Joe Gaetjens place in US Soccer history was secured on 29th June 1950. His goal secured the ‘miracle on grass’ as the USA beat England, then the self-proclaimed kings of soccer. On Sunday 11th July 2010, just over sixty years to the day since Gaetjens famous striker, is it possible that another US soccer player could write his name into the history books by scoring the goal that puts the USA on top of the soccer world?
Qualification is never guaranteed but the squad currently head the group table going into the last round of matches. A 3-1 reverse in San Jose put a dent in the US’ hopes but the 4-0 thrashing handed out to their last opponents by their next opponents in August gave Bob Bradley’s boys renewed belief that securing their place for South Africa 2010 is in their own hands.
Some countries have already gained qualification to next years tournament and the list includes many familiar squads but also its fair share of surprises. Five-times winners Brazil who have never missed qualifying for a tournament have been joined by Paraguay from the South American qualification pot. Another previous winner, Argentina, is yet to find consistent form and participation is far from a given. The World Cup has never been won by a country outside of South America and Europe with the latter bound to produce contenders for next years title. So far, they include1966 winners England, reigning European Champions Spain, and the Netherlands who are former European Champions and widely considered to be the best side never to have won the World Cup.
2002 joint hosts Japan and South Korea have both qualified as have Australia. North Korea make a surprise appearance after a 44 year absence from the tournament. Ghana became the first CAF side to qualify for the World Cup finals with South Africa gaining automatic qualification as the tournament hosts.
The USA national squad currently sit 11th in world governing body FIFA’s coefficient ranking list which is lower 3 of the above teams. Yet form goes out the window once the World Cup begins as more often than not previous results are not a necessary prerequisite for tournament success.
The United States of America team took place in the first 2 World Cup tournaments back in the 1930s and then in the 1950 tournament hosted by Brazil. However, without an established domestic league and overshadowed by other popular sports in the US, soccer maintained only a minority following. It was all change in 1990 when the national side qualified for the tournament after being granted host status for the 1994 tournament on the condition the MLS was established. Three subsequent qualifications for the tournaments in France, Korea/Japan and Germany in 2006 have raised international expectations of US performance. Indeed, France ‘98 saw the USA reach the quarter final stage losing to eventual finalists Germany by a single goal in a controversial match.
The current players chosen to enter the national side come from leagues and competitions home and overseas. While record breaker Landon Donavan now plies his trade alongside England international and former Manchester United and Real Madrid megastar David Beckham at LA Galaxy, many of his international team-mates are sampling what the wider world can offer.
The US national side boasts players from plying their trade at club level in several different leagues including the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A. However, the list of US internationals on the rosters of foreign clubs continues to grow with representatives of the national squad also in Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Mexico to name but a further four.
With the tournament itself scheduled to take place during the South African winter, the players from North American but with European experience should find the climate to their liking. Other than anomalies in 1994 and the 2002 Japan/S. Korea tournament the trend in recent years seems to be for countries from the host continent to win the main tournament. Brazil have always been he exception to the rule with wins in ’94 and ’02 but the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Africa for the first time produces an interesting question – who will acclimatise best and enjoy the most success?
The women’s equivalent of the USA national team have experienced success in the Olympics and World Cup tournaments in recent history. As the MLS increases the popularity of the game known to the rest of the globe as ‘football’, the ability of the men to step up to the plate and produce their own piece of history will only grow as more and more players register opening up soccer as a game to those athletes who would previously have been lost to track and field, basketball, baseball, hockey, football….the list goes on.
England’s proud national game has only produced one instance of World Champions in over a century of competition. Brazil’s poor but huge population has seen five separate triumphs. The enthusiasm for sport in the US coupled with the available population and economic prowess make them almost unique on the world stage. And if it all comes to fruition one day, a new world order may just have started in soccer terms.
Tags: soccer, USA, World Cup, World Cup Soccer