Arena's stars attracting attention
Chris Borg
Everyone's agreed that the last eight of the World Cup features a few teams nobody would have tipped to get this far.
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| Arena: In quarter-finals (Allsport) |
But America? Team USA? Sorry, but that somehow seems even more outlandish. Cast your minds back to the last World Cup - the Americans' performance was (to put it politely) unconvincing, featuring three defeats and only one goal.
But four years on, here they are. It's been a period of dramatic and impressive improvement: a change for the better which was clear to see against Portugal in the country's opening game of the tournament.
An incredible 3-2 victory against a side expected to achieve very decent things in Japan and South Korea had pundits and fans around the world taking a closer look at coach Bruce Arena's team.
Eyebrows were raised after only three minutes, when John O'Brien put the States in front. Those eyebrows reached stratospheric heights after 36, by which time a Jorge Costa own goal and Brian McBride's strike had made it three.
Portugal, it must be said, were shambolic, despite pulling a couple of goals back. But there were two sides to this story: America had played well in that first half and demonstrated greater speed, strength and skill than many had expected.
A shaky 1-1 draw against South Korea, earned by Brad Friedel's penalty save, was followed by a performance probably more akin to what many had predicted - a dismal 3-1 defeat against a Poland side already out of the tournament.
But Portugal's fatal slip-up against South Korea ensured America's qualification for the last 16, and Arena soon showed he was unafraid to tinker with his starting line-up as he prepared for a heated clash against rivals Mexico.
His alterations paid off - the USA won 2-0, playing pretty solidly, and now Germany stand in the way of an amazing progression to the last four.
Arena, who took over from Steve Sampson - coach at France 98 - recognises that the established order of world football has started to change over recent years.
But he is far too shrewd to make any outlandish claims about his country's progress, saying: 'The world of soccer, the world of football is shrinking. No one believed in our team except our team. Have we arrived? No - but the gap is closing.'
Rightly, Arena is unafraid of his next opponents. With players such as Friedel, O'Brien, Claudio Reyna and Landon Donovan having impressed, why should his underdogs feel too much trepidation?
A victory over Rudi Voeller's Germany, admittedly not the total impossibility it would have seemed a while ago, would still deserve to rank the States alongside South Korea as this tournament's most surprising success story so far.
Not that Voeller necessarily sees it that way. He said: 'In Ireland and Cameroon, we had to face opponents who are probably tougher than our next ones.'
But America's spirit has, for the most part, shown in whatever formation the coach has elected to play - something defender Eddie Pope, another to impress, has been quick to acknowledge.
He said: 'When Bruce came in, he said team chemistry was going to be our number one focus. With the team we have, everyone believes in one another - so it's easy for us to accept the next guy starting and trust the guy who's playing next to you.'
So that's the situation on the field - but in many ways Arena's biggest achievement would be to increase interest in, and support for, football among the American public.
Even hosting the tournament in 1994 made little obvious impact on general perceptions of a sport heavily overlooked in favour of American football, baseball and basketball.
However, the crucial difference this time is success - after all, a national team which never wins is hardly going to attract the attention of a sceptical public - and what Team USA have done so far has increased audiences for the game.
OK, that hasn't happened to any enormously drastic level - and whether it can be sustained outside the context of major competition has to be a huge cause for doubt.
Nevertheless, many US newspapers have increased the coverage given to both the national team and the World Cup as a whole, and Arena noted: 'I guess it means we're bringing attention to the sport in the United States.'
The boss and his players received a good luck call from President George W Bush prior to the Mexico victory, a call in which Bush said: 'A lot of people that don't know anything about soccer, like me, are excited.'
If the Germany game ends in victory and a place in the semi-finals, Arena and has team could find themselves backed by legions who didn't even care about the game a few weeks ago. If that happens, more fans could make their way to watch domestic MLS games when the World Cup is over.
And, in many ways, making inroads into his country's traditional apathy towards football would be even more remarkable than what has already happened so far.
- Any thoughts, email Chris Borg.
