Here are the three pieces of positive news for U.S. Soccer entering into the senior Men’s National Team start of World Cup Qualifying:
1.)Darlington Nagbe will be receiving his first international cap;
2.)Matt Miazga will be tied to the United States (Take that, Poland!)
3.)They will end their 2015 campaign in Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation known for their beaches and tall drinks with little hats.
Despite these things morale is at an all-time low for the United States and Jurgen Klinsmann’s boys. Oh sure the players are all saying the right things coming to bat for Klinsmann after the squad’s failure to place at the 2015 Gold Cup and losing to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup. That is their job.
But for the first time in years the beginning of World Cup Qualifying here in the United States is being met with indifference. While Busch Stadium in St. Louis will certainly be packed for the pasting that will be given to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday night (7:30 pm ESPN2) the excitement that used to exist here in the United States for the senior Men’s National Team seems to be gone.
It has not been a good year for the USMNT. Aside from the poor run in the Gold Cup and the loss to Mexico the multiple other problems with this side and U.S. Soccer seem to have punctured interest in the product. Klinsmann’s curious lineup decisions have led to performances were either middling (a 1-0 win over Haiti; 2-1 win against Honduras) or dreadful (like the 4-1 loss to Brazil). Even momentous wins against Germany and the Netherlands in Europe leave a bitter taste in one’s mouth. For as much as those games can be seen as exciting matches late they are difficult to watch for ninety minutes because they clearly point to the same problems that exist in the loss against Mexico: a lack of chemistry and players playing out of position.
U.S. Soccer’s downward spiral does not help. While May’s arrest of seven FIFA officials by the Department of Justice seemed to give hope that the United States can be an asset in changing international football, the heavy links between U.S. Soccer and the alleged malfeasance shows that the nation’s top footballing organization is as much to blame as the rest of the world. Lawsuits against the organization for failure to pay youth clubs for the transfer of players and concussions does not help their image or get one excited for a World Cup in Russia, a country at the center of FIFA’s corruption crisis. But hey at least they finally got the U.S. Open Cup on a national television network.
All of these things add up and create an attitude of disinterest in the current product. Will it rise as qualification goes on? Most likely. This is not the final round of qualification and given the USA’s opponents (Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago) there is little reason that the team can make it the hexagonal.
This is also not the first time that the USMNT have been down. Similar down runs in 1998 and 2006 were followed up with periods of success and strong supporter reaction.
But these are interesting times for football here in the United States. The grip that the senior men’s national team once had seems to be loosening with the expanded coverage of international soccer and the play of the senior women’s national team (who seem to be immune to FIFA’s corruption coverage). Brazil versus Argentina and the European Championship Qualifiers will have just as much coverage as the USA match and be easier on the eye.
Despite their opponents standing in the world much will be stake for the United States Men’s National Team over the next two weeks. While a nice vacation at the end assured the perception of this club from their supporters ahead of a difficult World Cup Qualification campaign is not.
