I can't believe I found a pic of US Soccer Head Coach Bob Bradley smiling either, but this week of World Cup Qualifying brought the US Men's Team exactly what they needed.
6 points.
A 2-1 home win over El Salvador and a 1-0 away win at T & T has brought the US within an eyelash of qualifying for next Summer's World Cup in South Africa. While qualifying to most people was a cinch, this week proved that it's never easy just making it to the World Cup. However, a 4 point cushion on 4th placed Costa Rica means that the US should be able to make it into the finals in what has been an exciting Hexagonal for all of the soccer crazies in North America. The US, Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica are in a battle royal for the automatic three qualifying spots for South Africa and the US is in pole position. (The 4th placed team gets to play a playoff against a South American team, perhaps Argentina... not exactly a favored outcome)
Now, how they went about getting those 6 points is the subject of some fret and worry from fans of soccer in the United States. While this US team didn't exactly look like the one that manhandled Spain and took Brazil to the brink, maybe these wins were almost as valuable as those performances.
Simply put, they won without playing their best soccer, especially last night in Trinidad. For most pundits, it was a discouraging week. But us Yoders aren't most pundits, we're optimistic glass half-full folks. The US attack was never firing on all cylinders, (they were running more like a Moped than a Porsche), the D looked shaky at times, Tim Howard looked vulnerable, we're still not sure if Bob Bradley has a beating heart, but they won 2 games. The team found a way through.
Against El Salvador it was a fierce fightback after falling down 1-0 on 2 great goals, 1 from Hull's new striker Jozy Altidore, and last night in T & T it was a way downtown shot from Houston's Ricardo Clark (left) that did the trick. Finding ways to win is crucial for any sport. A lot of teams would just play out the string and settle for a draw, but this US team made key plays in key moments to take it all and win.
And for US soccer, the wins need to keep coming on the road to South Africa. If the US qualifies at the top of the group, it will give a lot of momentum for the players and the team as they go to a place where they performed to their best in South Africa.
With the amount of coverage coming the World Cup's way in 2010 from ESPN and other major media outlets, this will be the most important tournament the US has ever played. US soccer needs to capitalize on the great performance of the Confed Cup and the increased exposure and popularity of the beautiful game. Just look at the ratings for the EPL on ESPN2. They are drawing big numbers for those games, which shows that there is an appetite for world class soccer here in America. (Sorry to all those folks out there that still think soccer is for girly-men and fellas that soccer players just aren't tough enough to play football, I was once like you...). Advancing out of the group stage is a must to show our country and the world that we belong on the big stage and soccer is indeed here to stay, and here to flourish in the states. It's a must for us to do well in SA to keep the fans that have been turned on to soccer at home, and a must to continue drawing in new fans.
climbing on soap box...
By the way, it really grinds my gears (cheap Family guy ripoff) when I hear people refer to their favorite teams as "we". How many goals did you score? How many yards did you gain? Etc. But it's different talking about your national team, it is us out there. When the USA is on the field, saying we is ok. In fact, it's encouraged. USA! USA!
...stepping off soap box to the tune of Stars & Stripes Forever
There are a lot of bridges to cross before we reach South Africa. A lot of improvement and consistency is needed from the players, the managers, and US soccer as a whole, but at least it looks like we are headed in that direction. See you in Johannesburg.
We'll be back soon with our EPL Picks for Week 4 and a look ahead to the CFB/NFL weekends ahead including a preview of the Ho' Down at the Horseshoe (I think that tops Y2 in our ridiculous moniker contest). Oh, and I guess baseball is still going on too, right? Also, if you've missed it, don't forget to check out and leave us some feedback about our hugely popular Soundbytes of the Decade Recap, only at RSS. Bye for now.
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