USA Faces Costa Rica in Jurgen Klinsmann's "Second Date" with U.S. Soccer Fans

Watching the U.S. men's soccer team is like being in a never-ending series of long-term relationships. They always start out fun and exciting, and your heart starts racing at what you think this could mean for the future. Ultimately, you end up right back where you started, just four years older and a lot more jaded.

Really, did we ever think Bruce Arena was the one we could take home to mom? Was Bob Bradley's icy stare ever going to look good in a wedding photo? Was any of that ever going to work out?

But we had Claudio Reyna! We have Landon Donovan! We have more and more players who have gone on to varying degrees of success in Europe! This time could be "for real."

Until it's not. It hasn't been "for real" yet in American soccer. When the players seem good enough to compete on a world-class level, the tactics don't match the talent. When the tactics seem to fit the players, we realize there's a complete and utter lack of depth. That's like dating someone because you both like making fun of the contestants on American Idol and realize six months later your relationship was built on nothing more than watching and making fun of the contestants on American Idol. Fine, the sex wasn't terrible. (Yes, as soccer analogies go, I suppose "the sex" awkwardly refers to Landon Donovan's game winner against Algeria in the World Cup. Feel free to give that one a spin at your Labor Day barbecue this weekend.)

Steve Cherundolo getting hurt during the Gold Cup final against Mexico was like watching reality TV with the next "she-could-be-the-one" and the cable suddenly goes out and you have to spend the next few hours actually talking.

"So you aren't watching American Idol ironically, even just a little bit?"

"Is that a purse…your dog can fit in?"

"Are you bedazzling me right now?"

These are the thoughts that flood my head whenever Jonathan Bornstein checks into a match.

Suddenly there is hope. Jurgen Klinsmann is the attractive, fair-haired waitress at the restaurant you always used to go to with your surly, brooding ex-girlfriend. You couldn't explain why, but you always seemed to sneak back to the restaurant without your ex to flirt a little. Maybe you left your cell phone there. Maybe you were in the neighborhood for a light lunch. But you were spoken for already, and she didn't seem all that interested, so it was just a matter of bad timing.

Then the Gold Cup happened. After unraveling against Mexico, yet again, we knew it was just a matter of time before our relationship with Bradley was over. It ended just like all the other relationships before him ended; not badly, per se, but just a general sense of what could have been but never was going to be.

It actually didn't hurt that much this time, thanks in part to the understanding that the fair-haired waitress was still available and finally seemed excited about the opportunity to go out and give us (and our immeasurable baggage) a chance. That, of course, is because she has enough of her own baggage for the both of us.

Some of Klinsmann's baggage is coming with him on this journey by choice—namely assistant coach Martin Vasquez, a holdover from Klinsy's Bayern Munich sting who isn't exactly making U.S. soccer pundits high-five with excitement over his tactical prowess. Unwanted baggage is coming along too, some of which comes in the form of jilted ex Philipp Lahm, who ripped Klinsmann's lack of tactical focus in his new book:

"

"Tactical things were neglected. The players had to get together before [the games] to discuss how we wanted to play. After six or eight weeks, all players knew it wouldn't work with Klinsmann. The rest of the season was damage limitation."

"

You already dumped her, dude; you don't have to yell out her apartment window that she's a dead fish in the sack.

Look, we all have baggage. With that understanding, we find ourselves getting ready for a second date with the one we think might be able to come home to meet the family. We could fall in love with this one, for sure. And yes, love is fleeting and certainly not unconditional in the world of soccer. We've been burned before, but hearing old friends like Tim Howard convincing us things will be different this time makes it so hard not to fall head over heels:

"

''One of the things that I've been most impressed with is that often times, someone has a huge reputation and they don't live up to it and so far, he's lived up to it, which has been hugely positive,'' said goalkeeper Tim Howard. ''You can see why he's so successful. His attention to detail is there, he is upbeat and the energy has been fantastic. He really just instills that in us. It's been a short time, but we feel it as players, there's that freedom.''

"

This really could be the one. Now, how does he feel about American Idol?