jonnygoldstein.com

OK, look. Every one is hating on the US soccer team’s coach, Bruce Arena because we didn’t advance past the first round of the World Cup. I think that’s unfair.

I’m bummed the USA didn’t move to the next round, but I don’t feel terrible about our performance. It’s like this: Only the 32 best teams in the world advance to the World Cup Finals, so just getting there was an accomplishment, right? Well, sort of.

The USA’s qualifying zone (North and Central America and Caribbean) is fairly lightweight, so that detracts from that triumph a wee bit. That being the case, let’s analyze how the USA did once they got to Germany.

They lost to the Czechs 0-3. Then they tied the Italians 1-1. Finally, they lost to Ghana 2-1. Fine, we played lame against the Czechs. Then we toughed it out to tie the formidable Italians, one of the world’s more respected soccer teams. Then we played a solid game against Ghana who benefited from a dubious penalty they were awarded. Upshot: We lost badly against a good team, we tied an excellent team, and we barely lost to a good team.

So, we’re a lower middle class soccer power. That’s OK. A few decades ago we weren’t even on the soccer map. Now, I can watch the US team and feel confident that they can challenge if not beat, even the best teams. We’re not living in the exquisite villas, occupied by teams like Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. We’re not in the McMansions resided in by teams like Italy and England. We’re living in an Archie Bunker rowhouse by the freeway. Not a glamorous postion, but respectable. We’ve got hot water, electricity, and air conditioning. It’s not like we’re in the shantytowns of soccer like the 130 teams that didn’t qualify to go to Germany. We got to the finals. We came close to getting through the first around against tough competition. We’ll be back next time ready to move into a little more uppity soccer neighborhood.