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Falling In Love With Soccer

Published

5 years ago

on

To begin, I am going to tell you two stories about me and my love of soccer. I promise there is a reason for telling these stories, but should you wish to skip those, the section entitled “Growth in America” begins the meat of this article.

Meeting My Love

I remember the moment I fell in love with soccer like it was yesterday. It was the summer of 2010, my brother and I turned on the TV to watch some sporting event that was supposed to be starting soon. I honestly can not tell you what we were waiting on, but I can tell you everything about what I unintentionally watched. Without knowing it, I was watching the biggest match in the world, the World Cup final.

The first thing I noticed was how invested the fans were. The stadium was packed and so loud. I had never seen an environment like that before. I do not remember how long I watched the match before Iniesta scored the winning goal, but it could not have been more than five or ten minutes. If I am being perfectly honest, I do not actually remember the goal itself. What I remember is the emotion. I remember the stands erupting, the players running around not knowing what to do with the excitement, and the pride etched all over their faces. I remember the Dutch players and fans’ heartbreak. My only conscious thought was, “Wow, it means so much!”

In fact, that was my only thought watching the rest of the match and trophy presentation. I might not have even been able to tell you the nation that won. The winner did not matter to me. All I saw was how much it meant to every single person, on both sides. I had never seen that before. At that time, I had watched a few Super Bowls and some of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, but I had never seen emotion like that.

As I started to process what I had seen, another thought hit me. These players were playing on a national team. At that point in my life, I did not realize team sports had national teams outside of the Olympics. I knew gymnastics did in a way, but that was largely an individual sport. It was so intriguing to me to see players representing their country in their sport. It was a new concept to me, and I immediately loved it.

Falling For THe Boys in Sky Blue

Knowing how I fell in love with the sport, my guess is that it will be pretty easy to infer how I fell in love with Manchester City. I will be honest though, I was not all that into the club game originally. Nothing at the club level was able to match the emotion and passion of the World Cup Final. The club game was more boring to me at first. It just did not seem to matter as much.

That all changed one Sunday in May. The 13th of May in 2012 to be exact. I did not see the match live. I found out about it afterward. The first time I saw Agüero’s goal was a YouTube video that came up as I was watching highlights of the USWNT at the 2012 London Olympics. Agüero’s goal had the same effect on me as seeing Iniesta’s World Cup-winning goal, for the same reason. I saw the same passion and energy. Even the commentary on that video was full of excitement and passion. I cried watching it.

After seeing that goal and what it meant to the fans and players, I looked up why. Doing so, I learned Manchester City’s history. It was the first league title in many years, and over rivals Manchester United too! I learned about promotion and relegation, something that I did not know existed until that day. Eventually, I started to understand that the club game could be just as passionate as the international game. I wish I could say I became fully invested in Manchester City that day, but I did not. That would not come for several years. I just was not ready for the club game yet. I never forgot that moment though.

When Christian Pulisic starting breaking through at Dortmund, I started getting more invested in club soccer. It did not take me long to start watching the Premier League. Eventually, I found my way back to Manchester City very naturally. I watched them play one day in their sky blue shirts and that memory from 2012 came back to me. A quick Google search told me I was watching the same team.

It is hard to explain what happened emotionally inside me at that moment. It was like something just clicked. I knew I had my team. The love I felt was so real and so deep. It was like it was always there, just asleep. I honestly believe it was. It was there the moment I saw what I would later learn was called 93:20. That second in time, now permanently inked on my body, was the moment I fell in love. I just did not know it yet.

Growth In America

First, what a lot of the hardcore USMNT soccer fans need to realize is we know too much. I do not mean that in a bad or degrading way at all. What I mean is that we are so analytical and technical that we lose sight of what draws people into the beautiful game. I know for myself, and I am sure many others, learning and studying that side of the game deeps the love and appreciation for the sport.

However, I think we forget our first introduction, no matter our age, was about nothing more than pure unfiltered joy. For me, it was watching the 2010 World Cup final and 93:20. For others, it was probably kicking a ball in the yard as a child, someone taking them to their first match, or maybe seeing a specific player on TV. Whenever that first moment of love was, it probably was not the result of heavy tactical analysis such as debating the use of a 4-3-3 versus a 3-4-3.

As USMNT fans, we are always talking about growing the game domestically. We want to get more kids playing, increase the affordability, get more fans in the stands, and bring up TV ratings. We want to share the sport we love with others in our country. Over the last 15-20 years, we have come a long way. Look how easy it is to watch Euro 2020, every match is on ESPN+ and some are even on main ESPN channels!

That said, we all know we still have a long way to go. Winning Concacaf Nations League was a step forward. Americans like to win, so an easy way to get their attention is for the USMNT to win. On Sunday, they did that. Not only did they win, but they also did it in a highly entertaining fashion. It was the type of match that someone with little to no knowledge of the sport can watch and be fascinated by. Especially given it was the national team playing. The second part about winning is it allowed some of the boys to feature on mainstream sports shows.

Mainstream Soccer Coverage

This brings me to what I want to discuss, soccer in mainstream sports media.

Last night when I saw Taylor Twellman’s video preview of a segment he did with Stephen A Smith on Euro 2020, I was ecstatic. Then I read the comments from USMNT Twitter and my heart broke. What I saw was a lot of mockery of Stephen’s lack of in-depth knowledge of the sport and fans angry about what he was looking for in a Euro 2020 team to support.

Twellman’s Tweet featuring the video clip

This is what makes Stephen’s segment, and other mainstream sports media segments, so important; most of these hosts do not know much about soccer and neither does their average viewer! To grow the game, we need people who do not have the most in-depth knowledge talking about the sport. The average viewer of these shows is likely someone who might know who Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are, possibly that the USWNT wins a lot, and some might have heard of Christian Pulisic. These viewers are not going to be interested in the different tactical set-ups at Euro 2020. They will tune that out immediately.

To get new viewers interested, we have to meet them where they are. Where most of these mainstream sports viewers are, is having little to no interest in soccer. To get them interested, we have to sell them the sport. We do that by selling the passion, aggression, and pageantry of soccer, and in this specific case, Euro 2020.

Stephen A Smith’s criteria for choosing a team does that. It focuses on finding a fun team to watch. Having “star power,” one of his criteria, is huge for someone watching for the first time. Big names draw people in, and in America, where we are obsessed with winning, big names tend to win. Even something as “meaningless” to more hardcore fans, like Stephen’s “no ugly uniforms” criteria, can make a huge difference to someone watching for the first time.

In that clip, Taylor Twellman also does something very intelligent. He mentions Karim Benzema’s involvement with the French national team after a long absence. He goes on to tell Stephen it was due to “a fantastic, interesting, absurd story about a sex tape.” Most diehard soccer fans already knew that. It happened over five years ago, it is not new news. However, the average viewer of this segment would most definitely not know that. That person, possibly only half listening, after hearing the words “sex tape,” would likely become very interested in what is going on. People love scandals, especially involving something like a sex tape. Even something as small as that comment from Twellman can help grow the game here.

There is another key point to be made here; respect for soccer and its acceptance as an “American” sport. Talking about soccer regularly on mainstream US sports shows helps to normalize the sport in the average sports fan’s psyche. The need for this normalization is evident reading the comments (from Americans) on Stephen A Smith’s Tweet of the segment preview.

Smith’s Tweet featuring the segment clip

When the well-respected sports analysts on these major sports shows regularly comment on soccer, their viewers will become more open to watching. As that process happens, both their viewers and the hosts themselves will learn more and more about the beautiful game. It is then, that soccer starts to become an accepted part of American sports culture. That is what we all want, right?

For The Hardcore AMerican Soccer Fan

I am going to be blunt; these mainstream sports segments on soccer are not meant for us. The in-depth soccer content for us already exists. ESPN has the entire ESPN FC channel with analysis and soccer-specific talk shows. Fox has soccer-specific content, like Alexi Lalas and his podcast. NBC produces soccer-specific shows too, like Men in Blazers. Those shows and content are where the analytical and tactical conversations will take place.

In the case of Stephen’s segment, it was to get people who were not going to watch Euro 2020, to watch Euro 2020. The hardcore fan who already knows about the various UEFA teams and what to expect does not need that content. Again, the hardcore fan is not the target audience. Most people that watched that whole segment, would have known almost nothing about Euro 2020 and soccer in general. We have to meet people where they are, yes even major sports show hosts.

I do not want to be pessimistic or too negative, but we really need to be careful. We can not shoot down coverage of soccer because it makes us, with our in-depth knowledge and analysis, cringe. Nothing will turn new fans away faster than us criticizing their interest and knowledge of the sport. It should not matter to us if someone watches Euro 2020 because “country X has a nice uniform.” If having a cool-looking kit gets someone to watch, that is great! It is one more person watching than before.

When I watched the World Cup Final in 2010, I knew one thing; kicking the ball into the net was a point on the scoreboard. If someone had come up to me during that match and started criticizing me because what I cared about was how invested the fans and players were, I would have never watched another match. That is what we have to be careful of. Someone watching their first tournament and loving it might want to get involved and talk about soccer. We can not shut that person down.

Basically, my point is simple; we need to welcome people to the soccer world. We have to be supportive of segments on mainstream sports shows, even though it is cringeworthy to us. The hosts of these shows may not have much to any knowledge of the sport, and guess what? That is okay. It is okay for these hosts to not know technical and tactical differences. The more they cover the sport and start to enjoy it themselves, the more they will learn. None of us knew all the technical details at first either.

As I discussed earlier, the viewers of these shows likely do not know the sport. If someone watched one of those segments and became curious, only to see the comments from soccer fans criticizing it and calling it cringeworthy, that person may not be curious anymore. At the end of the day, that is the biggest loss; to inadvertently turn someone away from soccer only because we diehard fans discouraged and put down soccer coverage we deemed subpar.

I do not want to end this negatively. There is so much to be encouraged about! After all, the only reason I have written this is that there is soccer coverage on mainstream sports shows! The game is growing all across the US right now. It is wonderful and beautiful. More and more people are starting to watch and enjoy the game we love so much. The future of the USMNT is bright, MLS is growing, soccer stadiums are being built all around the US, and people are noticing. All we have to do is keep loving the beautiful game and welcome those who are just starting to.

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USMNT

Voices of USMNT on the World Stage

Published

5 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

Over the decades, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team has been accompanied by a wide range of voices behind the microphone, delivering some of the most memorable calls in World Cup history.

Along the way, several standout broadcast duos have helped shape the viewing experience and left a lasting mark on the USMNT landscape.

Here’s a look back at the voices that have defined US World Cup broadcasts since 1990.

1990 FIFA World Cup – Italy 

Network: ESPN

Play-by-play: Bob Ley

Color: Paul Gardner

Coverage of the USMNT at the 1990 World Cup was limited, particularly in the early rounds, but Bob Ley emerged as one of the defining voices of soccer on U.S. television during that era. His presence helped introduce a new generation of American fans to the international game, providing context and credibility at a time when the global stage still felt unfamiliar to much of the US audience.

1994 FIFA World Cup – United States of America

1998 FIFA World Cup – France

2002 FIFA World Cup – Japan / South Korea

Networks: ABC / ESPN

Play-by-play: JP Dellacamera

Color: Ty Keough

This play-by-play and color commentary duo called three World Cups for the USMNT, becoming the defining voice of the team during my peak viewing years. Ty Keough the former USMNT midfielder from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

JP Dellacamera stands out as one of, if not the, best play-by-play announcers and remains one of my favorites. While others on this list delivered memorable moments, they didn’t quite match that same level of longevity.

2006 FIFA World Cup – Germany 

Networks: ABC / ESPN

Play-by-play: Dave O’Brien

Color: Marcelo Balboa

New England native Dave O’Brien, widely known today for calling major sports across his career, had just one World Cup as the primary play-by-play voice for the USMNT. His run calling USMNT matches, primarily in the mid-2000s on ESPN, was relatively brief but still memorable. While he isn’t as closely associated with the USMNT as some other broadcasters, he was behind the mic for several standout moments during that era.

2010 FIFA World Cup – South Korea

Network: ESPN

Play-by-play: Ian Darke

Color: John Harkes

Ian Darke brought a global voice to American audiences as the lead play-by-play announcer for the USMNT during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Already well known around the world, he made the tournament easy to connect with for U.S. fans and delivered one of the most iconic calls in American soccer history.

Darke’s iconic call of the USMNT game winning goal by Landon Donovan in must win final group stage match against Algeria to advance to the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup gives me chills every time I see it.

2014 FIFA World Cup – Brazil 

Networks: ESPN / ABC

Play-by-play: Ian Darke

Color: Taylor Twellman

This duo might be my favorite to date. Ian Darke brought a clear, global voice to USMNT viewers during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making the tournament easy to follow for US fans while elevating the biggest moments with calm, sharp, and memorable calls.

Alongside him, Taylor Twellman emerged as one of the most recognizable and influential voices of the modern era, primarily as a lead analyst on ESPN. His passionate, unfiltered style stood out, most notably with his unforgettable “What are we doing?!” reaction following the USMNT’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, a moment that’s still talked about today.

2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar

Network: FOX Sports

Play-by-play: John Strong

Color: Stu Holden

If the USMNT had qualified for the 2018 World Cup, this broadcast team would have called their matches, marking what would have been a third straight World Cup cycle with the same primary commentary crew. It’s also likely he’ll be paired again with Stu Holden for USMNT matches at the 2026 World Cup.

John Strong has served as a lead play-by-play voice for U.S. soccer on FOX Sports since 2018, bringing a modern, high-energy style to the booth. Since taking on major international assignments, he’s become one of the defining voices for USMNT audiences in top competitions, known for his clear, sharp calls and a big-game tone that fits the moment.

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The Expanding Impact of MLS on the World Cup

Published

2 weeks ago

on

May 4, 2026

By

The growth and success of Major League Soccer has led to more players from around the world representing MLS at the World Cup, with this summer’s tournament expected to feature the highest total yet.

1998 was the first World Cup played after the launch of Major League Soccer. Here’s a breakdown of MLS-based players on World Cup rosters by year:

1998 – 18 (T-8th)
Tied with Liga MX for 8th most. This would the first and only time the USMNT World Cup roster  

2002 – 11 (18th)
All 11 were from the USMNT

2006 – 15 (14th)
11 of the 15 were #USMNT players.

2010 – 6 (25th)
The lowest total to date. Only 6 MLS players, with 4 on the USMNT. This coincided with the peak of US players based in Europe.

2014 – 21 (10th)
Less than half were USMNT players, though the US still led the way the 10 most notably DeAndre Yedlin (20) getting the call.

2018 – 18 (11th)
This number likely would’ve been significantly higher had the USMNT qualified, potentially pushing MLS into the top 7–8 leagues.

2022 – 36 (6th)
The highest total yet, just behind Ligue 1 for 5th. Also worth noting, rosters expanded from 23 to 26 players for this tournament and the first time that the USA didn’t have the most players 

Overall, the trend shows steady growth in MLS representation, both domestically and internationally.

MLS Pipeline Continues for the USMNT

It’s rare for a World Cup–qualified nation not to have a strong share of its players featured across tournament rosters. Canada was a recent exception in 2022, though their ties to MLS remain significant with multiple clubs in the league.

With roster selection less than a month away, it’s reasonable to expect that roughly a third of the #USMNT squad will come from MLS. Below is a positional breakdown of the MLS players Mauricio Pochettino has called in during his tenure as USMNT manager.

Goalkeepers

The USMNT is set to start an MLS-based goalkeeper at a World Cup for the first time, with all of the top options currently playing in MLS.

Chris Brady is one of the goalkeepers I’m most excited to watch in the coming cycles. He’s been performing at a high level in Major League Soccer and looks like a strong candidate to fill the long-term role as the USMNT’s primary starter over the next few cycles.

Chris Brady
Roman Celentano
Matt Freese
Patrick Schulte
Matt Turner

Defenders

Veteran center-backs Tim Ream and Miles Robinson seem likely to be selected with Blackmon a possibility depending on the health of the remaining pool. Arfsten seems to be almost a lock due to his ability to attack and create scoring chances with his crosses from the wing.

Max Arfsten
Tristan Blackmon
Tim Ream
Miles Robinson

Midfielders

The USMNT has strong depth in midfield, and Mauricio Pochettino’s recent roster selections suggest he’ll likely round out the squad with some of the players listed below.

One of the biggest gaps in this USMNT roster is the true dynamic, creative spark in the attacking third. Diego Luna stands out in that role, capable of unsettling defenses, breaking lines, and changing the rhythm of a match. He’s exactly the type of player who could thrive in a super-sub role, coming on against tired legs and making an impact at this summer’s World Cup.

Sebastian Berhalter
Diego Luna
Jack McGlynn
Cristian Roldan
Timothy Tillman

Forwards

Striker may be the toughest position for the MLS group to crack the #USMNT World Cup roster, but Brian White is making a strong case, scoring eight goals in his first nine MLS matches at the time of writing.

Brian White is a highly productive, “old-school” style striker for the USMNT, known for his elite positioning, relentless work rate, and ability to finish in a variety of ways. That combination makes him a strong option as a striker off the bench, where he could be especially dangerous against tired defenses at this summer’s World Cup.

Paxten Aaronson
Josh Sargent
Brian White

MLS Representation in the USMNT Player Pool

Since 1998, the last time the majority of a USMNT World Cup roster was composed primarily of MLS-based players, it has become increasingly clear that a meaningful portion of the squad still comes from MLS. Consistently, roughly 30–40% of the roster has been drawn from the domestic league, reflecting a long-standing and relatively stable trend in player selection over time which I don’t seen changing anytime soon.

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USMNT

The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same

Published

4 weeks ago

on

April 20, 2026

By

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

In light of the recent resignation of Matt Crocker, I revisited something I wrote nearly a decade ago, an early attempt to capture what I called the “Dark Decades of US Soccer.” At the time, the piece was overly long and packed with detail—probably more than today’s audience would stick with.

But buried in that work were meaningful patterns, clear, recurring behaviors that shaped how the federation operated more than 60 years ago. What stood out most, looking back now, is how familiar some of those patterns still feel today.

So, I went back, stripped the piece down, and pulled out the most relevant sections, those that highlight the parallels between past and present. The goal isn’t to draw conclusions for you, but to put those similarities side by side and let you decide: how much has really changed?

World Cup Momentum to the First American Soccer Boom

Soccer star Pele in action during World Cup competition.

Photo of Pele at the 1966 World Cup
Photograph: AP Photo

After the success and popularity of the 1966 World Cup which saw over one million viewers of the tournament many America investors saw the vision and believed that there was the market for soccer in the United States and Canada. 

The investors moved very quickly and in 1967 there were two American professional leagues making their debuts the USSFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association (USA) and the independent National Professional Soccer League (NPSL).  

These leagues would only last one year and be merged at the request of FIFA into the North American Soccer League (NASL) kicking off in 1968 and relying on mainly on foreign talent. The American investors believed building the interest in soccer in the US would have a direct impact on the growth and performance of the US Men’s National team which and of course more money for the investors and federation.

First Attempt at Modernizing the USMNT

Phil Woosnam, in 1977 as the commissioner of the NASL.
Photograph: AP Photo

Off the back of the success of the inaugural NASL season, the U.S. Soccer Federation appointed Phil Woosnam, fresh off leading the Atlanta Chiefs to a championship and earning Coach of the Year honors, to take charge of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Woosnam immediately shifted the structure of the program. Instead of a player pool selected by committee, he pushed decision-making toward the coaching staff, allowing selections to be based on performance and fit rather than geography or internal bias. The move was not universally welcomed, and it reportedly created friction with members of the federation’s leadership.

With professional players now more fully available, Woosnam’s approach helped assemble what was widely considered the strongest possible squad at the time. He also introduced organized training camps ahead of friendlies and World Cup qualifiers, an uncommon practice in that era, but one that clearly improved cohesion and preparation. Those changes contributed to the U.S. advancing further in World Cup qualifying than it had in previous cycles.

By early 1969, the USMNT appeared to be building real momentum toward a potential place in the 1970 World Cup. However, tensions between Woosnam and the federation began to escalate. Frustrated with compensation issues and growing interference from the USSF in team operations, Woosnam stepped away from the national team in the spring of 1969. become commissioner of the NASL.

Following his departure, assistant coach Gordon Jago took over as manager. His tenure began under difficult circumstances, with not being able to set up pre-qualifying friendlies, an important part of the progress made under Woosnam along with interference from USSF board members as it related to roster selection which created instability and morale issues on the field. The USMNT struggled in qualifying and ultimately fell short, losing both matches to Haiti, a team they had previously been competitive with in a series of friendlies in 1968.

The Crocker Era: Coaching Chaos and Course Corrections

Photo of Cindy Parlow Cone, Gregg Berhalter, Matt Crocker and JT Batson
Photograph: AP Photo/Lucas Peliter

It’s been roughly three years since the Matt Crocker era began at U.S. Soccer, when he stepped in as Sporting Director, replacing Earnie Stewart.

One of Crocker’s first major responsibilities was hiring the next U.S. Men’s National Team manager. In the previous cycle, the federation had reportedly operated with a narrow set of internal criteria, preferences widely believed to favor English-speaking and American candidates, which significantly limited the coaching pool and shaped the direction of the search.

Roughly two months later, during the Concacaf Nations League semifinal window, it was announced that Gregg Berhalter would be reappointed as USMNT head coach. The decision caught many around the program and in the media off guard, raising questions about how the process had ultimately unfolded.

More recently, in an interview with GiveMeSport, Jesse Marsch stated he was effectively told he was set to become the next USMNT head coach in the late spring of 2023, only for that opportunity to be withdrawn at the last moment, a shift that reportedly had ripple effects on a potential move to Leicester City that was nearing completion.

The abrupt reversal and eventual rehiring of Berhalter has been widely attributed to a mix of factors, including rumored influence from within the player pool, with U.S. Soccer ultimately reversing course. Roughly a year later, after a disappointing Copa América campaign on home soil, Berhalter was dismissed.

Crocker’s second opportunity to reset the program took a different direction. He first secured the high-profile appointment of Emma Hayes, one of the most accomplished managers in women’s football, to lead the USWNT. That move was followed by the hiring of Mauricio Pochettino for the USMNT, a tenure that has delivered mixed early results and will ultimately be judged through the lens of the 2026 World Cup on home soil but truly disappointed that Crocker wouldn’t see through what he helped build, and you have to ask yourself why?

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