The future of U.S. soccer is in a state of confusion. Throughout the summer of 2009, the U.S. men’s national team has been roughed up in World Cup qualifying, climbed to the top of the mountain at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, and then taken down a few notches with its most recent performance against Mexico.
As the U.S. team prepares for their next qualifier (Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah) against El Salvador, many questions about the consistency of this team are still prevalent among on lookers.
The U.S. currently sits in third place in their qualifying group, and winning the next four games would guarantee the team a place in the World Cup finals next summer in South Africa.
But, if the U.S. can qualify for their sixth consecutive finals, can it be a legitimate threat to not only make it out of the group stage, but also secure an appearance in the quarter or semifinals? That is a goal that has been accomplished only one time (2002 quarterfinals appearance) in the modern day tournament.
In 1998, the U.S. Soccer Federation established a plan called Project 2010; the purpose was to develop a national team that would be a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by 2010 and the cost was an estimated $50 million.
After closely watching the U.S. in South Korea and Japan four years later, this project did not seem too far-fetched.
To start the tournament the men knocked off a Portugal side that was heavily favored to win the cup, played very well in a 1-1 draw with host South Korea and squeaked through the back door and into the round of 16 after a loss to Poland in the final group stage match.
In the round of 16, the States drew their CONCACAF rival, Mexico, the winner of group C. The game turned out to be one of the most thrilling in U.S. soccer history up until that point, with the states beating a stunned Mexican team and keeping a clean sheet in the process of a 2-0 victory.
The team would eventually be eliminated by world power Germany (runner-up in 2002) 1-0 in the quarterfinal, but the effort in 2002 gave the players, coaches, followers and the U.S. soccer federation a ton of confidence going forward.
That summer, Bruce Arena built a team around the strengths of his players. He used players who were fit and had been getting a lot of minutes with their club teams.
Goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller had previous World Cup experience as well as experience in some of the most competitive European club leagues.
The central defenders Eddie Pope, Carlos Llamosa and Greg Berhalter were big and athletic with the ability to win balls in the air. The outside fullbacks, Frankie Hejduk, Steve Cherundolo and Jeff Agoos, were sure-footed and could get forward to serve balls into the opponent’s box.
The midfield was comprised of the skilled players on the roster. Claudio Renya, Ernie Stewart and John O’Brien, all who played the majority of their careers with European clubs, gave the U.S. possession and composure in the middle of the park and had the ability to attack defenses.
While Tony Sannah, Demarcus Beasley, Eddie Lewis and Cobi Jones gave the U.S. the speed on the outside, they needed to get behind defenders.
Brian McBride, one of the top forwards in the world at winning balls in the air, was the target forward with the speedy young legs Landon Donovan, Josh Wolf or Clint Mathis running off of him.
6 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete