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Message: [QUOTE="Paesano, post: 2767169, member: 5631"] So much truth in there. My son and I were talking about the lack of progress in US soccer just yesterday. Everything you posted is true. But there is more. Soccer, like basketball, requires swag and an edge to be great. The great ones are a little cocky and also a little mean. They have a bit of a killer mentality. Soccer in the US is dominated by the country club athletes. Mommy and daddy are wealthy enough to afford the best training and competition for their kids. But no matter how much you train a country club kid, he will most likely never have that hunger and killer instinct. Very few are born with that as their first instinct and they won't get it at the country club. Being poor and having to overcome adversity breeds that hunger and poor kids are more likely to have a chip on their shoulder which leads to that killer instinct. Our area is a perfect example. The best program is at the private high school. An executive VP at my company played soccer at Cornell and is in their "Hall of Fame". His kid was "so good" that he skipped his senior season to play on a semi-pro team. He is now playing at Cornell just like his daddy. That kid was never as good as everyone thought he was. I once watched a pick up game at the school and he was badly outplayed by a kid from Mali and a middle schooler who was from Columbia. But, somehow, this kid was anointed as "great". For all I know he may eventually be a US team caliber player. But he will NEVER be a world caliber great player. He lacks the intangibles just like most, if not all, the other country club kids. He, like his dad, has the personality of a stalk of asparagus. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach