Here in Uruguay we don´t have cheap energy but we do have a ridiculous number of both professional and amateur leagues and coaches (and a lot of grassland to co

Here in Uruguay we don´t have cheap energy but we do have a ridiculous number of both professional and amateur leagues and coaches (and a lot of grassland to convert into soccer fields) For a population of 3 million: - Pro league with 30 pro teams (each with a youth system with 7-8 teams) + 80 semi-amateur teams (with promotion to the pro leagues) That's between 10.000 and 20.000 players in the pro system. 100 (or more) each year are sold overseas. - Very serious amateur league with 8.000 players every weekend in the capital city, Montevideo (any of those 8.000 players could be a pro in a weak national league) plus 2.000 players in the league for smaller cities. - Teenagers play leagues much like Americans might play high school and college sports, there are probably 30.000 teenagers playing in leagues - 140.000 players in all the leagues across all the smaller cities. So that's about 200.000 active players for a population of 3 million - I was one until a few years ago :) If China or India could achieve that much sports penetration (imagine 200.000.000 Chinese playing competitive soccer every weekend!), I don't doubt they'd be one of the top ranked teams in the world. https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.html https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.h... https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugadores-casi-10-equipos-n1155154 https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugad...