There seems to be a general air of nonchalance in the U.S regarding soccer. Having seen the dismal performance of the National team at the 2006 world cup and 08 Olympics where they did not go past the group stage, and in the event that we are not able to convincingly defeat Egypt in the last group match in confederations cup ( a match which comes up tomorrow afternoon) one would come to the conclusion that
1. There should be changes made at the top. i.e the U.S soccer federation, because the current board has not been able to positively influence the development of the game in the country, and the competitiveness of the National team in International tournaments.
2. The Mens National team needs a Real Coach who can produce results not only against the Bermudas, and Guyanas of CONCACAF, but also against the big teams like the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, Germany e.t.c We need to swallow our pride and hire a coach from Europe or South America. England, for instance is currently managed by an Italian, Fabio Copello,
and Philip Scolari, a portuguese coach, led Brazil to world Cup glory.
3. The team needs to be disbanded after the Gold Cup, and the selection process reviewed. The fact that the current coach chooses to include his own son in every game reeks of nepotism, and suggests that the team he fields is not necessarily the best 11 possible. We are talking about real tournaments, not little league.
We need to realise that such lacklustre performances have the effect of killing the game in the eyes of the youth in this country who grow up under the misguided impression that Americans cannot play good soccer, and as such, concentrate on other sports where they think they might have a fighting chance in the competitive world of today.