I know its a long bow, but its worth a look at the situation that soccer in the US was in prior to them hosting the 1994 world cup. I cut a bit out of the article, but the crux of it is that the World Cup took a miniscule dying sport in the US into the beginnings of a major professional league in the country. Who knows how this will turn out, but definitely some interesting parallels to draw.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1798046-world-cups-revisited-the-story-of-usa-1994
World Cups Revisited: The Story of USA 1994
JOHN D. HALLORANOCTOBER 4, 2013
Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
On July 4, 1988,
FIFA made the controversial decision to give the 1994 World Cup to the United States. The U.S. team had qualified for the 1988 Olympics, proving that the sport did have a pulse, however small, in the U.S. and FIFA wanted to help reinvigorate soccer in America.
The U.S. beat out finalists Brazil and Morocco for the right to host the tournament and FIFA was widely criticized. One journalist even
comparedthe decision to “holding a major skiing competition in an African country.”
America only had a microscopic soccer culture at that point and even though it was one of the most popular sports to participate in among American youths, it still had not grabbed the attention of the populace. Professional soccer in America had died when the North American Soccer League folded in 1984 and few seemed to care.
Nonetheless, the tournament became an important opportunity to spread the game in America and gave the world some great moments to look back on.
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Post-Script
The 1994 tournament has left fans, both in the U.S. and throughout the world, with many great memories. Cameron forward Roger Milla, who was an unbelievable 42 years old in the tournament, scored against Russia and became not only the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup, but the oldest to ever score a goal.
Saeed Al Owairan of Saudi Arabia scored one of the best goals in the history of international soccer, even though it has become largely forgotten. Perhaps it has become forgotten because he was not from a world football powerhouse, or perhaps because no one knew who he was. Still, it is worth watching as he took the ball starting in his own half and ran through four Belgian defenders before scoring.
The 1994 tournament also saw greats like Dennis Bergkamp and Jurgen Klinsmann. Bergkamp developed a fear of flying because of a scare during the 1994 tournament which affected his ability to play in European matches for the rest of his career. Klinsmann, of course, would later move to the United States and now manages its national team.
For the United States, things would never be the same. Major League Soccer was launched in 1996 with 10 teams and recently announced plans to expand from its current 19 teams to 24. Professional soccer is alive and well in America and any European traveling to Portland, Seattle or Kansas City would not be able to argue there are not passionate and engaged fan bases.
The 1994 tournament also gave the U.S. its first soccer “stars” in players like Earnie Stewart, Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola, Marcelo Balboa, Cobi Jones, John Harkes, Tab Ramos and Eric Wynalda—role models for future generations of American players.
