Who is to blame for the dismal outcome of the United States at the World Cup? Should the finger be pointed at officials, coach Bruce Arena or the star players such as Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley?
The answer is none of the above. The true culprits are the finger-pointers. The fans expected the U.S. to storm through pool play, no matter how stacked the competition was, and go further than the eight-place finish the team earned four years ago.
It’s not that easy. Three of the four teams in pool E, including the U.S., were ranked in the top seven heading into the World Cup and the fourth team played the underdog role perfectly. So perfectly that it upset two teams and earned a spot in the Round of 16.
The country of Ghana actually asked that businesses using a lot of power slow their juice intake so that the rest of the country could watch them play the United States last Thursday. What a show of support that country has for its soccer team, which wasn’t supposed to win a game in its inaugural World Cup.
Meanwhile U.S. fans are crying foul and are looking to place blame instead of asking the simple question: How good was the United States?
Media and fans wanted to dub this year’s squad as the best assembled and following an outstanding performance in the
last World Cup, expectations were overflowing. The truth is that the U.S. had a target on its back, just like in any sport or world
debate, and when they made their incredible run to the quarterfinals it was in large part because they were overlooked. Not to take anything away from their performance, but no team was amping themselves up to play the U.S. – the same role Ghana has played this year.
The officiating was a joke and I agree that it was easy to watch the FIFA officials and wonder what they had against the
U.S. Coach Arena made questionable calls at times and the lack of aggressiveness from Donovan and Beasley was evident in the
fact that in three games the U.S. only scored one goal (Italy scored on its own goal against the U.S.).
Change will be inevitable to this year’s roster and four years from now the U.S. will likely play with a chip on its shoulder
to avenge this year’s results. The players know they didn’t play as well as they could and Arena has hinted that he won’t return, but what the U.S. doesn’t need is more finger-pointers.
U.S. fans cannot expect to not care about soccer for three years and 11 months and expect the U.S. to dominate once the World Cup is in play. Soccer isn’t a highly-supported sport in the U.S. and it doesn’t have to be.
However, nobody has the right to have expectations for one month every four years. You either support soccer or you don’t. You support the U.S. or you don’t. If you want to point a finger, open your eyes for the rest of the four years.
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