Thursday, June 24, 2010

OK, so it wasn't 3-0 but USA won group C and will play Ghana in the round of 16 on Saturday.  Saturday happens to be my First Anniversary!  Landon, Clint, Tim and Jozy, y'all can give me the best anniversary present possible if you WIN!  I am hoping for Uruguay to beat South Korea for two reasons: 1) I can't stand South Korea and 2) Beating Uruguay will bring more prestige.

I have nothing to say about the game that hasn't already been said, but I will add my voice to those acclaiming this team for it's heart and refusal to die.  I'm not one for jingoism, but I will say this team is everything I like to root for in a sports team or any group of people.  I have found the USMNT to be well worthy of fanatical support since qualification for the 2002 World Cup, and this edition is the best of all.  It is gratifying to see Landon Donovan mature into a great team leader, and I see the best yet to come for him in this Cup.

Saturday will be huge.  I would say that as round of 16 games go it could not be bigger than the 2002 game, but any World Cup knockout stage game is of monumental import and historic significance.  If we win, we will be one of a very few nations to make it to the quarterfinals of two World Cups in the twenty-first century.  Despite what people will want to say about our style or quality of play, those types of results in the most significant tournament in world soccer necessarily make a nation a member of the elite.  The world will have to admit that the USA has become a world soccer power.  It is a goal that I and many other Americans formed in the mid-90s as we were drawn into this game.  For me it was 1997 when my son was five and our soccer careers (his playing and mine coaching) began.  Thinking back to where American soccer was then and comparing it to what I see now -- on youth and scholastic fields as much as on professional and World Cup fields -- the growth in our game is astounding and something that everyone who has been a part of US Soccer (and that includes ALL youth players and coaches, as we are all members of the USSF) can be proud of.  The efforts of ALL of us have brought the USA to this historic moment, having won a group for the first time in modern soccer history.

I know that over on The Shin Guardian they are saying that the USA might be only the third or fourth best team in this knockout group, but I don't seeing any of these teams knocking us out.  This team has grit and perseverance.  It has Will.  It is going to take a Power to put us out of this tournament, and neither Uruguay, Ghana, nor South Korea is a Power.  The semi-final berth is there, and Landon Donovan is going to lead this team into it.

No comments: