The U.S. men’s national soccer team began this year’s World Cup with the mindset of starting with a clean slate, where if you perform up to the best of your ability, good things will happen no matter what the past has dealt.
The past has not been kind to the Americans.
It’s been full of first-round World Cup exits, and, on several occasions, the
team didn’t even perform well enough to qualify for the World Cup.
But this year is
different.
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| The U.S. men's soccer team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2014 World Cup by surviving the "Group of Death" -- the nickname given to the World Cup's Group G -- a group that featured Germany, Portugal and Ghana. |
Strictly by using the “eye
test,” I can see that this team is the best U.S. team we’ve seen in a long
time. The back line has stepped up its defense to a new level, having defended
against waves of attacks from Ghana in the first round, keeping level with
Portugal and holding Germany to a single goal. American teams in recent years
would not have faired so well against an up-tempo team like Ghana. In fact, if
we were to take the U.S. team from the 2010 World Cup and paired it against
this relentlessly attacking 2014 Ghana team, the Black Stars might blast in
four or five goals, as opposed to just one goal.
The U.S. has made great
strides this year, and no matter if the Americans make it past their first
round-of-16 match against Belgium or not, the team should view its performance
in this World Cup as a big step forward, a positive step to be proud of.
First of all, the U.S. has
a brilliant goalkeeper in Tim Howard, and I mean brilliant in every sense of
the word. He deserves so much credit for keeping America’s hopes alive. If not
for Howard’s excellence, the Americans wouldn’t have made it past the wave of
offensive attacks from Ghana, let alone into the round of 16.
Secondly, this U.S. team
plays until the final whistle. Guys may be completely gassed out there by the 90-minute
mark, but somehow they have pushed through the pain and have found that small
amount of energy needed to continue for one last effort at a late-game goal.
Just look back to what the U.S. did in the match vs. Germany. The U.S. gave
itself at least two decent opportunities to tie the match in stoppage time, and
all because guys played to the final whistle.
And here’s some more good
news for American supporters: Jozy Altidore will be “ready and available” in
today’s match. The energetic, aggressive striker suffered a hamstring injury in
the opening match vs. Ghana.
This 2014 team has not
only prospered on the field, but it has also helped grow the sport of soccer in
America. The match against Germany was rated as the most watched soccer game in
U.S. history. In national team sports like soccer, the people of America will
always feel a little more patriotic when there’s a high probability for
success. When there’s actually something to talk about, people will tune in.
And right now there’s so much to talk about.
The World Cup has been a
huge draw in restaurants and bars here in Tuscaloosa, Ala. over the past few
weeks. I have seen countless pictures where legions of folks gathered in
crowded bars to watch the World Cup, pictures coming from the newspaper, on
local news and social media, too. Tuscaloosa is traditionally a football town, but
for now, Tuscaloosa appears to be on loan as a futbol town (at least until the
end of the World Cup in July). But, hey, since there’s no football right now,
people need something exciting to gravitate toward until football season, so
why not the World Cup?
As long as U.S. soccer
keeps moving in this positive direction, Americans will continue to warm up to
the sport.
The U.S. continues its
quest for the World Cup in a match against Belgium today at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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