Random Rants: World Cup Blog

After World Cup elimination, U.S. must regroup, but all is not lost.

DaMarcus Beasley is dejected as he leaves the field following loss to Ghana and elimination from the World Cup. -- Photos by Chris Courtney --

By Chris Courtney
SoccerTimes

NUREMBERG, Germany (Friday, June 23, 2006) -- Before this World Cup even started, those who monitor the world soccer scene seemed to have a consensus opinion about the United States' chances - the Americans might be better than the 2002 squad, but might not get out of the tough Group E. U.S. manager Bruce Arena's men were placed in a position to confound this prediction, but a slow start, key injuries and a bad call by a German dentist certainly did not help. It was a disappointing end, but its just plain silly to look at this World Cup as a major setback like the poor showing in 1998.

No, the sky is not falling and U.S. soccer will not be set back by 10 years. We just sent a team to its fifth straight World Cup finals and had a chance to advance out of a very tough group. More than a few traditional powers have failed to qualify a number of times, let alone make the second round. Remember France in 1994? It failed to qualify, but still managed to win the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European championship. Argentina bombed out early in the 2002 World Cup and in 2006, it looks like one of the favorites.

But before any of these nations could work their way back among the elite, they had to take a sober look at where they stood and do something about it. I know it hurts, but this is exactly what must happen if the U.S. wants a chance to qualify and do well at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

We've come a long way but let's not fool ourselves -- the U.S. is a big fish in a small CONCACAF pond. In order to take U.S. soccer to the next level, it needs to get more players at club and national level playing in tougher games. This will help to build high quality rosters with depth at every position. The Americans do not normally shy away from playing strong teams, but the quality of opponents in the pre-World Cup friendlies left many scratching their heads. With all respect to Morocco, Venezuela, Latvia and Angola (which the U.S. played in a private match), a slate of Cameroon, Ireland, Denmark and Croatia (with at least two of them played on the road) would have been more realistic preparation.

One reason the European teams do so well in tournaments is that while we are waiting two years for World Cup qualifiers to start, they are involved in European championship qualifiers and the tournament itself. Virtually every one of their national-team matches is one that matters -- and usually played against a tough opponent. South American teams keep themselves sharp in the Copa America, a tournament the U.S. has not accepted an invitation to in some time.

U.S. fans showed up in force, ready to support their team. Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned.

Sure, the timing of Copa America makes it tough since it happens during the MLS season, but the U.S. should send a team so the players which are available can gain valuable experience and perhaps one day bring home the silver. In 1995, the U.S. achieved one of its greatest successes in recent years when it made it to the semifinals of Copa America. Along the way, it won its group with victories over Chile and Argentina. All of this was achieved with essentially the same team which qualified for the second round of the 1994 World Cup.

If scheduling a trip to Copa America is too hard to do next year, the U.S. should seek opportunities to play European sides which are preparing for their Euro 2008 qualifiers.

While improving the quality of national team games certainly helps, it must be recognized that players are developed primarily by their clubs, not by the national-team coach. Arena gets his hands on the players only a few times per year, so the onus for player development truly lies on the shoulders of their club coaches. Arena can only work with the talent available to him. I know there are some calling for his head, but I have a hard time finding fault with any of his decisions (except the one to leave striker Taylor Twellman out of the squad).

Since most young U.S. players will continue to develop primarily in Major League Soccer, it would be wise to improve the quality of the league's coaching with an eye to player development. This does not necessarily mean that they must be foreign coaches. For example, former U.S. national-team and current Kansas City Wizards coach Bob Gansler has done a great job in bringing along Eddie Johnson and Jimmy Conrad. When every MLS team is producing at least two World Cup starting quality players, we'll have it about right. At the same time, MLS will improve greatly as a result.

Let's also acknowledge that for the U.S. team to truly join the elite, it needs more players starting for European clubs. This is not a knock on the young American league, but a statement of fact. After years of covering and interviewing U.S. players who have made the switch from MLS to competing in Europe, they all seem to say the same things -- practices are tougher and more intense, there is more competition for a spot on the team (a mistake in a game can mean sitting for a few weeks), and that technical excellence is expected every day.

According to U.S. defender Jimmy Conrad: "We need more players in Europe and we need to play in more tough matches. Any time you play in these hard situations, you only get better."

Caitlin Pike of Oakland, Calif., tried to bring good luck to the U.S. by spinning the lucky ring at Nuremberg's Schoennerbrunnen Fountain prior to the match against Ghana.

It is no secret that the best players in the world compete against each other in Europe's great leagues every week. To take it a step further, the best-of-the-best play against each other in the midweek Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions. If you look at the rosters of the teams favored to win this year's World Cup, you'll find plenty of players with Champions League and UEFA Cup experience. The only U.S. player this year with recent Champion's League experience is DaMarcus Beasley of PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. To join the elite, more American players need this kind of experience.

Oguchi Onyewu, appears poised to make a jump from Belgium's Standard de Liège.to Middlesbrough in the English Premier League, while fellow defender Cory Gibbs has already inked a pact with the Premiership's Charlton Athletic. There, they will join Carlos Bocanegra of Fulham and West Ham United's Jonathan Spector (who missed the World Cup with a dislocated shoulder) in the bruising Premiership. U.S. fans should be glad to know that a good portion of the team's future defenders are developing in the same league where Claudio Reyna (Manchester City) and Brian McBride (Fulham) have sharpened their skills the past few years.

Looking at the current U.S. roster with an eye toward the future, a few players appear to be ripe to make the jump across the pond. Midfielder Clint Dempsey had a great World Cup and certainly raised a few eyebrows among scouts in Europe. He could fit well into just about any league in Europe, provided he avoids the warehouse clubs and gets into a situation where he can play every week. Conrad has all the tools to be a starting defender in the German Bundesliga right now -- a league he seems built to thrive in.

Striker Eddie Johnson is another one who would benefit from a move to Europe but he'll need to work on his defensive skills before getting too close to the spotlight. His pace and scoring ability still make him a hard one for clubs to ignore. He could fit well into a club in Belgium, France and possibly Germany (provided he gets the right coach).

It should be noted that I don't mention Landon Donovan as a candidate to head overseas because he has already tried it twice and showed that he did not have the grit to make it work. He has chosen the path of comfort and mediocrity (in MLS) over taking a risk and daring to live up to his potential.

A lack of depth cost the U.S. dearly going into this World Cup when Arena had to do without the pace and experience of defender Frankie Hejduk, the speed and toughness of Gibbs and the tactical prowess of Spector. A nagging injury to midfielder John O'Brien meant the U.S. went two games without one of its most technical players, while yesterday's injury to Claudio Reyna left it without a true playmaker.

It often seemed U.S. fans were in the majority in the match against Ghana.

With just a few more of these players available, the U.S. is a different team. Unfortunately, big tournaments such as the World Cup always manage to expose a team's lack of depth. By building a larger pool of high quality and experienced players (both in Europe and MLS), competition for roster spots will be more intense and the U.S. can avoid depth problems in any position.

And now for the kicker: All of the steps suggested here will not lead to huge improvements in the U.S. team. It is closer to the elite than its score lines showed, but those last steps to the top are the most difficult. Indeed, there is a fine line (in terms of quality and depth) between going home early and making it to the final match.

"A lot of it has to do with mentality," U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo said. "I think to make the next step, we need to be more confident. We are good technically, but need to believe in ourselves to make us more dangerous and win those games."

And finally, the U.S. needs to breed a new crop of leaders with the guts to rally their fellow players and take the game hard to its opponents. The skilled and courageous play of midfielder Bobby Convey in this World Cup showed that he may be just that man.

There may already be signs that the U.S. Soccer Federation is ready to affect some changes to its system. "The Germans made it to the final in 2002, but they still embarked on major changes to improve their development system," USSF president Sunil Gulati observed.

One can only wonder what kind of changes Gulati may have in mind.

Chris Courtney is SoccerTimes European correspondent and lives in Brussels. He is in Germany covering the World Cup.

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