World Cup Roundup
The group stage of the World Cup is complete, here are my thoughts so far.

- The U.S. National Team is on its way home. It’s a disappointment, sure, but it’s not a disaster by any means. They were drawn into the Group of Death, and any two of the four teams in the group had a shot at progressing. Had the U.S. been in Mexico’s group, for example, I have no doubt they would’ve gone to the knockout rounds. Sometimes them’s the breaks, deal with it. The Czech Republic is out as well, and many pundits had them as a favorite to win the whole friggin’ tournament. As for the FIFA rankings (which Kornheiser and Wilbon have repeatedly referred to on PTI these last few weeks), don’t put any stock into the U.S.’s ranking (currently 5th) – no one is really sure what the folks at FIFA are smoking when they put the international rankings together, but it must be strong, since it has no basis in reality.

- The performance of the U.S. team, however, was extremely discouraging. Not only did they play poorly in their games against the Czech Republic and Ghana, they played like timid, weak-willed, little bitches. National team coach Bruce Arena’s defensive tactics were all wrong. Only a few teams have the talent to play a defensive scheme at this level (Italy, England, Germany - well, used to be Germany), and the U.S. is not one of them. Our defenders have always been our biggest weakness (anyone remember Agoos in 2002?), and our strengths include fearless, quick, creative attacking players. But Arena played Brian McBride as the lone striker in a 4-5-1, and Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley didn’t attack from the midfield – most notably in the Ghana match, where Donovan lost his marker on the wing inside the 18, had a clear path to the goal, and inexplicably took the ball back across the middle out of the box and was dispossessed. The whole tournament, he played like a pussy, plain and simple. If there was a 50-50 ball in the midfield, he didn’t win it. He’s acquired the nicknames Landycakes and PrimaDonovan because he didn’t have the stuff to fight for a spot on the Bayer Leverkusen squad in the German Bundesliga, and his performances at this World Cup will make those names stick. The boy has no heart, no balls, no fire. He cannot be the face of U.S. soccer.

- It certainly seemed like the U.S. did a piss-poor job of scouting and preparing for their opposition. They often played confused, didn’t know where the attacks were coming from, which opposing players were the most dangerous on the pitch. That’s inexcusable.

- The U.S. roster selection also left much to be desired. Where was Taylor Twellman, Jonathan Spector? If Arena was only going to play McBride as a lone striker and waste several roster spots anyway (Brian Ching, hello), why not put Freddy Adu on the squad to cap-tie him and prevent him from playing with Ghana in 2010 (which Adu claimed on PTI this week he’s still considering – though I hope that’s just a ploy to get a bigger endorsement deal out of U.S. National Team sponsors Nike)? It seems to me that Arena was pessimistic that the U.S. would get out of the group, and figured that even if they did, they’d finish second in the group and have to play Brazil in the next round and go home early anyway, so he put a bunch of veterans on the roster as a reward for their longtime contributions to the team. That’s no way to select a World Cup squad.

- So now what for the U.S. National Team? Time for a new coach, for sure. If the U.S. wants to truly be a contender to win the World Cup, they have to take a big step up to that next level. There is no American coach who can do that – U.S. Soccer must look to a foreign coach with world-class experience. My shortlist includes Luis Felipe Scolari, Carlos Queiroz, and #1 with a bullet, current German head coach and playmaking legend Jurgen Klinsmann. He lives in Southern California (which has earned him lots of criticism from the German media in the lead-up to the World Cup this year because he hasn’t moved back to Germany), is married to an American, and has done some consulting and coaching work with the L.A. Galaxy. He doesn’t have a lot of coaching experience (his current post is his first head coaching job), but he’d be more perfect for the U.S. team than the German one – with which he’s doing extremely well so far this tournament. I’m kind of hoping Germany will lose soon so that Klinsmann will be fired and the U.S. can snap him up. Whatever it takes, U.S. Soccer, whatever it friggin’ takes. And I’m not alone with this sentiment.

- As for the referees so far, they get a big ol’ BOO. Missing calls, way too many cards. They’re slowing the pace of too many games, and affecting too many others because players are already suspended for card accumulations or worried about getting another card and missing the next match. This ain’t ballet, dammit, contact and physicality are part of the game.

- JP Dellacamera and Marcelo Balboa as the lead TV commentators? Are you fucking kidding me? Horrible, horrible, horrible. Rob Stone and Robin Fraser #1, and Adrian Healey and Tommy Smythe #2. Very simple. At least I can watch with the Spanish commentary on Univision, or the German commentary on Setanta Sports.

- But overall, so far it’s been an entertaining and exciting World Cup, and it should only get better now that we’re in the knockout stages. It’s been great to see soccer as the lead story not just on SportsCenter and PTI, but on newspaper websites too. TV ratings are apparently excellent, and that’s what the sport needs to gain prominence in America – once the corporate media sees that there’s money to be made, then they’ll climb on board. Hopefully, they’ll stay on the bandwagon for good.

- For those of you that have enjoyed the Adidas Jose +10 commercial ("Jose! A casa!"), that song is "Eanie Meany", by Jim Noir. And for those of you that still need a reason to get excited about the World Cup, how about some tasty, tasty, tasty scenery?

- Now that the U.S. is out, the teams I’m rooting for: Sweden (ouch!), the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina (only to knock out Mexico), Ghana, and Spain.

World Cup baby, it’s faaaaantastic! Joga bonito, even.
- posted by Liebs @ 9:07 AM