Love the Smell of Korea in the Morning

June 5^th, 2002, Suwon, South Korea:  The USA beats Portugal 3-2.  The Portuguese come into the tournament a team ranked 4^th in the world and lead by perhaps the second best European player of his generation (behind only Zinadine Zidane), Luis Figo.  On the strength of three first-half goals, the United States has literally shocked the soccer world into noticing the vast improvement over the 1998 France World Cup - the US finished 32^nd, dead last. 

June 17^th, 2002, Jeonju, South Korea: USA has defeated nemesis Mexico 2-0 in the round of sixteen, completely outclassing their southern neighbors throughout the match.  This one seemed too good to be true; knocking the old "enemy" out of the World Cup...ahhh, the good stuff.  

June 21^st, 2002, Ulsan, South Korea:  Germany narrowly defeats the US 1-0 in the quarterfinals despite the American dominance throughout the match.  Oliver Kahn, the German goalie, later named tournament MVP, earned the aforementioned accolade in good part due to his performance in this match.  There was some controversy: the only time the US managed to beat Kahn, he literally got a hand from midfielder Torsten Frings who parried an American shot off the goal line to preserve the German victory.  In his post match comments, German manager Rudi V

The Cruel Game

Many pundits round the globe term soccer the beautiful game, a move likely inspired by the corresponding phrase "o jogo bonito" in Brazilian Portuguese.  If your as good as the Brazilians - and they are that good; one of those "myths" that actually happens to be rooted in reality - you get naming rights, no questions asked.  This term, while romantic, fails to capture another, nagging aspect of the sport:  the best team doesn't always win. 

An example occurred just this weekend in Yokohama.  The FIFA Club World Championships final pitted Liverpool FC, the European champions, against Sao Paulo FC, the South American champions, in a competition brought together the club champions of Asia, Oceania, CONCACAF, CAF, and AFC, in addition to the aforementioned regions, for a winner take all tournament to determine the top club team in the world.  Despite a 21-4 advantage in shots and an unthinkable 17-0 advantage in corner kicks, Liverpool succumbed to a single Sao Paulo strike and lost the match.  It's difficult to grasp that even just one of the twenty-one shots didn't ripple the twine; nevertheless, that's the way it went.  This is only one example of a phenomenon seen at least twice a weekend in every league in the world. 

More oft than not, teams playing at peak skill levels are often subject to overly physical tactics which are increasingly overlooked in officiating ranks.  Teams playing a skillful style often drop difficult fixtures to otherwise inferior sides due to this blind eye stance.  The NBA with its traditional run-and-gun Western versus steely Eastern Conference rivalry is prime example of this debate.  Which style is better?  Which is better to watch?  That'd be a matter of preference.

 

Building a House

Hopefully, we can fix the whole where the old rainy things come in with a little knowledge.  No matter the subject, it's out there to be learned.  Here, however, we're sticking with soccer.  We're trying to build a house large enough to shelter everyone.  It'll be a palace when it's complete, but that's a day way off.  In the mean time, the foundation's been laid and the walls erected.  In fact, the structure's almost complete; all that remains is the furnishing.  Trophies, fans, etc., the whole works to decorate the palace.  The inscription over the door reads: "One Game, One World, One People."  It lies in a forgoten meadow, far from the eyes and ears of the everday.  Its a retreat of sorts, a return to an older era, a grass roots movement.

Not to fear, this palace will be American.  Other nations have their soccer cathedrals and hallowed grounds; we're building our own Right Now.  The tradition unfolds for history as this line is typed.  The US has a ton to prove at this coming World Cup, but we'll get to that later...Been thinkin' about the doorbell in the mean time; when ya gonna ring it?

The Enemy Within?

In addition to high-handed fans and an often obtuse media and general public, the US soccer program faces a situation perhaps no other national team on the planet experiences.  We rarely, if ever, play a home game in the true sense. 

Brass tacks... I'm border-line jingoistic in regard to the Men's National Team.  When the visiting supporters outnumber our own at supposed home matches, I ask myself, anger lump in throat, how's that possible?  What will change that?  (At this point, I haven't a clue.)  Every game is a road game for the US, particularly when we play another CONCACAF team.  We simply don't enjoy the overwhelming support for home contests of other nations.  As any sports fan will testify, the crown can inspire spontaneous genius, strengthen tired legs and minds, or even influence the referee's judgment - say just enough to swing the game into the desired direction. 

At the risk of sounding like a xenophobe....Nothing against nurturing your roots, after all, "if you know your history, then you would know where you coming from," as Mr. Marley once penned.  On the other hand, one should also keep an open mind over cultural adaptation in a new land.  Perhaps it's a Buffalo Soldier situation; busy boy, landscaping, etc. - general menial labor - the new battlefield for the new labor army.

Kickin' Ka-nowledge

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- Emma Lazarus

In an attempt to avoid, the standard exclusionary policy, here are a few links and a short (and running) glossary of soccer lingo:

 Rules & Regulations:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_%28soccer%29

Strategy & Tactics:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_%28soccer%29tactics_and_skills

From these two links you should be able to find an article to answer pretty much any questions you may have, if you are interested.  Thank the industrious souls at Wikipedia for the info.

 

TERMS

Soccer Speak	Sports Speak
club	the entire organization involved in running the team operation including the trainers, front office, etc.
draw	Tie
fixture	scheduled game; team schedule is referred to as a fixture list
flare	superior skill and style, sometimes used negatively as a substitute for showboating
form	a team's current moment (are they hot or cold?)
match	Game
pitch	playing surface
result	earning points from a game; typically a win (3 points); can also refer to a draw (1 point)
side	the players selected from the player pool for a particular game (i.e. -- the starters and substitutes)
transfer	player movement from one team to another, this rarely involves a trade; typically a (transfer) fee is exchanged

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMPETITION TYPES

The international game is the other main type of competition.  These are tournaments contested between the national teams of various countries.  The teams are composed of the best professional players from a given nation.  The most popular competition, the World Cup, is the world's biggest sporting event, hands down.  The competition pits veritable all-star squads from each country that has qualified for the final tournament via their regional tournament.

 Domestic competition other format is the cup.  This is a playoff system very similar to the NIT basketball tournament where teams travel to higher seeds stadiums only to exchange for a neutral venue in the later rounds of the tournament.  In this style, knock-out from head to head competition, based on seedings is used to determine a champion.  Divisions are irrelevant in the sense that the competition is open, so all divisions can compete.  A team's division level will obviously impact the seeding process, however.

The international game is the other main type of competition.  These are tournaments contested between the national teams of various countries.  The teams are composed of the best professional players from a given nation.  The most popular competition, the World Cup, is the world's biggest sporting event, hands down.  The competition pits veritable all-star squads from each country that has qualified for the final tournament via their regional tournament.

Even Less Respect

Make no mistake; the US-Mexico is the world's foremost budding soccer rivalry.  The games almost always end with the bad blood spilling over, the loosing side fouling their opponent mercilessly in retribution for lost pride.  We're no choir boys ourselves; that mean streak works both ways.  The irony of the situation lies in the inextricable link between the two sides.  The success and failure of one is in many ways a measure of the other, especially when facing European and South American teams.  The US can monitor Mexico's progress and take hope or head, ditto for the Mexicans. 

Mexico are a more technically astute side than the US, and they probably always will be.  Viewed from the other side of the Rio Grande, they're entitled to look down on our pragmatic, athletic approach to the game.  They've cultivated skill as individual players to a greater extent than our own (to this point in the development of the sport in this country), and as a result feel aesthetically superior.  (On a touchier subject, maybe this is why the US Latino audience hasn't really surfaced as a factor as yet.)  From a purist's point of view, they're correct, when perched upon that particular speech stump.  Of course, aesthetics never helped Mexico become world champion.  Practically speaking, the greatest value of such a stance is in its role of intellectual fodder for those more impassioned, late-night alcohol-frenzied bull sessions: who was the better team, the '85 Bears or the '89 49ers? 

Why will Mexico always have skill to dangle over our heads, as it were?  It's a matter of culture.  North of the border, we learn how to win. It's a healthy slice of the nation's personality pie.  Historically, our model of success is pragmatism: do what it takes to win because every one loves a winner.  We may not do it pretty, but we do it effectively.  That's the American way, always has been, probably always will be. 

We're a little more Chelsea ('85 Bears) and the increasingly other "tri-colors" are a little more Arsenal ('89 Niners), so to speak.  In the end, you get the same debate.  Win with flare, or just win?  Both are wise world views, but, despite the wisdom contained within each, the practitioner of one will instinctively look down on the other from the hallowed pulpit of their credo.  The FIFA world rankings clearly favor the flare, as the US has never outranked its southern neighbor, despite a 7-win, 3-loss, and 1-tie record over the last eleven match-ups (10-7-7 since 1990) during which time the Mexicans haven't between the US outside the confines of the dreaded Estadio Azteca with its 110,000-or-so howling fans.     

Don't expect the Mexican national team to respect their US foils any time soon, or from Europe either (with the exception of Germany in light of our performance against them in the last World Cup).  Its strange how rarely the regular starting units of Europe's finest are fielded when the US is the opponent for friendly matches.  It's as if loosing to the US still carries the stigma of old on the Continent.  Fielding an experimental unit or a group of youngsters is insulation from any potential embarrassment.  A realist would say its sound policy to experiment with the roster during friendly matches when little or nothing is on the line, which is the case when playing the "inferior" US. 

Winning Tradition

Yes, we're developing one under the leadership of Bruce Arena.  But some may ask, what does it matter, no one notices anyway?  To that question, one can only respond with a second:  If that had stopped Nietzsche and Freud from pursuing their lives' work, how different would our world be? 

In fairness, however, that's a legitimate question.  Why do so relatively few, even in our own country, follow the trails and travails of the national team program?  Considering the majority of the population looks at soccer as a kids', women's and/or immigrant game, is that really such a surprise?  The game is foreign, dominated by other (sometimes 2^nd and 3^rd world) countries, and we hate to lose.  For decades, rather than accept the game as the world's most popular, many in the sporting press relegated it to a hooligan's side-show because that is all the understood about the sport, that which happened off the field.  True understanding of the sport within the press is a new phenomenon.  Consider this website just five years ago versus now and you can see the influence of ex-players and coaches from all levels.  You now have folks who grew up "soccer players" doing the reporting, and this love of the game translates in that work. 

Aside from media ignorance, fans are often the sport's biggest detractors.  In particular, the more extreme of US-based European football fans scoff at the MLS and label it inferior to all those other high profile leagues.  Claiming the level of play and tradition unattainable for MLS, these fans point to the Real Madrid result* and laugh, yes, laugh at and mock, the state of the game in their own country.  For that group, the US, as a footballing nation, will never achieve anymore than an also-ran status.  Each achievement on the international stage rationalized a fluke or the result of fatigue in other rosters due to a longer, more arduous professional campaign in the build to the World Cup.  Amazingly it's often these same fans to whom all players are "lads" or "boys," who mock the inferior skill level of MLS, yet memorize the EPL table, who know little or nothing of Europe's most skillful league, La Primera.  (We all know Real Madrid, Beckham, Barcelona, and Ronaldinho, but can you tell me who the goalie for Racing Santander is?)  What does that say for their enlightened opinions?  You be the judge. 

*On August 23^rd, an intrepid group of Major League Soccer All-Stars jetted to Madrid to challenge Real Madrid, a club voted the most successful of the 20^th century in world football, only to receive a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Spanish team.  The merits of sending an all-star squad to face a professional team are dubious to say the least and a topic worthy of its own blog.

 

"No Respect"

Generally, speaking there are two approaches toward the events of our lives.  One can choose to believe in fate or destiny, or (following a hard philosophical line) one can rule everything to the whim of chance.  Under normal circumstances, I default to the latter.  After all, we can't explain the nature of the universe, how we got here, why we're here, etc.  However, in the instance of soccer I see fate creeping into the frame. 

I believe it's no coincidence that Rodney Dangerfield, the man who made a career (and millions laugh) with his "no respect" shtick, made a film centered on the world game.  That movie, Ladybugs, wasn't exactly La Dolce Vita; it didn't even measure up to Back to School or Easy Money.    The point: it seems karma may have been at play, pitting Mr. No Respect in the role of a soccer coach.  The sport, like Dangerfield claimed of the American working man, gets no respect.  For example, this very sight offers blog topics under the headings of the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB, as well as college hoops and football.  Soccer is a notable absentee, especially in a World Cup year.  What's more, Fox operates Fox Soccer Channel right here in the US.  True, there is a forum affiliated with the station (Big Soccer), but is it not telling that no option for the world game is offered with the other "major" sports?    

The Soccer Fans' Life

How many of you are with me? 

...weekends filled with hours of live broadcasts from who-knows-where, living off TiVo - hands down god's greatest gift to man since Promethean fire.  Nameless networks and leagues ranging from Spain, Germany, Italy, and England to Brazil, Portugal, Mexico and Japan, trying all week to catch up so you can watch the highlight shows without ruining the games you've yet to watch.  Sometimes you can't even understand the commentators because it's an original broadcast, in the native tongue, and you don't speak that language - you do, however, speak the language of the world game. 

Midweek, you might get some league or cup action from somewhere, maybe some UEFA Cup, better still, the Champion's League.  A limitless smorgasbord of football, futebol, calcio, fu