Over here in the States, we call it soccer.

But slowly, and it is a snail’s pace, the rest of the world’s football is creeping onto the American sport’s radar.

ESPN, the sports broadcasting behemoth with no fewer than two channels on basic cable and as many as six different channels in millions of American homes, has embraced the sport. Already the rights holder for World Cup, ESPN has added EPL games this season to complement its existing Champion’s League coverage.

In addition, Fox Soccer Channel is included for most cable subscribers who have a “sports tier” of programming. That networks carries European matches around the clock, save for the occasional MLS match.

The die-hard fan can find even more football on channels like GOL TV and the Spanish language versions of ESPN and Fox Sports.

Safe to say, this 2009-10 season is the most exposure the American audience has had to the global game of football.

This sets the table nicely for a potential explosion in popularity should the US side put together a run during World Cup 2010. With ESPN’s massive audience and a relatively friendly time zone with the games in South Africa, American success could do wonders to grow the sport in the States.

The US could secure its spot in the World Cup on Saturday night when the Americans play at Honduras with a win, or a combination of the U.S. result with the Costa Rica result.

An embarrassingly few number of Americans will have the chance to see that match. Of all the previously mentioned networks, none was able to work out an arrangement with the Hondurans to carry the match as the host nation has opted to make the match available only over a closed circuit feed.

Ultimately, this is not the fault of US Soccer, but rather the rules of CONCACAF that allow the host nation for matches like this to control the broadcast rights.

At home on Saturday, three World Cup qualifying matches will be on Fox Soccer Channel, but not the match that matters most to the majority of Americans.

US Soccer is encouraging fans to attend viewing parties at an Official US Soccer Bar or any other establishment that is showing the game.

That’s a nice gesture, but this is a significant step backward that the potential World Cup berth-clinching match for the U.S. will be seen by so few.