soccer woes

Years ago Franz Beckenbauer made the comment of the United States in relation to soccer, “I am afraid we have awoken a sleeping giant.” It is obvious that while we may be a giant, we are still a sluggish one, wiping the sleep from our eyes as we stumble toward the kitchen to brew some coffee so that we can begin our day. The state of American soccer is pathetic.

I am not saying this because we lost. I am saying this because we were flat outplayed, out-skilled, and out-hustled. The reality is that Reyna, McBride, Dempsy, Beasly, Donovan, Onyewu, Lewis … all of them played like they were tired and would rather be watching the game than winning one. When will the US begin playing soccer as it is meant to be played. Attacking the goal, defending as a unit, moving toward the ball, making good runs, switching the point of attack … none of these things were executed well. We looked more like an NBA team (that being a group of overpaid men who allow one or two guys to run around while they watch … they are also guilty of barely jumping for a rebound).

I love soccer … but I had a hard time this last go round with being a fan of American Soccer … we allowed ourselves to be dominated, and looked more like a soccer league than a national team. So here is to another four long years during which we have to live through the hype of our national side to see if we can do anything new in South Africa in World Cup 2010. Hopefully the “fire in the belly” that was non-existent this year will come raging back.