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Since 1994, it seems we sit down every four years and wonder what affect the World Cup will have on soccer in America.

In 94, we hosted the Cup, so it seemed like a great launching point for the worlds most popular sports here. By 1996, Major League Soccer began its attempt to enter the American consciousness. However, in 1998, the amount of fans were dwindling at MLS matches and the enthusiasm surrounding the Cup could not carry over to the U.S. Leading up to the 2002World Cup, however, the MLS was building soccer-specific stadiums and focusing on homegrown talent. So, by the time the Yanks made their incredible quarterfinal run in the 2002 World Cup, soccer interest at home was at an all-time high. Then we suffered a setback in the 2006 Cup when we went winless.

Which brings us to this years World Cup.

Go on YouTube and look at clips of people reacting to the U.S. vs. Slovenia match in the group stage and there is no denying that soccer has created a solid fanbase in America, and its not just people who played in their youth or foreign nationals. I watched the World Cup at a bar in my neighborhood, and every U.S. match had a packed house. Most of the people were under 40, college educated many having studied or traveled abroad and many even admitted to enjoying English Premiership matches from time to time. Soccers fanbase in the States has finally come of age, and they are vocal and they are a healthy market.

There is a reason that the ABC/ESPN family is showing every single World Cup match: there are advertisers looking to reach a very desirable market of 18-45 year olds with a bit of disposable income. Does this mean that the MLS is suddenly going to experience sell-outs during the summer? Most likely no. But it means that the soccer audience in America is reaching a critical mass.

One doesnt need to watch the aforementioned YouTube celebrations of U.S. soccer fans to know that the win against Slovenia and the advancing of the U.S. team, while it did not make soccer one of the dominant sports in America, definitely helped keep American interest in soccer at an all-time high. Had the U.S. team failed to advance after thanks to horrific officiating that robbed them of goals against Slovenia, that may have been soccers death knell here. Sports columnists and radio hosts would have lambasted a sport that can so easily allow the incorrect team to win due to human error. Thankfully, that is all hypothetical. America advanced, and though they lost to Algeria, there was more buzz surrounding their second round match than any in the teams history.

The question now is whether the American team can keep up with the level of interest being shown stateside.

Americans love a winner and have trouble abiding losers. We have been patient with a scrappy underdog team, many probably enjoying the against-the-odds mentality, but after a few World Cups of playing the spoiler and the Cinderella, U.S. fans will be primed to experience a winner along the lines of a quarterfinal team in 2014.

The inherent problem with making it to the elite ranks of world soccer is that while America continues to send its best athletes to play football and basketball, most countries around the world funnel all of their starts to soccer. Parts of Europe and South America are becoming the exception, with countries like Spain, France, Serbia and Argentina seeing more and more athletes playing basketball and making a push for the NBA. But there is no doubting that America almost always sends its best into sports other than soccer. Until we see athletes like Allen Iverson, LeBron James or Michael Vick playing soccer, we are obviously not maximizing our potential.

That may be changing slightly. During the cup, Phoenix Suns player Jason Richardson Tweeted a picture of his sons wearing U.S. soccer jerseys. If elite U.S. athletes can get kids interested in playing soccer or at least removing its nerdy stigma, we may see an increase in the quality of player.

Regardless, in the short term, we have who we have in our system, and it is imperative that they play to the best of their abilities to keep America competitive. That means tougher and more effective defense and no looking back. There is a bright future of American soccer ahead of us with a fanbase there for the claiming, it is up to the players to go out and make the most of it.