America’s Soccer Dream Deferred

Oh, how the U.S. soccer fan longs for those heady days in June.

Back then, the U.S. men’s national side had reached heights that no other U.S. soccer team had reached before.  After dispatching its hated rival Mexico by a 2-0 score earlier in the year in a World Cup qualifier, they entered the prestigious Confederations Cup tournament with little hope of succeeding against such world powers as Italy, Spain and Brazil.  Yet they surprised the world by overcoming a dismal start and defeating the world’s top-ranked team, Spain, in the semifinal, then giving Brazil all it could handle for 45 minutes and holding a 2-0 lead before Brazil became, well, Brazil and took the game away.  Still, accolades and admiration were garnered from the soccer world and the U.S. seemed to be well on its way to respect while it continued its run through the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the regional championship of North and Central America.

Then came the Gold Cup Final.

True, the U.S. did not send its top squad to Giants Stadium in New Jersey, allowing those who play for European clubs some rest before the upcoming season and also letting those few players who play in Major League Soccer the chance to play with their clubs.  It was not the fact that the U.S. lost to Mexico that was the problem.  The problem was the score.  After a scoreless first half, Mexico rattled off five unanswered goals, four of them within 23 minutes of each other, and the final shot totals were 9-1 in favor of Mexico.  This was a return to the U.S. team of the 1970’s, when they were not only no competition with Mexico, but rarely played well against the likes of Canada and Honduras.  Back then, U.S. players had a difficult time breaking into their own domestic league.  Now, top American players have no problem finding work in some of the toughest European leagues, even if their playing time is still limited.  Even with the “B” team playing, a 5-0 result would be difficult to swallow.

That leads us up to today’s game in Mexico City.  To be honest, it is difficult for any team to play at Azteca Stadium, with its altitude, its smog and over 100,000 maniacal soccer fans in the stands.  The U.S. was 0-22-1 at Azteca going into the game.  But this was a U.S. team that was still living in the glow of the Confederations Cup and ballyhooed as the team to beat Mexico at Azteca.  And things actually got off to a good start, with Charlie Davies scoring in the eighth minute to give the U.S. the lead.  That seemed to be the last good thing to happen to the U.S. in this game, though.  Eleven minutes after the U.S. goal, Mexico scored and from that point on the Americans seemed to be in it to tie it.  In Azteca, a tie would have been a victory and, as the U.S. would have been looking at weaker competition throughout the rest of its qualifying schedule, the tie would have all but assured the U.S. of a spot in South Africa next year.  But just nine minutes from full time, an obviously tired U.S. team was beaten by the Mexican attack and a dream of victory in Mexico was once again deferred.

This is certain to invoke the wrath of critics of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, who is seen as being unable to correctly utilize American talent.  Those critics were seething over the Americans 3-1 loss at Costa Rica prior to the Confederations Cup.  And while a loss in Mexico is not unexpected, it leaves the U.S. qualifying record at 3-2-1, in second place and only one point better than Mexico.  The top three teams in the region’s six-team qualifying tournament will go to the World Cup in South Africa next year and the loss leaves the U.S. in a precarious position.  The U.S. will most certainly have to win its remaining home games and settle for nothing less than ties on the road in order to ensure their World Cup spot.

The problem for the U.S. has been consistency.  Often, great results are followed by results that are disappointing.  Most feel that the U.S. has the talent to be the dominant team in this region, with premier players like Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey at the top of their games and one of the English Premier League’s top goalkeepers in Tim Howard.  Even with that, this U.S. team seems to be susceptible to moments of loss in concentration that lead to scoring chances for their opponents.  After a stellar game in Columbus, Ohio against Mexico, the U.S. had to overcome a 2-0 deficit at El Salvador to gain a tie and a 1-0 deficit against Honduras in Chicago before rallying to win.  In those games, and in the 3-1 debacle against Costa Rica, the U.S. were scored upon early and were forced to play from behind the rest of the game.  The problem seems to be preparation, as in those games it took a fair amount of time for the U.S. to gel, and a problem of preparation of a different sort seemed to take place in Mexico City.  After gaining the early lead, the U.S. withered in the heat and altitude and simply could not keep pace with the Mexicans late in the game.  It was not as if the U.S. did not know where they would be playing or the conditions in which they would be playing.  So why, then, did those conditions bother the Americans so badly?

These problems lay directly at the feet of Bradley, whose most important job is to prepare his players for these games.  Now, I am not one of those who calls for Bradley to be fired as I think it would be a big mistake for the U.S. to change course in the middle of qualifying (although this was what Mexico did and it seems to be working pretty well).  But there is too much at stake here for the U.S. to go in to these games unprepared.  One keeps looking for the team that outplayed Egypt and Spain in the Confederations Cup and scared Brazil for one half in the final.  And it is that final game this past June that is a microcosm of the problems the Americans have.  Outplaying the Brazilians in the first half, for some reason the Americans adopted a bunker mentality in the second half and allowed Brazil to shoot on them at will.  They did not seem to be ready to play the second half at all, and one wonders whether they will get it together enough to play well in the second half of qualifying.  All is not lost at this point.  The U.S. is still in second place in the group and they play their toughest competition, Costa Rica, at home.  But the Americans will need to change the way they approach these games if they are to succeed.  On paper, their talent is superior to each of the teams they face the rest of the way, which means that failure to qualify for a tournament in which they have qualified the last five times would be a tremendous disappointment.  But, as the games thus far have proven, it could be a distinct possibility.