Are you kidding me? soccer is an amazing game!
No, it wasn't invented in America, so I guess there's a good reason to talk smack about it, but if you watched some good soccer, or played it, you'd know how fun it is.
Also, the problem might very well be the term "soccer". It just doesn't feel right in my head when I type it. In Hebrew we call it Caduregel, which is a mixture of "Cadur" - the Hebrew word for ball; and "Regel" - the Hebrew word for leg or foot.
The r (in it's hebrew form) is shared by both words so it turns them into one.
I think FOOTBall is the right translation (as far as my hebrew-logic goes) but I'm guessing it isn't really realistic to expect you (Americans) to come up with a different name for Football.
How about calling the game you now call Soccer "Football" and calling the game you now call Football "Smash"? I think Smash is a good name. better than "Soccer"...