Wow!

So I was ready to write a new post this morning about the popularity of US Soccer and the number of people who were planning to watch the world cup, but Klinsmann's unexpected announcement of the 23-man roster still has me in shock. It wasn't just the exclusion of Landon Donovan but the inclusion of certain players. I read a comment on Facebook that summarized how I felt:

"It’s not just the LD cut. It’s the fact that the team did great during qualifying with guys that were huge like LD, EJ, Evans, Corona, and Goodson. These players put on a shirt and did all the dirty work to get to the spot we’re in right now. JK just threw away all the good work and chemistry to bring in players like Chandler (who never wanted to be a part of this team)/ Brooks, Green, and Yedlin (who really have no experience), Wondo (who can’t seem to score in games that actually count), and Davis (who has a lethal left foot but can’t do anything else). Where were these players during qualifying?? Between all of them there is only a couple of caps during these big games. Neither one of them stepped up to deserve such a spot. It seems like JK threw away his previous accomplishments and decided to start from scratch just weeks before the WC."

I really hope that Klinsmann proves us wrong.



Donovan's response:

"To my fans,

It has been an honor and privilege to have represented the US National Team in three World Cups. I was looking forward to playing in Brazil and, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed with today’s decision. Regardless, I will be cheering on my friends and teammates this summer, and I remain committed to helping grow soccer in the US in the years to come.

Thanks for all your support,

Landon"

No Donovan, thank you.

What would it take for the U.S. to win a World Cup in Your Lifetime?

I know have been MIA for the last few months, but I'm back! Right on time for the world cup, with less than two months left. It's crazy how fast time flies!!

 

The other day I bumped into a page called ESPN FC World Cup Stories on Medium.  They provide prompts and anybody can post their thoughts on them. One of the prompts they provided was "What would it take for the U.S. to win a world cup in your lifetime?" Here is my response.

 

For some time now I’ve heard that the likelihood of the U.S. winning a world cup in my lifetime is higher than before.  I would hope that is true since soccer is growing in the U.S. and the odds must be getting higher. There are things that definitely need to change in order for it to happen.  

Let’s start at the root of the problem: scouting and youth player development.  

 Soccer is the biggest sport in the world. One of the reasons for that is that it’s so simple to play and requires no official equipment. How many of us haven’t kicked a can of soda or water bottle and pretended it’s a soccer ball? Or used sweaters as goal posts? I know someone who says that scoring a goal is like making a pass to the net. There are no complicated rules. (No, the offside rule is not complicated). You don’t need to have money to play; unfortunately, in the U.S. it feels like you do.

I grew up playing soccer and so did my brother. We played recreationally because we could not afford competitive soccer.  Club soccer comes out to cost at least a thousand dollars per player and for a low income family that is not feasible.  Money should not be an obstacle in developing great talent. More funding is required to develop our youth teams and ultimately provide those players with the ability and avenue for them to progress. Of course there is high school soccer, which is more affordable than club, but then you have the issue of will you be seen? It feels like you don’t just need money, but also need connections.

 It’s frustrating because I know that our country has at least 11 players that have the talent to beat any team from any other country. There shouldn’t be a reason why our only expectation should be to get out of the group stage of the World Cup. The problem is looking in the right places to find these players AND develop them. I’m one who believes that you are either born to play soccer or you are not. Those that are born to do this sometimes are not so lucky and get pushed to do other things for whatever reason.  We need to be able to help these players develop without them having to sacrifice something else.   

We DO have the talent in this country; we just NEED to come up with a way to stop it from falling through the cracks.  

The next thing we need to look at is our league. The structure and quality of our domestic league needs to improve. In no other country in the world do they have drafts. In other words to sign with a team you need to have gone to college. Various teams have youth development programs, but again the issue of money comes in to play. It seems that in the U.S., playing soccer requires a huge financial investment with a very risky payoff. Major League Soccer just released player salaries which showed the huge disparity in wages. You have the best player in the U.S., Michael Bradley, earning $6 million while there are other players earning in the mid $30,000s. That is not a salary you can raise a family with.

You have players like Hercules Gomez who are offered pathetic contracts and move to play in other leagues. In his case Mexico, where he went on to lead the Mexican goalscoring charts with the likes of Javier ”Chicharito” Hernandez.  I find it frustrating that a player that represents the U.S. has to move to another country to play professionally.  

You then have the issue of player rights. Teams can own the rights of players. Under MLS rules, any player who leaves the league after receiving a “bona Fide” offer from his MLS side, still has his rights retained by the team.” In other words, if that player decides to return to MLS, he has to give that team first refusal. Changing the structure of the league and teams will result in quality being increased.  

Most people agree that European leagues are better. They are more competitive and most if not all players that have won the world cup have played in Europe at some point in their life. In Europe, most players are scouted at very young ages. By the time they are 21 or 22, you will know if they are going to make it because they have been playing professionally for a few years now. In the U.S., at that age, is when they are barely getting started professionally; after graduating from college.  If they are lucky and get scouted by European scouts when they are 15-18 years old, they have a tough choice to make. Most would prefer to keep their college eligibility than risk going to Europe unless they are guaranteed a European club spot, which most agents can’t offer.

I’m not saying we have to be exactly like Europe in every respect but we do have to change if we want to contend with their teams and their players. Once we have a better system in which we find and develop talent, we will win the World Cup.

 

That's a Wrap for CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying (sort of)

Here’s how the final Hex table looks like:

Our boys in first place for the third straight time!! Only two losses, both of which were away, helped us secure the top spot. Costa Rica finished second and the third and fourth place teams were determined last night. And what a crazy night it was! Honduras was the only team that had world cup hopes secured; no matter what happened they would at least go to the play off games.

And the night started when Panama scored in the 18^th minute to lead the US. They were still in fifth place and out of world cup contention as all Mexico needed was not to lose. Then Costa Rica scored in the 25^th minute to send Mexico home and Panama was in fourth place. Mexico was out of the world cup for 4 minutes when they tied the game and gave themselves a little bit of breathing room. It was half time and Mexico was in fourth place and Panama in fifth place. Then came the second Costa Rica goal in the 64^th minute which gave Costa Rica the lead 2-1 and kicked Mexico back out. But WAIT!! US scores!! Michael Orozco, the one who scored against Mexico to help the US win in the Azteca, has just tied it for the US! A Mexican American inadvertently helping Mexico. Mexico is back in. With Mexico losing in Costa Rica for the first time in 21 years, their world cup hopes are kept alive by the US!

Then comes the Panama goal in the 84^th minute to give Panama the lead once again. Panama is back in fourth place and Mexico is kicked out again! It seemed like it was all over for Mexico. They were out for another 6 minutes when the US scored!! Zusi with the second goal for the US, but it didn’t end there! Johannsson adds a third to end the game 3-2!! US wins and Mexico fans celebrate! “USMNT scores in stoppage time to save Mexico’s world cup hopes!” Headlines all over Mexico thank the US. They know that Mexico did nothing to keep their world cup hopes alive. All they had to do was not lose, a place where they had not lost in over two decades. And the tweet heard around the country:

Mexico and FIFA owe the US big time! $600 million are kept alive. I think US should get a share of that maybe to help pay the government debt? Now Mexico has another chance to go to the World Cup by beating New Zealand, a team that just played to a draw against Chivas USA.

I wonder if Mexico will build Zusi a statue like Honduras did for Bornstein. Mexico relied on our boys and our boys showed why they deserve to be on top of the hex. US showed pure class and gave a lesson in fair play. They had a chance to eliminate their biggest rival and nothing to play for. Well at least the team as a whole didn’t, but the individual players did. They are all fighting for a spot to play in next year’s world cup.

For those of you upset about Mexico, don’t be. The comeback from our USMNT was unbelievable!! The video that shows the excitement on the TV Azteca announcers was awesome but unfortunately taken down. And that ladies and gentlemen is why all the games are played at the same time.

The Importance of Michael Bradley

I just read an article by John D. Halloran over at Bleacher Report called “Why Michael Bradley is Key to USMNT’s World Cup Success.” I could not agree more with what was written. When Jozy Altidore was ruled out due to injury, I had confidence that our team would pick up the slack and we would be fine.  When minutes before the Costa Rica game, Michael Bradley picked up that ankle injury, I was officially in panic mode. The loss in Costa Rica only confirmed it, Bradley is the best player in the US team and his presence is essential for the team. During the post match interview, Donovan and Klinsmann confirmed that losing Bradley definitely had an impact on them and all of the players. Add the fact that it was minutes before kickoff, only made it worse.

Maybe it was the fact that the team lost a player right before game time or (most likely) the fact that the player was Michael Bradley, that the US team did not play like the team had a 12 game win streak. Yes, they were playing against Costa Rica in Costa Rica, where they have never won, and we all know that they have one hell of a good home advantage, but that does not make them unbeatable. What would have been the outcome with Bradley on the field? We will never know.

Bradley is our playmaker. He creates space, he moves our players, and like the article stated he can play a number of roles. He can play with anyone you put alongside him. The pair up with him and Geoff Cameron in the Panama game in Seattle was great and hope it repeats itself. You can tell that Cameron, just like the rest of the team, respect and look up to Bradley for leadership. There’s a reason that many want Bradley to be the official captain,;we all know that he’s the captain on the field without the armband.

Every time I see Bradley play, I think of the time when ignorant people would say that the only reason he played for the USMNT was because his dad was the coach. How could you not see the talent he has?!

If the USMNT wants to win a world cup, they will need a player like Michael Bradley. At 26, he most likely has 2 World Cup appearances left. Focus is now on Brazil, and like John said, “There won’t be a more important player on the field for the USMNT.”

Soccer has arrived in America

"Soccer has arrived in America," what a lot of people said after having trouble getting tickets to the last two World Cup qualifiers for the United States in US soil. I have two problems with this statement. One is the more geographical problem in which the United States is referred to as America when geographically speaking countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico (yes Mexico) are considered part of America as well. But I will let that one slide because as a United States citizen, I do call myself American as well and soccer is the biggest sport in those countries. (Is United Statesian even a word?) The biggest problem I have is the "arrived" part. If I remember correctly Major League Soccer was created back in 1993 and there was a short lived league before then. This means that at least there were people that realized that soccer was awesome and needed to be brought to the States. Thus, that's when it actually arrived. Also, didn't the United States Soccer Federation just celebrate 100 years?! To me that doesn't qualify as arrived, this is called growing.

As for the two qualifiers, Mexico in Columbus of course was to be expected. One of the biggest international rivalries in the world. 9,000 tickets sold to supporter groups, others were part of the Columbus Crew Season Tickets, and the rest were raffled among over 40,000 applicants. All in order for the US to have home advantage. As for Kansas City, they were sold out in about five minutes. Both stadiums have capacities averaging 20,000. With so many stadiums bigger than that, why pick such small venues? Many people argue that they rather have a packed small stadium than a half full higher capacity stadium. To me, that does not say "Soccer has arrived in America" in the way that people are using it. It's been here for years and it's growing at an amazing pace. We are moving in the right direction in that there definitely is more interest in soccer in the United States. You could tell by the viewership on TV, ticket sales, jersey sales and World Cup interest. (American Outlaws has three planes filled with supporters and hundreds on a wait list while world cup ticket applications are one of the highest for the United States)

I hope that one day I can turn on my TV and see soccer just like I see Basketball, American Football, Baseball, and even Golf. When we don't have to worry about playing in big stadiums because all the tickets might not sell, or we won't have home advantage; that's when I'll join everyone in saying "Soccer has arrived in America."

MLS Headline of the Year (so far): Clint Dempsey to Seattle Sounders

After all the transfer rumors lead to #Dempseywatch, it was finally confirmed; Clint Dempsey will play the next four years with Seattle Sounders. Reports are Seattle has guaranteed Dempsey $6-8 million per season over the next four seasons. This makes him the most expensive player in league history. Yes, beating David Beckham’s base salary of $5-6 million (other areas of his contract are what helped him earn over $200 million in his years with LA Galaxy).

This transfer created a lot of headlines and contradicting opinions. Is this good for MLS? (hell yeah!) Is this good for Demspey? (debatable) Will this hurt the US National Team? (depends)

Most fans identified with one of the following: 1) What is Dempsey thinking?! He can still give so much in the Premier League. Worst Decision Ever. 2) Dempsey is 30 years old, not 25. He wants to come back home to finish his career.  It only made sense. 3) Dempsey is coming to MLS in his prime! He wants to prove that MLS is a very competitive league and wants to help the league grow. Best Decision Ever.

In my opinion, this is definitely good for Major League Soccer. Dempsey is one of the biggest names in US Soccer and Seattle has proven to be a real soccer city. After Beckham and Henry, he is the biggest name in the world to sign with Major League Soccer after playing in Europe. He has scored huge goals against teams like Manchester United and has a great resume.

Yes, he won’t be playing against teams like Manchester United but at least he will be playing. At 30 years old, I’m with the group of people that thinks Dempsey was still able to compete in Europe.  In Tottenham, though, he wasn’t consistent enough and with Seattle he is assured 90 minutes of playing time. That is why I believe it was a good move on Dempsey’s part. As a USMNT supporter, I would rather see Dempsey playing than on the bench. On the other hand, I understand when people say they would have rather see him play in another European team to get ready for the World Cup.  Most of the opponents you will face in a World Cup play in Europe, especially getting into the final rounds.

In the end, Dempsey has proven to be a quality player for the clubs he has represented and for the USMNT. He is right by Donovan in the top players for the US.  The MLS did not hurt Donovan; I don’t think it will hurt Dempsey.

Mike Magee Petition

So I decided to do a video for this post because I feel really strong about this. I would love to see Mike Magee get called up to represent the USMNT.

But the US is doing so well, why do we need to add another player?!
To me, the best problem that Klinsmann can have is a deep talent pool. I would rather it be hard for him to decide who to take to the World Cup because he has so many talented players to pick from, instead of it be hard for him because he doesn't feel that all the players are equally as talented.

If you feel the same, spread the word. #magee4usmnt #givemageeachance

Here is the video: