RSS SPIRIT

Best Performance by a U.S. National Team Member:
Tony Sanneh V. Germany '02


The U.S. heads to Germany in under three months for the World Cup. Expectations run high for the fifteen of us Americans who are devoted fans of the U.S. exploits on the international stage. Who can forget the last cup in Japan/Korea in which the U.S. got to the sweet 16? Frankly we should have beaten Germany in our last match, but lost 1-0. Tony Sanneh on that day had the single most impressive performance ever by a U.S. team member. Do not worry, Tony, we real U.S. fans still remember.

This summer we have been put in a brutal bracket, and the tourney is in Europe where we do not traditionally play well. Let us all forget 1998 in France where we sucked major ass. We did not score a goal, Germany beat us up quite literally and our last game was a loss to Iran. This summer we have Italy, Czech and Ghana in our first round bracket. Oi is all one can say to that. If we get out of our bracket to the next round it would be considered a successful World Cup.

The only way we can do well is obviously, score goals. Yet goals elude the U.S. team in critical times. We have not yet groomed the Michael Jordan or Shaun Alexander of soccer. What's more, scoring goals against incredible defenses like Italy's requires highly sophisticated individual and team technical acumen. Let's face it, we have not displayed this art consistently.

Which brings us to the coach. In every country around the world, people get together and question the judgment of their respective national team coach. America should be no different. Bruce Arena, in this notioner's view, has not proven himself a top-tier coach. Yes he was an upgrade on that Serbian we had before who installed a very negative, defense first strategy. Arena at least understands that resources must be employed to score goals and is committed to taking chances on the offensive side.

But tactically, he has proven to exhibit questionable logistical thinking. Look for further than our last World Cup game against Germany in 2002. Why did he take out McBride, the only forward capable of winning a head ball from the tall German defense? Why did he take so long to move up Sanneh from his right defenseman position? Why was Demarcus Beasley left pining on the bench when he could have played havoc on the left side for the U.S.?

How Arena assembles his offense and how he substitutes will be a critical factor in whether the U.S. can stick a couple into the "old onion basket." America needs playmaking creativity in the midfield and it needs scorers up front who can control a ball on top of the 18 yard line and beat defenders one on one.

For there is nothing so sweet as a winning goal in the World Cup. By any means necessary the U.S. need to figure out how to push a couple past the goal line and wiggle into the knockout round.

U.S. World Cup Schedule and full World Cup brackets at USSoccer.com
http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/mens/fwc/index.jsp.html
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