Same Song, Different Verse

So much for transition.

The U.S. Women steamrolled through the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament with relative ease, beating Canada, again, 2-0 in the final with both nations already through to the Olympics in Rio later this year. Assuming, of course, that any female athlete will actually go to Rio with Olympic caliber mosquitoes buzzing around loaded with the Zika virus.

Gone from the lineup that romped over Japan in last year's World Cup final were Lauren Holiday (retired), Megan Rapine (injured), Ali Krieger, and Abby Wambach (retired - although she did not start against Japan). Kelly O'Hara, who was a reserve outside midfielder for the World Cup team, took Krieger's place on the backline, Lindsey Horan slid into midfield, and 17 year-old sensation Mallory Pugh took the third starting spot for the final.

Canada's coach John Herdman (who was quoted after the match as saying "[t]o be honest, I didn't think the U.S. troubled us massively .. They were doable tonight, and we missed a great chance on home soil" ) was apparently the only person in Houston or watching on t.v. that didn't think the Americans dominated the match. The U.S. outshot Canada 11-2, extending their unbeaten streak against our not-so-friendly neighbors to the North to 32 games. 

The only statistic that the Canadians led was fouls (16-14) although that admittedly should have been more one-sided had the Mexican referee (right, Mexican ref in a U.S. soccer title game -- makes sense CONCACAF) felt any compulsion to be the least bit consistent. For example, Carli Lloyd was called for a foul in the first half for leg-whipping a Canadian player. Fair enough. Then in the second half, Lloyd is leg-whipped in the Canadian penalty box and ... Lloyd is called for a foul.

Canada was a power in women's soccer for a brief shining period of time when Christine Sinclair was in her prime. But that time has now passed, and the Canadians have no major trophies to show for it. The stunning comeback by the Americans in the semifinal of the London Olympic tournament was the closest the Canadians will probably get anytime soon (it was so, so close) and probably still sticks in Herdman's craw.

Side note that I don't think I've shared before: C and I actually watched that game, or at least the second half and extra time, in the bar of a golf course in Canmore, Alberta. I went nuts when Wambach's penalty tied the match, then completely bonkers when Alex Morgan's header won it at the death. C felt compelled to advise everyone in attendance that I was a women's soccer coach in the U.S., hoping to save me from a lynching. It worked.

But I digress. This team is different than last year's, with Horan and Morgan Brian (awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament) bossing the midfield and Alex Morgan, Pugh, Crystal Dunn (the Golden Boot winner for most goals of the tournament), and Christen Press providing scoring options. Tobin Heath performed her technical magic on the wing, but this team (possibly because of Rapinoe's absence) relied on width more from Meghan Klingenberg and O'Hara bombing up the wings from their outside back positions than from outside mids, with Heath often tucking inside, where she was when she scored the second fabulous goal against Canada to seal the game.

For me the most exciting part of the tournament, and the U.S.'s performance, was Pugh. Still a high school senior, she became the youngest women in U.S. Women's National Team history to play in an Olympic qualifier. And she was anything but a novelty act. Fast, lively, inventive, she did not appear the least bit awed by the situation. Listed as 5' 4"(perhaps standing on concrete with her cleats on), she struck me as (dare I say it?) a female Messi. She can be that good.

Mallory Pugh (photo from bleacher report.com)

And if she is, John Herdman better get used to coming up second best for a long time to come.

We Were Us Long Before You, And Will Be After

The U.S. Men's U-23 National Team only needed to beat Honduras in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament to assure qualification, at least somewhat erasing the humiliation of failing to qualify in 2012. Instead, it lost 2-0 and now must beat Columbia in a home-and-away two-game match next year.

The U.S. Men's National Team only needed to beat Mexico, on home soil, to secure a place in the Confederations Cup, a pre-World Cup tournament held in Russia, participation in which coach Jurgen Klinsmann described repeatedly as important to the team's development and status. It lost 3-2 in extra time but, truth be told, was flattered by the score line as Mexico dominated possession and made the Americans look slow, unimaginative, and poorly coached.

 

Bobby Wood provided one of the few bright spots in the loss
to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup. (photo from concordmonitor.com)

 

The U.S. Men's U-17 Team only needed to defeat Chile, a team that had already been thumped 5-1 by Nigeria in Group play, to advance to the Round of 16 and the U-17 World Cup. Instead, it was thumped 4-1 and crashed out of yet another international competition.

All of which has led, understandably, to consternation among U.S. Soccer fans, many calling for Klinsmann's head while at the same time acknowledging that he's not going anywhere soon, given the financial and institutional investment that U.S. Soccer has made in him.

It's possible that this is just a hiccup, a blip that happens to almost every national team (except, it seems, Germany's) at some point during the World Cup cycle. More worrying are two other things: first, Klinsmann's seeming inability to either accept responsibility for or even acknowledge the repeated failures of the teams that are under his command as both National Team coach and Technical Director of U.S. Soccer; and, second, that clearly no one at U.S. Soccer is inclined to either require Klinsmann to be held accountable, or to have a Plan B should things continue to go downhill with Klinsmann in command.

Klinsmann was brought in to change American soccer culture. He was going to bring attacking, possession football to our second-class soccer nation.

 

It hasn't happened.

 

But I'm okay with that. Maybe that's not who we are as a soccer playing nation. Maybe we are and always will be second best when it comes to possession. Maybe we'll always be the scrappy, counterattacking team. Second-best in possession, first when the whistle blows. Some very successful teams have won trophies that way.

And that's where I really have a problem with Klinsmann: telling us that he's going to make us one kind of team, and then taking credit for us being quite another. He went on an on after the Mexico loss talking about our American grit and fight and determination, as if he had bestowed it on us from above when he arrived four years ago.

Take all the credit you want, Jurgen for trying to get us to play prettier, for bringing us some decent players with German pedigrees, and, perhaps most importantly, for raising the hopes and expectations of U.S. Soccer supporters.

 

But don't, for one minute, presume that you taught us how to fight and dig and expend every ounce of energy and never quit and never say die.

That's ours.

That's us.

And we didn't need your help for us to be that way.

Two Not So Fitting Farewells - Part Two

Meanwhile, over on the XY side of things, last week Jurgen Klinsmann announced his preliminary squad of 30 players that will go to camp in California to train for the World Cup this summer in Brazil.

There were no real surprises on the list, including the omission of Eddie Johnson from the team. And while not surprising, and seemingly handled well by Klinsmann, Johnson's omission is unfortunate given his service to his country's team.

While Klinsmann kept his word and chose players for the squad who were, for the most part, performing well for their clubs (Landon Donovan being one notable exception), it's not easy to forget Johnson's play during the CONCACAF qualifying rounds that was one of the biggest reasons that the U.S. is going to Brazil in the first place.

The men struggled early in the third round of qualifying and, with a record of 2-1-1, were playing away to "minnows" Antigua and Barbuda. In danger of coming away with no better than a draw, Johnson  scored both goals in a 2-1 win, including the game winner in the 90th minute.

Then Johnson made appearances in eight of the Hex (fourth round) qualifying matches, scoring two goals including the game winner in the latest Dos a Cero victory over Mexico in Columbus.

But that was while Johnson was flying high and scoring goals for the Seattle Sounders last MLS season. After finding success in MLS with Dallas and Kansas City, his career had taken a wrong turn in stints in the English Premier League and the English Championship, only to be revived in 2012 and 2013 with Seattle.

After last season, Johnson, feeling he was underpaid, essentially forced a trade from Seattle to D.C. United (Seattle was unable to meet Johnson's wage demands because of the MLS salary cap). While the salary increase was merited, Johnson didn't do his potential spot on the national team any favors by moving to the team with the worst scoring record in MLS history in 2013, or by explaining his scoring futility since joining D.C. by saying that in Seattle he was fed by "better guys that had more quality on the ball."

Johnson's complaint and the resulting fallout were consistent with the general perception of Johnson, which that he is moody and not a team player. In explaining why he had felt compelled to explain to his teammates why he threw them under the bus, Johnson said: "I don't want them to think I am better than them. That's always been the perception of my career: I'm a prima donna, I'm a bad teammate, I'm bad in the locker room. That's not the case." 

Klinsmann specifically said that the incident "had nothing to do with the decision" to not name Johnson to the 30-man squad, instead implying that Johnson had simply fallen behind other players vying for forward spots on the team. And it is arguable that Johnson's exclusion is less painful now than it will be for the seven players who will train in Palo Alto and participate in the friendly matches between now and June 2 only to not make the 23-man team that will travel to Brazil.

Klinsmann has more difficult decisions ahead in determining the
final roster of 23 that will play in Brazil. (photo from ussoccer.com)

It is, however, a bitter pill for Johnson to swallow, particularly given his role in getting the team to Brazil in the first place. And another example of how U.S. soccer has become both more internally competitive and more cold-hearted. Perhaps that's what we need to be able to compete with the best in the world. It will be up to Klinsmann and those 23 players with him in Brazil to prove that we can on the pitch as well as we recently have off of it.

Two Not So Fitting Farewells - Part One

You could take two recent decisions involving the U.S. Men's and Women's national teams as good signs. As indications that we are big time now, that we make heartless decisions based on what we think is best for our programs, nothing more and nothing less.

Or you could see it as the passing of an era, from a time when our national soccer teams, perhaps to a fault, recognized past service or gave longer leash to a coach because it was the right thing, even if it wasn't necessarily in the best interests of the team (Briana Scurry starting in the 2007 World Cup semifinals instead of Hope Solo comes to mind, but perhaps then-coach Greg Ryan would disagree, since the fallout from that determination cost him his job).

The first decision involved the "shocking" dismissal last month of Women's head coach Tom Sermanni. Unlike Pia Sundhage's last game, there was no celebration after Sermanni's last match as coach, in which the U.S. beat China 3-0. In fact, other than Sunil Gulati and perhaps handful of others, no one knew that it was Sermanni's last match.

That victory came on the heels of a disappointing performance by the squad in the Algrave Cup, an annual women's tournament held in Portugal. The U.S. drew with eventual runners-up Japan in their first group match before losing to Sweden 1-0 and to Denmark by a shocking 5-3 score. Sweden is now coached by Sundhage, adding insult to the injury of a seventh place finish.

Sermanni coaching during the match vs. Japan at the Algrave
Cup. The team's performance at the tournament was at least a
part of his undoing. (photo from soccerblog.dallasnews.com)

While the team's performance in Portugal was admittedly underwhelming, it did not seem to be sufficient justification for a change. The termination came as a shock to Sermanni who is universally beloved by his players and seemingly deserved better, or, at the least, some notice that a change was being considered.

In the aftermath of the firing, pundits offered varying theories on the reasons for and the timing of Sermanni's departure. With CONCACAF Wold Cup qualifying set to take place in October for the 2015 Women's World Cup to be held in Canada, time is short for another coach to impose his or her vision on the team.

Gulati denied that a player revolt provoked Sermanni's dismissal, but it's hard to believe that the veterans of the squad were happy with Sermanni's habit of thrusting players new to the national team into starting spots (and, in particular, leaving Abby Wambach on the bench for the entire match against Japan and for all but five minutes against Denmark). Gulati did admit in his press conference that he gained information from "people in and around the team" that played a role in the decision, along with an assessment of "where the team's going and heading," and the performance in Portugal.

It's inconceivable that the decision was made with anything other than the best of intentions - clearly, Gulati and others in the U.S. Soccer brain trust thought the team was headed in the wrong direction (or, more likely, in no particular direction). With a qualification tournament upcoming that was nearly the team's undoing four years ago (remember the loss to Mexico? the play-off matches against Italy?) surely part of what played into Sermanni's firing was that if a change had to be made, it had to be made soon.

So, Sermanni wasn't the answer. Fair enough. But who is? The anticipation was that a new coach would be named by early May, but it's nearly the middle of the month and still no new coach. The list of candidates, frankly, isn't that inspiring (although Sundhage's former assistant, Tony Gustavsson, is an intriguing option). And time is growing short.

One thing is certain: if we are in a new, cold world of soccer with our women's national team, the choice this time had better be the right one. Or heads other than just the next coach's ought to roll.

Ascendancy It Is

I kept telling myself "it was only a friendly. It was only a friendly."

On two occasions this summer, after the U.S. Men's soccer team's big win over Germany and its shocking come-from-behind triumph over Bosnia-Herzegovina, I reminded myself of just that. After all, in the midst of UEFA qualifying, those countries may have treated the games as warm-ups, an opportunity to allow their reserve squad players a taste of international action.

But the mere fact that the Americans won both matches, in which they likely would have collapsed two years ago, or even earlier this year (remember the game against Belgium a week before the one against Germany?) made me think that something big was brewing with the national team.

Back in January, I wrote about how this was a cross-roads year for both the U.S. Men's and Women's National teams, as well as women's professional soccer in the U.S. Feast or famine; make or break. A year of ascendancy or disaster? is the way I put it.

While the Woman's national team has done just fine under new coach Tom Sermanni, and the jury is still very much out with regard to the new women's league, the answer for the Men's team is clear: ascendancy it is.

The improvement shown against two of the best squads in Europe in the friendlies was borne out in the remaining matches of CONCACAF qualifying as the Americans, after a serious misstep in Costa Rica (which was clearly the second best team in this Hex), steamrolled Mexico and Jamaica and then stunned poor Panama, on the cusp of kicking Mexico to the qualifying curb, with two extra time goals in the final qualifying match.

Graham Zusi celebrates his game tying goal in Panama, the dagger
to the heart of its qualifying hopes. (photo from sbnation.com)

While some pundits wondered post-match about the wisdom of pursuing an in-game strategy that kept Mexican hopes alive in the World Cup (with their loss to Costa Rica in the final match and what seemed like a imminent win by Panama over the U.S. Panama would have traveled to New Zealand and back for a playoff and Mexico would have been sent home to lick its considerable psychological and monetary wounds), I'm glad that the team and Coach Jurgen Klinsmann saw fit to play hard and go for a win in their last competitive match before next summer's World Cup.

And least we forget, while Klinsmann is now being hailed as a savant and savior, it wasn't too long ago that his leadership and tactics were being seriously questioned. But first with those friendlies, then with the wins over Mexico and Panama, Klinsmann has show a deft touch with substitutions and the ability to get the most out of his players, especially those that he does not put in the starting 11.

Klinsmann's leadership strengths discredit the idea that the U.S. should have "thrown" the Panama game. That thought is completely contrary to the way that Klinsmann is going about the job of building a different soccer psyche in this country, and that is not the lesson that he would have wanted his players in Panama City to take away from that match.

Instead, the Americans flew back to the U.S. full of confidence, convinced that they can win any match, at any time, with any 11 players on the pitch.  Whether that will bear out depends a lot on what countries it draws into its group in the World Cup (and it might get ugly)(you could waste hours keeping track of all the possible permutations using the draw simulator here). Nonetheless, that confidence will be there when they step on the pitch, somewhere in Brazil against an unknown opponent in June 2014. I can't wait. And I don't think they can either.

 

"I'm Kind of a Big Deal"

"Ron: I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal.

Veronica:  Really.

Ron: People know me.

Veronica: Well, I'm very happy for you.

Ron: Um, I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books,
and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."

Far be it from me to suggest that Sunil Gulati would use the same terms to identify himself, and every indication is that he wouldn't, but the fact is he's kind of a big deal. That was emphasized late last month when he was elected by representatives of CONCACAF to serve on FIFA's Executive Committee.

Call me naive if you will, but I truly believe that Gulati has worked for the New England Revolution, MLS, the U.S. Soccer Federation, and now FIFA because he wants to advance the game in America. The unfortunate reality, however, is that he may be alone among the 25 members of the ExCom to put the game's interests above his own.

I admit, you can almost hear:
"I have many leather-bound books."
(photo from the "San Diego's #10" blog)

The tales of the excesses and arrogance of the men who run FIFA are legendary. Kickbacks, bribes, and private jets appear to be the rule, not the exception, when it comes to business as usual for the FIFA poo bahs. Some have suggested that the first question from most of Gulati's less-than-luminous predecessors upon their election was "just how many World Cup tickets do I get?"

I suspect that Gulati has bigger fish to fry. After the failed U.S. attempt to win the bid for the 2022 World Cup, Gulati didn't cry foul, as he was surely tempted to do, after many years of effort in the bid went down in flames (in particular, those from the gas wells in Qatar). Instead he shrugged his shoulders and vowed to carry on the fight for soccer in the States.

If Gulati sees his election as an attempt to remake FIFA from a fiefdom of stuffy old men in fancy suits into the actual international organizing body of the most popular sport in the world, he may have a few allies. Michel Platini, the President of UEFA (Europe's CONCACAF equivalent), is another influential member of the international soccer community who actually appears to have the best interests of the game at heart.

Can one or two or a few men change the mindset of what is essentially a huge multi-national corporation based on graft and backscratching? Time will tell. But that seems to be precisely what Gulati has in mind.

What Exactly Is The State of U.S. Soccer?

With the United States men's national team in the midst of the Gold Cup and the women's team preparing for their World Cup which begins in Germany later this month, I've been thinking about where were are as a soccer nation and whether things are improving or not.

The men have not looked particularly good so far despite making it to the final after beating Panama 1-0 in the semis. The best news is probably that the U.S. was not in the same bracket as Mexico and will only have to play Los Tricolores once, in the final. Panama had beaten the U.S. 2-1 in group play in this tournament so the semi-final win was a measure of redemption or revenge for a team that had never before lost in group play in the Gold Cup.

The way that Mexico is playing, however, second may be the best that the U.S. can hope for in this Gold Cup. Given the way the Americans both won the Gold Cup in 2007 and finished first in CONCACAF qualifying leading to the 2010 World Cup, that concession is disturbing.



Clint Dempsey celebrates his goal against Jamaica.

Mexico looks like the younger, more innovative squad right now as the Yanks struggle to assimilate new players into the established backbone of Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Steve Cherundolo, and Tim Howard. Heck, even Freddie Adu (remember him?) played a role in the only goal against Panama in the semis. 

While the men have time to sort things out before the rigors of World Cup qualifying, the U.S. women enter their World Cup next week far from the role of clear favorites that they once enjoyed. Although the women's team is currently ranked first in the world, and won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, they have endured a string of inconsistent results in the past year.

After dominating World Cup qualifying for the past decade, the U.S. women lost to Mexico in the CONCACAF tournament semifinal  and had to beat Italy in a two-legged play-in to even reach the World Cup. They followed that up with a series of matches earlier this year, again with some inconsistent results.

Germany seems the odds-on favorite to win the WWC, as the host and after winning the last two (the U.S. finished third in both). Brazil and the U.S. lead the second tier of contenders, with Canada, Japan, and Sweden possibilities as well.

While the U.S. women are led by an experienced group including Abby Wambach and captain Christie Rampone, there are a number of younger players on the roster that could see significant playing time and perhaps tilt the scales in the Yanks' favor. Forwards Amy Rodriguez and Alex Morgan in particular may help inject some speed and youth into an attack that has seemed relatively predictable against well-organized defenses.

There certainly isn't the hype and anticipation for this team that surrounded the 1999 edition, even before Brandi Chastain took off her shirt.

The most famous picture in women's soccer history.

There was a time, even after the men's World Cup was held in the U.S. in 1994 and MLS started in 1996, when there seemed to be as much interest, or more, in the women's national team than the men. Whether because of the retirement of magnetic personalities and players like Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Christine Lilly, or the disappointing finishes in recent tournaments that seem attributable in part to too many coaching changes or questionable coaching decisions on the national team, the women no longer enjoy much of the spotlight here.

The hope is that Wambach and company can restore a little of that luster this summer in Germany. After all, there's only one national team from the U.S. (and North America, for that matter) that has won a World Cup.