World Cup

I promised a few posts on the World Cup and failed to follow through with any, at least during the competition.  I did watch many games, including the finals, but never got around to writing, probably because I am in the midst of Kill the Family Tour 2014 (more on this later).  When I am not at a swim meet, or killing the family, I am generally exhausted.  Exhaustion makes work hard enough, adding in an unpaid stint as a blogger is just a little too much.  However, I am pushing through to give my thoughts in one after the fact post.  Hopefully, I can remember most of what I thought over the month of games, because my memory has also been compromised by Kill the Family Tour 2014.

The biggest story coming into the World Cup was preparedness.  Would the Brazilians be ready for the Cup and would the people support the games or protest?  This seems to be a lather, rinse, repeat story for both the World Cup and the Olympics over the last 10 or so years (potentially more, but memory, fading from age, destroyed by the Tour.)  As typically happens, everything came together in time, and, as the Brits would say, the hosts put on a jolly good show.

Let's be honest, the people running these things and broadcasting them know what they are doing.  Pick a place with beautiful scenery and point the cameras in the right direction.  I know there were some protests, but media coverage was limited.  Cameras were pointed at the games, the beautiful scenery, the unbelievable shots (like the floods before the US-Portugal game), the crazy fans, and the hot women.  I saw about an equal number of crazy fans and hot women.  I don't recall seeing a protest.

I read in the Washington Post a few weeks ago that this may be the last World Cup in a democratic nation.  The article stated that people in democratic nations no longer want to spend their tax dollars on new stadiums when they need new schools and food.  As support for this premise, the writer pointed out that Poland and Sweden dropped their bids for the 2022 Olympics because the people don't want them.  This may have an element of truth to it, but I don't think it will play out.  The next two World Cups are not (currently planned to be) in democracies, but somehow, I think the US will host this thing again.  I also find it hard to believe that Germany, England, France, Brazil, Japan and/or South Korea will never want to host again.  Even in democracies, the people in power find ways to do things the people don't want, especially if that gets their faces on television.

The second biggest story, at least here, was whether the US could advance from the "Group of Death."  According to the June 6, 2014 FIFA Rankings, the "Group of Death" included the 2nd ranked team in the world (Germany) and the 4th ranked team in the world (Portugal).  In addition, the US had to face the team that knocked it out of each of the last two World Cups (Ghana, in the Round of 16 in 2010 and in the group stage in 2006).  Most people said the good ole red, white and blue had no chance.  In my World Cup pool (which I lost by a lot), I picked the US to advance out of the group stage.  I am fairly certain that was more wishing than believing, but I did have some legitimate faith that we would advance.

One of the things rarely mentioned was that part of the reason the US was in the "Group of Death" was because of the US.  Ignoring, for a moment, what happened at the World Cup, look at some of the options for the groups.  The US was in a pot with the other CONCACAF teams and the teams from Asia.  Mexico needed a miracle goal from the US simply to get into a play-off with New Zealand to qualify for the World Cup.  Neither Costa Rica nor Honduras were expected to do much (and Honduras proved such expectations were correct.)  None of the Asians teams looked all that impressive coming into (or out of) the World Cup.  Whatever group the US went into was going to be a tough group, because the US was the strongest team in its pot.  The fact that two top 5 teams and the strongest (arguably) African team also ended up in the group was just the icing on the cake.

Of course, the US did advance.  We  won a dramatic game against Ghana, fell to a gut-punch tie against Portugal, and lost a valiant 1-0 game to Germany.  I watched all three games, as tense as a teenager taking a pregnancy test.  The final game, when the score of Portugal-Ghana was arguably more important than the US-Germany game, was particularly tough.  I watched the final game on tape delay by about an hour, which means I couldn't simulcast the Portugal-Ghana game.  I almost blew it by trying to check the other game's score with about 20 minutes to go.  Luckily I caught myself and didn't "reveal" anything to myself in those final 20 minutes.

The Round of 16 game was disappointing, to say the least.  Although it is fun to say "Thibaut Cortois" and watching Julian Green come in and score was awesome, that game left a lot to be desired.  Once it was over, and American fans could sit back and assess, the final question could be asked.  Are we, as a soccer nation, advancing?

I have one friend who says clearly yes.  I have several friends who generally say yes.  I'm not so sure.  We accomplished one thing we have never accomplished before, we advanced out of the group stage for the second time in a row.  Other than that, I am trying to figure out how 2014 is any more promising than 2002.

In 2002, the 13th ranked US placed second in a group with South Korea (40), Portugal (5) and Poland (38).  The US shocked Portugal, tied South Korea, then lost to Poland, but advanced when South Korea beat Portugal.  The US then beat Mexico in the Round of 16, before losing a 1-0 game to eventual runner-up Germany, in large part due to the outstanding play of Oliver Kahn.

Exactly how is 2014 better than 2002?  Yes, the 2014 group was harder than the 2002 group, but in both years, we won a tough game, tied a game, lost our last game and were ultimately knocked out by a superior European team.  Arguably, that 2002 German team that made it to the finals was tougher than the 2014 Belgium team that lost their next game.  In that sense, you could argue that we took a step back.  That may be taking things too far, but it is hard to argue that we are moving forward, when we once again advanced, only to lose to one of the best of Europe.

You could argue that the future looks brighter than it did in 2002, but does it really?  In 2002, 20 year olds Demarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan played significant roles.  John O'Brien was 24, as was Clint Mathis.  Tim Howard was just beginning to emerge from the shadows of Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Tony Meola.  The US had proven they could play with the big boys and seemed to have a core of solid young players, ready to go to the next level.

What happened?  2006 happened.  The US showed up and immediately got trounced by the Czech Republic, 3-0.  They regrouped and earned a 1-1 tie with Italy, before losing to Ghana, when a win would have advanced us to the next round.

In 2010, like 2014, the US showed they are a middle of the pack World Cup team, by winning a weak group (thanks to a dramatic late game goal and a terrible miss by the England keeper) and losing in the Round of 16.  Don't get me wrong, middle of the pack in the World Cup is somewhere between 10th and 20th out of about 200 countries.  That's pretty good, but I don't see what we have done to make anyone think we are moving towards the big boys.

Here we are, 12 years later, and I see the same thing.  A solid core of young players; a successful World Cup run; a coach who everyone believes in, ready to stick around for four more years and take us to the next level.  Remember, in 2002, Bruce Arena was a soccer God.  In 2006, US Soccer couldn't take his credentials away fast enough.  Is that where Juergen Klinsmann is headed?

I don't mean to be Debbie Downer.  Hopefully Julian Green is our Maradona.  We have produced World class goalies at a rate even greater than England produces World Cup disappointments.  Klinsmann's strategy of poaching from other countries, especially his home country, certainly paid off.  There is room for optimism, but realistically, we look exactly like we did 12 years ago.  If we get second in a tough group in 2026, and lose to a superior European squad, will US fans be satisfied?  I won't, but I have no reason to expect more.

This World Cup was fantastic.  The games were great, with upsets, drama, a biting.  What more could you ask for?  Even my boys enjoyed the games (Middle to such an extent that he started begging for a Neymar jersey).  At the end of three weeks, though, we had four super-powers left standing: four time (now) champion Germany; five time champion, Brazil; two time champion, Argentina; and the best team to never win the World Cup, the Netherlands (why don't we call them Holland?)  I enjoyed the tournament thoroughly.  I just don't see us as equal to the big boys, yet.

Again, sorry for writing about this a month late.  I started several weeks ago and worked on it a little from time to time.  Next week I will cover Kill the Family Tour 2014 and you will see why I just couldn't finish.