# What are soccer players called in the USA?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-soccer-players-called-in-the-usa/472943>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [November 16, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-soccer-players-called-in-the-usa/472943 "2008-11-16T02:04:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-soccer-players-called-in-the-usa/472943/61 "2008-11-17T13:47:36Z")

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> [@Piker](#):
>
> Yeah, that was the entire point of my post. People point to MLS ratings on FSC and ESPN2 and act as if they are indicative of soccer’s popularity in the US, an act that is comparable to pointing to the nationwide rating of a regular season MAC game as indicative of the popularity of college football in this country.
> 
> OK, we’ll just have to agree to disagree about that, but the Gold Cup to many soccer fans in the US is a bit of a mickey mouse tournament. Surely, Mexican fans in the U.S. think the Copa America is much more important. My bet is that that intensity of the final in Chicago was more of a function of it being a Mexico-US rivalry game than any tournament that it was a part of; that was surely the source of my interest in the match.

It’s our region’s tournament, not exactly chump change. Its not the U.S.'s fault that there is approximately 1.5 other respectable teams in Concacaf. Hopefully Canada can keep getting better and Costa Rica can stay decent and the tournament can actually have a little more juice.

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**Author:** ![Piker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Piker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piker)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-soccer-players-called-in-the-usa/472943/62 "2008-11-17T20:41:28Z")

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> [@MichaelQReilly](#):
>
> It’s our region’s tournament, not exactly chump change. Its not the U.S.'s fault that there is approximately 1.5 other respectable teams in Concacaf. Hopefully Canada can keep getting better and Costa Rica can stay decent and the tournament can actually have a little more juice.

Well, yeah, I’d love the regional tournament to be played at a high level, but wishing doesn’t make it so. It doesn’t help that the tournament is almost always played in the United States, which doesn’t give it the air of a regional championship, as opposed to a glorified U.S. Cup (an old Nike tournament from the 90s).

Those early round games against El Salvador don’t really get me going, its like watching my Jayhawks take on the early rounds of the CBE Classic later this month.

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**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-soccer-players-called-in-the-usa/472943/63 "2008-11-17T21:14:16Z")

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> [@lynxie](#):
>
> Golfer. 😃

We said “sports.”

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