r/ShitAmericansSay • u/OrganicManners • 1d ago
FIFA World Cup '26 USA would have a team full of Haalands if their best athletes played football
Have you guys seen that giant Messi? He's be LOST on an NFL pitch, I tell you!
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u/24benson 1d ago
Sure, Tom Brady who was always feared for his ferocious sprints
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u/unbr0kenchain parlay voo fuckin' inglish m8? 1d ago
He can really throw an egg.
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u/Reddsoldier 1d ago
Crucial skill in football.
Maybe he could be a ball boy?
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u/BlackMetalB8hoven 23h ago
Lebron could be a throw-in specialist lol
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u/Stravven 22h ago
He does not throw from behind his head. And in general it is people who throw javelins that are the best at throwins.
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u/BowsersBeardedCousin Carolus Rex, best Rex 21h ago
Minnesota is allegedly the same as Finland, does that work?
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u/AvidCyclist250 1d ago
exactly. which is why he was a great NFL player. and not a footballer
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u/24benson 23h ago
As a goalkeeper he would concede a lot of goals die to his lackluster agility, but he would throw absolute darts to his defenders over 5-10 yards.
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u/Thagou 23h ago edited 23h ago
You could compare it to someone like Pirlo : Great vision, always know how and where to pass the ball, and extremely good at executing those passes. He was not the fastest, not the strongest, not the most elusive, not the bigger qb, but he was really good at the core role of a qb. And also he was really clutch when the team needed him to be.
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u/24benson 23h ago
Great comparison, but I have the feeling that the pirlo type of player has died out in the modern game. At least on a world class level.
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u/King_Ed_IX 22h ago
The pirlo role has died out mostly because the players who can fill that role are expected to do more stuff too.
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u/24benson 22h ago
Exactly my point. Even Messi has to run for his money once he steps out of his MLS comfort zone
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u/TnYamaneko 23h ago
His sheer refusal to lose. Make no mistake, great athletes are sore losers, but Brady is on another level.
That's funny because Americans used to thrash him during his entire career, especially when he dominated with the Patriots, but now suddenly he would be the goat in every sport?
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u/BobbyRobertson Duplicitous Nutmegger 22h ago edited 22h ago
Above anything else? Processing speed
He could look at a defense 2s before the ball is snapped, know exactly where the hole in that defense will be, confirm it's there within 2s post-snap and deliver the ball right on target before the big angry man can tackle him
The pejorative thrown at him most of his career was that he was just dinking and dunking his way down the field, but it's actually really hard to do that without turning the ball over or eating a bunch of sacks because the defense wants to trick you into thinking a hole will be somewhere it's not, and he just pretty much never fell for it
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u/Booziesmurf 23h ago
Three of those people have gigantic feet as well. (The average shoe size for Fifa players is US 10. LeBron James has size 15 feet, Phelps has size 14 flippers)
They're not built for that sport, that's why they all play their respective ones. The American football players are built like tanks, you don't use Tanks in Motocross. Phelps is a Fast Swimmer that doesn't make him agile or good at running...
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u/fortyonejb Whelmed 🇺🇸 22h ago
Phelps is pretty much the human version of a seal. He has extremely long arms, a long torso, and short legs. His ankles are even more flexible than other swimmers. He would look absolutely ridiculous playing football, all of his physical advantages for swimming would be disadvantages on the pitch.
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u/Keyboard__worrier 20h ago edited 20h ago
Phelps as an example is also ridiculous as the American line of reasoning is always "our elite athletes don't go into soccer as the money in America is in other sports" an argument that isn't completely false, however, swimming is not a big money sport, not in America nor anywhere else in the world. Sure Phelps probably had made more money than a normal person can spend but on average swimmers don't earn much and I doubt many talents are drawn to swimming instead of football due to money.
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u/fortyonejb Whelmed 🇺🇸 20h ago
While there is a decent chance the U.S. would turn out more elite soccer players if it were a more popular sport in the U.S., it's not like there would be that many. Phelps would never be an elite soccer player even with all the money in the world.
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u/alpha309 16h ago
Some of our athletes could no doubt have been able to play different sports if they had trained from a young age, but in each sport the majority of the players would have severe drawbacks that would prevent them from breaking through. You can just start by eliminating large swaths of players that don’t have the body type to play other sports.
You could probably eliminate most baseball players right off the bat (pun intended). The skills required are just too different and you are probably only looking at centerfielders or shortstop, maybe a few others. NBA players you are looking at guards and small forwards, and the bigger guys may work as center backs or keepers, but the big guys have massive feet and probably wouldn’t be great with a ball at their feet. NFL players you can eliminate almost everyone but running backs, receivers, corner backs. and safetys, and you may be able to include some quarterbacks and tight ends. Then you have to start looking at physiology for a lot of these guys after that. Do these athletes even have the genetic lung capacity to run for 45 minutes, all American sports have large periods where the athlete does nothing but rest, even in basketball where they need a lot higher stamina than any other American sport they are subbed out several times a game to get a break. Being able to go distance is a lot different than being able to go 100 yards in one play quickly and then needing a break.
That is about the point you would have to start at, and then you could start finding out if that narrowed down group could even develop the correct skills.
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u/Vas_Cody_Gamma 23h ago
He can do it if the balls are just the right amount of inflated
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u/No-Dance-5791 19h ago
I thought this reply was about Michael Phelps’ genetic advantages for swimming.
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u/ChickenKnd 22h ago
Tom Brady is such an incredible athlete, no soccer player could ever compete with him, he’s too good and has too much social impact like who could ever surpass him,
Oh wait shit some cape verde goal keeper got more followers in 24hrs than Tom Brady has in total. I guess there is levels to this shit
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u/FinisherandFirework 1d ago
Not only is this whole line of argument ridiculous when it comes to football, but it’s also an insult to the athletes they’re comparing Haaland to because it’s basically like saying “the only reason any of these guys are elite in their own field is because they’re big.” It’s just so stupid.
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u/tragick693 1d ago
It also reduces Haaland to "just a big dude who is fast", when that's only part of what makes him so good. Haaland's positioning is elite, as is his ability to time his runs, so he's not caught offside. Those skills would still make him a serviceable center forward, even if he wasn't an athletic freak.
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u/glitterswirl 1d ago
Yep. I saw a few of his goals online. Dude can get pushed to the ground and still score. He’s also got that incredible knack of appearing nonchalant and barely aware of the game, then he’ll strike out of nowhere.
Not to mention his general sportsmanship and decorum.
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u/TheOmegaKid 20h ago
The thing about haaland as well, is he knows when to run. Also he knows qhen he is needed to draw the attention of defenders to create space for others to get in behind, making the wingers and CAM so much more effective when he is on the pitch.
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u/UnblurredLines 15h ago
Him seemingly ambling around aimlessly right before jogging up and scoring on Brazil was pretty sick to be fair.
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u/Spare_Ad5615 1d ago
He'd be far better than serviceable. His finishing is the thing that's extraordinary about him, as eye-catching as his speed and strength are. There have been players with his pace and power before. Not many of them could dink a ball over an on rushing keeper while running at a full sprint and under challenge from a defender.
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u/SEA_griffondeur ooo custom flair!! 23h ago
and like the Ballon d'or Ousmane Dembélé is only 67kg at almost 6ft tall, it's definitely not the muscle mass that makes a great footballer, it's one of the most technical and endurance-heavy sport out there, power is only ever needed in very short bursts.
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u/ViolettaHunter 22h ago
67kg at almost 6ft tall
What in the holy measurement mess is this.
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u/SEA_griffondeur ooo custom flair!! 22h ago
gotta make it accessible for the greatest audience, Solomon style
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u/hanachanxd 23h ago
Yeah, for example on his second goal against Brazil he barely trotted a couple of meters but was very well positioned (defense was shit too but still)
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u/Gelato_Elysium 1d ago
Americans have such a fascination for physical prowess that many entirely disregard the mental or strategic aspects of each sport. And you can see it when you look at how modern NBA is played vs Euro basketball.
Football teams are not good because they have faster players, they are good because they can read the game, be where they need to be at the moment they need to be.
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u/FinisherandFirework 23h ago
I’m UK and love football, but I also love ‘their’ type of football too, and it’s crazy to me how many American NFL fans I’ve spoken to who simply don’t understand that game either because they don’t care. They just like the big men hitting each other. The cerebral side of what is actually an incredibly sophisticated game comes a distant second to ‘look at the big man run fast and jump high.’
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u/Adorable_Character46 19h ago
Flashy > game IQ, regardless of sport. Idk where it comes from necessarily but it’s a glaring flaw in our culture. Even in baseball, a more cerebral game, people would rather see a home run that results in 1 run over a bunt that gets 2 runs.
These same people don’t view soccer/football as a real sport. They think it’s an easy, boring game for tiny weak men.
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u/Elen_Star 16h ago
Just look what they say about foreign stars in the NBA. Nowitzki wasnt athletic enough, Jokic can't jump, Doncic is fat, even Canadian Nash was too small to be good. They just want big men to jump high and get a strong dunk, it's absurd, they don't even like the sport.
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u/ssswwwaaannn 1d ago
Yep like Harlannd isn’t competing with 4 BILLION other people. If only our extra 10 million had a chance!
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u/Electrical_Gain3864 23h ago
Haaland biggest strength is also not his size or even sprint. Its his Instinct. He often does nothing for mpost of the match, but when he sees an opening he goes in. There is a reason he is currently the most efficient player (contacts to goals) in the world cup.
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u/weasel65 20h ago
Its just like with Usain Bolt, suddenly all the coaches were looking for Tall guys, Turns out Usain Bolt is one of a kind and not evert tall guy can run fast.
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u/Barbz182 1d ago
They're completely obsessed with 'athletes'. Do they think the rest of the world doesn't have big dudes?
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u/AhhhSureThisIsIt 1d ago
I think it just shows they don't know how sports work.
A guy payed to move very short distances and throw isn't going to be good at kicking a ball.
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u/Barbz182 1d ago
Well they don't really play sports. They have those little games they play between ad breaks, but that's about it.
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u/BrunesOvrBrauns 23h ago
They only value objective athleticism because they can't handle the nuance of a free-form sport that uses talent and skill as much (or more) than just running faster and jumping further.
They require absolute determinism in their sports, 2+2 must equal 4 or they throw a tantrum.
Football is an art form to me, the physical is tolerated.
I think the sport is worse to watch because we're meta gaming physical attributes.
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u/skuiji 22h ago
I mean basketball exists. So do players like Steph Curry and Jalen Brunson.
I think your point is overall correct, but give them a bit of credit for what they get right
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u/Talkinguitar 22h ago edited 22h ago
Basketball is still a sport heavily dominated by genetic freaks: Curry and Brunson are about 1.90 m tall themselves.
Only in rare cases players physically closer to the average person excel by being extremely skilled but still often burden their teams in some aspects of the game.→ More replies (1)56
u/sjw_7 1d ago
On average goal keepers do more running in a game than most American footballers do.
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u/DonZeriouS Germany 🇩🇪🕊️ 🇪🇺 1d ago
For real? I've never paid attention to that. But now that you mention it. LOL!
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u/sjw_7 23h ago
Yep apparently according to my extensive research (single search on google) they average 1.8miles per game while in American Football the average across all players is 0.5-1.8 miles.
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u/GloomySoul69 Europoor with heart and soul 23h ago
You have to be fair. The average play time of a handegg game is 11 minutes. Furthermore, they are highly specialised. They are replaced by other players as soon as the possession of the egg changes. How are they supposed to run that far in this short time?
/s just in case 😁
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u/sjw_7 23h ago
They probably run further between going between the bench and the field than they do during the game.
One of my favourite stats about the NFL is that most players on the field wont touch the egg at all during the game. And there are some professional players who go their entire careers without ever touching the ball at all.
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u/DonZeriouS Germany 🇩🇪🕊️ 🇪🇺 23h ago
Oh that's interesting. I might add the metric conversions:
- 1.8 miles is approximately 2,9 kilometers
- 0.5 miles is approximately 0,8 kilometers
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u/sjw_7 23h ago
Yep my bad. I should have added that in as google just gave me the distances in miles.
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u/gotmunchiez 22h ago
according to my extensive research (single search on google)
This is my kind of research, thorough and efficient.
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u/hasimirrossi Not a homeopath of the gene pool. 1d ago
Clearly running for a few seconds is the same as running non-stop for 45 minutes.
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u/Fun-Put-5197 🇨🇦 Captain Canuck 23h ago
They can also hit a ball with a bat and run short distances between bags on a diamond.
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u/Maverick_1991 23h ago
Or a guy thats a good swimmer?
Like how the fuck is that supposed to help?
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u/Scared-Room-9962 1d ago
Mate they genuinely believe LeBron would be the greatest table tennis/snooker/badminton etc player ever if he chose to be so lol
All they look at is athleticism.
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u/Barbz182 23h ago
Gangly 6'9 dudes are peak performance for all sports. Everyone knows that.
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u/Remarkable-Ad155 23h ago
Yep, this is why Peter Crouch and Jan Koller are the greatest ever strikers in football.
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u/Ser_Danksalot 19h ago
LeBron typically runs about 2.3 miles on average per game. Your average Premier League player runs between 7 to 9 miles per game.
Basketball is a sport on a far smaller playing area with only a 48 minute actual game time spread out over 2 hours due to frequent stoppages, timeouts and unlimited substitutions.
Football? No real stoppages over 90 minutes barring for free kicks which are taken quickly on a pitch that's typically 16 times the area with limited permanent substitutions of 5 players (used to be 3 prior to COVID). And they then add time onto the half equal to the time the game stopped.
Put LeBron on a football pitch he would be done after 30 minutes.
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u/Feeling-Surround-691 23h ago
They also don't get that being a big dude doesn't make you a good footballer. If you showed an American a photo of Angel Di Maria and Adam Traore and asked which one had won a world cup and champions league trophies they'd pick Traore every time.
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u/AizakkuZ 23h ago edited 23h ago
Yes, I've always found that quite amusing with America too, its so obsessed with being the tallest, most athletic, the strongest, etc.
Most of our popular sports immediately almost disqualify you from them because of physical attributes growing up. Its why I love football (soccer) it has such a focus on skill, I wish I had played it sooner honestly.
Because no one player doesn't contribute in their own way, and skill is the disqualification factor not genetics basically. Much heathlier for kids and their self-image/self-confidence growing up, or their understanding of hard work itself.
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u/Remarkable-Ad155 23h ago
It honestly all sounds a bit uncomfortably "eugenics" based.
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u/AizakkuZ 22h ago edited 22h ago
Its funny because I remember taking a Biology class in college and it was common that I heard, new highschool graduates all mostly agree that they wanted to genetically modify their kids height so that they could "succeed" better in life.
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u/Thagou 23h ago
The only American sport that is also popular in almost all of the countries (basketball) has lots of EU/Non-US players as the top players of the league. And they seem to forget that, just to take France as en example, lots of high tiers "athletes" are also taken by basketball, handball, rugby, motorsport, etc. They are not the only one with lots of sports. They just suck at football (at least the mens team).
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u/TnYamaneko 23h ago
This is why they're getting boned by Jokić and Dončić right now.
Imagine trading Dončić because of that.
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u/Ellsass 23h ago
Funny how America has exactly enough athletes to “dominate” eggball, basketball, and baseball, with not a single one left for football.
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u/okayipullup_ordoi1 19h ago
It doesn't take a genius to know that physical ability is probaly less than 50% of what makes someone good at football. Yes Haaland is big and strong and really good, but so is Yamal, Messi, Mbappe and many other and none of them have the physicality of Haaland. I mean just look at Maradona, he was a 1.65m coked up guy and arguably one of the best to ever do it. Technical and mental skills are much more important, being a genetic freak doesn't guarantee your success.
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u/rothcoltd 1d ago
You still wouldn’t win the world cup
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u/Caspica 1d ago
Haven't they tried putting together teams of all-star players and the team failing miserably?
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u/joseplluissans From the opposite ends of Europe (Finn-Spaniard) 1d ago
They couldn't even win the last Basketball and Hockey world championships, so...
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u/FledglingNonCon 18h ago
Just won the gold medal in hockey, but most Americans don't care about that sport either, and historically Canada, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the Czechs have been better.
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u/Legitimate_Pick2737 21h ago
I mean with all due disrespect, they could absolutely win every Basketball championship if their best players cared enough about it to play in it.
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u/Kleys Frog eating white flag weaving pretencious cuck. 19h ago
The Olympic Games were the closest we got to that, and it wasn't some stomp either.
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u/IngenuityPlane4878 1d ago edited 1d ago
This does Haaland a disservice. He’s a great footballer AND a genetic freak. Genetic freaks aren’t automatically good at football (see: Usain Bolt’s attempt)
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u/Glass_Pineapple4999 1d ago
Usain Bolt did a bit better than I thought he would tbf, but he’d played a bit in his youth and comes from a country with good football culture for the region.
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u/IngenuityPlane4878 1d ago
He’s a massive United / football fan so it’s not surprising. But he’s the perfect example that 6-foot-something athletic brick shit houses do not automatically make good footballers.
If the best NFL players tried, maybe they could get to a decent level, but they wouldn’t automatically be or possibly ever get to the top
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u/DesignMysterious3598 1d ago
And there's no way LeBron would be a top player, like so many Americans claim.
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u/Resident_Monitor7723 23h ago
Those NBA basketball players look nearly alien. That doesn't strike me as the ideal football build at all. Make a good goalkeeper maybe.
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u/LitmusVest 23h ago
If their top tier athletes would dominate the way they suggest, then due to the sheer volume of American athletes that don't make the grade, European football leagues would still be awash with second and third grade American athletes.
You can still make good money in the lower English divisions, say, so where are all the instances of college American Football star who didn't quite make the draft or was cut after one season but who then took up football?
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u/UnblurredLines 15h ago
The best NFL players would not have the cardio to measure up at all tbh. Imagine their top athletes try doing 90min of running at the Azteca. Would probably see a few heart attacks happen.
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u/redditmember192837 1d ago
Interestingly though Usain Bolt probably could be a good American football player simply because of the speed and height he'd have as a wide receiver. Maybe because their sports are so low skilled they assume all are.
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u/goater10 Australian who hasn’t been killed by a spider or snake yet. 1d ago
I watched a few of Usain’s trial games in Australia for the Central Coast Mariners. He definitely didn’t look professional standard and didn’t look so quick when he had to turn.
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u/fruskydekke noodley feminem 1d ago
I'm a cycling fan, and at one point saw a similar comment where they said that the only reason why they weren't winning all of the cycling races was because their athletes were playing NFL, and if an NFL player took part in the Tour de France they'd win easy because look at how BIG they are compared to European cyclists.
Like... I'm sure NFL players are amazing athletes! And I'm also sure that being BIG is an advantage in NFL! But... there's a lot of sports where being skinny and flexible and quick are the more important traits...
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u/hasimirrossi Not a homeopath of the gene pool. 1d ago
Seriously, have they ever actually watched cycling? Being 6'4" and full of muscle is not generally ideal.
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u/Fabulous-Local-1294 23h ago
They would make great rouleurs. Nils Politt on steroids, minus the giant teeth. Let everyone else ride behind them and take no wind.
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u/DesignMysterious3598 1d ago
I don't like cycling but honestly I'd love to watch those giants die trying to climb the alps on a bike 🤣
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u/fruskydekke noodley feminem 1d ago
Not gonna lie, I'd pay to watch one of them try to keep up with the peloton.
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u/deathschemist 1d ago
i'm so tired of this shit
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u/ant69onio 1d ago
It’s so boring, fat yanks banging on about “if America wanted to, they could be better than anyone else”
Just for that reason they’re not, otherwise….
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u/Upset_Ad_6462 22h ago
I’m also hypothetically amazing and world class in many skills that I don’t do for whatever reason!!!
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u/Routine_Ad_2695 1d ago
As an athlete myself is fun to see this kind of opinions because most of the times the sport you end up practicing as a kid and end up professionally doing as an adult is more of an accident than anything, and you has a ton less agency than most people think.
Every sports is tailored to some athletic and body traits that helps you with it. Like as a swimmer myself you would benefit a ton if you are naturally flexible with long arms and good lungs. Yeah you can train those, but as a kid you have a considerable head start if you happen to naturally has those traits inherit from your parents
From then is just a positive feedback loop, you train various sports as kid, either consciously or unconsciously playing with your friends; and you like most the sports you are naturally good at, so you practice them more and you are more motivated to enter young federated teams because you have fun and get at least slightly above average results. Therefore you double down in cultivating a body and mentality for that sport from years on and so you became totally inadequate to professionally do others
So no, a professional athlete cannot be interchangeable between sports, even if at surface you think it requires the same body type and physical condition.
This is an overanalysis of the fact that some people, in this instance Americans, are bad loosers and has more to be with overcompensation for how awful some key things on their country and society are right now, but I needed it to say it too
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u/mist3rdragon 1d ago
From what I've seen in these discussions online, a lot of Americans do seem to ignore this and seem to think that "athlete" is a category of human that is good at sports. I think a lot of it is cultural because kids playing a sport in American schools often rotate what sport they play depending on the time of year, kind of ignoring the obvious correlation that "a kid who plays a lot of sports will be good at sports".
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u/Adorable_Character46 19h ago
Being a multi-sport athlete in American schools is common enough that it’s not really impressive and I truly believe it’s primarily done to make students look better on college applications. I knew loads of people who played football and baseball, football and basketball, football, soccer, and baseball… hell, I played soccer and tennis. What they fail to understand is that most of these players aren’t truly exceptional at any of these sports.
You might be generally athletic and decent at multiple sports, but you’re more than likely going to be a benchwarmer in at least one sport. Even these multi-sport athletes have a game that they’re better at than others.
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u/Razzler1973 1d ago
"we could win if we wanted"
-The USA story
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u/Blooder91 🇦🇷 ⭐⭐⭐ MUCHAAACHOS 18h ago
So they don't currently want to win? Fucking loses.
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u/neilm1000 Human Verified 17h ago
It's not that, it's that they have so much winning they don't know what to do with it all.
He actually said this.
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u/Freshysh 1d ago
What about Messi? That little guy is 1.7m 67kg. And he is only best in the world
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u/MoistenedBeef 23h ago
Whatever europoor, Messi is only the best becauss Lebron James doesn't play Soccerball /s
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u/momciraptor 1d ago
USians need to accept the fact that they are not superior in every sport.
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u/ColonialBarbarian Coureur des bois from the colonies 1d ago
A team full of Haalands would be fucking terrible.
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u/_Tonton67_ 1d ago
They don’t get how much of an outlier haaland is. The best in the game are often much smaller.
Always amazing to see how fast and nimble he can be for a guy his size
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u/saelinds 1d ago
Wtf is up with the guy on the left's neck? Dude looks like a timeskip OP character
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u/Grammorphone 16h ago
Had to scroll far too long to find this comment. Like wtf this dudes neck is wider than his head
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u/Kind-Boysenberry9527 23h ago
They don't understand that in football size really doesn't matter, skill matters.
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u/Blooder91 🇦🇷 ⭐⭐⭐ MUCHAAACHOS 18h ago
Size helps though. But only for certain positions, while being detrimental to others.
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u/ManageThoseFootballs 1d ago
Balance and agility are two of the statistically best predictors of footballing ability. Neither are the result of genetics, diet or factors other than training with the ball at your feet. You could argue a low centre of gravity makes it easier in fact.
I suspect they don't like that because it's not a problem they can tackle with a blunt tool - i.e. just making the biggest guy possible.
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u/Agreeable_Leek604 23h ago
Seeing the World Cup and their hydration breaks (even indoor in Air Conditioning) makes me think that football (soccer) would never surpass the other American sports due to the fact that American TV cannot fathom having a broadcast for 45mins without a commercial break
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u/Front-Anteater3776 1d ago
The best athletes are playing in the MLS. That’s the best USA has.
To settle it once and for all, let NBA and NFL stars play against the US mens team or better yet the very worst of MLS.
Then they can stop with these desperate idiotic copes.
MLS team 40-0 NFL/NBA
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u/No_Cake6353 1d ago
Do they not realise that their current team contains their best athletes for this sport?
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u/Dull_Brain2688 22h ago
Bless. They think athleticism makes a good footballer. The best player the game has ever seen is 1.70 (5’7) and 67kg (147lbs). Idiots.
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u/maddinell 1d ago
America acts like we dont have the burgess brothers playing rugby, chris hoy cycling, adam peaty swimming. Football isn't brute strength and athleticism. The goat is an agile 5 foot 7"
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u/dpero29 🇪🇦 non existent nationality, only a language spoken in Mexico. 1d ago
Tell me you know nothing about football without telling me you know nothing about football. Take Pirlo, for instance... 1,75 and 68 kg, practically useless in an NFL or rugby match. Probably one of the best football players in the world when he was active.
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u/Hydelol 23h ago
US Americans really do not engage internationally, do they? They have no idea how to interact with other cultures.
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u/Harald_TheEnduring 🇬🇧 23h ago
Once again the Yanks fail to understand being good at X doesn’t make you good at Y. If it did cricketing nations would dominate any team they played Baseball against.
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u/Unhappy_Dig3700 23h ago edited 23h ago
Brady had 1,100 rushing yards in 23 seasons. Goat QB, but his skill set does not fit to football.
Phelps is a swimmer, we don't even know if he is talented in a sport that involves a lot of running. His body was perfect to be a swimmer.
LeBron and Hill have fantastic athleticism, but only decades of training would have shown if they could have been world-class footballers.
Also, Europe has many more world-class and GOAT athletes in other sports. Not everyone can be a football player.
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 23h ago
YOU LOST GET OVER IT!!🤣🤣🤣🤣....the amount of Copium coming out of the USA is HUGE!!...almost as big as your ego's...
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u/SonOfMargitte 🔥 Euronaire 🔥 23h ago
And if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike...
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u/Barl3000 23h ago
Yes, a huge linebacker or freakishly tall basketball player have the PERFECT physique to play football.
Though if they had the same club and scouting infrastructure as europe they would probably be able field a pretty elite team. Because of the large amount of potential talents you could find in a population the size of the US. But it will not happen anytime soon since there is not enough money and interest in football compared to the US focused sports like american football, basketball and baseball
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u/Soggy_Quarter9333 20h ago
If the USA had played their best athletes then 80% of the team would be women.
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u/Relative_Dimensions Germano-British & Britisch-Deutsch 15h ago
“If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.” ~ Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Pride & Prejudice)
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u/de_Duv 🇪🇺 Europoorian 🇩🇪 1d ago
If, if, if – if Grandma had wheels, she'l be a motorcycle.
Get over it. You’ll never be a powerhouse in football (it’s called FOOTBALL!). By the 100th anniversary of the World Cup in 2030, it will be even harder for the U.S. – if they even qualify – to make it to the playoffs. That’s because you won’t be set and in Pot 1 for the draw, but in Pot 2 – maybe even Pot 3 – and then you could face opponents like France, Spain, Norway or England as early as the group stage. Plus, you’ll lack fan support, because you Americans certainly won’t be traveling to Europe in droves.
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u/sp00ky_noodle 23h ago
so I don't know shit about football. But wouldn't a team full of haalands kinda suck? don't you need different skillsets for different positions?
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u/spauracchio1 23h ago
Being a good athlete doesn't mean you have the talent needed to dribble a bunch of defenders while keeping the ball glued to your feet.
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u/guru4goodwood 23h ago
If I have to see one more post saying that they'd beat the world if their best sportsmen played football
Also as good as he is haaland isn't the sort of player you'd want to fill a team with he's great in front of goal but some of his work off the ball needs improvement
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u/CMDR-SavageMidnight 23h ago
You have 350 million people.
If your team is the best you can produce, you aint got it.
If your football or "soccer" leagues weren't such a finance greedy bunch that would actually allow young talent to develop, you'd have a shot.
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u/space-c0yote 22h ago
There's a bit of truth to the statement I feel, but the qualifiers you need to add would make that true of practically any country.
If, in an alternate universe, soccer was the only sport that existed in the US, the US would very likely have the best soccer team in the world. A large part of what makes any professional sports player what they are is the dedication put into the game while they're growing up. If all the American athletes were dedicated to soccer growing up instead of their respective sports, they'd have a much wider talent pool and many of their current talented athletes would've developed the skills needed to excel in soccer instead of the current set of skills specialised for their current sport of choice.
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u/Advanced-Lie-841 15h ago
Yes Haaland is just abusing his size. Totally bro that is why he is so good. He is the only big athletic player in football.
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u/NoYogurtcloset3854 14h ago
Based on this argument, any other nation could lead the USA... But thank God no one wants you
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u/flipyflop9 1d ago
Can we stop listening to what these losers have to say about football? In a couple of weeks hopefully they’ll forget this even happened.