Garrick
Awesome, lid.
The perfect storm has arrived.
It couldn’t be any other way, could it?
You see, we Americans are used to sporting success. The best baseball, the best basketball, the best (gridiron) football, the best hockey… All played here. We’re on top of the pile. We are the never-ending dynasty. Even when we don’t win, we’re always there.
But the world’s game? The beautiful game? Association football has always been a blind spot for us.
It’s been a crazy, bumpy, uphill ride since Paul Caligiuri’s shot heard ‘round the world. The national team has improved greatly, gathering a collection of Gold Cups, going deep into the World Cup in 2002, the great run in the 2009 Confederations Cup. We had our fun in our soccer adolescence of parking and counterattacking, masking our lack of talent through discipline and grit, but that was never going to be enough to give us what we desire: Our identity, our place among the great footballing nations of the world. We had plateaued short of the end goal.
So, we brought in the one man on this planet capable of bridging the gap. A man who plays football like a German, but thinks like an American. The one man capable of crafting a USMNT that wasn’t just a derivative of something else, but one that plays its own beautiful version of the beautiful game.
And craft Jürgen Klinsmann has. A Gold Cup run that was so dominant it looked inevitable, a 12 game win streak, one of the longest in international footballing history, and World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the US well clear on top of the Hex. This was it. We were riding high. It was time seize the world of international footie by the throat.
Until, that is, disaster struck, constructed in a way only FIFA could pull off.
In Brazil, Group G is US Soccer’s worst nightmare. There’s room for debate into which group is the toughest overall, but for us, personally, it simply cannot get any worse.
There’s the dynasty. The team that has won it all, many times over. Germany are to football what we are to many other sports. They’re great. They’re ALWAYS great.
There’s the nation that has what we don’t. A good side plus a Ballon d’Or winner is a great side. And Portugal has what we have never been able to produce.
And then, of course, there’s our personal executioner. The team that eliminated us from the last two World Cups. Ghana are the thorn, nay, the knife in our side, the small African nation that has knocked us down when we dare to seek greatness.
And this time? They’re up first.
Marseille’s Ayew brothers up top. Juventus’ midfield engine Kwadwo Asamoah in the middle. Schalke’s Kevin-Prince Boateng commanding the field. I could go on, but that's probably enough for now. This is yet another Ghanaian side that should not be taking lightly. They’re not short on talent at all. One would be right to question their resolve, as complacency does rear its ugly head. The same nation that was a ratface handball away from the World Cup semifinals in 2010 was also dispatched by the footballing minnows of Zambia and Burkina Faso in the past two editions of the African Cup of Nations. The Black Stars are athletic, physically imposing, and talented, but they’re prone to their errors too. Apply the pressure, nick one early, put them on their back foot, force the mistakes, and a “third time’s the charm” Yank victory won’t be out of reach.
Over in the American camp, cautious optimism is the feeling of the day. The team is healthy. The diamond is clicking. Everton’s own Tim Howard is coming off a career season. The diamond formation, centered around Michael Bradley, the best complete midfielder the United States has ever produced, is clicking. Jozy Altidore broke his scoring drought. The backline of Fabian Johnson, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, and DaMarcus Beasley is finally gelling. After two rather unconvincing wins against Azerbaijan and Turkey, this side dismantled a tournament-bound Nigeria (that is, until, the subs started pouring on). As they should. Even without Landond Donovan, this is the most talented USMNT to take the big stage, an intriguing blend of MLS’s finest and European stalwarts. Throw the rising talent level, the new-look tactics, and a good dose of the grit and discipline past American sides were known for into a pot and you’re left with a stew that none of the 31 other nations at this tournament want to drink.
But drink they will. Despite all of this potential, a shameful group stage exit is a distinct possibility. This first match here against Ghana needs to be our banker, and Ghana aren’t exactly a squad you can write off.
So bring on the storm. Bring on the heroics. Stare down the biggest challenge the United States Men’s National Team has ever faced and spit in it, in the way only a squad captained by Clint Dempsey can.
THE YANKS ARE COMING.
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