america's world cup chances
ESPN's Soccernet has a really good article by Ives Galarcep (no, I don't have any idea where that name is from, either) about the opportunity that the U.S. soccer team has in the upcoming World Cup. He makes a lot of good points that many of our so-called soccer analysts have missed.
Although they the U.S. did land in a brutal group, I think there are some advantages to playing such tough competition early on. First, everyone is downplaying their chances to advance to the second round, and now they can play the underdog card. Second, it's better to go up against strong teams and be tested, and possibly fail to advance, than to play in a weak group and fall flat on their faces because they were overconfident. I would rather see our team get knocked out of the tournament by the likes of Italy or the Czechs than see us fail to take advantage of a group with Angola or Iran (*cough*mexico*cough*). Also, if we really want to win the World Cup or be taken seriously internationally, we have to beat the best the rest of the world has to offer. Playing top-flight teams like Italy and (dare we hope?) Brazil will show us how far we've come, or how far we have yet to go.
The world futbol community may not want to admit it, but the U.S. national team is a far cry from the team that finished dead last in the 1998 World Cup. Our team has taken advantage of the vast resources and talent that this country has to offer, and it's time for traditional soccer superpowers like Italy to find out about our improvement the hard way.
posted by Oppy @ 12/12/2005
2 comments
2 Comments:
I would much rather lose in the second round of the world cup than not make it out of a "pool of death," as many call them. A win is a win, especially in the cup, where every team is playing for global glory. The U.S. is improving, but probably more importantly, we are establishing depth with our national team, which we all know provides consistency on the pitch. We'll win a cup in our lifetime, probably before our baby boomer parents die. My man on the inside says Germany is the favorite in '06. At some point they'll meet Brazil in a re-match. No matter how supremely talented the Brazilian or Argentine clubs are, you gotta give the nod to the home team, right?
Germany is overrated this year because they are the home team. They are not nearly as talented or cohesive a team as the one they fielded in the last World Cup, and I think we'll see them put out in the second or third round by England. Brazil is definitely the favorite, no matter how much it pains me to admit it, and I have a bad feeling about Argentina, even though I'd love to see them do well.
As it is, I think the US can definitely slip into the second round, and I think making it out of a "Group of Death" would do more for our team than getting past a group of weaker, low-profile teams.
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