drak:

Soccer is just a bunch of guys running around chasing a ball

Ludicrous. The skill and strategy involved in a professional soccer match is no less than that of an NFL contest. But it's hard to fault you as it's pretty clear that your exposure to sports was centered on the US Big Three.

Real Madrid plays its players an average of more than $7.35 million per year. Who's proof reading this stuff?

Rich guys spending cash.  I'm glad they are spending on sports rather then bombs.

Fakeazznames,Seriously, you guys need to stop with the random dropping of names, telling us how great these guys would be at soccer.  Being over 6' tall can be a hindrence when you're talking about footwork.  A guy like Peyton Manning has phenomenal footwork for a QB, but that doesn't translate to soccer.  He's an excellent athlete, but in a different way.  LeBron James might be an awesome goalie, and he might be great at headers, but he'd be virtually useless against a team of guys who are 5'5 - 6'0 tall who all run the 40 yard dash in 4.6 and under.As I said, NFL CB's are a different story, as their particular style of athleticism is perfectly suited for soccer.  The Netherlands is, on average, the tallest nation on earth at 6'1 for males (4 inches taller than the average male American).  Go look at their team roster.  
What you'll notice is 12 out of the 21 players who aren't goalkeepers are under 6'0 tall.  Why?  Because once you get over 6 feet ball control starts becoming an issue.  You all need to start thinking of this in terms of each sport's particular athletic needs, and not whether or not some guy is really impressive.  I'm sure there are plenty of American athletes out there who would be great soccer players, and many of them probably failed horribly at basketball because they were too short, or football because they were too skinny, just as those guys would fail at soccer because they're too tall or they're carrying too much weight around for a 90+ minute match.

drak82 is a perfect example of what I'm talking about in regards to random idiots with no knowledge of soccer making stupid claims.  The best part is that he says no training in the world can make you throw a curbe ball any better, which shows he doesn't know crap about baseball either.

GooberTheGuru,
You are being reasonable, and that isn't something that soccer fans would disagree with.  Of course if more people here played soccer we would have a larger pool to choose from.  As it is, most kids play until 4th or 5th grade until they can play middle school football, a game they've grown up watching and have idols they've seen on tv.The reason soccer fans get defensive is because whenever there's an article about soccer a bunch of people with literally no understanding of the game jump on here and make random claims based on nothing but their anger at the sport.  I'm tired of hearing people talk about how awesome Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or other famous American athletes would be at soccer.  If you can go find me a 6'8 guy, REGARDLESS of how athletically talented he is, who can dribble a ball with his feet the way the the best player in the world, 5'5" Lionel Messi can, I'll give you everything I own (which isn't much).Soccer players aren't more athletic or less athletic than players of other sports, they are just differently athletic.  I would be interested to see guys like Darelle Revis and Champ Bailey if they had grown up playing soccer their whole lives.  They have absolutely phenomenal footwork, they are extremely quick, fast, and agile, and they have hops.  They could be awesome defenders in soccer as well.
A guy who can dunk a basketball from a free-throw line can't necessarily hit a baseball.  A guy who can hit .300 with 50 Home Runs can't necessarily play a lick worth of defense in the field.  A guy who is a gold glove second baseman can't necessarily throw a ball 98 MPH.  A guy who can throw a baseball 98 MPH probably can't block a 300 LB lineman.  A 300 LB lineman probably can't run up and down a field without a break for 90 minutes.  A guy who can run up and down a field for 90 minutes...You get the point.
As for the most popular sport in the world, baseball is extremely popular in the poor Central American regions, and it takes a lot to play it (legitimatelly).  At the same time Rugby is virtually unknown in a lot of places and it takes next to nothing.  Soccer is the most popular sport in Brazil, England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany.  It's not as though the people of those nations don't have any resources.  Basketball started with peach baskets and a ball, equally as simple as a ball and a goal.  I'm not saying that you're necessarily wrong about the economic factors of soccer, they undoubtedly play a part, but I'd be hard pressed to say that you're necessarily right as well.  There is a culture of soccer which even exists here in the U.S. amongs soccer fans, where even at the professional level you feel like you're in a college atmosphere, something which can't really be said of other major sports.  It's that culture, which exists all over the world, that draws a lot of people to soccer.

I've never played soccer yet it is an awesome sport. They are better athletes than most players in any sport in America. It is a game of toughness and finess. It is a great game played by even more fantastic athletes.

If you've never played the sport, how do you know the athletes are better than other sports?? Look, I like soccer a lot, but to say they are better athletes than athletes in American sports is pure ignorance. Other than offensive and defensive lineman, punters, kickers and some pitchers, athletes in MLB, NHL and NFL are just as athletic, if not more athletic than soccer players.

And let's not even bring up NBA players or the skill position players in the NFL! Can you imagine D-Wade, Adrian Peterson, LeBron, Chris Johnson, Kobe, Andre Johnson or Derrick Rose playing soccer?? I could name tons of NBA players and NFL skill position players that would destroy the Premier League or La Liga. I'm sorry, but they're simply too big, too fast and too strong to not dominate if soccer was their sport of choice growing up.

Not dissing soccer players at all, but to label them the greatest athletes in the world is crazy. Especially when you consider MOST soccer players are well under six feet tall. Not saying short people can't be great athletes, but I'll take my chance with the great American athletes that are well OVER six feet tall and just as athletic as the little guys.

Its because soccer is the easiest sport to learn.  American Football has 100's of plays and schemes to it.  Soccer is just a bunch of guys running around chasing a ball, a monkey could do that.  Soccer does not require the natural god given talent that football and baseball require.  You can condition yourself to run that much to chase a soccer ball.  All the traing in the world wont make you throw a curve ball any better, or be able to stand back in the pocket, pick apart a secondary then laser a football right in the recievers hands.  Soccer is so popular because more people can do it.   

The arguments that soccer players are the best athletes are about a moronic as all of the other arguments that xyz sport has the best athletes. 
Yes Soccer players can run up and down a field with the best of them. Aren't spinters faster runners? Don't Marathon runners have more stamina? Can they block a 360 pound linemen trying to kill a QB? Can they hit a 95 mile an hour fastball? Can they climb into a Ring and goto with a heavy weight champ? Do they have a 30 inch vertical jump and can dunk a basketball? No...not a chance in hell. That doesnt make them any less or more of an athlete then any other sport. They argument is stupid. 

While I am definitely not a soccer hater, and I agree that they have some of the best athletes in the world playing their sport, I need to play devil's advocate here.  There are a couple arguments that I need to address.  The first being that Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, theres a reason for that, it's the easiest to understand, and you need the least amount of equipment to play.  Even in poverty stricken countries all you need is a ball and an open area, not even grass most of the time.  This is why these smaller, poorer countries play soccer because it takes nothing to get a game started.  Yes you can do the same with a lot of the other sports, but the difference is that apart from not having shin guards, when people are playing soccer with just the ball and the open area, they are in essence playing the exact same game as the professionals are, minus strategies.  The other thing I need to say is that there's a reason America usually lags behind in soccer, there's no disputing, that the best american athletes play other sports.  I'm not going to start listing off names because you know them all, but it is without a doubt the truth that the best athletes in AMERICA play Football, Basketball, or Baseball.  It's a vicious cycle, they don't play soccer because the sport is less popular and less paying, but yet the sport will not flourish in America until some of these stars start playing soccer instead of other sports.