Posted on 06/17/2014 5:36:33 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
After an extraordinary start, the World Cup saw its first day of truly mediocre soccer on Monday. It is no coincidence that Monday also saw the debut of the U.S. men's team.
Don't get me wrong. The U.S.'s 2-1 victory over Ghana was about as dramatic as they come, a fitting chapter in what has turned out to be an improbable rivalry stretching over three World Cups. Clint Dempsey scored a fine goal in the first minute, before powering through a broken nose to complete the game. John Brooks came off the bench to score the winning header just moments before the final whistle, lifting the spirit of a team that had been battered like a punching bag for a solid 80 minutes.
But good soccer this was not. The U.S. played about as badly as you could play while still winning. And yet it is impossible to escape the overwhelming sense in the American media today that Team USA's victory over Ghana was somehow a triumph.
Every World Cup we are treated to a slew of stories about how this time the U.S. team will be different, which is to say a step above its usual uninspired play. Driving the hype this time around is the U.S.'s coach, the German Jurgen Klinsmann, a gifted former player famous for his blistering speed, his ultra-competitiveness, and his penchant for soaring when he could merely dive.
Klinsmann promised a more attacking kind of football. As Matthew Futterman wrote in one of the many profiles of Klinsmann in the run-up to the tournament: "Mr. Klinsmann taught the U.S. players to see the field differently — to impose themselves on opposing defenses, and for defenders to push high into the middle of the field and even to join the attack." As Klinsmann himself said, "You want to play an open game. You want to put your stamp on the game."
Sounds good, right? And so it was with some curiosity that I tuned in last night for my quadrennial viewing of the United States team — only to find the same dull, flabby soccer that has defined America's playing style for decades.
For most of the game, the U.S. was seemingly incapable of stringing together more than three passes at a time. Michael Bradley, supposedly the linchpin of the midfield, gave the ball away every other touch. It's bad enough that the U.S.'s sole striker is Jozy Altidore, who scored all of one goal last season for his club Sunderland, but he pulled up with a hamstring injury early in the game, leaving the U.S. with literally zero offensive options.
Then there's the defense, which was as adept at keeping its shape as a Jenga tower, falling apart at the slightest offensive push by the Ghanians. John Brooks may have turned out to be a hero, but the Ghanians appeared to be running at him as if he were the weakest link in an already fragile defensive chain. More shockingly, the Black Stars won the vast majority of 50-50 balls, easily out-muscling and out-hustling an American team that should at least be as fit as its opponents.
But all these glaring flaws were largely glossed over in the glow of victory. The U.S. defense was an "impenetrable force field," according to The New York Times. USA Today praised the team's "depth" and "workmanlike defense." CBS hailed Team USA for "bossing a match when it mattered most," and for "finding a way to be economical and resourceful and cunning and alert when all is on the line against an elite opponent."
Oh, please. This is shameless propaganda. It all fits the same pattern: ridiculous overpraise that is in no way connected to the reality on the pitch, fueling outsized expectations that cannot possibly be met. Klinsmann may want to institute a regime of lively, attacking soccer, but that seems like a pure fantasy when you take into account the players on his squad.
Now, of course, the national press is bound to overstate the national team's achievements. This happens everywhere. It is World Cup mania, after all. But in case there was any doubt about the truth of the matter, it is this: the American team is not very good.
Finally we will be able to see fruity NFL celebration dancing by a player and know for certain that the guy is gay.
Freegards
This was the worst looking US World Cup effort that I can remember. Yet they won. Scoring has always been a problem. Yesterday they scored two legit goals.
Hopefully the sloppy play was nerves. They’re not accustomed to defending an early lead in World Cup play.
Baseball??....coming up on all star break
Football?? coming up on training camp soon
Shooting?? Americas pastime and always will be.
Soccer?? Cute when little tiny kids run around like nuts playing it otherwise who gives a damn.
That would be funny in normal circumstances, but the Ghana players were in better shape than the US players. So maybe they should have tossed us sandwiches.
Exactly. If NFL is going to allow showing off like that, might as well get a guy who understand choreography.
But whining about soccer on a soccer thread is timeless.
The USA / Ghana game was the very first time I ever watched soccer on T.V.
For being the most popular sport on the planet....I have no idea why...
I’m glad we won....I would never have described the game as “Dramatic”...
Its a gift that the U.S. doesn’t dominate at soccer.
If we did, then entire world would ally against us.
Did they stop fixing matches? I heard that some statistician looked at the records and figured out that there was ‘nudge-nudge wink say no more’ going on between the Sumo dudes when they matched off against each other more than once in certain situations. I do think it is one heck of a spectacle.
Freegards
Ok, you may have to sit down before you read the following. We (the USA) suck. We steadily are getting better. If you are looking for excitement, best look elsewhere for another decade.
Michael Bradley did not have a good game.
What the US did well was defend the crossing passes so that Ghana could never get anything going in the box.
Watching how well Mexico played against Brazil today, I had to wonder how the heck do we beat Mexico on a consistent level as we do, they have so much more talent than the US.
Not soon enough. Late July.
I think the early goal made the US a bit complacent afterwards.
All the jerk wad prancing and chest pounding that goes on in the NFL is because there is no self policing in the NFL, the nature of the modern game doesn’t allow the cool players to do it. So the jerks run rampant, except for some arbitrary rules that are suitable for 1st graders.
I didn’t care for the celebrations I saw in that game last night with Ghana, but I can see that its not going to happen 30 times a game. Still better if it only happens at the end of the match or whatever you call it. Let the fans go nuts when you score. I think the flopping is actually a bigger turn off. But man it’s hard to beat those big meaty blocks of no-commercial breaks, very refreshing.
Freegards
-— I think the early goal made the US a bit complacent afterwards. -—
Tbaf could be it. The Portugal game should tell us more.
You bring up an interesting point: the reason there is no “jerk wad prancing and chest pounding” in MLB is because someone will get drilled the next inning.
Face it America “soccer isn’t an American sport”
Doesn’t even have to be the next inning, it could be a game 3 months down the road. That’s one of the benefits of having a 162 game regular season, self policing still works even with umps warning benches. No one wants 90+ anywhere much less in the eye socket. Same thing with a lot of pitchers not hitting. They’ll just stick your hot hitter.
Here’s the Sumo match throwing thing, I guess the guys who are 7-7 in a tournament win their next match a ridiculous amount of the time, or at least they did at one time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match-fixing_in_professional_sumo
Freegards
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