Um, have you met America? We absolutely have to be the best in everything. It’s what makes us American…it’s part of why the world hates us. Just like saying America doesn’t care about soccer…in the grand scheme of things we don’t but we love us some American soccer because its America. If (and most likely when) we eventually fail we will be, as a nation, pissed because we lost and America doesn’t lose.
Why do you say this? Talent wise? Easy road? American hate?
Not hating on you…just curious.
It would be a minor story? Wow, I would imagine it would be big news.
Why?
I agree with the gist of your point, but would point out that France are relatively recent arrivals in the elite of world football. Before the 1982 World Cup and their subsequent home win in the European Championship in 1984, they had been a distinctly second-rank football power. Since then, they have mostly maintained their first-rank status, with some ups and downs, and even in 1998 when they hosted the World Cup they were still, like the US, not a big football country. It was only when they started to look like they might win the thing that the whole of France got behind them.
So these things are not set in stone. What seems to have happened in France was (a) several crops of very good players and (b) a step-change in the quality and sophistication of their coaching.
I think the US is still a little short in terms of depth of talent to be challenging for trophies any time soon, but it is conceivable that you could find talented coaches and innovative methods that would bring you into the group of countries who might hope to get seeded at World Cups, which in itself is a significant advantage.
8 years ago the United States was a decidedly inferior team to the one we’re fielding this time around; yet had a very clear Torsten Frings handball on the goalline been properly awarded as a PK (and likely red card) the US would’ve beaten Germany and been in the Semi Finals against a Korean team they had already tied in the first round.
Is the US going to win the Cup this year? Probably not. But you don’t have to dream up some crazy, far-fetched scenario to imagine the Yanks in a position to make a deep run because it already happened in 2002.
This is basically what I’m thinking. Unlikely, but certainly possible.
Can’t forget that the US was in that position because South Korea dispatched Portugal in the last match of the group stage that year. If the Koreans lose or draw, the US could’ve dropped to 3rd in the group depending on the goal differential.
Did you read my post? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sports in the world Americans, as a nation, couldn’t care less about.
The World Championships of Wife Carrying
Rugby
Cricket
The World Sauna Championships
Even Dodgeball, a sport that is as entwined in American culture as baseball, couldn’t sustain a nationally covered championship.
No…can’t accept that. This revisionism does not work and it infuriates me no end. You have absolutely no idea what would’ve happened had that penalty been given. Nor do I.
You just can not take a single incident in isolation.
What about the 4 corners that weren’t given for Germany? or the myriad missed throw-ins? or the change in pace from a ten-man Germany? or the missing of the penalty? the free kick on the edge of the box? the borderline offside?
If footballing history teaches us anything it is that important games depart from the accepted narrative in unexpected ways.
It is a fools game to concentrate on the obvious incidents only when the beauty of football is that goals come in the blink of an eye from almost nothing. There is no point in playing “what if” about the penalty unless you are willing to do the same for every other contentious incident.
Of course I know such rational analysis rarely happens. The partisan nature of football fans means that we are subject to confirmation bias. It is very hard to remain objective.
I think there is a whole tier of teams of which the US belongs that could crash or could sneak into the semi-finals, mid-tier. If we learned anything from 2002 is that it isn’t just how good the team is, but the refereeeing, the performance of other teams, and the path to get there that play a huge factor.
The US does seem to play over expectations in every other World Cup (We beat a pre-tournament favorite in 1994 and in 2002 in the group stage…Engurland, watch out!)
It seems like you’re overreacting. His point was simply that the US played a very tight game against the Germans, and with a couple more breaks the US could have won (not a huge stretch of the imagination there). Win that game and you’re in the semis. Any team that’s capable of making the semis is capable of winning the whole thing.
You may be right and I apologise for unwarranted snark.
My point does stand though. Your re-stating above is a perfectly reasonable appraisal of the match in general terms.
My real beef is when otherwise sane human beings are interviewed after a match and they concentrate on the one thing that didn’t go for them while happily accepting everything that did. YOU DON’T GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE!!!
I know they are just being human and that I may well do the same but honestly…
You can tell that it is a pet peeve of mine can’t you?
I think, on reflection, I’m getting a little homesick as I’m a Brit, stuck in Connecticut and New York for two weeks with work. Missing my wife and the little ones and not having my wide screen telly and comfortable sofa for the world cup…bah!
As the co-captain of the USA Wife-Carrying Team, I have to say I deeply resent this slam against our sport.
Excuse me a second.
:: gasps :: Uh, honey, I’m gonna put you down now, OK?
Not sure but Biden was there for today’s RSA/Mexico match.
You’re certainly right about the revisionist history thing. What made the blown perfect game in Detroit so memorable is that there was nothing left to revise - if they had made the right call the game was over, so no “what ifs” to deal with. But I’m not really trying to guarantee that the US would’ve won that game. It was a handball and should have been a PK and red card, but that’s not really the point. MD12 nailed what I was trying to say. Simply put, the US doesn’t need some crazy sequence of events to occur to win the World Cup; 8 years ago, with a worse team, they were in the quarters with an excellent chance of making the Semis against an equally unlikely team in South Korea (home country advantage notwithstanding).
Allow me to point out once again, however, that I am not predicting a title for the US. They’ll win it in 2022 when we host again. 
If the US wins, I’ll eat my friend’s pet hamster. The chances are that slim.
True. But when answering the question of what was possible, it is in fact relevant to look at the details of a game to decide if play was such that the loser in fact had some reasonable chance of winning.
Agreed, and the correct terms are indeed “possible” and “reasonable” but too many times that translates into “would”.
I’ve a good nights sleep so feel far better disposed to the world, until late this afternoon anyway!
and…go South Korea, good game!
Let me explain what I think. It’s not US hate, for sure, and also clearly every country in the World Cup, including France, and 31 others, earned the right to be there as per the FIFA rules. However, this is obviously skewed in the disadvantage of Europe and to a lesser extent South America and Africa. If there were a worldwide qualification for the World Cup, a number of countries that are now in there would never ever qualify in a million years. North Korea and New Zealand are cases in point, and the US, I think, also really benefits from its light road to the World Cup. At the same time, a number of countries are not there now that should have been there, such as Croatia, Russia, Ukraine, etc., if the alternative is North Korea. I see there’s a certain merit both in terms of spreading the game as well as in making more money that comes with doing it this way, but personally I’d prefer a two-tier system like they have it in hockey, with A and B countries. This could also reduce the number of senseless qualification matches against countries like San Marino, Andorra, the Faeroer Islands, or Liechtenstein.
You don’t think the US is one of the top 32 teams in the world? Hah.
I made the claim of 31 teams earning it on the pitch as the host nation doesn’t need to place in their group. A question, Švejk, in your opinion, should Mexico, who finished 2nd to the US in qualifying, also not be there?