Judgment At Nuremburg
Huzzah, huzzah, I finally have internet access at my new home.
And just in time, too; my wandering brother daniel has finally checked in with an on-the-scene report of the report of the U.S. Soccer team's disappointing loss to Ghana in the World Cup in Nuremburg, Germany. Enjoy.
Four more years...it is with a heavy heart that Soccer Sully is writing to you today. It's been a couple of days since I witnessed the final loss that would seal the United States' early exit from the World Cup. An injury to Cladio Reyna that lead directly to a goal and a phantom foul in the box by Oguchi Onyewu were all Ghana needed to advance. After Reyna's injury the U.S. couldn't muster much of an attack. Clint Dempsey's goal was one of only a handful of scoring chances that the team was able to generate with Reyna on the bench. Ghana was able to play defense and waste time by repeatedly requesting medical assistance from their trainers after fouls. Likewise, they constantly slowed the pace of the game by fouling the U.S. thirty two times, yet managed to avoid receiving any red cards from the official.
Despite the loss the World Cup experience lived up to the hype. I will certainly never forget the feeling of joy that I had just standing in the gate of the stadium. I was in disbelief that I was going to witness ninety minutes of World Cup soccer with my favorite team participating. The experience was even more exciting because the U.S. still had an opportunity to advance to the knock-out rounds if they could only manage a victory (since Italy won their game the U.S. only needed a victory to advance). The support of the U.S. fans was incredible. Most of the crowd was cheering for the U.S., though Ghana picked up some support from the German fans in attendance. Perhaps they were just happy to root for the under-dog. Seeing that game in person is a major accomplishment for me, a dream fulfilled.
Now we look forward with many questions left unanswered. Who will fill the voids left by retiring veterans such as Pope and Reyna? Will Landon Donovan be able to step-up his game and become a consistent presence on the field, not merely a series of brilliant flashes and periods of invisibility? And the biggest question, will Bruce 'Almighty' Arena return to coach the team to the next World Cup in South Africa? I guess we will have to wait and see; as the rest of the world continues to celebrate the Cup, American fans are left to wonder what might have been and what the future holds.
Editor's Note: daniel mentions the use of calling for medial assistance as a tactic by Ghana in this match. Lord knows, if all the effort spent trying to analyze and understand why Americans don't care about soccer were directed elsewhere we could probably have ended world hunger and cured cancer by now, but allow me to throw in my two cents.
I think the constant faking of injuries and the parade of players being taken away on stretchers--only to leap up miraculously unharmed as soon as being hurt is no longer advantageous--is one of the primary reasons people in this country don't take to futbol mundial. Sure, there's the occasional flop to draw a charge in basketball and a punter will often exaggerate his fall to draw a "roughing the kicker" penalty in real (i.e. American) football, but there's no other sport in which falling down and pretending to get hurt is so institutionalized and integral to the strategy of the game as it is in soccer, particularly on the international level. I think there's something that Americans find distasteful, guileful, even cowardly about the constant use of such a dishonest tactic.
Or maybe most of us just don't want to sit through another god-awful boring nil-nil tie.
And just in time, too; my wandering brother daniel has finally checked in with an on-the-scene report of the report of the U.S. Soccer team's disappointing loss to Ghana in the World Cup in Nuremburg, Germany. Enjoy.
Four more years...it is with a heavy heart that Soccer Sully is writing to you today. It's been a couple of days since I witnessed the final loss that would seal the United States' early exit from the World Cup. An injury to Cladio Reyna that lead directly to a goal and a phantom foul in the box by Oguchi Onyewu were all Ghana needed to advance. After Reyna's injury the U.S. couldn't muster much of an attack. Clint Dempsey's goal was one of only a handful of scoring chances that the team was able to generate with Reyna on the bench. Ghana was able to play defense and waste time by repeatedly requesting medical assistance from their trainers after fouls. Likewise, they constantly slowed the pace of the game by fouling the U.S. thirty two times, yet managed to avoid receiving any red cards from the official.
Despite the loss the World Cup experience lived up to the hype. I will certainly never forget the feeling of joy that I had just standing in the gate of the stadium. I was in disbelief that I was going to witness ninety minutes of World Cup soccer with my favorite team participating. The experience was even more exciting because the U.S. still had an opportunity to advance to the knock-out rounds if they could only manage a victory (since Italy won their game the U.S. only needed a victory to advance). The support of the U.S. fans was incredible. Most of the crowd was cheering for the U.S., though Ghana picked up some support from the German fans in attendance. Perhaps they were just happy to root for the under-dog. Seeing that game in person is a major accomplishment for me, a dream fulfilled.
Now we look forward with many questions left unanswered. Who will fill the voids left by retiring veterans such as Pope and Reyna? Will Landon Donovan be able to step-up his game and become a consistent presence on the field, not merely a series of brilliant flashes and periods of invisibility? And the biggest question, will Bruce 'Almighty' Arena return to coach the team to the next World Cup in South Africa? I guess we will have to wait and see; as the rest of the world continues to celebrate the Cup, American fans are left to wonder what might have been and what the future holds.
Editor's Note: daniel mentions the use of calling for medial assistance as a tactic by Ghana in this match. Lord knows, if all the effort spent trying to analyze and understand why Americans don't care about soccer were directed elsewhere we could probably have ended world hunger and cured cancer by now, but allow me to throw in my two cents.
I think the constant faking of injuries and the parade of players being taken away on stretchers--only to leap up miraculously unharmed as soon as being hurt is no longer advantageous--is one of the primary reasons people in this country don't take to futbol mundial. Sure, there's the occasional flop to draw a charge in basketball and a punter will often exaggerate his fall to draw a "roughing the kicker" penalty in real (i.e. American) football, but there's no other sport in which falling down and pretending to get hurt is so institutionalized and integral to the strategy of the game as it is in soccer, particularly on the international level. I think there's something that Americans find distasteful, guileful, even cowardly about the constant use of such a dishonest tactic.
Or maybe most of us just don't want to sit through another god-awful boring nil-nil tie.
posted by Yukon Sully | 10:58 AM
3 Comments:
This time I have to agree with you, Yukon. The faking of injuries is pretty lame. You would hope that the refs, who all must have played for years, would be able to spot the fakers.
I dont know about all that cause I didnt see the game but soccer is cool. One of the greatest events I ever attended was the women's world cup in DC in 2000 when the US women beat China in the tie break. People, including me, were in hysterics. I guess its like baseball for me--boring unless you're there.
you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to the "beautiful game". if the u.s. had won i would have been in ectasy. they don't waste time like ghana did regardless of their opponent. time wasting is something that clearly out-matched teams do if they get a flukey goal. about soccer's popularity in the states, it is growing by leaps and bounds. dispite the flaws of the game there are now tens of thousands of fans that are willing to travel half way across the world to see the u.s. play. soccer already is a major sport in the u.s.
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