Way to go USA
Hey! The USA was eliminated from the World Cup today. I speak for people everywhere when I say, whop-de-freakin-doo! I had fallen into a trap. Four years ago, I followed the Americans unlikely run into the quarterfinals and really enjoyed the world cup games played in Korea. Perhaps it was that I already knew what happened in the games so I could enjoy each USA victory.
This year, Team USA looked to build on that success and all we had been hearing about was how this is the best USA team ever. That they were going to shock the world. Well, they did not shock the world, they shocked the country by how bad they played. The rest of the world already knew that team USA would not be a serious contender. The American marketing machine had absolutely no clue.
The Czech’s were vastly superior, the Italians made a mistake that caused a tie, thus setting up today’s dramatic clash with the powerful nation of Ghana. The Americans needed a victory, coupled with a Czech loss to Italy to advance into the round of 16 and a match-up with Brazil. I mean really, what’s the point? Even if team USA had managed to defeat the Ghanese, does anyone in their right mind think they can beat the juggernaut that is Brazil?
Soccer is never going to be as popular in the US as football and baseball. I have no real theory on why that is. It is a fast game, lots of action, with colorful players, it should be one of the most popular games in the country. Maybe it is due to team USA’s continued failure on the world stage or maybe it is because American’s do not like seeing games end in a tie, soccer continues to struggle.
Like many young Americans, I played soccer in my youth. I then played on intra-mural teams in college for my fraternity. I should have a major point of attachment to watching the game, based on my prior experiences, yet, I find the MLS to be ridiculous. The World Cup does offer much better viewing experiences. Mark and I watched several games during the first weekend of the tournament, and Ken and I made it a point to interrupt our Saturday to watch the USA/Italy match (plus we drank an awful lot of beer and acted like hooligans, so it was not a total waste). Soccer will continue to struggle, in my humble opinion, until the USA stops loosing matches to teams like Ghana and Morocco (countries that should not be able to beat the USA in anything).
Ah well, the next chance for embarrassment comes in four years in South Africa, which is good as we will already know the outcome of the games before they are shown on TV, therefore knowing whether or not we should waste our time cheering in vain. Go England, Go Netherlands!
