How Technology Has Revolutionized US Soccer: The History of US Soccer
Imagine 100 years ago part-time players who were not dedicated to soccer representing the United States, compared to present day where some of the best players in the world extensively travel the world and compete exclusively for the United States. One of the main reasons the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) performance has changed is due to advances in technology. One-hundred years ago soccer was almost non-existent in the United States. There were no youth soccer leagues, much less a professional one. The predominant youth sport in the US was baseball. There are youth soccer leagues all over the United States now because soccer has become much more popular. With…show more content… When the USMNT traveled to Norway and Sweden it was probably not very easy to travel there since the airplane was created just 13 years earlier. Traveling across the country would not be nearly as difficult, but it would take three or so times the amount of time it would take today. An article states, in 1934 before the DC-3 it would take 25 hours, more than one airline, two planes, and 15 stops to fly from Los Angeles to New York (Burke). After the invention a single plane could cross the country and stop only three times to refuel. Now traveling across the country can take six hours and never have to stop once. International travel is relatively easy now compared to how it used to be. In October 2016 New Zealand traveled to Washington D.C. to play the US in a friendly. New Zealand traveled 18 hours to play a match that did not matter, and just helped to develop their players. In the 1930’s or 1940’s teams would never travel that far, even for World Cups. Teams around the world travel much easier than they ever did before because it takes so little time now to fly there, play a match, and fly back. These are some of the ways technology has changed international travel over…show more content… Since 1991 the USMNT has won five CONCACAF Gold Cups, most recently in 2013. The CONCACAF Gold Cup is a tournament held every two years and features teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. An article states, the US won the 1991 Gold Cup after seven rounds of penalty kicks, their most significant trophy yet (Litterer). The United States beat Costa Rica 1-0 to win the 2002 Gold Cup. The US won their third CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005. Then the next Gold Cup in 2007, the US won as well so they were back-to-back champions. In the 2013 Gold Cup, the United States beat Panama to win their fifth title. The Copa America is a tournament held between South American teams, but recently North American and Asian teams have been invited to play in it. The US fell to Brazil in the semifinal of the 1995 Copa America, and they also lost to Colombia in the third place game. In 2016, the United States participated in the Copa America Centenario, and they finished fourth. After a forty year drought, the United States participated in the 1990 World Cup. An article states, the United States lost to eventual champions Brazil, 1-0 in the Round of 16 in the 1994 World Cup (Russo & Taylor). The United States participated in the 1998 World Cup in France, but did not win any games. In the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup the United States made it to the quarterfinal, only to lose to Germany 2-0. The
