99 Problems and a World Cup is 1
Kasie Thomas, Staff Writer
picture courtesy of unsplasch.com
No matter how much fans cheer and shout, the US Men’s National Soccer team still has yet to play their best soccer. The team and the program appear to be slowly but surely going downhill. As the US Men’s team continues to compete, the results do not seem to get any better.
The team’s performance level is low, and it shows through the losses to teams such as Jamaica, Venezuela, and Canada; but why? With over 300 million people in the United States and various soccer organizations all over, what will it take to get a winning USA men’s soccer team?
Compared to the men, the women have been moving in the opposite direction. Winning four consecutive World Cup titles, the women’s team has truly come a long way. Women’s soccer truly began thriving when the Title 9 Law was created in 1972, giving women a voice.
They fought for the equal chance to play the sport they loved. Though the US men’s team has been around longer than the women’s, the women have had nothing but support from not just women but the country. Having the ability to play soccer in America is a privilege that is not taken for granted.
When it comes to comparing the US men’s soccer to other countries, they are truly falling behind. The standards of American sports teams are usually set pretty high. Specifically, the expectation levels of soccer in America are too high.
Yes, there is Rec Soccer, Club Soccer, ECNL, Super Y, and USA development academy in the US to expose players to high levels of training and play, but they are only located in certain big cities. With all of the camps and trainings, there is also still the pay to play rule that is applied. This is when athletes are required to pay a generous sum of money to participate in these activities.
North Greenville University’s Ryan Kite is a part of the women’s team at NGU from a young age of 10 participated in “ID camps and played in tournaments… and played in co-ed leagues” just like the other trainings to be seen by coaches. Kite believes that the reason the US team is having so much trouble is because of the talent level on the team, especially compared to “how it is overseas.”
The opportunities in the US to play soccer are sometimes hard to find for lower income families. Ryan says, “many great players overseas came from poverty and those team’s coaches and cities took care of them.” The big difference that stands out to Kite between America and other countries is “a lot of talented players get overlooked or probably can not afford to play to begin with.”
Situations like that make it hard to create the best team for the USA. Also, when the US finds players who show that they are good enough to perform at that high level, even though they may not be ready, they push them to get ready.
For example, Fredy Adu was a young player who was quickly rushed into the big leagues but because he wasn’t ready, didn’t make the team any better. A team, especially on highly ranked level, needs to be made up of players who can hold their own and work as a unit.
NGU’s men’s soccer player Gareth Greene believes a good team at any level should “play together well and have good chemistry and encourage each other.” Beginning the game of soccer at the age of 3 and having “played with different teams in different states” and also had the opportunity to have “played for the DC United Academy team”, he has a pretty good idea of what a team should be made of and what it takes to win a few games.
With an aspiration to one day play pro, Gareth believes coaching is also a big part of the team. He says the reason the US men’s team has been in a rut is because “they’re not getting the right coaching.”
In reality, the game of soccer is not a true part of America’s culture like other countries. The United States’ football, basketball and baseball are not as supported as soccer. As time goes on and the game of soccer grows, so will the awareness. The result of the US Men’s National Team now starts at the beginning with the trainings and various camps then.
Until there is a change there, there will only be little change in the future national teams.
