Suffering Well Comment Count

Brian

7/1/2014 – USA 1, Belgium 2 (ET) – out of World Cup

howard-belgium

I never really forgave the guy. Admittedly, it's not like there was a huge amount to forgive. I just thought that after I'd indulged his desire to go to a couple of shows that I normally would not have he would reciprocate. Instead, he sulked through the entirety of a fun Robert Earl Keen show that I should have enjoyed about 15% more.

We were 20-ish, in Austin, Texas. We were engineers on summer internships, suddenly stripped of our friend networks and ill-equipped to forge new ones. In such circumstances, horizons broaden rather quickly, which is how I'd ended up at a Smashing Pumpkins show a few weeks earlier.

I know exactly what I wore: a terrible replica Michigan hockey jersey forged from whatever that fabric is that comes with large, regular holes and feels more like plastic than anything else that humans put on their bodies. I know this because after the show this material was absolutely soaked with sweat. Some of it was mine; the majority was from the writhing mass of humanity that had surged to and fro for the duration of the show.

I had no idea the thing could even get so sodden. I'd washed it several times and knew it was the kind of material that exited a washing machine as dry as it entered. After that show the thing was ten pounds heavier than it was two hours before.

I sat on a stoop in the bright Texas sun and tried to process the weird communal thing I'd just gone through. It was, above all, exhausting.

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landon-donovan-lui_1537159i[1]

On the day that hooked me for life, I force-marched myself down to the pub at halftime. I was in Ireland for a summer mostly because a girl had dumped me and I wanted to broaden the ol' horizons and the United States had just roared out to a 3-0 lead against impregnable invulnerable super-skilled Portugal. My place was about 20 minutes from the city center at reasonable pace; I got myself down there in 15, huffing and puffing as the second half kicked off.

To the Irish, the USA game that had just blown my mind was just an appetizer to Ireland-Germany. Group stuff meant that a draw would just about see the Irish through—they had Saudi Arabia last. Germany scored, because Germany. A loss was deadly. Everything was desperation and death until stoppage time, when Niall Quinn knocked a ball down to Robbie Keane and Kahn was finally breached.

Pandemonium. I ended up hugging a guy who was definitely not Irish. 12 years on I can only say he was Pakistani-ish. We hugged like we'd known each other since birth and jumped up and down and I was permanently in the power of the World Cup.

Ireland decided to take the afternoon off to drink by the river.

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Four years later I watched the USA get blasted off the field by the Czechs. Six-foot-one-hundred Jan Koller pounded in a cross in the first ten minutes and things got worse from there. I sat across the table from Anthony, who'd moved to Ann Arbor and read my blog and knew I liked the USMNT. He'd emailed me because he needed someone to watch them with.

A number of months later, a guy who'd just moved to Ann Arbor named Jerry joined us at Charley's for some match or another—Gold Cup?—because he needed someone to watch the USMNT with. I don't remember what it was. It doesn't matter. From there it the web expanded to encompass most of my friendships forged after college. When I got married three years ago, Jerry was our officiant and Anthony was the best man.

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8666189-standard[1]

Four years later I was in Chicago for the very exciting Blogs With Balls conference; the World Cup was in South Africa and the USA was playing a tune-up friendly against Australia on the premises, which meant the thing was at approximately 7 AM. I met a guy I'd known as Orson and kind of now know as Spencer (but who is still mostly Orson) at a bar somewhere proximate to Wrigley Field and watched Robbie Findley round the goalkeeper and shoot about 20 feet wide.

When I started this blog, there were two other college football blogs, period. Orson ran one. As college football blogs developed it gradually dawned on a large percentage of the early adopters that we had another, odder obsession: the US national soccer team. I think it's because the kind of person into college football enough to start a blog about it prefers his emotional gambling on sports to be as high-stakes as possible.

We gathered it ourselves in weird ways. I watched the 1994 World Cup in my basement on a 14 inch TV, just like FIFA wanted, and then helpfully forgot about it in 1998. I honestly have no idea what drew anyone else to the national team other than Orson, who's written about it. At the moment I was force-marching to the King's Head in Galway, Orson was running up a darkened street towards a lunatic screaming "WE'RE UP ON PORTUGAL" at five in the morning. I imagine all of us were, in some manner of speaking, running towards a lunatic at some point.

We were together then. I saw Landon score against Algeria in a bar with my best friends, both the half-dozen I knew already and the two hundred who just happened to be there.

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I love the US national team. I love it in the way you can only love your wife: I chose it. It was not given to me by my father, like Michigan was. As something approximating an adult I made a decision. It stuck in a way that the Red Wings did not stick, that the Oilers did not stick, that every single other attempted non-Michigan affiliation did not stick. I chose it, and somehow it chose me.

Now I am in so deep that in some weird way the anger cannot stick. If I saw Chris Wondolowski today I'd buy him a beer and say "it's okay, man." I wrote a column earlier this year about how I invented a slur for people who annoy me by being even slightly incompetent. And yet here I am after getting crushed and all I want is for September 23rd to roll around. That's the next time the USA takes the field.

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So I'm under this table. I'm under it because the US has just worked a brilliant drawn-up-in-the-dirt free kick that results in a goal a universe where being really clever is everything. I am aware I am not in this universe. If I was being a teenager would have gone a lot better. Therefore the US is still down a goal with five minutes left.

I am under this table an unusually long time. I am the kind of person who screams SHOW ME THE GAME when, say, a basketball broadcast cuts away from a point guard bringing the ball up the floor uncontested. I am still under the table, though. If I remain under the table I will not have to see the clock ticking inexorably upward. I know that I have to stop being under the table pretty soon, but I like it under the table where time has stopped.

Eventually I undo the emergency squat and stop being under the table, and time resumes. I'm not soaked in sweat but it's not for lack of trying. I have lurched to and fro only metaphorically this time, with a mass of humanity that extends to the table I had to abandon to get to the spot where I could stop time, to Atlanta and Alabama and Denver where Orson and Jerry and Jess are, to that setup in Kansas City or Chicago they keep showing on TV in an attempt to catch that Landon-vs-Algeria video live.

Above all, it is wonderful. Except for the score, of course, which is a crime and a lie. But I would not trade the horrible roiling feeling of doom for anything. As Michael Bradley said, the World Cup is about suffering well. We do, together.

Bullets

I ain't got nothing. I mean, I could, but I can't. Instead, some goodbyes to guys who probably aren't going to see 2018:

damarcus-beasley[1]

BEASLEY. I may have been excessively strident in my attempt to stab anyone who said anything bad about Beasley, and then Beasley goes and redeems all excessive strident-ness. Amazing career, terrific player, terrific story arc, still weighs about 65 pounds. Most underrated USMNT player ever.

tim-howard-soccer-world-cup-qualifier-mexico-usa[1]

HOWARD. YOU SHALL NOT PASS, he said. He had an incredible beard as he did so. "Distribution… brilliant."

20140616165653[1]

DEMPSEY. 1000% Anthemface. 1000% Deuceface. Scored goal after goal and stood as an eagle-riding, gun-waving avatar of America. Made it impossible to accuse USMNT of being euro floppers for duration of career. A hard man for hard times.

Jermaine-Jones1[1]

JONES. Anyone who says this is not an American is going to get run into the ground and then lashed in the face by a shot. Jones may not have known it, we may not have known it, but the man was born in Kansas and never left. He has overalls, and has always worn them.

kyle_beckerman_on_verge_of_us_world_cup_team_just_as_he_predicted_years_ago_m5[1]

BECKERMAN. Sanneh 2014. The guy who you're just like "remember when Beckerman played out of his mind?" Legacy is being that guy in the movie who gets on the Sports Or A Capella Team just at the end and kills it.

Sep 10, 2013; Columbus, OH, USA; United States midfielder Landon Donovan (right) celebrates his goal in the second half against Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

DONOVAN. Mexico feared Landon Donovan.

Comments

snarling wolverine

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^

Great piece. 

I don't really have anything to add except that, the photos in that Orson piece (also really good) reminded me of one rant - Nike's got to stick with one basic uniform scheme for the team.  I mean...

Yeah, every team changes its uniform a little each cycle, but we take it too far.  Nike, stick with a concept and just tinker around the edges, like you do with Brazil and pretty much every other country you sponsor.

M-Dog

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^

We need some uni's like Chile's with a couple of stripes on the shirt and a few stars on the pants and we have a classic look that we don't have to keep changing.

Like college football, the teams that keep changing their looks are the teams that are perennial losers.  The teams like Alabama, Texas, USC, Michigan are like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Netherlands . . . they have an instantly recognizable look that they don't need to change.

 

bronxblue

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^

Great write-up.  I'll admit USMNT never seduced me the way it did for others, but it was still great to see these guys play their hearts out.  A great run; let's hope it continues in 4 years.

BucksfanXC

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^

I went to Europe in the summer of 2004 from late May to the end of June and didn't even know what EuroCup was until a week into the group stage matches. Every night, no matter what country we were backpacking through at the moment, you could find a bar/pub (most likely an Irish one, run by Irish immigrants) that was full of people watching. The Irish Pubs had the added advantage of having lots of English speakers inside. Every night we made friends to become fans of a team. We sang the Polish national anthem with some old drunks from outside Warsaw in Rome. We had an English lass flash us to get our support for The Three Lions over the Germans while we were in Madrid. I was hooked on soccer from then on. I watched the 2006 World Cup in my dorm room while taking summer classes. I watched 2010 games while I should have been studying more for the bar exam. What a fabulous ride it's been and I look forward to 2018 with the bright future it appears we have.

skurnie

July 2nd, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^

So I've been writing about US Soccer for a few years at Yanks-Abroad, which my Dad knows. I don't think he understood my passion for soccer until this World Cup, which we were able to watch partially together.

My goal was to get my Dad, 65 year old former high school soccer player, to watch professional soccer. I also received Michigan football from him (like Brian) but this was something I wanted to give him. 

Yesterday, my parents and siblings came to Ann Arbor (from GR) early to watch the game at my house and then go to the Tigers game. However, thanks to Monday's storm, our power was out and power lines were down in my backyard. Thankfully my neighbors shared their WIFI password with us and we were able to watch the match on my laptop...while keeping on eye on battery life.

My Dad immediately suggested we go to a sports bar to watch the match. I do not watch USMNT matches in public for several reasons: I don't like distractions, often I take notes (if I'm writing about it) and if I'm not writing about it, I do not sit down and tend to yell a lot. I tried to explain that to him and then the match started. I think he half watched the game and half watched me yelling tactical advice at my 15 inch laptop. My Mom, who has watched my Dad and I watch enough Michigan football games to tune us out, was unfazed. My three year old daughter and Mrs are getting used to this as well.

So, after the match, we went to the Tigers game, which I was unable to concentrate on very much. Every inning or so my Dad would see me staring off into space and ask if I was okay, just like he did when I was a kid after the Colorado game or the Fab Five’s first two runs. I was disappointed with the result, of course, but glad I was able to watch it with my Dad. This tournament felt like progress, both for the USMNT and for my Dad, who asked me last night when "we" play next.

hammermw

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

As someone who never played the sport and doesn't really have any friends that watch it, I'm in a somewhat similar boat as you are. I went to the WC in 1994 and fell in love with the sport then forgot it was on in 1998, but I will never forget the Portugal game in 2002. The Red Wings won the Cup the night before. We stayed up all night partying and then I realized at one point that if I can make it another hour, I can watch the US-Portugal game.

My friends were passed out all over the house and I was watching that game by myself drunk as hell at whatever time that was in the morning. I think it was on at 4AM, but I can't remember. I do remember the sun coming up as the game ended and me going crazy with all of my friends either yelling at me to shut up or throwing stuff at me. Anyways, I was completely hooked at that moment. I made sure to watch the rest of the games that year no matter what time they were played.

Until this WC where I've finally talked a couple of friends into watching games with me, I've spent much of the past 12 years watching games by myself and wondering why more people aren't watching. Oddly besides the past couple of games, the only time I really had anyone to watch games with was during the two years that I lived in Belgium, but it's not as easy following the USMNT while living in Europe. Luckily I found your blog 7 years ago and have loved seeing the knowledge that many of your readers have towards the sport. 

I'm already looking forward to the 2015 Gold Cup and the 2016 Copa America with the hope I can keep recruiting new people to follow this team.

Thanks again.

truferblue22

July 2nd, 2014 at 7:23 PM ^

I upvoted you to make up for this comment...lol...but the Wings did not win the Cup the night before. The Wings won the Cup 6-13-2002 and that game was 6-5-2002.



But those are minor details, of course. I too used to have to hunt for people to watch games with, but in the last 10 years the number of people watching ANY USMNT game has grown exponentially. I assume you don't live near Ann Arbor based on that fact that you still  don't know people who watch games -- but if somehow you do and you just don't happen to know any soccer fans, I highly suggest you make it out Conor O'Neills downtown. Hordes of us there. 

hammermw

July 3rd, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^

Wow, I went back and looked. I now realize that I stayed up all night to watch the Poland game. It was still the Portugal game that sucked me in completely and was why I tried to stay awake to see the Poland game. I guess my memory fades a little bit in 12 years. Not a surprise with the brain cells I killed that night.

taistreetsmyhero

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^

as far as quality of soccer goes, it's pretty poor relative to elite club soccer. you've got guys who don't play together very often, and teams composed of players who are selected sometimes out of necessity of birthplace rather than being hand-picked from a worldwide talentpool. this world cup has provided higher quality than usual--or at least, more open games with more scoring. but still, it is nothing compared to club level.

and then there is usmnt soccer. despite jurgen promising change and development of a whole new brand of soccer, we got the same high school level strategy, creativity, and quality that has characterized usmnt soccer for decades. the only difference is that we've gotten better at winning (well, more like, getting "results").

watching these 4 games was like watching the usa-spain confederation cup game all over again. you root like hell, but you just shake your head.

M-Dog

July 2nd, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^

Jurgen's strategy is different.  But he does not have the players to run it well.  So you see what we saw in qualifying and at the World Cup . . . we start out playing possesion and attacking but then fall back into our old selves of pulling back and hoofing the ball to a lone striker if/when our original strategy fails.

Jurgen's goal state is the way Germany or Belgium play.  But we are a ways from having players developed that can do that.  Right now we struggle with even getting the first touch under control without a bobble.

 

taistreetsmyhero

July 2nd, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^

i don't know if it is primarily skill, strategy, or mentality, but you cannot withstand attack after attack after attack, finally win the ball, only to boot it back upfield just so you can withstand attack after attack after attack. watch practically any other country, and when a defender wins a ball away, their first instinct is to find an outlet. for the usa, the instinct is to boot it upfield. 

M-Dog

July 2nd, 2014 at 5:53 PM ^

We do try to work it up the field from the back, and Jurgen has emphasized this as the way he wants to play.  And we do it pretty well against teams that don't press us, or CONCACAF teams that we are better than.

But when we go up against teams that are better than us and press us, panic (and reality) sets in and we revert back to old USA . . . withdraw into a shell and hoof it upfield and hope our lone striker can win it in the air and do something with it.

Jurgen is trying to run the Spread with Manball players, if you will.  He needs guys to fit his system.  We hope to develop them over time.  In the meantime, he will keep trying to recruit Alabama's, er I mean Germany's, leftover four-stars.

 

westwardwolverine

July 2nd, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^

There is a reason no one is ever sad that Klinsmann leaves his coaching positions. There's a reason Philip Lahm trashed him in his autobiography (hey, he's only one of the best players in the world). Its because Klinsmann is not a tactically sound coach. He's a fitness instructor. 

alum96

July 2nd, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^

^THIS all day

You can want to play a certain way all you want.  But without the tools you cannot do it.  Square pegs, round holes - surprised to see some comments here today from a fanbase that just suffered through a square peg, round hole on our offense in football yet yell at JK for not doing the same thing Borges just put us through.

This is a team that struggles with first touch and connecting passes when playing any technically proficient team that presses in any manner.  What works versus Jamaica is not going to work versus Holland.

bigdemo

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^

I truly believe that we are on the rise.  The future is so bright.  Teams that used to cheer for us to be in their group (even at this past WC Draw) are starting to have doubts.  

2018 cannot come soon enough, but in the meantime lets win the Copa Americana that will be played on US soil for the first time ever.  

We used to badly want to be respected and I think it is time to shift that focus.  They respect us now.

alum96

July 2nd, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^

I agree we still play that way against elite teams.  But we no longer play that way against equal or lesser teams.  Which is what we did 15-20 years ago.  So that is progress.

And until a generation of technically proficient midfielders show up that is what we are stuck doing.  Who had confidence to take on anyone 1 v 1 yesterday?  The main guy outside Dempsey was our right fullback (who was a sub).  That says it all.

MGoManBall

July 2nd, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^

While I must admit I have never been much of a soccer fan, this World Cup has given me the bug. I will be watching the USMNT from now on. Great run!

alum96

July 2nd, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^

I agree.  It was amazing - rarely do you get that to work like that.  Not bad for a "fitness coach".  Belgium GK did well to come out and cut off the angle - he is world class as well, we just barely tested him.

MGlobules

July 2nd, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^

left behind. We're glancing at you in our rear-view mirrors.

The Times nodded to a poll this morning that said 20% of American kids 12-20 told interviewers that soccer was their favorite sport. Only football did better. Viewership breaking records the last few games. 

 

loosekanen

July 2nd, 2014 at 4:10 PM ^

The way the US was to succeed in the WC finals was to focus on their strengths and play with a focus on increased variance. When a team keeps the game low scoring teams with lower talent can grab a piece of luck and win the match. Greece won a Euros going 1-0 on better teams doing just this.

Any steady fan will admit that we did not have the talent of ANY of our opponents. Bunker/counter and playing a low scoring match was the absolute best way for us to succeed. Until we have more talent this doesn't change things. For anybody who has watched through the last two cycles there has been a noticeable shift where we have been better on the front foot against teams with equal/less talent. But this does not mean we can control a possession based match against more talented teams.

To put it in terms everyone will hate: RichRod's ultimate coaching goal is to decrease variance by increasing possessions in a game, relying on his offense's skill to outscore his opponents by a small amount per possession. Teams that play more plodding styles, ahem DeBord et al, are relying on luck more than teams that aren't. But when you're devoid of talent in soccer that's the absolute best way. Almost everything JK did this WC finals was at the least defendable and at best a good decision. Anybody thinking we're more than we are isn't realistic. Anybody else, hop on for the ride. I am very much looking forward to the next 10+ cycles.

harmon98

July 2nd, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^

TIm Howard bought his last beer in the States. If you're ever in a restaurant or bar and see Tim Howard, buy that man a beer [do the same for servicemen/veterans mind you].

Love this team. Four games on a knife's edge. 9,000 miles traveled. An incredulous Klinsmann to the official "One fucking minute!?!?" Brooks' header. Deuce's steely resolve. Jermaine MF Jones. Bradley's perpetual motion [54.7 km in four games!]. Beasley!

31 teams have their hearts broken in this tournament. Yesterday was our turn. Those boys left everything on the field to which I say bravo: we may be generations away from hoisting the cup but enjoy the journey!

GO GO USA!!!

charblue.

July 2nd, 2014 at 5:31 PM ^

this team is accurate. But while the US National Team is a hybrid compromise of style over substance, the ugly truth is the US played shorthanded and out-of-position with much of the talent on hand and still competed beyond what many thought was possible. In the end, it's about winning and surviving, and on the pitch in extra time, the US while dominated was still challenging because Howard and company made this team special.

It'a winning time, now. Time to succeed on discipline, talent and guile, not on heart, hope and possibiliy.

If you want to succeed longterm, if the US wants to win consistently against the world in the world's beautiful game, then it's time to get serious about putting together a beautiful team that won't just find a way to compete but will find a way to play well against any style and competition and dominate against most.

I have been a supporter for years. The Koolaid is intoxicating.  And I know that as much as anything else, the process of learning for this team is as much a fanbase thing as a developmental thing. You can't have one without the other in order to succeed, because one drives the other, just as it does now here in configuring  and cementing our expectations for this program.

 

truferblue22

July 2nd, 2014 at 7:07 PM ^

This is easily one of the best pieces ever posted on this site. And that's saying something. Every point was just So. Very. Well. Said. I don't think I've ever "yep"ed and "mhmm"ed my way through an article so much before, especially a soccer one since so many of them are so poor and written by people who only think they understand the game.