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Originally Posted by demonrail666

That's generally the case with The Guardian: usually more interesting than the actual article.

Seems there are countless obstacles (cultural, institutional) to 'soccer' ever really finding long term acceptance there.

i agree with one of the commenters there-- as long as the street game is lacking, we'll never have superstars

 

part of the problem is in the subtext of the article-- the guy talking about how nice is the highschool experience, bla bla bla.

but "nice" is a middle class choice. it's not like "i need to make it to escape poverty" the same way that you'd see chronicled in "hoop dreams".

almost any great fútbol player comes from humble beginnings for a reason-- they gotta make it "or else."

now it sounds like i'm advocating poverty. i'm sure the germans were all well-fed though. still, i don't know-- it's something cultural. i suppose a professional footballer is a more realistic option in germany, where you don't need to be megarich or you can coach kids, etc.