U.S. faces slow road ahead despite its soccer success

Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley are stars for the summer. They hope they will be regarded as pioneers one day.

Now that Donovan, Beasley and the rest of the U.S. soccer team are home from their unexpectedly successful performance at the World Cup, the tough part begins. They want to make sure American soccer capitalizes on the team's trip to the quarterfinals -- its best showing since 1930 -- without overplaying expectations.

"The goal has always been to get a broader audience, and I think we accomplished that," said Donovan, who went on a whirlwind media tour upon his return.

"The question to be answered next is, are they going to stay with us?"

Those who do will need to be patient.

Most soccer experts agree that Major League Soccer will be the U.S. team's main supplier of players for the foreseeable future. In its seventh year, the league is showing signs of success.

Still, that doesn't disguise the fact MLS has lost more than $250 million over six years, or that two teams in Florida just folded, or that European leagues have always had a knack for picking off top American players.

MLS TV ratings are minuscule -- about 200,000 homes tune in to Saturday afternoon games on ESPN.

About 4 million kids play in youth leagues nationwide, about double what it was 12 years ago. But America still lags behind in the most crucial task, identifying young talent and turning those kids into world-class soccer players.

Bob Contiguglia, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, says the United States' recent success makes him optimistic, but only cautiously so.

He's wary of inflating expectations based on the results of the tournament.

In fact, Contiguglia no longer puts much credence in the ultimate goal set in Project 2010, the blueprint USSF executives hatched for America's soccer future four years ago. Those officials said America should be a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by the end of the decade.

"To make predictions like that is silly and unrealistic," Contiguglia said.

Saturday's game

DAEGU, South Korea -- Turkey defeatedSouthKorea 3-2 in the third-place game after striker Hakan Sukur scored in just 11 seconds, setting a record for fastest goal in a World Cup.