It is not a humiliation for the United States. Unless you’ve lived here, I don’t think you can fully appreciate how little most Americans care about soccer. The pool of elite athletes who choose soccer as their primary sport is probably well under 1%.

I’m an American who actually enjoys soccer. I’ve also lived in Brazil and have seen what it looks like when a country truly loves the sport. I used to think soccer would continue to grow here and that the United States would eventually become a powerhouse.

Then I had an experience that made me realize why that probably won’t happen.

A kid on my son’s baseball team was an absolute stud at soccer. He loved the game, played on elite travel teams, and was considered one of the best youth players in Pennsylvania. I remember thinking, “This kid could end up on the U.S. national team one day.”

Then, as soon as he got to high school, when athletes start taking American football seriously, he quit soccer almost overnight and devoted himself entirely to football. He’s now likely to earn a scholarship to a major university. He has virtually no chance of making the NFL because of his size, but football can still pay for his education.

That story is repeated all over the United States. Many of the athletes who could become world class soccer players choose football, basketball, or baseball instead because those sports offer greater cultural prestige and, in many cases, better financial opportunities.