Soccer in the United States is a country club suburban sport. It's not viewed as being a gritty/manly sport. I love soccer, but that's just the reality of how it's viewed. There are MONSTER athletes in the US. An interesting example right now is US Rugby 7's. Recently some guys that were Division 2 college American football players (the third highest tier of college American football) that have no real reality of playing in the NFL, have taken interest in Rugby 7's. They have used that speed and size on the Rugby 7's world circuit and have performed pretty well as of late... imagine what a team of guys from the best level would do with a lifetime of interest and training in the sport.