Six months ago, during the draw for the World Cup in Germany, the U.S. National Team’s fate may have been determined. Before a ball was kicked, before a penalty kick was awarded and before a red card was handed out, Team USA found itself in the ‘Group of Death.’ Out of the eight, four-team groups, the U.S. was drawn in arguably the most difficult.
After the draw, many experts predicted America’s World Cup hopes were dead well before the team arrived on German soil. The soothsayers felt that the USA’s success four years before in Korea/Japan was a mix of luck and the failure of others instead of the flair of the Americans. After the Americans’ 2002 quarterfinal appearance, other soccer prognosticators had hoped that U.S. soccer had matured to the point that it could successfully escape the ‘Group of Death’ unscathed.
To understand the difficulty of that task, you need to understand the pedigree of Group E’s members. Italy: Three world championships among its 15 Cups, entered Germany 2006 ranked No. 13 in the world. The Czech Republic: No. 2 coming in, a two-time finalist among its eight trips to the big party as Czechoslovakia. Ghana: A rising African star making its first World Cup appearance, entered play ranked 48 th. Team USA. Six Cups under its belt and a top-five rank.
Unfortunately for U.S. soccer, after Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Ghana, World Cup debutants, the predictions of the soothsayers were proven correct. Three and out. Two lonely goals scored, one by an unlucky Italian defender. The American players showed up for only one of the three games. As a result, the Yanks are headed home with plenty of unanswered questions regarding their uninspired, lackluster and forgettable performance.
Where was the intensity, the run-’til-you-drop attitude? Where was the speed of play that has been a hallmark of American success previously? Why was the team’s tactical approach so defensive especially considering the team needed goals and victories to advance? Why were the performances of the big-name players like Landon Donovan, DeMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride so forgettable?
After its 2002 quarterfinal loss to eventual World Cup finalist Germany, Team USA earned worldwide footballing respect and acceptance. However, the Red, White and Blue entered this tournament riding on their reputation. They seemed to have forgotten what got them to the pinnacle of soccer competition. The effort level seemed negligible compared to the approximately $200,000 each player would earn during the first round of Cup competition.
Could the players have developed that laissez-faire mental approach that we have seen in other American team sports while competing on the world stage? Remember the failures of NBA stars in the Olympics? Remember the disastrous results of Major League Baseball’s best in this spring’s World Baseball Classic? And both of those sports have roots outside our back doors.
Players, coaches, administrators and supporters have much soul searching to do. Although Team USA might have been outclassed in the ‘Group of Death,’ the team did not seem to give itself a chance to succeed. Yes, there were questionable refereeing decisions, but there were also questionable tactics and player performances.
Bad calls are the nature of the game. But world-class teams deal with them. They ensure that they control their destiny. Top teams and players know that they must exert the effort that nullifies outside influences like referee decisions. The U.S. failed to do this. The team was always looking over its shoulder, looking for someone else to point the finger at.
Tactically, the Americans struggled. They largely utilized a 4-5-1 defensive formation – a lineup with a single forward. Players played in unfamiliar positions, positions that were different from where they had been used in warm-up matches. This was not the prescription for a team that needed to jump-start a struggling offense. Needing at least one victory to advance, the team could only manage to score a single goal by itself.
The soul searching needs to extend to the effort level. Energy, intensity and passion were lacking in player performances. Were they too comfortable with the coach and themselves? Or were they merely overconfident or just unmotivated?
One has to wonder whether head coach Bruce Arena provided an environment that stressed the need for energy and work rate. On the other hand, big-name players should be expected to ‘play’ in the big games. The few American stars were non-existent. Tellingly. their names were seldom called by the broadcasters. These players failed to show why their faces are on billboards and why they are featured in TV ads.
After the Ghana defeat, Arena stated, “We were having to chase the game in the second half.” He should have said, “We were having to chase the game all tournament and, over the next four years, we will have to chase the rest of the world.” Yes, “chase the rest of the world” to reach the levels of the top footballing nations. To prove that 2002 was not a fluke. To prove that U.S. soccer is a force to be reckoned with.
Fans of Team USA and the team’s administrators will point to the 2006 World Cup as a disappointment because expectations were high. Let’s hope that the poor results from the ‘Group of Death’ don’t signal that the future of the U.S. National Team is dead. Instead, the soccer community must reach for the respirator and inject new life and energy into what was a lackluster display.
Midfielder Donovan noted after the Ghana game, “The worst part is the finality of it.” Yes, Landon. It is final. The U.S. will not be going to the Final. The U.S. is out of the World Cup. We all have to wait four more years. Four years to determine if the Red, White and Blue have learned from the 2006 experience.
Four more years to determine if the U.S. deserves to be mentioned with the soccer powerhouses. Or continue to be compared to the minnows, the football wannabees. Time will tell, but so will player efforts, team tactics and the roll of the ball.
