I think the Canadian National Team's success is tied to the US National team success. Do you also cheer for the US National Team to do well?

[football_world]

So hear me out.  I normally don't care if the US does well in sports.  Actually, in Olympic men's basketball, I find myself cheering against the US national team, because their Olympic men's basketball team is like Goliath and I like cheering for the basketball teams of other countries who are David, to beat Goliath.  But when it comes to soccer, I am constantly cheering for the US national team, except when they play Canada (of course I will cheer for Canada when they play the US).  The reasoning is, the better the US national men's soccer team performs, especially in the World Cup, this will help the MLS, and an improvement in the MLS will benefit Canadian players, thereby making our national team better.

I have dreamed of Canada to make the World Cup for the longest time.  It all happened sooner than I expected, so I am not complaining.  But there was no way we would make the World Cup again, and be competitive in the World Cup, unless our national players are playing with better players.  And I strongly believe MLS is making our players better, and also provide a decent salary for Canadian players that can't make it to Europe.  I remember when MLS first started in 1996, a lot of the MLS players were part time professionals, and had to do a part time job on the side, because their salary from the MLS was too low for them to make a living.  Gradually, things got better over time and now, most players in the MLS make enough money that they can focus on training full time with their team.  And then the DPs started coming into the MLS, starting with Beckham at first. Today, there are so many DPs in MLS, and the level of play in the MLS has risen substantially since 1996.  The rising level of play in the MLS, in turn, has benefitted our national team in Canada.

This goes back to why I cheer for the US national team (except when they play Canada).  When Americans see that the US national team does better in soccer, they in turn are more willing to go to MLS games,  spend money on MLS tickets and memorabilia, watch MLS on TV, etc.  MLS gets more revenue and the individual MLS teams can spend more on players.  MLS spending more on acquiring better players, allows our Canadians in the MLS to play with better soccer players from around the world, and therefore, improve faster. And of course, the MLS academies also help in developing players.  And the US national team will improve, just like the Canadian national team will improve, as the MLS gets better.  This is like a feedback loop -> US national team does well in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments -> more American fans watch the MLS and pay more for MLS tickets -> higher revenue for the MLS means MLS team gets better players -> better players in the MLS allows the US national team to do even better in the World Cup and other high profile soccer tournaments.  And this will lift the Canadian national team up to.  Not to mention that a lot of Canadians tune into US media, so when soccer is at the forefront of US media because the US national team does well, it also helps to raise the profile of soccer in Canadian sports fans.

For better or worse, I think the Canadian national team's success is also tied to the US national team success. It's like the rising tide for the US national team will also lift Canada as well, through the MLS getting better.  And if the MLS becomes at top 5 soccer league one day, on par with the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A, I think both the US and Canada can be well positioned to finally win a World Cup.

For this reason, I find myself cheering for the US national team to do well in high profile soccer tournaments like the World Cup.  Our path to winning the World Cup is tied to the US path as well.  Are there other fans of the Canadian national team who also cheer for the US national team for this reason?

 

[Califax]

I like the Americans. I root for them; not in general, but against every other Concacaf team when Canada isn’t negatively affected.

Your points are well taken. No one does more for us by being good and then the United States

Anytime people on this forum cheer for other Concacaf countries and take pleasure in the Americans not doing well, it only strengthens my resolve to cheer for the Americans more. 
 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Califax

[football_world]

8 minutes ago, Califax said:

I like the Americans. I root for them; not in general, but against every other Concacaf team win Canada isn’t negatively affected.

Your points are well taken. No one does more for us by being good and then the United States

Anytime people on this forum cheer for other Concacaf countries and take pleasure in the Americans not doing well, it only strengthens my resolve to cheer for the Americans more. 
 

I also hope CONCACAF teams do well at the World Cup.  It will mean CONCACAF as a region, has reached a higher level of soccer, if they perform better at the World Cup.

Having said that, I really don't care much for the US doing well in sports, in general.  Like if the US gets a lot of gold medals at the summer or winter Olympics, I don't really care that much. If the US wins in tennis, or whatever sport, I also don't care. But when it comes to soccer, I am constantly cheering for the US, hoping that the US doing well will help the MLS get better, which will in turn, help Canada get better in soccer.  It's so weird that I cheer for the US, only in soccer. 

I guess I want our own national team to become better, and I really want soccer to become the #1 sport in Canada one day.

Edited April 4, 2022 by football_world

[toontownman]

Nope. 

That is all.

[frmr]

I generally want the US to do well. Mexico, no.

[narduch]

I'm of the opinion that what the US does is irrelevant to us.

We just made the World Cup and the US missed the previous one.

The US had a decent run of about 20 years and its meant basically nothing to us.

We need to chart our own path.

Edited April 4, 2022 by narduch

[football_world]

4 minutes ago, narduch said:

I'm of the opinion that what the US does is irrelevant to us.

We just made the World Cup and the US missed the previous one.

The US had a decent run of about 20 years and its meant basically nothing to us.

We need to chart our own path.

Well, I disagree with you.  The MLS cannot become a top 5 soccer league in the world, unless the US national team consistently does well.  Without the MLS becoming a top 5 soccer league in the world, I can't see how the Canadian national team can acquire the talent to win a World Cup.

Edited April 4, 2022 by football_world

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, football_world said:

Well, I disagree with you.  The MLS cannot become a top 5 soccer league in the world, unless the US national team does well.  Without the MLS becoming a top 5 soccer league in the world, I can't see how the Canadian national team will have the talent to win a World Cup.

Considering how MLS continues to discriminate against Canadian players it really doesn't mean anything if that league is the top 5 soccer league in the World.

And besides I'm of the belief they will never actually get to that point under their current management and league structure.

Like I said, Canada needs to chart our own path to greatness and not rely on the US to piggyback off of.

He'll even Herdman is talking about getting more players into the Euro top 5 leagues. Even he realizes that players need to get to a level higher than MLS

[SpursFlu]

I use to hate the US because they're media and fans were/are so annoying but since we've finally got our own things going on I'll kinda root for them to do good just not better than us. I think a strong Concacaf in general is good for us. I think the best thing for Canadian and US is for the 3 MLS trams to enter the CPL and really drive the importance of the Concacaf Champions League

I've said before that I think 3 Concacaf teams in to the round of sixteen is possible and would be fantastic 

Edited April 4, 2022 by SpursFlu

[Bison44]

Hmmmm, yes to the idea of soccer becoming more of a force within a greater North american whole.  We are culturally tied to the USA and if it makes strides in the mainstream down there it helps make it easier to do the same up here,  Granted the sports landscape isnt the same but it close.  A big NO to wishing success to the USMNT.  The US fans are so annoying I like to see their program trip up, same goes for Mexico.  MLS success isnt directly tied to USMNT success as much anymore, it has a life of its own and part of that is our 3 CDN teams.  TFC one of the few teams that has really invested the cash (CDN cash) to bring in the top talent, that pushes the league forward.  

[football_world]

8 minutes ago, narduch said:

Considering how MLS continues to discriminate against Canadian players it really doesn't mean anything if that league is the top 5 soccer league in the World.

And besides I'm of the belief they will never actually get to that point under their current management and league structure.

Like I said, Canada needs to chart our own path to greatness and not rely on the US to piggyback off of.

He'll even Herdman is talking about getting more players into the Euro top 5 leagues. Even he realizes that players need to get to a level higher than MLS

Canada cannot chart a path to greatness unless soccer is a top #1 or top #2 sport in Canada. Soccer cannot be a top #1 or top #2 sport in Canada, unless the MLS becomes a top 5 league in the world.  Full stop.

Canadian kids and teenagers, aren't going to take soccer seriously, if the MLS is floundering.  You have it all backwards. There is no way that I can see Canada winning the World Cup, unless the MLS (and therefore soccer), becomes more popular in Canada, so that it can attract the best young Canadian athletes to pursue it as a profession.

Edited April 4, 2022 by football_world

[football_world]

12 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Hmmmm, yes to the idea of soccer becoming more of a force within a greater North american whole.  We are culturally tied to the USA and if it makes strides in the mainstream down there it helps make it easier to do the same up here,  Granted the sports landscape isnt the same but it close.  A big NO to wishing success to the USMNT.  The US fans are so annoying I like to see their program trip up, same goes for Mexico.  MLS success isnt directly tied to USMNT success as much anymore, it has a life of its own and part of that is our 3 CDN teams.  TFC one of the few teams that has really invested the cash (CDN cash) to bring in the top talent, that pushes the league forward.  

So while I disagree with you on cheering for the USMNT, I agree with you that we are culturally tied to the US.  Whatever is popular in the US, often becomes popular in Canada.  One huge stigma we need to flip is the stigma of soccer.  For a lot of the older generation of Canadians, soccer just wasn't a "cool" sport. The cool sport was hockey, grid iron football, baseball, basketball, etc.  Sadly, the stigma of soccer as an "uncool" sport, pushes a lot of young athletic Canadian teenagers from seriously considering soccer as a profession. Ironically, a lot of this stigma about soccer being "uncool" also comes from, yup, you guessed it, the Americans!

When the Americans do well in the World Cup, it turns the head of American sports fans. If American sports fans see their own national team do well in the World Cup, it changes the stigma of soccer in the US media, and among US sports fans in general.  All of a sudden, soccer start to become more "cool" in the US, and subsequently, in Canada as well.

The way that we are culturally tied to the US, and the fact that so many Canadians binge on American media and entertainment, if Americans start to succeed in soccer, I think it will change how a lot of young Canadians think about soccer. And that's what we need, IMO.  We need young Canadians, especially our most athletic young Canadians, to start thinking of soccer as their main profession.  When this happens, and soccer become a #1 or #2 sport in Canada, I believe we will be on the path to winning a World Cup.

Edited April 4, 2022 by football_world

[SpursFlu]

I think we've been forced to be culturally tied to the US but nowadays we're culturally tied to the entire world. I think that's something we accept but also should build our own things because Canada is the fastest growing major nation on earth and why shouldn't we have our own things?

[football_world]

Just now, SpursFlu said:

I think we've been forced to be culturally tied to the US but nowadays we're culturally tied to the entire world. I think that's something we accept but also should build our own things because Canada is the fastest growing major nation on earth and why shouldn't we have our own things?

I wish we could. But a lot of the stigma on soccer in Canada comes from the Americans, sadly.  We are so culturally tied to the US, the Americans tell us what is cool and what isn't, and a lot of Canadians are influenced by American media and entertainment.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Couldn't care less either way on whether they qualify or not at the national team level. Full advantage should continue to be taken of having access to MLS though regardless of any irritants like domestic player rules. From what I can make out there are over 90 Canadian players with fully professional contracts this season that are linked to MLS one way or another with most of that skewed towards younger players. The role of having the three academy programs run on merit rather than pay-to-play in producing genuinely pro level talent that subsequently finds its way into a league like CanPL is often overlooked.

[Bison44]

I hear you football_world, and I think that all the bit about soccer being "cool" and changing the stigma tied to it, funneling CDN atheltes into soccer, doesnt need USMNT success to happen.  MLS is for better or worse a partially CDN thing, with CDN bucks supporting it, CDN millionaire owners, TV networks etc, tied up into it.  It can push the game forward in NA with CDN bucks bringing in stars like Defoe, Bradley, Jozy, Insigne, Giovinco etc etc regardless of whether the USMNT flames out in the WCQ. Now we have the CPL which should specifically help the CDN side of the equation and our national team is getting better we are even less dependent on anything the USMNT does.  So screw them, lets see them implode..HEHEHE.    

[SpursFlu]

7 minutes ago, football_world said:

I wish we could. But a lot of the stigma on soccer in Canada comes from the Americans, sadly.  We are so culturally tied to the US, the Americans tell us what is cool and what isn't, and a lot of Canadians are influenced by American media and entertainment.

Let me guess your in Toronto. I honestly feel this is more of a Toronto perspective that America is the end all be all culturally. It's really not like that in other parts of Canada

I would also say in Vancouver soccer is cool. It is mainstream. I don't feel all these stigmas people talk about. People here get it

Edited April 4, 2022 by SpursFlu

[football_world]

8 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Couldn't care less either way on whether they qualify or not at the national team level. Full advantage should continue to be taken of having access to MLS though regardless of any irritants like domestic player rules. From what I can make out there are over 90 Canadian players with fully professional contracts this season that are linked to MLS one way or another with most of that skewed towards younger players. The role of having the three academy programs run on merit rather than pay-to-play in producing genuinely pro level talent that subsequently finds its way into a league like CanPL is often overlooked.

I agree with you and @narduch that the MLS needs to treat Canadian players better.

Edited April 4, 2022 by football_world

[football_world]

1 minute ago, SpursFlu said:

Let me guess your in Toronto. I honestly feel this is more of a Toronto perspective that America is the end all be all culturally. It's really not like that in other parts of Canada

No, I am from western Canada.

[SpursFlu]

2 minutes ago, football_world said:

No, I am from western Canada.

Ok fair enough. Not sure where but in BC people really don't hang off America's every move. In fact the states close to us don t even hang off America's every move. Im not saying we hate them I'm just saying we're more than happy to do our own thing 

Edited April 4, 2022 by SpursFlu

[dyslexic nam]

TLDR.  

 

Screw the US.  

[Cadeau]

I dont hate the US and hope they do well...The only concacaf team that I don't want to see do well is Honduras. 

[PastPros]

4 minutes ago, Cadeau said:

I dont hate the US and hope they do well...The only concacaf team that I don't want to see do well is Honduras. 

💯

[chalms04]

USMNT can EAD.

Edited April 4, 2022 by chalms04

[trueviking]

I totally understand your point but I cannot bring myself to cheer for the US in any sport. I cheer against them generally.