Soccer inhabits the periphery of America’s sports consciousness.
Despite a professional league in existence since 1996 (Major League
Soccer, or MLS) featuring several world-class players, the vast
majority of Americans pays absolutely no attention to the game
except for one period every four years. That’s during the World
Cup.
Even then it’s probably because the event is too hard to ignore;
the rest of the world comes to a standstill as the month-long
tournament reveals what nation has the best national team on the
planet.
Part of the reason Americans don’t care too much is that their
team has given them little reason to. The U.S. is a perennial
qualifier for the tournament, but never a threat to do anything
other than show up. The squad had an abysmal showing at the France
‘98 Cup, losing all three of its matches in ignominious fashion.
Ever heard the epithet “Couldn’t Score in a Whorehouse”? That was
the U.S. in France. The team scored fewer goals in the tournament
than any of the other 31 teams in the Finals.
Worse than merely losing, the U.S. commits the grave sin of
playing uninspired, stodgy soccer. Year in and year out the team
has shown little creativity, next to no elan, and none of the
panache that makes well-played soccer not just a game but an
exhilarating aesthetic experience.
Not for nothing is soccer known as the Beautiful Game. The
artistry with which its top practitioners perform can occasionally
be so inspiring as to render the result of secondary importance.
But with Americans involved, the Beautiful Game is usually anything
but. Often it is dreadful, win or lose.
But there is hope. A sun-drenched Sunday afternoon just a few
days ago at Washington’s RFK Stadium showed signs that the days of
the awful American style of soccer might be coming to a merciful
end.
In a friendly exhibition against fellow World Cup entrant
Uruguay, the U.S. National did the unimaginable: It entertained. It
created. It threatened. And in winning 2-1, it showed a very good
South American squad that, for the first time in anyone’s memory,
the U.S. might be able to create chances and score a few goals.
Contrast this to the scene four years ago. Just before shipping
off for France, the U.S. played an RFK friendly against Scotland.
It ended 0-0, a match not nearly as exciting as that score might
indicate. It was the perfect harbinger for the sour Cup the U.S.
would experience. That was the bog in which American soccer
appeared doomed to be mired.
But on Sunday, the Americans were buoyed by a home-grown youth
movement that isn’t just young. It is imaginative and fast and
daring, exactly the opposite of what most people picture when they
think about the U.S. National Team.
Clint Mathis, a product of Georgia who plays for MLS, gives the
American squad something no one can recall having — a truly
creative maestro who can thread passes to cutting teammates deep
inside in opponents’ defenses. He is also a threat to blast home
shots from long range. Nineteen-year-old DaMarcus Beasley just
might be the fastest player the U.S. has ever had. He displayed
several breathtaking moves on Sunday, including one that resulted
in him netting the team’s second goal.
And then there’s Landon Donovan, who has the potential to be the
first true international superstar produced by this country. The
20-year-old Donovan can finish plays and make sure the ball hits
the back of the net. Such skills are uncommon in a country that
produces more than its share of plodders but few with any
finesse.
On Sunday this crew more than held its own against a Uruguayan
team comprised of stars from top clubs in Italy and Spain. And it
demonstrated the hope that the dull, methodical style that has
sadly marked American soccer might be a receding bad memory.
Of course, a friendly a few weeks before the World Cup isn’t
exactly the same thing as playing in that fabled tournament. The
competition will be markedly tougher in the Orient next month,
where the U.S. is slated to play Portugal, Poland, and co-host
South Korea in first-round World Cup games that mean quite a bit
more than Sunday’s.
So how much of a test was this weekend’s contest? It’s hard to
say if it was a test at all, but the offensive skills on display
are heartening as the team gets ready to cross the Pacific.
The real pre-World Cup test should come later this week. After
the team plays Jamaica in New Jersey Thursday, they will travel to
Foxboro, Massachusetts, to face Holland. The Dutch squad may be one
of the four or five best teams in the world. But they’re not going
to the World Cup. They are victims of the cutthroat European
qualifying process, and they undoubtedly are looking to prove that
their omission is a mistake. The Dutch are bringing nearly every
star they have, including Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy,
Barcelona’s Patrick Kluivert, and Juventus’s Edgar Davids. Move
over Uruguay, this is the big time.
If the U.S. is really ready to ascend to the lofty ranks it
aspires to join, it will have to keep from getting pasted this
weekend. It will also have to improve upon the first-round
performance in France ‘98. Portugal may well be the class of the
tournament, and Poland and South Korea should both be extremely
tough.
But if the National team plays with the same attacking brio it
displayed Sunday at RFK, this country will be a little further down
the road to one day — and possibly sooner than many realize —
really contending for the World Cup championship.
(Coming Soon: Soccer’s Conservative Guardian Angel)
