The World Cup,
The greatest sports tournament in the world run by possibly one of the shadiest companies in the world. While FIFA has its own problems that they refuse to address, there is one thing I’d like to address. The United States is all the way back baby! After missing out on qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, men’s soccer in the United States fell into almost a joke state. A new wave of players hadn’t quite matured after the exciting yet underachieving 2014 men’s team. Without standout stars like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donavan, Jermaine Jones, and All time goalie Tim Howard, the USMNT was desperate for a new set of stars to take up the mantle as the most electric and stress-inducing team in the World Cup. Missing out on the 2018 tournament was brutal, not just for the fans, but because FIFA was missing something they desperately need in the World Cup.
A villain.
The United States stands alone when it comes to being the most hated team in the tournament and for the right reasons. We are loud, obnoxious fans that most likely could care less about the sport, especially when the World Cup is on during the NFL season, the NBA season, the College Football Season, and the NHL season. But once every four years we put on our star-spangled undies and PROUDLY chant those three letters that make our enemies roll their eyes in disdain.
U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.
Our campaign started November 21, a Monday, against a team many saw to be a difficult outing for us. Wales. Though the country is the size of your high school desk, that doesn’t change the fact that the Welsh have a relatively decent team with a star striker Gareth Bale. Formerly on powerhouses like Tottenham FC and Real Madrid, Bale now plays for LAFC and has already proven his value to the team with his remarkable speed and monstrous left foot. America got out the gate early with a first-half goal by Timothy Weah in the 36th minute. USA 1-0. You couldn’t ask for a better start. The chants start and the memes are already posted… THIS IS OUR TOURNAMENT FOR THE TAKING. The game goes back and forth with both teams getting quality chances to Wales get a save me call in the box. Penalty. Gareth Bale takes his place in the box. Cool, calm, collective. He approaches and hits it with his trusty left foot. US Goalie Matt Turner guesses right but just can’t get enough of his hand to stop the shot. Goal. Score 1-1 in the 86th minute. The final whistle goes and the taste of a bittersweet tie is left in our mouths.
For those of you that don’t know during the initial part of the World Cup tournament teams are set up in groups of 4. Each team plays one another once with a win counting as 3 points, a tie 1 point, and a loss 0 points. The top two teams advance into the knockout stage of the tournament. In total, there are 32 teams that have qualified and are broken up into eight groups with 16 teams advancing into the knockout stage. The winners of the group get set to play teams that were runners up in other groups and so on. With the first games of Group B now in the books, the group looked as followed:
England 3, USA 1, Wales 1, Iran 0. USA’s next match. A Revolutionary Rematch.
Throughout history, England has always looked at the United States as their immature little brother. Older, clearly thinking they’re lightyears ahead of us when it comes to “football,” and carrying themselves with unearned confidence. England has had a rich history of soccer with some influential players and some all-time talents. Now I know what you’re thinking, they must have at least a handful of World Cup wins right, Elliott? Well, you would be wrong. They have one. One World Cup win all the way back in 1966. A country who’s number one sport, most watched sport, the sport that is responsible for countless drunken walkabouts and street brawls. One World Cup trophy. And they have the nerve to act all high and mighty. It sounds like they need a reality check, and who better to give them that reality check that the 1776 Revolutionary World Champs.
The match was a hard fought effort on both fronts. Both sides had legitimate chances with breaking the deadlock. Sadly, for the British side, they were not able to capitalize on winning the group and further proving their superiority as the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Now to the untrained eye, a tie sounds like a pretty lame way for such a hyped game to end. But with securing 1 point the Americans did two things.
- Proved that we can play with the best countries in the world competitively
- Showed that if we took soccer as serious as the rest of the world, we would ANNIHILATE all the competition.
England likes to say “You act like you won.” That’s because we did. We stepped on the same pitch as a country who eat, sleeps, breaths soccer. Family and friends are made and broken by this sport across the pond and it’s maybe a top 10 sport in the USA. That would be like if England made an NFL team and had to play an NFL All Star team and play them to a tie. We would destroy that team, yet here we are going blow for blow with a top 10, possibly top 5 team in the world and holding them to a draw and giving ourselves a point in the process, thus securing the opportunity to decide our own fate. With Iran upsetting Wales Group B looked as followed after the second set of matches.
England 4, Iran 3, USA 2, Wales 1. Setting it up for the most American way to advance.
Win and In. Full send, no holding back, all out attack!
Tuesday, November 29. The final match of the day. USA vs Iran winner advances, loser flies home. Iran is in a tricky situation however. Win and they advance, draw and Wales win they advance, lose and they’re out. This lead to Iran’s first mistake. They started the game with the strategy to keep everyone in the defensive third because they knew America would come out desperate to score. Once all the US players were over extended they would try to set up a counter attack and get a one on one opportunity with the goalie for a goal. There’s a saying in sports, “you’re either playing to win the game or you’re playing not to lose.” Iran was playing not to lose, and that is exactly why in the 38th minute American magic happened.
After basically 40 minutes of uninterrupted attack, the boys set up a great attack that came from a deep pass to the right wing, followed by a header sent toward the middle of the box to have none other than Captain America himself but his body and member on the line. Christian Pulisic gets his right foot on the ball and perfectly puts the ball in the back on the net. 1-0 USA. Chants of USA begin to erupt in the stands as American around the world cheer. As it stood, America is through if the score stays as such. Iran is in disbelief and shock as the American side celebrates. Sadly for our boys one of them wasn’t able to celebrate. The goal scorer himself, Christian Pulisic, was down inside the goal. Unable to get up, wincing in pain, Medical staff rushed over to him and were thankfully able to help him get off the field on his own two feet. Many of us, myself included, thought he collided with the goal keeper in a sensitive area. So most of us thought he got the wind knocked out of him and he’d be back on the pitch in no time. That was not the case.
At the start of the second half it was announced that Pulisic would not be rejoining the team and would be heading toward a medical facility instead. A crushing blow to the US. With their leader and best goal scorer now out of the game the United States decided the best course of option was a strategy much like Iran’s in the first half. A defensive set up known as “Park the Bus.” To park the bus means to throw everyone and I mean EVERYONE into playing the most intense defense they’ve played in their entire lives. Iran sensed this and pushed nonstop throughout the second half. A great effort came with a shot that curved just outside the post only to be followed up my a missed diving header minutes later. Both American and Iranian fans were on the edge of their seats as the final nine minutes of extra time counted down. Then finally, you hear it.
*Beeep, Beeeeeep, Beeeeeeeeeeeep. Final score: USA 1, Iran 0.
With America’s 4 points to Iran’s 3 points, they would be eliminated from the World Cup alongside the Welsh as they were thoroughly thrashed 3-0 by the Brits.
The final outcome of Group B goes as followed: England 7, USA 4, Iran 3, Wales 1.
What makes soccer such an incredible sport is the weight of these matches. The raw emotion of both fans and players alike. The tears of defeat and the cheers of joy all intertwined by 90 minutes of stress and tension. From the fans at the match to fans watching in their local bars and at home, these athletes play on the grandest stage of them all and the stakes could never be higher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyd3Gxfw6e4
After missing the last World Cup, America did what it always does, comes back better than ever before. With newfound confidence, the US side looks to build on something truly special and do something no other US team has done before. Make a serious run in the tournament, and the rest of the world better pray they don’t. Because if there is one country that will not let the world hear the end of it… It’s us. We will hold this over the world as just another reason why the USA is number one now and forever. Next up in on Saturday, December 3, at 7 AM the round of 16 starts. First on the bill?
USA vs The Netherlands.
With Christian Pulisic posting on his Instagram while in the hospital on Tuesday that he will be playing, 7 AM sounds a lot like Freedom O’clock to me. So make sure to wake up early, throw on those Rex Quando pants, crack open the breakfast beer and tune in to support the United States Kick some ass!
