WORLD CUP 2006
United States
Introduction
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If the aim is always to do better than last time, then the USA – surprise quarter-finalists four years ago – have to reach the semi-finals in Germany. How likely is that?
Not very. The team’s group is tough: they face two of the strongest European teams – Italy and the Czech Republic – plus the unknown but menacing quantity that is Ghana. Realistically, a second-place finish is the best that can be hoped for – and that would advance the USA into a second round game against the winners of Group F, surely Brazil.
The USA’s rise to a position among the major soccer powers has come swiftly. In 1990, when they qualified for their first World Cup in 40 years, they were ranked 34th in the world. Sixteen years later they are ranked – no doubt over-ranked – in fourth place. Coach Bruce Arena can call upon an experienced group of players, many playing in Europe, and MLS, the domestic league, has proved it can produce players of international calibre.
It’s a solid team, full of sturdy, well-built American athletes with growing tactical savvy and skill levels. A team that will not beat themselves, for sure, but a rather straightforward team that won’t garner many points for entertainment value.
Yet the answer to that drawback – and it is a worrying drawback in a country that needs to attract new fans to the sport – is at hand, and it’s a chastening thought for the rest of the world: the USA has so far failed to make much use of its huge and growing reservoir of Latin talent.
Soccer is already deeply established at youth level in the country; it’s part of the everyday life of millions of average American families. But the professional game, hemmed in by baseball, gridiron and basketball, has yet to make a strong impact.
For football in the USA, the conundrum remains: how to translate all that youth involvement into interest at the professional and international level. The USA’s strong showing in the 2002 World Cup was not reflected in any sudden increase in domestic league attendances.
That ongoing failure provides ammunition for the soccer-haters in the media who always sound loudest around World Cup time, bludgeoning the public with reminders that soccer is boring and that Americans like only sports played with the hands. Ho hum. Their protests get shriller and shriller, but the sport does not go away.
Football’s fan base is growing, but slowly. Average attendances in MLS are in the OK-bracket of 15,000. Where it was once difficult to find any soccer on TV, there are now two channels devoted exclusively to the sport. All 64 World Cup games will be broadcast live in high-definition format.
Support for the national team comes from a wide spectrum of society, including the super-fans of Sam’s Army. Americans are avid travellers – so there will be plenty of fans cheering for the USA in Germany.
On the whole, media expectations are cautiously optimistic – in line with Arena’s confidence that his team can get out of the
first round…“and then we’ll see”.
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