OT: World Cup Qualifier - USA @ Jamaica, 8:30pm CDT, BeIN Network

Submitted by Wolverine In Iowa on

After a nice 4-3 win over Germany in a friendly, the USA is back on the World Cup qualifying trail, facing Hexagonal foe Jamaica in Kingston, Jamaica.  The field is probably really dry and pathetic, and so expect some weird bounces.

USA, as always, will hope to pull off the road draw.  Jamaica currently is in deep trouble after a loss to Mexico on Tuesday, putting them in last place.  USA is right now in fourth place in the group, with a draw or win against Jamaica keeping the Yanks in the fight for an auto-qualifier top three spot.

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TheGhostofYost

June 7th, 2013 at 11:39 PM ^

I have to say in all honesty, this team is pretty awful.   U.S. Soccer is nowhere near where it needs to be to compete on the world stage.

Joined: 04/20/2011

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Michiganguy19

June 7th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^

We regularly qualify for an event that only takes the top 32 teams. We are a top 15-20 level team that in that last 20 years has progressed more than any team in the World.

Random comments like yours are ignorant to the progress that actually is occuring. This team would smoke the team from say 10 years ago. We will never be the 1992 Dream Team, but we should be able to "compete" soon enough.

Joined: 07/05/2008

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WolvinLA2

June 8th, 2013 at 12:14 AM ^

I get that, but people have been saying that last sentence for a decade now.  My college roommate (WolverSwede) told me in 2004 or so that by now the US would be one of the World Cup contenders, and it seems we aren't a whole lot better off than we were then.  

And saying we've progressed more than any team in the world isn't saying much because every team above us has been good forever.  So yeah, we've progressed a lot more than Brazil and Germany, but that's just because they don't need to.  

EDIT:  By the way, we're currently 28th in FIFA's world ranking.

Joined: 11/13/2009

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gopoohgo

June 8th, 2013 at 9:17 AM ^

Germany did a major retooling of their entire soccer program from the youth level up about 10-15 years ago. They went from technically sound teams to the current speed/counter game that Bayern and Dortmund play. The current German stars came up during this retooling. The US has made great strides over the last decade. You are seeing parts of Usmnt playing significant minutes in the epl and bundesliga. No one is questioning that there is much room for improvement, but until our best athletes choose soccer we are going to be at best a 10-15 team. Which isn't bad

Joined: 09/12/2011

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snarling wolverine

June 8th, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^

We regularly qualify for an event that only takes the top 32 teams.

We've undoubtedly made strides, but this statement is a little misleading, because our path to qualification isn't as difficult as it would be if we were in Europe or South America, where the vast majority of the world's good national teams play.  (Yes, they get more spots, but still, there are quality teams from those continents that get shut out each time.)

There are only three large countries in CONCACAF and one of them (Canada) basically doesn't play soccer. With 3.5 spots allotted to CONCACAF, it should be easy for us to qualify. I think it'd be cool if there were one federation for the Americas as a whole. It might be harder to qualify, but games against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay might make us a little more battle-tested in preparation for WC play.

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