INTROSoccer or football has not yet caught on in the United States. Although the American people have had recent successes such as at the 2002 World Cup and the 2009 Confederations Cup. Although extremely popular in European countries, soccer has taken a long time to gain momentum in the United States because Americans invest more money and attention in other sports such as baseball, football and basketball. Football eventually became popular in the 1970s, but then lost popularity again when the National League went bankrupt. US soccer began when English colonists arrived to populate America. Originally the game was played in an entire city with two nets at either end. The players battled it out to get the ball to one end of the city and into the net. It was very similar to modern rugby. Native Americans also played a game similar to football. It was called pasuckquakkohowag. In the 1820s more and more colleges, such as Harvard and the University of Maryland, began to have football teams. (confirm these facts) Although football may have been the first organized sport in the British colonies and early United States, it soon had to compete with baseball, football, and basketball. The first baseball game took place on June 9, 1846. People liked it because the younger ones could play. It was very popular with immigrants from England, Germany and Ireland. In 1857 the National Baseball Players Association was founded. Then on December 5, 1856, a newspaper called baseball the “national pastime.” Then, in the late 1800s, American football, which combined rugby and Boston soccer, became increasingly popular. Three presidents played or coached football: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Basketball wasn't invented until... middle of paper... the ball has a long and interesting history. For example, the Oneida Club in Boston was founded in 1862, making it the oldest outside England.” Encyclopedia of Football, page 71Works CitedDower, John and Mark Monroe. "Once in a Lifetime" (video). Accessed April 22, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBR8jN_SyE0. July 7, 2006 Lineker, Gary. Football The definitive illustrated guide to world football. London, Great Britain: Carlton Books Ltd, 1994Litterer, David. The year of American football. Sover.Net, Web. Accessed 22 April 2014. . March 7, 2014Kornheiser, Tony. "Americans have adopted football, no longer an 'immigrant' sport." The New York Times. July 5, 1977. Sellin, Eric. The inner game of football. Mountain View, CA: World Publications 1977. Sullivan, George. This is professional football. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1979.