Random Rants on the Beautiful Game \ Chris Courtney

Growth in American soccer parallels world parity in other sports.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Wednesday, March 22, 2006) -- So the finger pointing has begun now that United States baseball team bombed out of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, ironically in a 2-1 loss to Mexico. While the discussions of Roger Clemens' performance and the silent American bats rages on among our baseball friends, it does serve as another indicator of a larger trend in world sport -- increasing parity.

Sure, it sounds silly to talk about a term such as parity (roughly meaning equality) to have the capability to increase and one might probably be wondering when this column will actually turn toward soccer, but bear with me -- its on the way. The fact is that we cannot expect the quality of American soccer to rise and not be surprised when our basketball and baseball teams have become so (shall we say) beatable.

I think I saw it coming a few years back in Germany while standing in a sporting goods store checkout line to buy my nephew a Bayern Munich jersey. Part of the motivation was to hook my nephew on the game, but it was also in the hope that he would wear it to soccer practice to get the goat of his coach, a huge Manchester United fan. . . but I digress. Of the dozen people standing in line that day, I was the only one buying anything related to soccer. Three boys bought baseball bats and gloves, a middle-aged man bought hockey equipment, a mother was buying Los Angeles Lakers jerseys for her two sons, while the rest were purchasing gear for aerobics, fishing, and badminton. For a brief moment, I thought I was standing at a store back in the U.S.

During my many expatriate years often watching various European sports leagues, one could not help but notice how much better the Germans became at basketball, the Dutch became at baseball, and how those crazy Brits even grew their own hockey league. American college sports teams increasingly had become the training ground for numerous Nigerians, Ukrainians, Australians, Koreans and other athletes, as well as American youth.

Later, Major League Soccer brought about a rebirth of American pro soccer while increasing numbers of U.S. players started plying their trade in leagues abroad. While the U.S. has surprised the world by beating teams such as Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, and Mexico (sometimes 2-1) during those years, we've also watched our basketball team flounder at the Olympics, the four-by-100 sprint relay teams lose, and seen the Australians win the gold medal in baseball. Is real parity here yet? No, but it might be (like those objects in your mirror) closer than one thinks.

Speaking of times changing, the recent U.S. Soccer Federation-hosted match against Poland in Kaiserslautern, Germany, was a big step forward for the Americans. By big step forward, I'm not referring to the quality of play on the field (which was a mixed bag), but in terms of building American soccer culture. For anyone who has ever attended a soccer match abroad to see either the U.S. team or a U.S. player with his club team, this was something special. After numerous years of going to matches with European friends or small groups of American expats, this night was like a homecoming with over 11,000 mostly American fans showing their support on a snowy Wednesday night.

I can honestly say I've never stood in a foreign stadium and been surrounded by so many U.S. supporters, all decked out in red, white and blue. The team certainly went a long way to winning new fans as it spent a week alternately training and visiting the American military community in the greater Kaiserslautern area, the largest concentration of Americans outside of the States.

This night was also used as a test for the Kaiserslautern police for their system to ensure security during the World Cup. One stadium security officer, pleasantly surprised by the good-natured American crowd, opined that perhaps the city police were not tested after all. Hats off to U.S. Soccer for hosting such a successful event so far from home.

Meanwhile, back in Belgium. the controversy surrounding the Jupiler League match-fixing scandal is heating up. The former coach of La Louviere, Gilbert Bodart, has admitted to receiving payments from the Chinese gambling syndicate suspected of being behind the scheme. A former Belgian national goalkeeper, Bodart was known to have built up large debts due to gambling and reports said he was threatened by the crime ring. After La Louiviere's goalless draw with Anderlecht in December, Bodart reported that his car was followed and forced off the road.

A top player for U.S. first-round opponent Italy remains questionable after being injured last month in a Serie A match. Italy and AS Roma playmaker Francesco Totti's fitness for the World Cup remains in question after suffering a left leg fracture and torn ligaments in a match against Empoli, the result of a Richard Vanigli tackle from behind. Doctors consider his surgery successful and Italian coach Marcello Lippi expects him to return just in time for their opening match June 12th against Ghana. He'll miss the rest of the AS Roma season and may only get to play in one friendly before the World Cup.

Despite Klinsmann's Kevin Keegan-like tendencies, he did inherit a few problems he won't be able to fix in time for the World Cup. For years, the federation expected only the most experienced players to suit up, stunting the development of a sufficiently experienced next generation to take over. Since taking the reins, Klinsmann has brought in promising youngsters such as Bastien Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Patrick Sinkiewitz and Marcell Jansen. Unfortunately, some of these same youngsters made the 4-1 debacle against Italy possible.

While they may not develop in time to help the Germans lift the trophy in 2006, they may be ready for glory in Euro 2008. Nonetheless, this week the U.S. faces an opponent under much pressure to prove its worth. It's hard to find a better situation to see who U.S. manager Bruce Arena can count on, and who he can't. Look for Klinsmann to get the boot if the Germans do not beat the Americans convincingly on Wednesday night.

Chris Courtney is an expatriate American living in Brussels, Belgium. E-mail Chris Courtney.