Category Archives: Soccer

US Soccer — Jurgen Klinsmann still upbeat despite loss — Ravi Ubha from Paris – ESPN.

The U.S national team harvested another loss. France was the opponent today and the winner of the match. If you look at the press reports in both countries, nobody is happy. A 1-0 win against the United States is rather average for the French. In the U.S. the experts are wondering when the team is intending to score goals. 2 goals in the last 5 games is not enough for the media in the U.S..

Listening to the experts on TV and reading the articles from guys that probably have never played the game (such as the one in the link above), it seems they are all just waiting for the WC qualifiers to start so that they can shoot with everything they have. Klinsmann made it clear that he is experimenting and that he is not interested in results at this point. The experts, deep inside, know a change in U.S. soccer was mandatory and they were all hoping that with Klinsmann, from one day to the other, the team will win against everyone. Not so fast. Miracles can happen quickly, the impossible takes a little longer.

Klinsmann has a big job to master. He must transform “crocks” into dancing shoes. He must make up the mistakes of at least 10 years in no time and deliver something Americans haven’t experienced yet. He must put the team and U.S. soccer on the World map, once and for all. This is important for soccer in this country where the winners of the two major sports usually call themselves “World Champions”, even though nobody else is playing. World Champions, that’s the goal, at one point.

Looking at the game today, one thing is clearly sticking out: Major League Soccer is not a competitive league. In no way can the league produce top players that are able to turn games on an international level. Examples: Kyle Beckerman and Brek Shea. Both are top players in the MLS, but struggle on an international level. Shea is a young kid that can have a bright future, if he gets out of this league and can make his way to Europe. He should be over there already, for at least three years. For Beckerman it doesn’t look good at all. He has “progressed” to much already as that any of the top clubs in Europe would be interested. They have that kind of material in the category “18 year old”. It is no wonder that Klinsmann is looking for players that could play for the U.S. everywhere he can. Those he found are of the same age as Beckerman and Shea, have even less talent, but have a much more intensive “education” than the two. And that is what this team needs. Before you can bark with the big dogs, you need to be able to lift your leg. In the case of soccer, Klinsmann needs to find the players first, before he can go after the big guns. Something the experts should consider when they unleash their wisdom.

All things considered, Klinsmann and the team are making progress. You can take something good out of every game. If Klinsmann is able to bring together the good things of the past few games, he will succeed and with him U.S. soccer. If he can manage to change the insufficient structures of U.S. soccer and support all the talent, the U.S. will be World Champions one day. Real World Champions. Imagine that.