Like many others, I was lured into watching the Confederations Cup Final match between the United States and Brazil this past Sunday after the US's surprising upset of Spain. It was an interesting game to watch, but I think ample analysis of the game and what it means to US soccer has been provided through numerous outlets already, so I'll focus on one specific point of interest stemming from the US performance in the tournament: the progression of US soccer on the global scene.
There has been much discussion of whether or not the second place finish is a moral victory for the US, and furthermore, whether or not the performance is indicative of positive progression as a world soccer power. Enough analysts have firmly planted themselves on both sides of the debate to make the answer to the question murky at best. However, I believe that's exactly what it is. There was apparent progress on display in South Africa, but there was also a vivid demonstration of what is holding the US back in the world soccer landscape.
I don't watch soccer regularly, at all. But I have watched as much as I could of each of the past three World Cups. I do enjoy watching international soccer quite a bit. I love how the game unfolds like chess match with carefully designed and strategized attacks and dramatic shifts in pace. Unfortunately, as long as I've been watching international soccer I've never seen the US team play even half as intelligently as its competition, and that was certainly true on Sunday against Brazil.
While Robinho, Kaka and others were carefully controlling the ball and waiting for the opportune moments to mount an attack on US goalie Tim Howard, the US was busy blasting the ball up the field on every free kick or punt like an under-12 rec league team. There were two and only two moments in the entire game in which the US attempted to control the ball. The first time Clint Dempsey scored, and the second time resulted in an excellent scoring chance. As the second half progressed it became difficult to watch but impossible not to - kinda like a bad car wreck.
Fortunately, I was able to make one uplifting observation while watching the match. The US has much better athletes playing the game of soccer than it did three, seven or eleven years ago. I don't think that Jozy Altidore escapes the clutches of American football to play the European version five or ten years ago - he's too good of an athlete for a high school football coach to have allowed that to happen. But now he's able to pursue a professional career in soccer and be a key member of the team USA. In the words of Bill Simmons, "We can build on this!"
In the past, I don't think the US had athletes on the field that could complete with the Brazils, Spains, Englands, Frances and Argentinas of the world. That appears to either not be true or at least that gap is narrowing. So there's reason to be optimistic about the 2010 World Cup. However, unless the US starts playing smarter soccer, like the Brazils, Spains, Englands, Frances and Argentinas of the world, that optimism is going to go sadly unrealized.
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