Match Report: U.S. 0-3 Czech Republic
It seems utterly useless to write a full-blown match report for this game, so here’s what you need to know: Eddie Johnson was the only man in a U.S. uniform to realize that his side was, indeed, competing in the World Cup. Grading individual players would consist mostly of typing twos and threes, with ones reserved for completely lackluster performances by Beasley and Donovan.
When the U.S. Men’s National Team lost to Morocco (yes, Morocco) in the “Send-off Series” we were told that the boys had “over-trained” and were leg-weary. Against my better judgement, and despite what I saw with my own eyes, I bought the excuse.
I was a sucker.
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Two questions:
- does the US have have a realistic shot at advancing?
- given the debacle from the opener, what does this do to the “gospel” of US soccer for “non-believers”?
Those are the two questions that have ravaged my mind over the past 24 hours.
To the first: I don’t know. I do know that CONCACAF certainly isn’t a good training ground for real soccer. That said, we’ve stayed with European teams previously, so a win against Italy doesn’t seem out of the question, assuming we play nothing like we played yesterday.
To your second question, the “non-believers” have been told that the U.S. is the fifth-best team in the world. They don’t have enough experience to understand the inaccuracy of the rankings and probably don’t understand the significance and rarity of a team loaded with premier players like Koller, Baros, Rossicky, and Nedved. For these reasons, I’d guess a number of non-believers were chased away yesterday.
I rather think that non-believers are exactly where they were before the US v. Czech Republic match, but with a greater supply of ignor-ammo. (I just made that up. I expect phat royalties for its usage.) As Josh points out, the uninitiated have no idea about the power of the players on the Czech side and instead are likely to say “who the hell are the Checks [sic]? How can they be good at anything? Aren’t they poor former-commies?” You get the idea.
I doubt that non-believers ever cared enough in the first place to have been drawn to Our Boys, only to be turned away by the recent failure. Our friend, Lendog, is probably laughing all the way to the scriptorium to write a little more in the gospel of How Much Soccer Sucks And Why.
The Cliff Notes: non-believers are just that, and US Soccer’s failures only strengthen their non-belief.
scriptorium
Using words like that, you are lucky I moderated your comment in the affirmative.
OK, so perhaps the non-believers are lost, but what about the fringe supporters - those who casually follow a sport in general or a specific team, then ramp up their support during the big events (World Cup, playoffs, Olympics, etc)?
Has the US side lost a golden opportunity to convert the fringe folks to full-fledged fans?
Hello from Belgium. I don’t have time to write a full-fledged match report of my own experience so let me sum it up like this:
1.) Turn TV on
2.) Watch Koller score on a completely unmarked header 30 seconds later.
3.) Become somewhat upset.
4.) Go down to the bar.
5.) 3 beers
6.) 2-0 to the Czechs
7.) 3 more beers
8.) 3-0 to the Czechs
9.) Leave bar very upset.
10.) Meet my wife’s host family
11.) 6 more beers (with double the alcohol content of previous 6 beers)
12.) How do you say “Drowning my sorrows” in French?
13.) Stumble back to the hotel.
14.) Puke on their front steps because the front door is locked.
15.) Stagger back (relying solely on my wife to lean on the entire way) to Erica’s host family’s house
16.) Puke all over Erica’s host family’s house
17.) Wake up the next morning after being carried upstairs by Erica and her host parents.
18.) Blame the American National team for all the vomiting because they lost 3-0 in the opening game.
19.) Whole-heartedly decide to support Iran at the Iran vs. Portugal match on June 17th. Why? Because we beat Portugal 3-0 in the first game of the 2002 World Cup, and I know that Portugal fans were laughing at us when they saw our score. Also worthy of note is the fact that Portugal did not make it out of the first round after that defeat.
20.) Support my country by cheering like a maniac outside the stadium at Italy vs. USA.
[...] ESPN2 pulled a 2.4 share during their broadcast of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s pitiful performance against the Czechs, making it the most-watched event on The Deuce this year. [...]
Has the US side lost a golden opportunity to convert the fringe folks to full-fledged fans?
I think we’ll know the answer to that after the Italy and Ghana games. I hope that the casual fan won’t be put off by one awful showing.
Not to be totally contrarian to Nate’s concern (if that word is appropriate) about losing the “fringe” audience, but I really think that the result will be a wash. Fans are fans; we’ll cry a bit and lick our wounded pride, but we’ve seen consistent improvement in the US side over the years and we’ll be back for the next game. The inverse, I suspect, is also true; anti-fans will happily continue not watching the matches.
But what about the almost-fans, the maybe-fans? It might be fair to say that the US media have contributed very little to the promotion of soccer in this country, outside of covering the most major matches involving MLS or US national teams. So, while I do think soccer is an increasingly popular game, that popularity is coming from the grass roots level, rather than from the media (a modern-day “opiate of the masses”?). For this reason, the almost-fan is interested in the game because of his/her experience and not because the media has told him/her how cool and exciting soccer is. I have faith that the maybe-fan will be back for more because s/he knows a bit about the game and can tolerate a little disappointment.
But then, I’m something of an optimist.
Bryan - good observations - and you’re right to suspect that I might not be all that concerned - mostly trying to generate some discussion…
For what it’s worth, I’ve noticed a considerable rise in the media’s attention to the World Cup this time around (I know, that’s not saying much), and especially the US squad for stateside media. Cover story in SI, at least a few national ads (including the Gatorade one that’s gotten so much play on this site), a pullout bracket/primer in the local paper that my oldest son is using to track results, etc.
This extra attention seems to have garnered some interest from some fringe fans (and a few altogether ambivalent ones) at work. I’ve heard a number of things like, “Hey, I saw that soccer commercial last night during Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - pretty cool!” Some of these same people came in the day following the US/Czech game after catching the highlights and hearing the commentary and are now back in the “I’ll probably spend my time doing/watching something else this Saturday” camp.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think there are a ton of people who are looking for a good reason to get behind the US team, but Arena’s bunch hasn’t given them that reason, at least not so far in this competition. Fair-weather fans, bandwagon jumpers? Perhaps, but you’ve got them in all sports, and I don’t think they’re necessarily a bad thing.
It is interesting to hear that anecdotal stuff. Most of my crew (save for co-workers) are pretty soccer-savvy and I don’t hear a lot from Joe Sixpack.
If you do hear from Joe, tell him to give me a call; that guy owes me money.
Also, I think Nate is right on with there are a ton of people who are looking for a good reason to get behind the US team. If I may make a comparison: Throughout the 90s, I was a complete non-fan of Major League Baseball. I didn’t think anything could be as boring as baseball. Also of note is the fact that the Minnesota Twins were beyond miserable during that stretch. Then, in 2001, a good, young nucleus emerged and took the team to the second round of the playoffs the following year. Suddenly I became excited about the team and in turn excited about baseball. The more they won, the more I watched, and the more I watched, the more I understood and appreciated the game. Now, even when the Twins struggle, I can still get into the sport.
So, all I’m saying is that if the U.S. makes a big run in the World Cup, it could erase my homegrown apathy for that sport, too. Is that how it should be? Maybe not; but as Joe Professional Athlete is known to say, “it is what it is.”
[...] As for inspiring his side, Arena is incapable. He exudes a cool, calm persona that covers for an utter lack of personality. Arena admitted that he did not personally address his under-performing players after the Czech match. Instead, he blasted them in the media thereby proving himself a coward by not dealing with the issues head-on. For much of the Ghana game, his players also looked like cowards. Coincidence? [...]
[...] In return for our belief, we were crushed—both emotionally and on the pitch. The cavernous gap in class was all too evident during the Czech Republic game. The ease with which Jan Koller scored the winner was a harbinger but still we believed in a rally. [...]
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