This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

Big game tonight. Care to argue which new coach is better? Which team has better players? Whether Mexico can score a goal on U.S. soil? It’s been since 1999? It’s also worth noting we’ll have a harder time keeping the ball out of the net without Onyewu there, who after just completing his club transfer, is not going to hustle Borgetti this time around. Bocanegra and Conrad will need to be strong, and Bornstein will need to begin a game like he ended the last. Let us not forget Mexico called in all of their top players. We did not. Which begs a question. It’s not a new one, but one that never tires.

Of all the debates swirling around the US MNT as they head into what most agree is usually the biggest friendly on the schedule, there is one question that never leaves, no matter who or when or where we are playing. That query, and hopefully your answer (as well as mine), are after the jump.

Who are you for, Club or Country?

Take for a moment the last few paragraphs from the Guardian’s feature on Didier Drogba:

“Back in 1992, the last time Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations (’I remember that well, watching on television, our goalkeeper Alain Gouamene was the hero,’ says Drogba) English football provided one player for the biennial tournament, the Swansea and Nigeria defender Reuben Agboola. Now there seem to be as many Africans in the top division of English football as there were Scots back then.

Almost every club will lose top players next January and February, when the next tournament is held in Ghana. If their teams qualify, Kolo Toure, Eboue, Adebayor and Song will be missing at Arsenal; Diouf, Meite and Faye at Bolton; Kanu, Mwaruwari and LuaLua at Portsmouth; Zokora and Mido at Tottenham; Sissoko at Liverpool; Martins at Newcastle, McCarthy at Blackburn, the list goes on. But none at Manchester United - and no team will lose more quality than Chelsea. Imagine taking Drogba and Essien out of their team now, while United stay as they are. What would that do to team spirit?”

I’ve yet to read a better example of why this question matters, but it does, in the very least because the parity between the two can have real meaning beyond the esoteric when you consider schedules, and further down the line records, standings, and maybe even a championship.

So which is it, Club or Country? Would you rather your favorite club win the league or would you rather your country win its continent’s championship? More than just heart and pride effect the decisions that force one to choose, be it a player, coach, front office, or fan. Money is certainly no second fiddle, but neither are nationalistic tendencies and bragging rights. On the one hand, club soccer often pays the salaries, but a good show on an international stage could translate to a big transfer check? As MLS gets stronger, and as the US MNT tries to stay atop CONCACAF, not to mention trying to do so with a new coach and a new crop of players, I feel like this question means a little more than it used to.

In lieu of having both, which is more important to you? And how could FIFA et al. do a better job of marrying the two?

Before you put your answer in digital stone, see what some others thought back in 2001 when the BBC asked this question.

late add after some emailers asked for it:
I’m all country all the time, unless we’re talking about music. Not only should international soccer be a best of the best all-star league in theory, the soccer on the field is better on average when talking about US MNT v MLS. I’m typically for anything - including supporting MLS - that improves our national team and brings more games and tournaments on a yearly basis.