Joe Gaetjens secured his place in US Soccer history on the 29th of June 1950. The goal secured a shock win over 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?
Whilst qualification for next summers tournament is not yet guaranteed, heading the group entering the last two rounds of matches and a trip to Honduras following a 2-1 win in Chicago may, if other results go their way, render the visit of Costa Rica in the final match immaterial. 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.
The list of countries already certain to compete has a mixed look to it, from the unsurprising to the eye-catching. Five-times winners Brazil who have never missed qualifying for a tournament have been joined by Paraguay from the South American qualification pot. Argentina a previous winner of the World Cup is yet to fire on all cylinders under Diego Maradonna and qualification is far from secure. 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 take to the world stage for the first time since 1966 when they beat Italy. Ghana became the first CAF side to qualify for the World Cup finals with South Africa gaining automatic qualification as the tournament hosts.
The US national side currently sit 11th in FIFA’s coefficient ranking list which is below 3 of the above countries. Yet all bets are off once the World Cup begins as more often than not previous form is not a necessary factor for for tournament success.
The US 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 a successful professional domestic league, coupled with soccer being somewhat of a minority sport overshadowed by the giants of the NFL, NBA and NHL, participation in what the majority of the world considers the biggest sporting event next to the Olympic Games has been far from the central consciousness of the general population. 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. USA went as far as the quarter final stage back in France ‘98 where they lose 1-0 to Germany amidst controversy.
The current crop of players to wear the Stars and Stripes have regular competition at home and abroad. Record breaking Landon Donovan may play in the MLS for LA Galaxy alongside David Beckham but many of his international team mates ply their trade abroad.
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 blips 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. The Brazil side have always been the anomaly to this trend after wins in 1994 and 2002 but the 2010 World Cup in South Africa raises the interesting question of who will be able to acclimatise best to the climate and enjoy success?
The women’s equivalent of the United States 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….amongst others.
England’s proud national game has only produced one instance of World Champions in over a century of competition. Meanwhile an impoverished Brazil have picked up 5 separate triumphs and achieved a great reputation amongst neutral supporters worldwide. The combination of available population, facilities, ability to attract the best in the world to both play and train is present in very few nations – the US is one of those. And if it all comes to fruition one day, a new world order may just have started in soccer terms.
