Soccer Practice

Joe Gaetjens place in US Soccer history was secured on 29th June 1950. His goal secured the ‘miracle on grass’ as the USA beat England, then the self-proclaimed kings of soccer. On Sunday 11th July 2010, just over sixty years to the day since Gaetjens famous striker, is it possible that another US soccer player could write his name into the history books by scoring the goal that puts the USA on top of the soccer world?

Qualification is never guaranteed but the squad currently head the group table going into the last round of matches. A 3-1 reverse in San Jose put a dent in the US’ hopes but the 4-0 thrashing handed out to their last opponents by their next opponents in August gave Bob Bradley’s boys renewed belief that securing their place for South Africa 2010 is in their own hands.

The list of countries already certain to compete has a mixed look to it, from the unsurprising to the eye-catching. Five-times winners Brazil who have never missed qualifying for a tournament have been joined by Paraguay from the South American qualification pot. Another previous winner, Argentina, is yet to find consistent form and participation is far from a given. The World Cup has never been won by a country outside of South America and Europe with the latter bound to produce contenders for next years title. So far, they include1966 winners England, reigning European Champions Spain, and the Netherlands who are former European Champions and widely considered to be the best side never to have won the World Cup.

2002 joint hosts Japan and South Korea have both qualified as have Australia. North Korea take to the world stage for the first time since 1966 when they had a shock win over Italy. Ghana are the first African representatives to successfully come through qualifying, although South Africa are already there as hosts.  

The US MNT currently lie 11th on FIFA’s ranking list, lower than 3 of the above teams and with another 2-3 almost certain to join them in South Africa as a minimum. Yet form goes out the window once the World Cup tournament begins as more often than not previous results are not a necessary prerequisite for tournament success.

The United States national side took place in the first 2 World Cup tournaments back in the 1930s and then in the 1950 tournament hosted by Brazil. However, without a successful professional domestic league, coupled with soccer being somewhat of a minority sport overshadowed by the giants of the NFL, NBA and NHL, participation in what the majority of the world considers the biggest sporting event next to the Olympic Games has been far from the central consciousness of the general population. That changed in 1990 when qualification for the finals, on the back of FIFA awarding the 1994 tournament to the US in return for a promise to establish what is now the MLS, when despite losing all three group games the US raised their head above the parapet in the soccer world. Three subsequent qualifications for the tournaments in France, Korea/Japan and Germany in 2006 have raised international expectations of US performance. In the 1998 World Cup hosted in France the United States made it all the way to the 1/4 finals before losing out to finalists Germany by a single goal.

The current crop of players to wear the Stars and Stripes have regular competition at home and abroad. While US stalwart Landon Donovan plays on home soil for LA Galaxy many of his fellow compatriots play in Europe and beyond.

The US national side boasts players from plying their trade at club level in several different leagues including the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A. However, the list of US internationals on the rosters of foreign clubs continues to grow with representatives of the national squad also in Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Mexico to name but a further four.

With the tournament itself scheduled to take place during the South African winter, the players from North American but with European experience should find the climate to their liking. Other than blips in the ‘94 USA tournament and 2002 the trend in recent years seems to be for countries from the host continent to win the main tournament. Brazil have always been he exception to the rule with wins in ’94 and ’02 but the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Africa for the first time produces an interesting question – who will acclimatise best and enjoy the most success?

The US Women’s National Team have World Cup and Olympic successes in their history. As the MLS increases the popularity of the game known to the rest of the globe as ‘football’, the ability of the men to step up to the plate and produce their own piece of history will only grow as more and more players register opening up soccer as a game to those athletes who would previously have been lost to track and field, basketball, baseball, hockey, football….the list goes on.

England’s national game for over a century has produced a single set of World Champions. Meanwhile an impoverished Brazil have picked up 5 separate triumphs and achieved a great reputation amongst neutral supporters worldwide. The combination of available population, facilities, ability to attract the best in the world to both play and train is present in very few nations – the US is one of those. And if all these qualities come to bear one day, a new order may well have started in World Cup soccer.