Limited interest: most of the country views it as a child's sport, to be outgrown. There's not many places for a kid to just kick around the ball with friends,

Limited interest: most of the country views it as a child's sport, to be outgrown. There's not many places for a kid to just kick around the ball with friends, because it's hard to get to a field, you might have to reserve it, how do you get your friends there, etc. It's not an organic sport like football (in the US). Pay to play: for youth development, the player's family has to be fairly well off. This is pay for either an academy, or going to a D1 college team, paying for travel, etc etc Limited coaching talent: not very many soccer coaches play or even watch soccer regularly. This leads to an emphasis on agility and strength rather than skills and strategy. Agility and strength work out pretty well if the team you're facing has the same focus, but if you're playing against a team that has drilled and nurtured intelligence it will end badly for you.