Could it be that the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a real world competitor on the pitch of the futbol (soccer) world? Could we be on the edge of gaining respect from the international community?
For more decades than I have been alive the joke has been watching the U.S. qualify for the World Cup, and not getting past the first round. Watching my home nation lose to some of the weakest teams in the world has never been fun for me. It was a serious source of pride, years ago, when the U.S. made it to the second round – and quite lucrative.
But since then and well before there was nothing. Until now.
Yes, now we have beaten Spain. A real team, with a reputation nearly as good as anyone in Europe. And we did it in the high profile, international Confederations Cup. A move that catapulted the team to the finals later this week.
Win or lose, America has upped the game. We have laid down the gauntlet for the rest of the world to pick up. A challenge that will likely be on display at the World Cup.
Spain, the European champion, had set an international record with 15 straight victories and had tied Brazil's record unbeaten streak of 35 games from December 1993 to January 1996. Which makes the win all the more sweet as prior to this we had been 1-7-1 against top international teams, beating Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and tying Argentina last summer in an exhibition at Giants Stadium. Not that exhibitions really count.
So is this like shooting a piece of tissue paper with a .22 and having the bullet come back at you? An event that is mathematically probable, but realistically impossible?
Maybe. Right this moment though I don’t care. Because America beat Spain, and the World Cup has a new underdog that might just win if all the stars align just right.
No comments:
Post a Comment