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Bueno's Views: What The Lost 2022 Bid Means For The U.S.
Losing the World Cup 2022 bid hurts the U.S. in several areas, Goal.com's Luis Bueno says.
Dec 2, 2010 12:41:00 PM
By Luis Bueno
Soccer in the United States was dealt a huge blow Thursday when FIFA awarded the 2022 to Qatar over the United States.
While the tiniest nation to host a World Cup rejoices at their great fortune, the U.S. must now deal with the reality that the world's greatest sporting spectacle is not gracing American soil anytime soon.
Is this a setback for soccer in the states? Will the game suffer?
Here's how the bid will affect soccer in the United States.
Failed Opportunity: The 1994 World Cup helped launch Major League Soccer and put soccer in the forefront in the United States for weeks, something that is a not-too-common occurrence here. While 2022 may not have catapulted soccer to NFL-like status, it would have provided quite a build-up for the tournament and soccer would have won out. It may or may not have translated over into benefits for MLS but any positive soccer publicity/hype/build-up is a positive.
Failed Opportunity, Part II: Additionally, the chance for the average American to watch a World Cup game in person go down as well. Not too many Americans travel to Qatar or the Middle East on vacations as it's not the greatest travel destination for Americans. Having held it in places like Houston, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles would have been much simpler than having to take a trip halfway around the world. And the casual or even non-soccer fan may have taken in a game or two, providing more opportunities for the beautiful game to win those kinds of people over.
Chances Of Winning Diminish: The U.S. is nowhere near the status of a Brazil or Germany, countries who enter the World Cup as feared opponents capable of winning the whole thing. Now, while the Americans may not necessarily have been a feared opponent, having the chance to play games in this country would have provided the U.S. a legitimate chance of making a deep run. There's no guarantees the U.S. will make it out of their group in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups but hosting the tournament would have provided the U.S. the unique opportunity of entering a World Cup with legitimate expectations of making a run to the semifinals or the final.
Can U.S. Soccer Rally Support Again? After this failure, will former presidents, world-renowned actors, mega-rich corporations and the like be willing to back another bid? Or will they be deflated and demoralized to the point of saying "Thanks but no thanks" the next time the federation aims to bid for another World Cup? The U.S. went in with guns blazing and came away empty-handed. Will there be enough support here at home to launch another full-scale effort for a future World Cup?
Waiting Game: Italy went 56 years between World Cups, France went 60, Brazil will go 64. The earlies the U.S. can host a World Cup now is 2026, which will be 32 years. Things could get worse as the wait for another World Cup could increase substantially now.
Luis Bueno is Goal.com's Mexico editor.
While the tiniest nation to host a World Cup rejoices at their great fortune, the U.S. must now deal with the reality that the world's greatest sporting spectacle is not gracing American soil anytime soon.
Is this a setback for soccer in the states? Will the game suffer?
Here's how the bid will affect soccer in the United States.
Failed Opportunity: The 1994 World Cup helped launch Major League Soccer and put soccer in the forefront in the United States for weeks, something that is a not-too-common occurrence here. While 2022 may not have catapulted soccer to NFL-like status, it would have provided quite a build-up for the tournament and soccer would have won out. It may or may not have translated over into benefits for MLS but any positive soccer publicity/hype/build-up is a positive.
Failed Opportunity, Part II: Additionally, the chance for the average American to watch a World Cup game in person go down as well. Not too many Americans travel to Qatar or the Middle East on vacations as it's not the greatest travel destination for Americans. Having held it in places like Houston, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles would have been much simpler than having to take a trip halfway around the world. And the casual or even non-soccer fan may have taken in a game or two, providing more opportunities for the beautiful game to win those kinds of people over.
Chances Of Winning Diminish: The U.S. is nowhere near the status of a Brazil or Germany, countries who enter the World Cup as feared opponents capable of winning the whole thing. Now, while the Americans may not necessarily have been a feared opponent, having the chance to play games in this country would have provided the U.S. a legitimate chance of making a deep run. There's no guarantees the U.S. will make it out of their group in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups but hosting the tournament would have provided the U.S. the unique opportunity of entering a World Cup with legitimate expectations of making a run to the semifinals or the final.
Can U.S. Soccer Rally Support Again? After this failure, will former presidents, world-renowned actors, mega-rich corporations and the like be willing to back another bid? Or will they be deflated and demoralized to the point of saying "Thanks but no thanks" the next time the federation aims to bid for another World Cup? The U.S. went in with guns blazing and came away empty-handed. Will there be enough support here at home to launch another full-scale effort for a future World Cup?
Waiting Game: Italy went 56 years between World Cups, France went 60, Brazil will go 64. The earlies the U.S. can host a World Cup now is 2026, which will be 32 years. Things could get worse as the wait for another World Cup could increase substantially now.
Luis Bueno is Goal.com's Mexico editor.
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