“Soccer is not about justice. It’s a drama – and criminally wrong decisions against you are part and parcel of that.” – Pete Davies
Devastating. Heartbreaking. There’s no other way to put it. Our loss to Trinidad & Tobago and failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia is the lowest point ever in US Soccer history. That includes Men or Women. Pro, Collegiate, or International. This is worse than the France ’98 debacle, the women losing in the Germany ’11 Final, losing in the ’16 Olympics Quarters, the men not qualifying for Mexico ’86, the demise of the NASL, etc. To say this is a dark time is an understatement.
The sad reality is that this has been brewing for a long time. It’s just this failure finally caught up to us. This started at least seven years ago for the USMNT, decade plus for our youth (U15-U23) sides, and decades for US Soccer Federation and our youth development. Perhaps Alexi Lalas (and Taylor Twellman for that matter) is more of an oracle than we previously thought.
With our nation’s large population, infrastructure, resources, monetary investment, fan support, player pool size, and club options, this should NEVER happen. The days of pre-1990 should be LONG past us, but clearly, they are not. Maybe the better question is, why do I care so much?
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly
I have no tie to the USMNT. I’m not a player, not on their payroll, nor do they really even know I exist. I’m simply a fan, a supporter. In Italian, fan is translated as “tifosi,” which literally means people infected by typhus. This paints a good picture of the logical nature of our love for the sport. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t add up. I’m a former player who simply loves and supports the team. I played the sport my entire life, attended the 1994 World Cup, countless international qualifiers and friendlies, NASL games, semi-pro games (a Blackhawks shout-out), the MLS logo reveal, MLS games (including first games for MLS, the Clash, RSL, & OCSC), MLS season ticket holder, RSL’s first intern, religiously followed the sport in the ‘80’s when you were thrilled to see day old European scores in the newspaper, and of course, any match I can watch on TV. I simply have an insatiable love for the game that I can’t explain—it’s in my biology. The game is simple, yet complex. It’s relaxing, yet frustrating. It’s both individualistic, and collective. It’s inspiring and rejuvenating. It’s exhilarating and artful. There’s a reason they call it “the beautiful game.”
“To say that these men paid their shillings to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that Hamlet is so much paper and ink.” – J.B. Priestley
And while I have many clubs I support in soccer (and other sports), there is only one that I live and die with—the US Men’s National Team. For better or worse, it’s the team that puts me on the edge of my seat. The side that I foolishly think will find a way to win every game and one day win a World Cup. And growing up when I did, we essentially always did improve—something that’s rather rare in world football. I still recall watching a VHS tape in 1989 of the World Cup qualifier when we beat Trinidad & Tobago to qualify for the first time in 40 years. We won that game off of Paul Caligiuri’s late wonderstrike, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” Eerily coming full circle, it was another long-range strike in Trinidad & Tobago that was the difference in this cycle, only this time knocking us out of the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
“If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later.” – Bob Paisley
So what happened? Bruce is right, it is hard to play in CONCACAF. I would argue it is the most difficult region to play in—long travel distance, extreme weather, terrible pitch conditions, opposing fans (see urine & coin bombs, hotel shenanigans), etc. It is hard. But at the same time, we are also the EASIEST region to qualify in. We get 3.5 bids in a final round of 6. You basically just don’t need to suck too bad to get to the World Cup. We sucked more than too bad. It is embarrassing that we didn’t qualify. Extremely embarrassing. Yes, we forget it’s a game of inches. ’94, ’02, ’10 went our way, ’06, ’14 did not. LD doesn’t get that goal in ’10 and it’s a failure. We get the handball in ’02 and we’re likely in the Semifinal. We forget that Mexico only got in last WC due to San Zusi’s late heroics. They went on to nearly reach the Semifinal. Soccer can be a cruel game, and that is what happened to us now. Panama doesn’t get that non-goal, Deuce’s shot doesn’t go off the post, and we are having a different conversation. That being said, we should be good enough that it doesn’t come down to such small changes. We never should have got to that point. We have to be better.
We literally had a 97% likelihood of qualifying going into the last match day and we blew it. Perhaps the “fear” of the water moat the day before the game tells a larger story that first realized. We have become arrogant, but not always confident. That is a problem which eventually killed us.
While many want to “blow up the entire system” and rebuild, I think this is a silly notion. We need to fix a lot in our system, but not a total rebuild. Initially, I was writing a detailed analysis of what we need to do to fix the problem. But that doesn’t seem like the main point of this article. And ultimately, I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know who does. Frankly, I don’t think anyone does. And for as bad as we currently are, the future is bright. We have come a long way since the early ‘80’s and we still have a long way to go.
“Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.” – Johan Cruyff
So yes, much needs to be fixed. Bruce needs to resign [update: he did]. Sunil needs to not run for reelection in February and solely focus on the WC ’26 bid. We need a new president (who is full-time & paid) to bring a new vision. We need an actual technical director to institute a consistent philosophy (paging Lagerway or Bocanegra?). We need to reduce the impact of pay-to-play. We need to continue to grow MLS Academies. We need to train more local coaches and referees, and part of this is to make it more affordable for them. We need to better tap into our Latino talent. We need to have more youth go to Europe (see McKennie, Pulisic). We need MLS to give greater focus to youth players for playing time—incentivize them. We need to (dare I say this) finally get the ball rolling on Pro/Rel. We need to get back to our roots of being a “hardworking, more athletic, never tiring, working as a unit” team. We need to be confident, not arrogant. We need to be disciplined in following our game plan and style of play. We need to inject new talent NOW to get ready for the new Copa America and qualifying for Qatar. So essentially anyone over 28 is moving on (less those in transition for tutoring). We need a new coach to execute on our new vision (Marsch, Porter, Ramos, Martino, etc.). This is only a drop in the bucket. There is much work to be done and it needs to start now.
“If this can be termed the century of the common [person], then soccer, of all sports, is surely [their] game [...] In a world haunted by the hydrogen and napalm bomb, the football field is a place where sanity and hope are still left unmolested.” – Stanley Rous
And slowly, this frustration will go away. And with all the terrible things happening in the world, it will continue to be refreshing to escape our current realities to revel in “the beautiful game.” My beloved Napoli is a great example of this right now. Our national team will bounce back and we will have future successes. The Baby Nats U-17’s run in the current World Cup is hope for this to occur.
“Whoever invented football should be worshipped as a God.” – Hugo Sanchez
But in the end, why does this matter? Isn’t it just a silly game? Perhaps. But at the same time, what really does matter in life? Does anything matter? What is the point?
I would argue that very little matters in life. Perhaps the only thing that matters, that means something, is the relationships that we create. It’s the love that comes from those relationships. No matter how short or long that love lasts. And for me, this is why something like soccer matters. Because while it is mesmerizing to see Messi dribble through six defenders to score, Pulisic place the perfect through ball for a goal, score a goal myself in a pick-up game, or see Carli Lloyd single-handedly take over a game, it’s much more than that.
It’s having season tickets to the Clash so you and your dad can go and have time to bond together. It’s jumping up and down on your friend’s floor as you both celebrate in unbelief after Donovan scored against Algeria. It’s talking to your son about strategy as you watch a game. It’s being with friends as you play on a Saturday morning. In the end, it’s the relationships you enjoy (and in some cases, build) because of the game. Like really anything that is important in life, it’s spending time with the people you love.
”I fell in love with football as I would later fall in love with women: suddenly, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain it would bring.” – Nick Hornby
And poetically, soccer seems to imitate life and love. It draws you in and brings you happiness. But often it breaks you when you least expect. It brings some of the greatest joy, but also some of the greatest sorrow. So maybe in the end, none of it does matter. But when you fall in love, there’s not much you can do otherwise. And I know that I shouldn’t care, but I do.
