I recently did a quick interview with Ed Pilkington, a Guardian writer based in New York, on the popularity of the game in the U.S.


I'll admit, I come off a bit negative in the piece, and while Ed didn't misquote me, there is a bit of context missing. We talked for five minutes, on everything to how the U.S.A.-England game was covered to the rising tide of soccer interest in the country.


Unfortunately, I'm a victim of perspective, and instead of painting what might be a more accurate picture of the state of international soccer's popularity (the focus of the story), I relied on my own recent experience. I rarely talk soccer with anyone outside of my home, a situation that boils down to work and family life dominating my time; the ubiquitous nature of Internet soccer talk in my day-to-day means I live in a pretty secure little bubble of influence. There may be thousands of people walking down busy American streets every day sporting the latest in soccer gear, and there is probably an office or two where the World Cup is water cooler subject matter. Alas, that's not how it is for me.


And the other thing, saying that it would be hard to see the U.S. getting past Germany? I'm not sure I need to analyze that one. Of course, anything is possible.


The juxtaposition of attitudes from me (an American) and Christopher Harris of the Talk sites (a Welshman) is certainly noteworthy.


Read the story, let me know what you think.