The South Americans stories of coming out of poverty thanks to soccer far outnumber success stories from the middle class like Neymar.

The big European teams pluck kids out of bad neighborhoods by kindergarten age. France is actually a shining example of building a great national team out of the children of dirt poor immigrants.

Just to list some notables, Thierry Henry grew up in a ghetto after his parents moved from the French Antilles. Paul Pogba shared a bed with 3 siblings, Kante has 8 siblings and lost his father at 11. Evra has 24 siblings, Mbappe never attended school to play and got picked at age 6.

It even holds true in the US with Dempsey.

The real issue to me is the lack of pressure on our national team, the vast majority of soccer players in the US never face adversity or have to fight for a spot on the team every day. There's a reason Pulisic, Wood, and Yedlin were the only guys out there that looked like they cared. All the MLSers folded like cheap tents under any kind of pressure. Growing up with sports being your only way out is the kind of pressure that produces incredible athletes, just in the US the avenue to riches is much more open through football/basketball/baseball.