Has soccer boom gone bust?

Have thought this for a long time.
As someone who forks over cash to watch the Chicago Fire play, and someone who enjoys watching soccer on TV as well as the preps in person, it seems like U.S. soccer is not developing at the pace one would think it should, based on the number of people playing.

Watching the under-23 men's team do a belly-flop in the Olympics was the latest example of our up-and-coming players not being as good as other countries' up-and-coming players.

The baffling thing is, WHY?

One would think that nearly 30 years after soccer was to become the sport of the 1980s in the U.S, that we would rule the sport. Instead, we don't seem to be serious players on the world stage. Sad.