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Disclosure: I'm Italian
Of course, everyone is entitled to liking whatever sport or hobby as it is wished. Clearly, no one should force a sport on everyone else. But I have gotten the impression (not just recently but in the past as well) that many in the U.S. refuse to even get to know the sport as it is played professionally (sorry, but the way kids play it in no way compares to the pros) only because the U.S. is not competitive in it.
I also think there is a "we are better than you" component, in that many (I have heard this with my own ears, BTW) believe that "American" sports like baseball and U.S. football are much better. Usually, the reason that is introduced is the lack of scoring in soccer, which, as anyone who has ever followed or played the game will say, is bogus: soccer is not solely about scoring. It is about a team effort to prevent the other team from scoring. This is why in some instances even a tied game is a win. Watching an excellently tuned defensive effort is as much fun as watching a billion goals being scored. Another advantage to soccer is that it has a definite duration of 90 minutes (of course, not considering those matches that have to result in one team winning over the other) and no commercials, except for half time.
Of course, it is much less statistical than, say, baseball. Which is not to say it's a superior sport or those who love soccer are better than everyone else... But it is much loved throughout the world because it's easily accessible regardless of background, it is a very physically demanding sport (show me one pro who does not have six-pack abs) and does not require knowing hundreds and hundreds of rules.
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