Soccer in U.S.

* It was encouraging for once to read a positive editorial from an American newspaper concerning the sport of soccer (Jan. 24). For far too long, as you mentioned, the U.S. news media have chosen to ignore or barely cover world-class soccer.

Because soccer receives such little media coverage, many Americans are unaware that the rest of the world no longer looks at the United States national team as a joke. (The U.S. team is ranked higher internationally than England, the birth nation of the modern sport.) Its recent performances against powerful soccer nations have earned the U.S. soccer team much deserved respect around the globe.

The recent showing of support at the Coliseum corroborates your statement that soccer has a potentially prosperous future here. Soccer is clearly a big league sport in this country. The rest of the world already recognizes this fact. Shouldn’t we?

JOHN A. McGUINESS

Torrance

* Thank you for your editorial on futbol! You have done what many of us in soccer have claimed for years: Focused on the merits of soccer and the resources it presents in our area. ABC, CBS, NBC, bring on the Euro Cup games from England this summer. There’s money to be made and a service to be rendered to a starving public.

BEN KRAMER