A hearty congratulations to Jurgen Klinsmann and the boys of the USMNT for qualifying for the 2014 World Cup! We're Rio-bound, baby. I've only recently fallen in love with Soccer as a spectator sport. You see, I played American Football, where I quarterbacked my high school football team to a sterling 0-20 record over the two years that I ran the huddle. I had better luck with baseball, where I started for three years and captained my team to the Maryland State 4A finals my senior year (we lost). But I only played soccer once, when I was 10 years old, and I hated it. We had this little kid who was pretty good, but didn't like to share, so practices and games involved him running around the field with the ball and never passing to anyone. Ever. Some might say that he's just a ballhog, others might blame the coaches for not making him pass to the other kids who might like to play too. Either way, it's water under the bridge (you can tell by my tone that it's not). American successes in the 1994, 2002 and 2010 World Cup whet my appetite, and a few years in Europe, where soccer is the only watchable sport on network TV encouraged me to take a a more active interest to the point where I won't go a single day without reading soccer news or a single weekend without at least peeking at a Premier League game. I love the pageantry of International Soccer as well, and I'm happy to take an abiding interest in our upstart national team. In honor of the "dos a cero" victory over Mexico last night, here are my () favorite cliches about American soccer and the USMNT.- Soccer is the world's most famous sport, and it's finally catching on in the United States
- Such words have been uttered since the early '90s, some might even say the '70s NY Cosmos era).
- Americans can't get interested in soccer because there's not enough scoring action
- Fair point, but great action is to be found elsewhere, and unlike, say hockey, the scoring is rarely out of the blue. We don't fault NFL teams for good defense and a solid running game, so why should we fault soccer as a sport for its focus on tactics and ball control.
- The American talent pool is vast and untapped
- I agree, but it's becoming less untapped day-by-day
- But wait, who are all these foreigners playing for the national team?
- In the interest of objectivity, I'm half Icelandic and spent a great deal of time in Germany, so I'm rooting wholeheartedly for Aaron Johansson, Jermaine Jones, John Anthony Brooks, Timmy Chandler and of course, the inveterate Jurgen Klinsmann who was a star in the first World Cup I ever watched in 1990.
- Jurgen Klinsmann was a talented, passionate player who doesn't know how to manage
- Can we put this one to rest?
- Jurgen Klinsmann is a genius
- Too soon?
- We can't expect the US to perform against international sides from Europe and South America
- Ah, now here's an interesting one. CONCACAF certainly gives the US a relatively easy road to the World Cup, but anyone would have to admit that it's an ascendant federation. The recent demise of the Mexican national team should be enough to demonstrate the growing strength of formerly second-tier sides like Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.
- Can the US compete day in, day out with the likes of Spain, Germany, Brazil or Argentina? My gut says no, but recent history shows that the USMNT can compete with anyone when they're on their game. Emphasis on that last sentence couldn't be stronger. We're a talented bunch, and when we click, we're hard to stop, and all you need is a good run in the World Cup to end up hoisting the gothic globe.
- Landon Donovan is soft, Clint Dempsey is tough
- I don't really care about this one. Each is a talented and accomplished player who has performed his role in different ways over the course of his career.
- American Soccer is about evening rec leagues, SUVs and orange slices whereas the rest of the world sees it as a street game that breeds passion and toughness
- Can't argue so much about the American side, although living in the Bay Area has introduced me to the local park where Latino men gather en-masse to push each other around and occasionally kick a ball. They're grown men, however, and you rarely see this kind of gathering among kids and aspiring professional footballers. It would be hard to argue, though, that some of the talent pool coming from the middle and upper-middle class reaches of British and European countries are streetballers at hear. I think the European talent pool is open to interpretation.
How many did I miss? Leave a comment in the Disqus box and let me know!
Robert Nelson is blogger-in-chief at Dude, Sustainable!. Find us on Google+ or on Facebook.
