How US Soccer Federation Should Respond To Christian Pulisic's Comment About USMNT Fans

The USMNT produced an impressive performance to beat Morocco 3-0 at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium on Wednesday night.

But Christian Pulisic was not impressed with the size of the crowd that came to watch the international friendly.

The stadium's capacity for soccer games is 26,000 but there were only 19,512 fans in attendance to see Brenden Aaronson, Timothy Weah and Haji Wright score in a one-sided win.

Furthermore, a significant percentage of the fans that did turn up came to support Morocco - as this was their first game in the States in 16 years.

After the game, Pulisic was asked by an ESPN reporter how it felt to be back playing in front of US fans again. His response was a little spiky.

He said: "Yeah, it was nice. To be honest, for whatever reason, I'm not super happy with the amount of Americans here, however that works out.

"But thanks to the ones that did come and the support is always great from them.

"But yeah, it's nice to be back in America and playing again."

Christian Pulisic pictured in action for the USMNT against Morocco at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati

IMAGO/ZUMA Wire/Mark Smith

But why was the turnout so low? After all, US men's soccer is seemingly in a good place right now, with the USMNT heading to the World Cup in just six months.

The answer is simple. Fans were priced out by the US Soccer Federation.

Most of the tickets for the match had been priced between $60 and $160 plus fees. That is a lot for a friendly against a team ranked outside of FIFA's top 20.

Fortunately, the solution is equally simple for the US Soccer Federation. They just need to make international soccer more affordable and audiences will swell.

Those in charge of developing soccer in the States are meant to be appealing to new audiences - many of whom may be in need of convincing.

Staging the game in Middle America was a solid start, but organizers got the price point very wrong. 

More empty seats are expected at Sunday's friendly against Uruguay at Kansas City's Children's Mercy Park.

Tickets for that match are still widely available, but the cheapest seats are currently being listed from around $90 including fees.