Possibly, as soccer isn't exactly a premier sport in the US. If it was American football, baseball, or basketball (with which the average American male is more familiar) I think the authors point would be stronger.

I could make an argument that using a sport which has massive popularity outside Western European culture is a sign that the interviewer was thinking about diversity.

Sports are good candidates for these challenges as they have reasonably complex rule, so it isn't necessarily that the interviewer was just selecting something they liked.