Note: This is the third part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

When the Columbus Crew signed Guillermo Barros Schelotto earlier this season, many wondered why the Argentine forward had chosen to come to the US. He was leaving Boca Juniors, a club where he had spent ten years and achieved the exalted status of an Argentine ídolo, for a struggling team in a not terribly glamorous city in a country without the soccer pedigree of his homeland. About the only thing Boca Juniors and the Columbus Crew have in common is the yellow in their uniforms.

Boca Juniors president Mauricio Macri holds up a Crew jersey while Guillermo Barros Schelotto looks on (photo: AP/Natacha Pisarenko)

When I passed through Columbus yesterday, the Crew had just returned from a retreat in West Virginia. It was Schelotto’s first time in the Mountain State (somehow I just can’t envision him singing along to Take Me Home, Country Roads), and one example of how his life has changed in the past year. Schelotto took the time to speak with me about the differences between the United States and Argentina, both in terms of soccer and life.

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In homage to Where’s Waldo, one of my favorite children’s books, I’ll be offering a series of Where’s David? challenges during my American Soccer Road Trip. Take a look at the picture below and see if you can guess where I am.

Hint: if you can figure out who is depicted in the statue, you should be able to figure out where I am. Post a comment with your guess. And yes, that statue is made out of Legos.

Check back later today for an interview from this destination.

I set off on my American Soccer Road Trip yesterday. I’m on my way to San Diego in a completely stuffed Honda Civic and with a Watford lunch box (courtesy of a friend who supports the Hornets) to carry my munchies.

Check back tomorrow for the first stop on my trip outside of the Washington area.

Note: This is the second part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

One the most important factors shaping people’s lives in the 21st century is the ever-increasing pace of globalization. We are familiar with many of the changes globalization has brought: the multitude of products manufactured in China, information available on-demand on the Internet, and people increasingly moving to different countries in search of a better life. But sometimes, globalization brings about a change that is totally unexpected.

When DC United signed forward Nicolas Addlery at the beginning of the season, I read in the press release that the Jamaican had spent the previous year playing in Vietnam. How strange, I thought. How could a player from Jamaica end up playing in a country halfway across the world from his homeland? Well, the short answer is globalization, but the long answer is far more interesting.

Nicholas Addlery sat down with me recently and talked about how he ended up playing in Vietnam and what he took away from his time playing and living there. (more…)

Since I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I’ve been surprised and honored by how the readership of my blog has grown. I’ve been curious to know who exactly these people are who are taking the time to read my website. So, inspired by Ives Galarcep, I’d like to do a Culture of Soccer Roll Call. I’ve gotten to “know” (such as one can on the Internet) some of you through your comments, emails, etc., but I’d like to know more about other readers with whom I have not communicated.

Below, if you would be so kind, please tell me your name (first name or posting nickname is fine) and where you live. If you have a website of your own, feel free to list it. I’m always looking for good new reads.

Thanks for reading Culture of Soccer.

Note: This is the first part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

Few American soccer writers have the resume to match Grant Wahl. He has worked at Sports Illustrated for over ten years, and during that time has cultivated a wide variety of sources, experiences, and knowledge about the world game. Wahl is often the man foreign reporters turn to when they want an insider’s perspective on American soccer (he has appeared on Times Online’s TheGame Podcast), and for good reason. If anyone can be called an expert on American soccer, it is surely Grant Wahl (for more information on the man, check out Adam Spangler’s in-depth discussion with him at This is American Soccer).

As I embark on my American soccer road trip looking at the diversity in American soccer, I wanted to begin with a discussion which would provide an overview of this topic. Grant Wahl was kind enough to meet with me in Baltimore recently and offer his insights on this subject.

Grant Wahl (photo: Sports Illustrated)

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