In the past few days, politics stole the stage. Belgium found their unifying purpose. And tonight, the USA faded quickly in the face of adversity. Are there lessons?
I agree with you that the best thing we can do is support lower tier soccer (and domestic soccer in general), on basic principles if nothing else. I disagree that the future is bright. We are who we are and I doubt anything will change regardless of how much money we throw at the problem. The culture to become an elite country isn’t there and games like we saw yesterday won’t help build culture. It is a self fulfilling destiny. The only chance we had to build an enduring culture left the building when the original NASL folded. It is too late now for a lot of reasons that require dissertations to explain. Our player pool is not built for nights like last night, and the top world powers know it and laugh off all our “Why Not Us” bravado. Our Women have the mental toughness and experience in big moments…our Men don’t, and decades of trying haven’t produced it.
A columnist said it pretty well. “none of the babble (Trump and FIFA’s madness) mattered.
Yes, lots of work ahead of us. And I think a lot of us are slinging crap and blame around, even though it ultimately rests on the players showing up with the mentality to fight. There is talent on this squad -- lots of talent -- but also lots of room for improvement. Thanks!
I agree with you that the best thing we can do is support lower tier soccer (and domestic soccer in general), on basic principles if nothing else. I disagree that the future is bright. We are who we are and I doubt anything will change regardless of how much money we throw at the problem. The culture to become an elite country isn’t there and games like we saw yesterday won’t help build culture. It is a self fulfilling destiny. The only chance we had to build an enduring culture left the building when the original NASL folded. It is too late now for a lot of reasons that require dissertations to explain. Our player pool is not built for nights like last night, and the top world powers know it and laugh off all our “Why Not Us” bravado. Our Women have the mental toughness and experience in big moments…our Men don’t, and decades of trying haven’t produced it.
A columnist said it pretty well. “none of the babble (Trump and FIFA’s madness) mattered.
Belgium and Europe reigned supreme, as always.
The U.S. cracked, as always.
We are what we are.
Yes, lots of work ahead of us. And I think a lot of us are slinging crap and blame around, even though it ultimately rests on the players showing up with the mentality to fight. There is talent on this squad -- lots of talent -- but also lots of room for improvement. Thanks!