World Cup in US cements soccer in American culture | Jonathan Grella

Looking back, I increasingly think one ingredient was still missing: time.

The stars, attention and excitement were all there. What wasn't there yet were the generations of fans.

The seeds had been planted, but they needed time to take root. The breakthrough wasn't denied. It was delayed. Soccer needed time to grow in American life.

One observation in the film has stayed with me for years. Even as the North American Soccer League was collapsing, millions of American kids had begun playing soccer. I was one of them.

Like many children growing up in Nassau County, New York, I played soccer as much as — if not more than — Little League baseball and eventually played high school soccer. 

The kids inspired by soccer's first boom became the next generation of players. Players became parents. Parents became coaches. Coaches became consumers.

Pelé and the Cosmos introduced the sport to a broader American audience. Then the World Cup came to the United States in 1994, demonstrating the U.S. could embrace the global game on a massive scale. Major League Soccer provided the foundation. Later stars such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi helped deepen soccer's place in American culture. 

What strikes me today is how often we confuse moments with movements. The World Cup is a moment.

The more important story is the movement underneath it. Cultural change rarely happens all at once. It happens through repetition. Children play. Families return. Communities invest. Habits become traditions. The event gets the attention. The repetition changes the culture.