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American moment

Local players and coaches hope the United States' success will lead to an increase in soccer's popularity.

Where to watch

Perry Van Der Beck has been through it all, the ups and downs and twists and turns of being a pro athlete and coach in a sport typically outside the range of the American media radar.

So excuse the former U.S. national player while he revels in the populist surge keyed by the U.S. men's soccer team's run at the World Cup.

"Just going around and watching the games with all of the people, it's been great," said Van Der Beck, a Tampa Bay Rowdies star during the late 1970s and early '80s and Tampa Bay Mutiny coach last season. "It's all about supporting the soccer community. It's phenomenal."

Van Der Beck is far from alone. Like many soccer supporters in one of the planet's last outposts that doesn't embrace the sport, Van Der Beck is elated by what the United States has accomplished and the impact it could have on the popularity of the game he loves.

"The exposure on ESPN, on NBC Nightly News, it all helps," Van Der Beck said. "It raises the bar. The better the U.S. does internationally, the better it will be for soccer here."

How could the performance of the underdog Yanks not lift the sport domestically? Well, soccer's growth in the United States has come in fits and detours, on the pro level at least. But youth participation has grown since the 1970s and now approaches football, basketball and baseball.

"I think the (U.S. team's success) is going to help the game move forward tremendously," said Rick Masi, Seminole High's boys coach and a longtime club coach. "It will naturally die down some (after the World Cup), but I think we'll catch the interest of another 5 to 10 percent.

"I was listening to (sports talk radio), and a guy called and said, "I've never watched (the World Cup) before, but I got hooked on it.' Everyone's jumping on the bandwagon, and some of that will carry over."

If Masi is accurate, it could lift soccer to an elite level. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, in the 2000-01 school year, soccer ranked fourth among team sports in boys participation with 332,850, behind football (1,012,420), basketball (539,849) and baseball (450,513).

Girls soccer ranked fourth with 274,166, behind basketball (444,872), volleyball (415,666) and softball (328,020). Boys and girls soccer had the largest increase in number of schools adding the sport last year.

Those figures come despite the struggle to establish a top-flight pro league. The North American Soccer League acquired major international stars during the late 1970s, and a boom ensued. The league collapsed by the mid 1980s, leaving the sport in a lurch.

"When the league folded, there was no direction," Van Der Beck said.

Several events helped soccer regroup.

In 1990, the United States qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. In 1994, it hosted the World Cup for the first time and advanced to the second round. In 1996, Major League Soccer began play. In 1999, the women's World Cup was big news for several weeks. Now, the men's national team is making its biggest international splash.

Players have become recognizable names -- and faces. A picture of 20-year-old midfielder Landon Donovan is on Masi's daughter's bedroom wall. Donovan also is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, the second U.S. player on the cover in a month.

The next step is transferring the publicity and interest into a devoted fan following on the pro level.

Steve Trittschuh, who concluded his career last season with the Mutiny, said he believes the American stars who play in MLS (Clint Mathis, DaMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride among others) can help the league financially.

They will be worth millions in transfer fees to European teams. With that money, Trittschuh believes MLS can secure a few recognizable international stars (maybe Italy's Paolo Maldini or Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta) and bring back some big-name American standouts from overseas, such as Claudio Reyna and Brad Friedel.

"People are more aware of the World Cup, but will that translate into more people going to see games in MLS?" Trittschuh said. "MLS needs to get money for (the three or four top players) and use it to sign some big names."

How the U.S. performance aids soccer remains to be seen. But all fans are excited by what's happening and its potential impact.

"It's an evolution," Van Der Beck said. "Soccer is a participation sport in America, not a spectator sport. But it's becoming that.

"With (American) children, that first ball, their parents threw it at them. Now maybe they're kicking it to them."

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY

Brazil vs. England, 2:25 a.m.

United States vs. Germany, 7:25

SATURDAY

Spain vs. South Korea, 2:25 a.m.

Senegal vs. Turkey, 7:25

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