Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
You may have heard of this Lionel Messi fellow. He's rather good at soccer and does it for the best team in the world. With three consecutive Ballon d'Or award, he's a record-setter and has 10-minute highlight videos dedicated just to him. At just 24 years old, he's already being compared to Pele, Diego Maradona, John Cruyff and the rest as the best player to ever play the sport.
Apparently the U.S. doesn't care about Messi, or at least that's what TIME Magazine thinks. Next week, "King Leo" will be on the cover of TIME all over the world, except in the U.S., where they are going with "The Power of (Shyness)."
This is either the best trolling ever by TIME or a dash of cold water on the face of American soccer fans that the sport hasn't quite hit the mainstream the way that soccer fans would like to believe. Probably the latter.
(H/T Eric Beard)
4 comments
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I'm assuming the latter
Plus, I don’t think the Average american can name a La Liga team compared to a EPL (then again I can be wrong).
by Kirielson on Jan 27, 2012 11:44 AM EST reply actions
Fareed Zakaria
With some hardcore trolling
Down The Drive | @Downthedrive
by Matt Opper on Jan 27, 2012 11:52 AM EST reply actions
who?
Americans don’t care about soccer. No matter how much espn or anyone else tries to cram it down our throats we will never care. Just like football- football will never be popular outside America, and it doesn’t need to be. Cultural differences (including sports) are part of what makes the world unique, if we all liked the same things it would be boring.
"If guns cause crime then all of mine are defective."
by detroit_fan on Jan 27, 2012 3:06 PM EST reply actions
I literally read the article
to find out who he was. I saw the headline at the top of SB Nation while I was on the baseball page. I guessed he was a soccer player.
I’m not trying to disrespect soccer or “King Leo,” but that gives you a perspective on how well-known he is in the US. I’m a pretty knowledgable sports fan who mostly follows baseball but has a cursory knowledge of other sports, and I had literally never heard of him before today.
by Stephen Suffron on Jan 27, 2012 7:05 PM EST reply actions
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