French players celebrate qualifying for Euro 2012 after a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Stade de France.
“When something bad happens to you, there is only one way to respond - through unity.”
- Arsene Wenger
If you’ve not noticed or read about it, note that Lionel Messi made Time magazine’s cover for his third straight FIFA Player of the Year award — except in the United States.
Speaking for myself, I’ve had a problem with newsweeklies choosing a separate cover for the U.S. as opposed to the same one they use everywhere else. The problem is that the American climate for soccer (and it’s much better than it used to be) represents too much of a risk (in terms of newsstand sales) for a magazine publisher to run a cover of one of the world’s best athletes who is not American and doesn’t play on American soil.
We have enough trouble with the mainstream populace’s dismissive attitude toward the sport even when Americans play it. It is getting better, but every American soccer/football fan has a litany of anecdotes from friends with derogatory opinions about the sport.
As a fan, I’m massively disappointed. As a working journalist, I understand why it was done. What say you?
