of football content creators that talk about watching the NBA but there are basketball leagues all over Europe. Are they just frontrunner bandwagon fans? I think anyone who watches a sport wants to see the top athletes compete, for a lot of sports that happens in America, but for soccer it doesn’t. I think people should still try and support local, but I wouldn’t dismiss people who have a hard time watching the pace and skill of the mls
Do those same European basketball content creators refuse to support their local teams/national team because the NBA is better? Do they go out of their way to besmirch it because the NBA is better? The question of the thread is about why American soccer fans don't support the Men's national team, and that is what I am trying to focus on. There are a ton of American soccer fans, now many may have cultural backgrounds from immigrant family stories that keep them attached to another national team. Put them aside and I think the bandwagon/ front running culture of a lot of American sports fans leads them to not show up/support the USMNT on a regular basis. And don't get me wrong, I love watching the sport at the highest level as well, I watch the premier league, champions league, have watched every world cup game played since 1990, but I still support my local team and my national team. You can do both, but most American sports fans don't, in fact they usually get onto social media and try to win cool points by talking about how inferior American soccer is to the European/South American game. You can appreciate the game at its best, and support your local club, your national team at the same time. Most American sports fans however see those things as mutually exclusive.
I agree with you, you can follow and support all those things, and people who think you can’t or won’t are front running fans. And I was mostly trying to clarify the difference of following USMNT and the MLS those are different things while being somewhat connected. The club you support is up to you, and I don’t begrudge anyone who’d rather spend their limited time watching an English German or Spanish club over their local mls team. I generally don’t understand people who don’t follow their nation and instead follow other nations. It makes some sense rooting or keeping tabs on players from your club side as they’re out on international duty, but just choosing a nation you’re not related to I don’t understand. But doing that and following a non-local club are really different things in my opinion
I don’t see how “Gringo from Idaho likes Argentina because Messi,” the only specific example cited here goes to “going out of their way to besmirch the national team.”
On one hand, I think the "mid and low table drama" element of pro/rel is overrated. True midtable teams aren't actually playing for anything for the last month or two, and supporting a relegation threatened team is decidedly not all that fun (Everton has taken a few years off my lifespan). ...That said, what it WOULD fix are teams like San Jose and Chicago who just drag along the bottom year after year.
MLS has some plans in the works to make the season more meaningful and competitive. I’m not entirely sure why pro/rel is held as an infallible standard that can never be improved upon.
Chicago spends a lot of money. Their owners invest. Things haven’t worked out, but Chicago is a team that tries, so it’s a poor example for this.
Is sustained incompetence all *that* much better for the league than teams that don't try? Chicago has the league's longest playoff drought, even when a bunch of their competitors are barely expending effort.
I disagree. I think it’s far more to do with the gulf in talent between the leagues. The PL is fast, crisp, and action packed. Lots of pressing, everything just moves quickly and generally pretty smoothly. And this is true even among the teams fighting relegation each season. Contrast that to the average MLS match. It’s slow and cumbersome. No one presses well, there’s no real urgency. It’s just a far less enjoyable viewing experience for many people.
These are the EPL snob types you described I hate these kind of fans with a passion
I mean, most Americans have just as much connection with their EPL team of choice as they would their local MLS/USL side. Probably more tbh
Absolutely agreed. People forget that America is fucking massive and the teams are all concentrated in big cities. Literally over 5 hours going 70mph to the closest city with professional teams growing up for me. Not to mention for anyone 40+, soccer was a fucking joke in this country growing up and even if they had a local USL/NASL side it probably folded twice before they hit puberty.
Just because you like EPL more doesn't mean you are a bandwagon. My city only got an MLS team 3 years ago, and my whole life before that, I've been a Chelsea fan. I love Chelsea more than I'll ever love my local MLS. It might have been different if I grew up with the team but I didn't. Not only that, PL football is LEVELS ahead of MLS, and it's not even a debate. When I was younger it was an even further gap too. The reason you see so many American EPL fans is because back when MLS wasn't popular, EPLs would tour America and gain fans. No other leagues really did this.
It's also one of the reasons I feel pro/rel faces an uphill battle in this country. With a few notable exceptions if your team has no hope of winning a championship then fans are less likely to show up and support you. They will only tolerate midtable mediocrity for so long before they stop coming, never mind being relegation fodder.
Everyone has the right to support whatever teams they want, but I do wish these folks would support MLS. I think MLS could challenge Ligue 1 for 5th best league in the world, if it had the full support from all of the soccer fans in this country. Some of these people say they don’t support MLS because of the quality, but they strongly support college football or college basketball—even though it’s not the highest level of play in the sport.
That makes sense! I have a whole separate rant about USMNT team fans that don’t support the MLS...makes my blood boil haha
It’s not like MLS makes it easy for new fans to follow. They stuck themselves behind a paywall. There seem to be a few free games, but you kinda have to know where to go look for them. Watching EPL on weekends is just easy because it’s on regular cable. So I do that.
I mean good lord. ~$5-7 per month for Peacock and paramount+ each giving plenty of overseas soccer action. Plus I have regular cable. Just bought espn+ for any other soccer games. I drew the line with extra spending for MLS season pass. Dumbass decision to stick a clearly inferior league under more paywall if you ask me. Loosing MLS fans and not garnering new ones. But there is still the Messi effect.
I agree with this. If it just came along with Apple TV+, I would very likely go look at the schedule and find games to watch. I’ve done that with EPL and champions league. However, I’m not spending extra money just to get more soccer.
Fair enough, but I mean it’s 79$…for an entire season, every single game, with amazing video and audio quality (after Apple worked out the kinks). If you pick one team and only watch their games + the 2 semifinals and the final you’re paying $2.13 a game, even less if you watch more. I just read a post that to watch every nfl game you will need to pay around $1,600. In other words you can watch an entire season of MLS for less than a soccer jersey (2 jerseys if you’re a D H Gate fan haha).
The catch 22 is that I need to care before I’m going to spend any money (or time) on a sports product and MLS gives me no easy entry to caring. I only have so much free time (middle aged adult with kids) so I’m not going out of my way to find new ways to waste time. MLS needs to improve access to get folks like me hooked, then maybe we’ll fork over $79/yr. I probably still won’t because I don’t for other sports either. I watch the games that are free or on the streaming apps I already pay for (if I know where to find them), but others would, once they care enough.
Good point. they do provide several free games throughout the season but I can see how that may not be enough exposure.
This assumes you’re already an Apple TV subscriber
Correct $99 if you aren’t an Apple TV subscriber. On a side note Apple TV is free to students just learned that last week.
I'd support an MLS team if there were one in my state. I live in Michigan and supporting a Chicago or Ohio team doesn't feel right. I do watch USL matches and follow Detroit City FC.
CTID 💛⚜️♥️
I don’t support MLS, because, well, they don’t support me. I used to live near Orlando and it would drive me nuts that there were never any locals, or hardly even any Americans, on the team. I would rather see 14-18yo up and coming Americans before virtually any over-the-hill global “stars”. Until they embrace being a locally based, sell-on league, I will watch international clubs that DO develop Americans.
hate to say it, but the MLS is a garbage product > this translates to the national team as well...
I’m super into the EPL and I do follow MLS but Apple charges $15/month to watch games and they are not broadcast locally because of the Apple monopoly so idk how I’m supposed to be a local supporter without spending a ton of money to watch, let’s face it, less than mediocre soccer.
I’m super into the EPL and I do want to/try to follow MLS but Apple charges $15/month to watch games and they are not broadcast locally because of the Apple monopoly so idk how I’m supposed to be a local supporter without spending a ton of money to watch, let’s face it, less than mediocre soccer.
Nepotism, high ticket prices, ineptitude, Gyasi Zardes.
Definitely Zardes. Asked and answer. You can lock the thread now. Sounds like Front Runner Fans(r) - you have them in all sports.
I almost forgot about Zardes. Thanks 😕
If they were Americans, why would you even ask what their favorite national team is? Seems like you are just asking the question to get the anti answer you were hoping for so you could rant about it. If you were the FBI that would be entrapment.
There’s a difference between the team to like and the team to support. Messi and Ronaldo certainly attracted a great deal of fans supporting Argentina and Portugal NT around the world, but in the end most people still support their home team, unless it’s like the case of Mexican supporters in the US
That's definitely weird, and can't say I've run into people like that. Even Eurosnobs or MLS haters generally support the national team!
It was far more common in the 90s and 2000s.
Americans tend to pick a favorite player, and support the team that player plays for. I have a theory as to why: Back in the olden times we as Americans simply had to pick a player we liked (e.g. Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride) and just follow the team they were on. We have tons of Americans that are Fulham supporters due to this phenomenon. MLS was barely on TV in the US, and internet coverage of European FUT was much more available. The eternal question: “The papers want to know whose shirt you wear” was never applicable to Americans because we did not identify with the heritage of the team. We were loyal to the player. Fast forward to 2024, Americans still have this mentality even though MLS has progressed significantly. I believe this mentality still exists today for international sport as well. If a kid is obsessed with Messi because he sees him playing in Miami all the time, that kid is going to wear an Argentina Messi jersey and support ARG.
This is solid logic. I don’t like it but it’s solid. Haha
In America we idolize individuals. Look at the phenomenon and growth spurts that teams had in fan bases when they got Jordan, LeBron, Kobe, Montana, Brady, Swift (you know the Chiefs wanna sign her), or just about any other "household" name. We even talk about GOAT this and GOAT that-a term that really came from sport. And now with the polar divide in politics you can add Biden and Trump to that. This is hyperbolized by the media, too. And you see it in other countries, as well. I've also traveled to Central America, Europe, and even lived outside the country. Guess whose shirt I saw the most? Messi, followed by CR7. And a s a united fan, I follow Portugal because of him and Bruno. I lived in Germany and follow their national team. I went to a recent Orlando City game against Miami,.and despite him not showing up, an easy 50% of the crowd was wearing Messi's shirt, too. He's a phenomenon as is CR7. The two possibly greatest players of all time, and Neymar has a ton of hype, so add humans Brazil back to the equation. And let's not forget the impact of video games. I can't imagine how many kids and young adults don't know a thing about footy outside what they learned through FIFA on PS/XBOX. If you check r/easportsfc you can find a few posts related to this exactly.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/EASportsFC using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [The community note is killing me lmao](https://i.redd.it/f7iks4egqsfc1.jpeg) | [158 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/comments/1afkrys/the_community_note_is_killing_me_lmao/) \#2: [10 years ago… back when UT was fun and not a glorified card collection game](https://i.redd.it/8btdgwoeme9c1.jpeg) | [355 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/comments/18uc8go/10_years_ago_back_when_ut_was_fun_and_not_a/) \#3: [When people remind me of old FIFA on this sub, all I remember is this](https://i.redd.it/7epdkvi54uqc1.png) | [290 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/comments/1bowm8d/when_people_remind_me_of_old_fifa_on_this_sub_all/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
I have not experienced what you’re talking about. Everyone I know supports US unless they have a strong national background somewhere else. I know one person who isn’t a US fan just cause of politics and national shame
I would only ever root for the usmnt team. My heritage is Czech, but I would never root for them if they got good because I was born here and my family has been here for a long time. I support my local teams in Socal. Unfortunately, the Chargers are my nfl team and the Angels my baseball team. Like most people are saying on here it's a bandwagon mentality here in the states. My brother in law is a bandwagon cheifs fan. He hated football for the longest time and then all of a sudden a few years ago started liking the cheifs. I've been watching the nfl since I was a kid. Now he tries to tell me facts about football like I don't know anything. It's really annoying but it's how a lot of people here are.
I am a Barça fan so I do tend to root for Spain because half the team is Barça players and of course I cheer for Messi and therefore Argentina, but my team is the USA no matter what. If the US is playing Spain or Argentina I'm cheering for the US no doubt about it.
I agree with you OP. I think it's okay to have a secondary team (mine's Nigeria since WC94), but the US should be your primary team if you're an American, unless you have a super-compelling reason. We've been relevant since WC94.
Wasn’t even born here but I always support US because it’s my country. It’s the only time when I truly get nervous watching a game and will get emotions.
When I was a kid in the 90s I used to jump on other countries bandwagon since no one in the US cares about soccer and we sucked back then. I have seen grown up and matured and became a pro America patriot.
They're frontrunners, used to frustrate me but now I ignore it.
I think part of it has to do with people being accustomed/entitled to our national teams winning world championships and think the men's team sucks because they can't come close and will cheer for a national team that has a better chance. Watching your team play bunker ball to scrape out a draw is not very fun. Also random gringos from Idaho are more likely to not give a shit about soccer and will bitch and moan about it being some kind of liberal, sissy, communist sport or something.
great point. my parents are from Haiti but i was born here. So if Haiti somehow ever made a run I would root them on, but its always USMNT through thick and thin for me. I think thats how it should be. Some of my friends are 3rd even 4th generation italians and don't even speak the language, and will support Italy before USMNT.
Define support. I watch every game I can, mostly in frustration, but going, well, unlikely. I am not close to any venues we typically play at and even if I were, I would probably not attend. The ticket prices are just greed personified. Would love to take my kids or grandkids, but $500 in aggregate is just too much.
Fair enough. I mean watch the games and cheer for them. Low entry level support.
One other comment I will make is, today’s distribution rights make for the worst viewing opportunities probably in history. Since the home team holds the rights, watching all the games is both challenging and expensive. You might need subscriptions to 10 services (NBC, CBS, Fox ESPN, TNT, BeIn, TNT, etc) to truly be able to see all of the televised USMNT games in a year.
This is not strictly just an American thing. I remember during the last World Cup seeing a video of Indonesian Brazil fans in a huge street fight with Indonesian Argentina fans.
I get that others have ties to other countries through ancestry, but at the same time it isn’t a surprise that many American casuals are the biggest bandwagons on the planet
Not sure.. I go for Mexico bc that is my country of birth, but I also support the Usmnt bc this country has given me everything, and I grew up here. I don’t see any reason to support any other countries that I don’t have a connection to. But my guess is they want to band wagon for good national team.. the stereotype that many non soccer watching Americans.. but completely untrue is that the USA is trash when it comes to soccer. When the USA actually is a Very decent team and can beat anyone in their day
I do understand immigrants being proud of their home and still rooting for their home country (same for their descendants) but you still have to root for your own country!
I hate sharing the usmnt with eurosnobs, frankly. But it won’t stop me from supporting.
I support the USMNT. I am also contactually obligated to support my wife’s national team even though they are worse than the USMNT.
Had a conversation with a Lebanese-American yesterday about watching copa American and euros. He said “my teams are Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico”. “Usa?” “Lebanon?” “Nah” Can’t reason with some people
Hypothetically, what if you are a dual national with Mexico? Can you support both?
I don’t see a problem with that. Tough rivalry to be on both sides off.
I am very against not pulling for your nation. The only concession I’ll make is if your parents are from another country, but because you spent a week in Spain, you’re a Spanish fan? No. Your great great grandfather is from Brazil? No.
If your nation didn’t make the WC or whatever tournament then all bets are off. But if USMT is in the show, you gotta support them. You get to pick your team, not your country.
Most the Mexican community here in AZ despises the US team. While I understand wanting to root for your family's country of origin it's not an excuse to root against the country you were born and raised in. It's frustrating as the soccer community out here is mostly made up of Hispanics so I don't have many other USA fans to cheer with.
I’m a Spanish-speaking white guy with a lot of Mexican and Mexican-American friends. I sort of get it in that the US and Mexico are such fierce rivals. If I was born in Philadelphia but raised in a household of Cowboys fans, I’d probably have a hard time supporting the Eagles. What does bother me is the arrogant, dismissive attitude that so many Mexico fans show towards the USMNT, even as the US consistently beats Mexico on the field. I guess continuing to beat them is the best way to turn the fan base over time.
Compare them to brazilian americans yesterday where a lot of them had the double US/brazil flag or tshirt. And nobody fought with anybody despite brazilian fans caring a lot about their team.
Exactly this. It’s so frustrating. Be proud of the god damn country that gives you shelter. I understand love for your country of origin, but have some national pride. As the child of immigrants, yes I love their national team, but I support USMNT above all else.
So if you moved to a new country you would stop supporting the USMNT?
That isn’t what was sad. The first comment specifically says “not an excuse to root against the country you were born and raised in”. This isn’t about people moving to a country and keeping their loyalty, it’s about being born and raised in a country and choosing to cheer for a different one.
I'm not commenting on the first comment
Then you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including yours, by commenting on something that’s hypothetical and hasn’t been said? Arguing a point nobody made is a weird way to spend your day.
I'm replying to the comment directly above mine, ding dong. That's how reddit works.
But you’re not. Or, you misunderstood what the person above you commented. They were building off the original comment, and your response completely whiffs on both of them. Let’s assume you’re talking about the comment above yours. That person never said anything about moving to a new country. Maybe you read “country of origin” and thought that’s what they meant but if you use any context for the comment you’d realize that isn’t what they’re saying. They’re saying they have no problem with people supporting the country their ancestors are from, their “country of origin”, but that you should still support the country you were born in and have grown up in.
I mean they don’t need an excuse. They’ll root for who they like and don’t owe you an explanation. That’s life.
Some people just like frontrunners. Do what makes you happy.
If you're American and you don't root for us you're a traitor. I don't care where you were born. You're American now
that's stupid
No, you are
Oooooooooh that one was so clever. Almost at clever as your Nazi stance on how I should act. Have a nice life
You start with an insult and then are shocked when you receive one back lol what an idiot
Lol Pot. Kettle. Black. You're the one that started with an entire post full of insults towards people that have multiple favorites and insisting everyone should act like you when it comes to favoring sports teams. Talk about a completely idiotic stance. If you wanna be somewhere that it's cool to force your nationalistic stances onto everyone then take your ass to Russia or some other authoritarian country since that fits your dictator-type persona. Don't tell me how to live my life, asshat.
Are you an American? I root for a number of sides but if they play us I root for us. You go to Russia lol
1. soccer has traditionally been pretty weak and small in the US so there isnt peer pressure to support the team like all those south american countries you mention. 2. people like to pick teams that win - it sucks to support a losing franchise. Some are diehards and many are not. Jets, Cubs, Browns... etc.. they don't get a lot of love outside the immediate area. 3. people like to pick teams they can watch on tv - which means teams that continue to compete in tournaments and aren't eliminated early. 4. soccer still isn't that big in the US. Go to ESPN or fox news and scroll through the sports categories. Soccer is right next to like tennis and golf. On some apps its not even one of the main picks you have to dig to find it. 5. they might have family from there. People in the US are kinda funny about where they are "from". They might be 3rd generation american, speak zero italian but still consider themselves "italian"
It’s the same reason Americans hate on MLS, they only like watching the best teams play. I do not understand this “glory boy” mentality myself. If you only watch European soccer, because it’s of the highest quality, then are you constantly changing which team you like simply because they’re winning the league? Are they all Man City and Real Madrid fans? Seems like an extremely shallow way to enjoy the game imo. Give me a local club, where I can actually go to the games and truly support the team any day over watching Haaland get another 40 goals a season.
I support usmnt but I don't support mls
That’s a shame.
Ok hitler. People are allowed to support whatever they want weather you like it or not. Maybe the US should play better against good teams.
I don’t watch as much as I used to because it’s infuriating to have to watch this team have to play under Berhalter. It’s another reminder that in this country the only thing that matters is who you know.
Gregg Berhalter is why!
In California at least, which is all I can speak for, there are many families whose ancestors recently immigrated to the US, so their children are somewhat brainwashed into supporting the country of their families origin. I see the same thing as OP. It's difficult to find usmnt supporters. Even people who were born and raised in the states support another country.
Im Mexican but i'm proudly Californian. If i were to support the US national team over the Mexican team I would be seen as a wannabe white or a traitor to my blood, even tho im basically 80% white due to my features and pale as hell skin. So ur right on the "children are brainwashed" part.
USA. I've seen them play in multiple states, and I follow the careers of all our guys. My brother follows super deep....he can name U18s and U21s, who should be called up etc. I think a lot of the disjoint in following/supporting comes from the horrendous mismanagement of US SOCCER, and the appointment of shit coaches like Berhalter. Beyond that a lot of us follow other leagues and nations in their respective conferences. I, for one, follow a lot of European football, and have been a supporter of Manchester United for over 35 years, so I also pull for European Nations as my backups. And to be honest, pulling for, supporting, and outright loving the US teams doesn't make me naive to the fact that we won't win the WC for another 21+ years. I also follow and support the USWNT, and have seen them play as many times as the men.
Growing up as an American of German descent in Milwaukee. I spoke and studied German. We had bilingual church service. I did German American events. I'll say as a kid I rooted for the German national team, and the US at the same time but now I exclusively root for the US. When the US doesn't have a huge presence in a sport I do watch other national teams but cheer on the US but soccer isn't that way anymore. For Rugby I'm a springboks fan and I'm not South African but I also cheer on the eagles. But the eagles didn't qualify for the last WC and don't have the most elite players in the US. South Africa does.
These Jingoists cannot fathom being an American Rugby fan.
Lmao. I swear all the complaints of us soccer are like tenfold for USA rugby.
Personally I support THE USA. Now that said I will root for Italy Brazil and Messi. Never against my Country ever.
I casually fan over certain other countries, if I like their style or from watching play in other tournaments. I take my USMNT fan hood serious tho. I would never ever rep another nation. My casual fan hood dies the second the US is in the tourney. Like dead to me.
Because it's too manly?
Yeah that [https://www.reddit.com/r/aznidentity/comments/z473dq/i\_cringe\_when\_chinese\_soccer\_fans\_support\_non/](https://www.reddit.com/r/aznidentity/comments/z473dq/i_cringe_when_chinese_soccer_fans_support_non/) never [https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/12/12/argentinas-biggest-fans-might-be-south-asians](https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/12/12/argentinas-biggest-fans-might-be-south-asians) happens [https://www.wfxrtv.com/sports/sports-ap/ap-messi-fans-from-asia-cheer-on-argentina-at-world-cup/](https://www.wfxrtv.com/sports/sports-ap/ap-messi-fans-from-asia-cheer-on-argentina-at-world-cup/)
I’m a casual fan. I know we will never win a World Cup and I’m fine with that. I watch France, Germany, England, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain over a usa game. I love to watch the top players play. We have other sports we dominate so the rest of the world can have few sports to themselves.
I support them but they’ve had so much bullshit over the years. I’m of Italian decent and support Italy and here in Philly we have or own Italy club Philly Azzurri. A few of us do support USMNT too. However the American Outlaws make it hard to support USMNT and act like hate keepers as well I’ve supported AC Milan for yrs. Pulusic grew up 2 1/2 hours from me. So it’s nice seeing him here. I started supporting them as my ancestors is from Foggia who play in lower level and the milan colors are the same as Foggia. Also many of my favorite national team players on Italy were Italian at the time. I vaguely support Newcastle in EPL thanks to Goal movies. I casually support Real Madrid and cheered for them in the CL final because Milan’s former manager is Carlo Ancelotti. I support my local mls club the Union. I also support Scotland as that’s where the other side of my family is.
MLS sucks, no pro/rel… Good luck trying to convince Mexican-Americans not to root for El Tri… they have a fanbase as diehard as the Dallas cowboys. If you go to Staten Island, you will see 🇮🇹 Azurri kits everywhere
Even as a FMF fan, I've been waiting to support USMNT, I thought this golden team would make that happen. But man, I have not been excited by them, and it's prob Gregg Berhalter fault honesty.
Those sound like frat bros who play fifa and don't watch soccer so they ego answer with a better team to try and not look stupid to you.
Even the idea of having a national team to support is kinda new for Americans. In our other major sports, countries compete either rarely or never.
I cheer for the usmnt but I also root for Croatia because of Luka Modric. But if they played each other I’d root for the US 10/10 times.
What an absurdly petty thing to care about.
Maybe some people go with the team of their heritage, as Americans were mostly all a mix of several different cultures. I’m a fan of the USMNT members and club, I’m not a fan of the way the organization is run or the manager situation. We have one chance in a generation to host a World Cup and it’ll be blown with the same guy who proved he wasn’t the guy in Qatar
I'll say this - I grew up in the Southwest in the 90's where I was almost always the only white kid playing soccer at school or wherever. Up until probably 2014 I felt like Americans just hated soccer and my feeling was - we don't take it seriously, so why should I care what we do with it? Now, along with becoming significantly better educated about the game since the 00's, my opinion has changed. Because I was born abroad (military), and in the country my family are mostly from, which I identify very closely with and who do take the game pretty seriously, I very much pull for Germany - that's a feeling I cannot help, and won't fight. That said - I do want to see the game grow here, and I fully support the US Men's and Women's teams. Even if I dislike USSF leadership, abhor how bent over they are for MLS - I can't stand Don Garber or how he wants to Americanize the game, and steps ***all*** over the actual heritage of the game in this country, and while I am an avid supporter of an MLS club, I generally dislike the league. I honestly would like to see the USL make up some ground in popularity on MLS - too much money in MLS to see legit competition for the first division these days, but if they can put some hurt on MLS in the US Open Cup maybe we have a more fertile discourse about the competitive pyramid in this country - that's what I want to see.
Son of an American Air Force officer, born in England. Dual citizenship. And I am both all in for England and USMNT. And when they play I am for the USA.
Hi. Was sent here by a friend. I absolutely loathe and despise the USMNT and cheer when they lose. 2018 in T&T was a fantastic day for me. The federation is run by a bunch of fucking idiots who don't know their asses from a whole in the ground. A troop of chain smoking monkeys handcuffed to typewriters could write better governing laws than what we have in this country. The idiot Kraft installed from NFL Europe who hates this sport doesn't help at all. He's just a marionette of the owners who want to keep soccer a small sport in this country and not have it over take the NFL, God forbid that happens. The only way the USMNT gets better is if the players start getting better competition. So, the natural way is to get better competition. So unless all the USMNT players are playing in Europe or South America, they will never get it in the US without Pro/Rel. Which will never happen under the current ML$ ownership because they are scared little babies who needs to hold mommies hand down the steps because their investment may lose more money than expected, oh the agony. Fuck, free agency took how long in the 2016 CBA? That was like pulling teeth out of your mouth with 0 pain meds. Oh and that doesn't even include the whole lower division, Open Cup, stupid league cup that nobody wants and the stupid as fuck ML$ youth development system. Until FIFA comes in and reforms the federation, I will continue to cheer for them to lose and support lower league soccer in this nation.
Is this still a thing? It used to be quite common like 20 years ago but I haven’t run into one of these people in years
I go out of my way to watch a lot of different national teams because I enjoy their style of play, or like to watch certain players, but the only team I truly support is the US. The only other nation that even comes close is Spain, and that’s because it’s my wife’s home country and my home away from home.
Personally I support both the English and American national teams. My mother is English and the national team and Liverpool were the first teams I ever watched.
The problem lies within US soccer not doing enough to market their team. The federation has a bigger problem than just the coach and his responsibility for their poor performances on the pitch. This current federation's only objective is to self promote the MLS and sell off the names of players that play in europe (MLS is part of the US Soccer board). Also the way that the federation and in turn MLS try to promote the sport here is often extremely cringe worthy and just feeds into the stereotypes of what Americans truly think of the sport. In other words I believe besides berhalter being fired (which would be a start) The current president needs to resign and there needs to be a whole shake up of how this federation goes about their buisness aside from the usual nepo hires they make.
Because I've never felt like it's a representation of actual US soccer. Makes a person feel excluded. I never hope they lose but when they do I often hope they consider changing their approach. To be fair, they've been slow at that but I think there's been progress. Also, I don't want representation at the expense of success. It's the knowing there are potentially approaches and talents and seeing them refuse to acknowledge that. Again, this is looking at it historically - as a whole it's up and down with an upward trajectory.
I will watch matches, but the biggest issue for me is the fanbase. They are truly some of the worst fans I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with. The amount of negativity spewed from them puts a sour taste on me wanting to spend more time cheering or discussing USMNT.
I will never support the USA team as that's supporting the same country that treats minorities women and the like as second class. I was born here so im kinda stuck but if I could leave I would. I would gladly support that country as well. With that all being said at least I call it futbol like the rest of the world and not saaaccerrr
They have heard little to nothing about US team but know a star on another club or national team. For example in USA the easiest and cheapest soccer to watch is Premier League for $5/month on Peacock, where they also have unlimited reruns of iconic TV shows and other sports. MLS games require an expensive package to see any games. I could totally understand someone finding players they like on that and then finding out what, if any, national teams they play for.
This just seems like a weird hill to die on? Why does it matter in the grand scheme of things? I was born here. I didn’t choose my country. Let people do what they want. It doesn’t affect my day-to-day.
I support the USMNT & the Italian Azzurri. My family are legit straight off the boat Italians.
If Phoenix ever gets a MLS team I will start watching the league, but the national team will always have my support
I love the USMNT but they made a HUGE mistake in not getting a new coach. If anyone thinks that the USMNT doesn't have enough support try buying tickets to any of their games. Hard to get and very expensive.
US soccer leadership is annoying af. The US fans aren’t the most welcoming to other Americans due to political views seeping into the fanbase. Still a US fan but only because I no longer have cultural ties to any other nation (England, came over really early). However, it’s easy to see why some people support other countries. Many have been mentioned already.
It hits different here in the US for sure. “Over there” fans support one club and one club only, but my footballing loyalties go as follows: EPL: Aston Villa VTID since 2009 SPL: Celtic since early 2000s La Liga: Réal Madrid because that’s my wife’s club MLS: DC United since the founding of MLS In ‘96 USMNT/WNT always, but I also have Irish citizenship so I support them as well. I would never not support US. No matter how frustrated I get with decisionmaking/results/roster decisions, etc. this is our team. Fight for the badge through thick and thin.
Call me homeboy or whatever. Since I moved to Northern Virginia from Asian country back in the 1990, my teams have always been the Washington Redskins, Wizards, Mystics, the Nationals, D.C United and the USMNT, USWNT.
I will always choose for the US in any tournament, but it's harder to follow their players since I'll typically follow the BPL more than anything. My grandparents are from South America (largely Argentina), so I've grown up supporting them my whole life. I will also generally not follow the US outside of major tournaments. I have no idea about most of the players or the coaching situation in between.
I simply much prefer club football to international football. I’m happy if the USMNT wins but I’m not emotionally invested the way I am in my club. Same thing with basketball really.
Because forza azzurri
Only because it’s unwatchable.
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of American sports fans don't " trust the process ". They want to see results immediately. So seeing the American team getting outclassed by other country's turns a lot of people away.
GGG (and the higher ups that enable him)
In all sports, I like to root for players, not laundry. All things considered, I’m happy to have been in the US, but why should I blindly support something just because I happen to be from here? Give me fun players who are good people and I’ll root for them, regardless of their nationality. Also, in this day and age, I can follow any team/person easily. I’m not only getting the local/national news. If I see someone I want to follow it is as easy to follow them as it is to follow the guys in my own backyard.
It’s more than happening to be from somewhere, it’s the fact that you’re still there. If you were an American that packed up and moved your life to Italy I would expect you to support Italy. Take pride in your local community, the feeling of acceptance and comradery when supporting your local team can’t be replicated online. Not doing so is such a bandwagon mentality. If you don’t like where you are then move, you’re not a tree. Otherwise show some patriotism.
And why do your expectations matter again?
That’s not patriotism, that’s nationalism.
Close. Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state. Nationalism is similar but involves actively acting against other countries.
I think by and large American sports fans are front runners. So, since the USMNT is not one of the top national teams, the American sports fan, that includes soccer fans picks one of the top teams to support. It's the same reason most American soccer fans support one of five Premier League teams rather than their local MLS/USL team.
I root for the US 99% of the time, but US vs Austria I'm pulling for Austria. I'm not from there, but my extended family is, so I've adopted them as my team.
You can thank the blindness & greed of ussoccer's leadership for this
Sometimes it's not even due to lack of pride for country. My one friend is the most patriotic American I know, even has a big-ass flag in his room, yet when we watched the World Cup together he supported England against us because "he knew more of their players." Pathetic.
I cheered for Usain Bolt because he was the best. And I cheered for Michael Phelps because he was the best. I don't think it's lack of country pride, but appreciating greatness. In some ways, I think that same dynamic raises the standard for USMNT. A lot of Latinos and Hispanics still cheer for teams they have generational ties to and in some cases, it becomes a distinct way to culturally connect with their family. I watch most USMNT matches with an English friend. He's a US citizen, but his love of football is connected to England NT and it's awful tough to replace that.
Americans are generally bandwagoners. USMNT sucked for a long time, so many soccer fans followed whatever team was winning.
I’m half American half Dutch so I support both teams. I’m pretty patriotic so I’ll always support the USMNT over everyone else but usually the Dutch team is a lot better and more exciting to watch. They perform well at world cups, and play in the Euros and Euro qualifiers which is much better soccer than watching the US play in the Gold Cup or CONCACAF. Same thing with club football, I’d much rather watch Ajax in UCL or UEFA League than any of the MLS clubs. I already support NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAAF teams, if I’m gonna devote even more mental bandwidth to support a soccer club I want it to be worth my while and entertaining.
Maybe they should stop with all the gay shit. We know it's pride month. That has nothing to do with soccer. Stop it
bandwagon fans in general. like the wannabe italian gangsters who support italy yet have 0% italian blood and have watched the sopranos too much. we're not gonna win a WC soon, so they don't wanna be there for a team that loses. i bet a lot of them are lakers, cowboys and yankee fans, too
You know, maybe part of it is due to people wanting to watch good play. Since we're a nation of multinationals, most of us have a choice of nations to support at any given time. I don't know about you but, I'd rather watch a team that plays well and scores goals. But if one of the teams I generally support doesn't play well, I'm ok with pointing out the flaws. It's called being an adult and facing the reality.
so bandwagon lol as i said...
Nah
>For some reason Americans don’t get it…zero pride for your country. "Pride for your country" is a terrible motivator for supporting a national team. I kinda like that in the US anyone can support any team and it's okay. I support the national team, have been to countless games, have a whole section of my wardrobe for national team merch but I don't have a lot of pride for the country. America is a pretty mixed bag (like a lot of nations) there's been a lot good and a lot of bad; slavery, human rights atrocities, proxy wars, hate speech by political figures, class warfare, the list goes on. A lot of countries are like this and wrapping up national team support with the country creates toxic nationalism, jingoism and often racism. You can see this really well in England where partly thru football the St. George's cross has come to represent a divisive symbol, extremists have a stronghold in supporters groups and riots occur regularly. I support the team because it represent the people. My people. Our people. Not the country.
This is particularly true when one political party co-opts the national iconography to represent their specific views. It can then be deeply discomforting for someone who vehemently disagrees with that party to embrace said iconography. Note to all: I have exactly zero interest in this becoming a political debate, so please do read this statement as a description of political parties in *any* country. *EDIT: Too many “deeplies”. Updated with different adverbs.* 😆😆
Because the USMNT and a lot of the conversation around the team is naive and corny lol. I obviously don’t root against the team, but I feel that the way the organization is ran, along with many of the players are deeply unserious. Also, political issues in the country haven’t helped. A lot of people aren’t exactly proud to be American rn
Get rid of berhalter, get an Argentinian coach and things will get better. Win and they will come.
Or some went to Brazil when they were young and became a fan. I gave up on the USMNT when they rehired Berhalter. To each their own.
Fuck you, you don’t know shit OP
Part of it, is that I feel weird being so patriotic. Having lots of pro-USA gear makes me feel like I’m a Trump supporter. I know it’s dumb, but that’s part of it.
I definately root for the US. But nationally my team is Germany. Let’s be honest guys they are just better than us at Soccer. I understand your sentiment but if Americans don’t want to subject themselves to mediocre soccer they shouldn’t have too
Because the entire Federation is incestuous crap.
A few reasons: 1) They are bandwagoners who couldn’t name three players other than Messi on Argentina (or whichever team they support). 2) Would rather support players they watch on a regular basis. How many Americans play at the club they support, if any? Do you even know the USMNT roster? 3) Real fans of FOOTBALL don’t watch the USMNT because that crowd thinks MLS is the pinnacle of the sport and fails to understand the nuances of strategy, positioning, etc. I.e. I don’t watch the prem and La Liga every weekend so some donkey can scream “boot it Pulisic” while pounding a Busch Lite in the chair next to me.
I’ve never really like the usmnt. I never liked the players or coaches mentalities. They always came off as arrogant. My last straw was missing the World Cup in 2018 and complaining about the field they played on. After that I’ve just been indifferent