If 2009 was a bad year for Miami soccer, 2010 is the antithesis.

So far things are going well- Miami still has a professional soccer side and on Tuesday the community got a huge boost after it was decided that the Magic City would be one of 18 venues that are part of the United States' World Cup bid for the 2018 or 2022 bids.

“By virtue of the quality of our cities and stadiums, it was very difficult to reduce the field to the maximum of 18 established by FIFA. We consider it a meaningful indicator of the significant growth of soccer in this country that we can put forth such a technically sound bid without four cities that served as hosts for the first FIFA World Cup in the United States in 1994. The emergence of passionate followings for the sport and state-of-the-art venues throughout the country has strengthened our ability to put together a truly national bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.”- David Downs

The credit truly has to be given to everyone involved involved, especially the fans. They were the true champions of this campaign.

Ok, let's not get carried away. This is not the end of the road and there are still several obstacles- like getting the World Cup first and foremost.

With all of that in mind, it is the perfect building block to truly put the Magic City back on the map as a soccer town in the US and throughout the region.

World Cup bid venues

Atlanta, Georgia Dome, 70,868
Baltimore, M & T Bank Stadium, 71,008
Boston, Gillette Stadium, 73,393
Dallas, Cowboys Stadium 91,600
Dallas Cotton Bowl, 89,000
Denver, Invesco Field, 75,165
Houston, Reliant Stadium, 76,000
Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium, 66,500
Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium, 75,364
Los Angeles, Rose Bowl 89,000
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 93,607
Miami, Land Shark Field, 80,240
Nashville, LP Field, 75,000
New York/New Jersey, New Meadowlands Stadium, 84,046
Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field, 69,111
Phoenix/Glendale, University of Phoenix Stadium, 71,362
San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium, 67,700
Seattle, Qwest Field 68,056
Seattle Husky Stadium, 72,500
Tampa, Raymond James Stadium, 75,000
Washington, D.C., FedEx Field, 89,690