As I said last week in my running diary of Manchester City's FA Cup win over Stoke City, I am a Man City fan so this will be a another soccer post in as many weeks. Don't worry though because this post involves at least one Cheesehead sports connection to justify posting it on my Cheesehead sports related blog.
For those of you that don't know, soccer has relegation and promotion. In England that means that every season three teams are relegated from the Premier League (top division in England) to the Championship (second division in England) while three teams from the from the Championship are promoted to the Premier League. Unlike almost all other professional sports, relegation and promotion means that the last day of the season in the Premier League is one of the most fascinating days on the entire sports calendar.
With that background on relegation and promotion out of the way, now for the Cheesehead sports connection to justify posting this on the blog. A few years ago a Cheesehead soccer player (grew up in Green Bay, WI) and United States Men's National Team player Jay DeMerit scored the first goal for Watford on a header to help Watford defeat Leeds United 3-0 and gain promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Some media outlets claim that DeMerit scored a £30 million goal thanks to the television rights alone for playing in the Premier League as opposed to the Championship.
The conventional wisdom is that 40 points (teams get 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie) out of 38 matches will keep you in the Premier League. That conventional wisdom held true for the 2010-11 Premier League season because the three Premier League clubs relegated: Birmingham (39 points), Blackpool (39 points), and West Ham United (33 points) amassed less than 40 points while the three clubs that narrowly avoided relegation: Blackburn Rovers (43 points), Wigan Athletic (42 points), and Wolverhampton Wanderers (40 points) all earned at least 40 points.
The other conventional wisdom in the Premier League is that 70 points will get you automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League from the Premier League. The Premier League puts three automatic qualifiers in the UEFA Champions League with the fourth team having to go through the qualification process. The conventional wisdom held because Manchester United (80 points), Chelsea (71 points), and Manchester City (71 points) all earned at least 70 points and automatically qualified while Arsenal (68 points) has to qualify for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League because they finished 4th in the Premier League.
In somewhat related news, my buddy Gaber's favorite team Arsenal finished 4th while my buddy Uncle Patty's team Newcastle finished 12th. Both Arsenal and Newcastle have to be relatively pleased with their position since Arsenal still has a chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and Newcastle was just promoted back to the Premier League this season.
As you can see the magic numbers of 40 points and 70 points held for another year in the Premier League. All of that is great but selfishly the best part for me as a Man City fan is that they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in club history. That means that Man City will continue to invest in big name players to try and improve on their best Premier League finish ever. The next goal for Man City is to win the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League for the first time in club history.
If there is one takeaway from the post, relegation and promotion is simultaneously the most nerve wracking and exhilarating thing in sports. There is no real feasible way to implement this in the the major professional sports in North America because most major professional teams own the rights to the players that make up the minor league teams (MLB, NBA, and NHL) or do not have any actual minor league teams besides a small practice squad (NFL). This should be the last soccer post for a while unless something Cheesehead soccer related happens. Please check back for more non-soccer related Cheesehead sports content on the blog.
Showing posts with label US Men's Soccer Team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Men's Soccer Team. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tweet Beat - World Cup 2018 and World Cup 2022 Style
For an up to the minute, not completely Cheesehead sports related installment of "Tweet Beat" I decided to look at FIFA's announcement of the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The countries in the running for the 2018 World Cup were: Belgium/Netherlands (joint bid), England, Portugal/Spain (joint bid), and Russia. The countries in the running for the 2022 World Cup were: Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, and the United States. The odds on favorites throughout the process were England for the 2018 World Cup and the United States for the 2022 World Cup.
Before we get to the winners, let's delve into the selection process. The selection process came under scrutiny even before the vote was revealed because it was done by secret ballot, despite the fact that 2 of the 24 members of the FIFA executive committee were not allowed to vote because of allegations of taking bribes in exchange for their vote. Furthermore, since the committee was voting on two world cups, there were rampant accusations of vote trading. To win, a country needed an absolute majority. If an absolute majority was not reached, the lowest bidder was eliminated.
As I am sure most you know by now, Russia will host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. We know enough about Russia, but I am sure most readers have not even heard of Qatar much less find it on the map or even know how to properly pronounce it. My only real connection to Qatar before today was occasionally playing as "that other random country" in FIFA International Soccer on Sega Genesis against my buddy Uncle Patty.
Just to compare Qatar to some things in the United States, it has a total population smaller than Houston, Texas and the entire country is smaller than the size of the state of Connecticut. Finally, Qatar will have to build all new soccer stadiums from scratch to combat the 130-degree heat expected during the 2022 World Cup.
Twitter blew up after the "announcement" even though a number of media outlets reported Russia and Qatar as winners 5 minutes before the actual announcement. Check out some of the tweets that came in from sports journalists and other pundits around the world:
@GrantWahl: "Choosing Qatar and Russia is the biggest indictment possible that FIFA is not a clean organization. Petrodollars talk."
@JasonLaCanfora: "Way to go Sunil! You lost to Qatar. What a joke. Can't land a top coach. Blow it in 2018 and 2022. Please step down for good of your country."
@sportsguy33: "And... all the rumors about insane bribes being thrown around to get the 2022 World Cup have been proven correct! Wow."
@bruce_arthur: "If you're outraged about nations as repressive as Russia and Qatar being awarded the World Cup, I'd like to have a word about Beijing."
@sportsguy33: "Qatar needs to thank its special consultant for the 2022 WC bid: Cam Newton's father."
@the_real_nash: "No beer in Qatar? No Canadians going! The bribe must have been large to outbid Budweiser's sponsorship."
@sportsguy33: "Any time you can hold a World Cup in a hot Middle East country that's smaller than Connecticut + has no soccer tradition, you have to do it."
@GrantWahl: "FYI, I'm not upset that USA lost. If Australia, Korea or Japan had won bid, FIFA would look cleaner and less influenced by oil money."
@FO_ASchatz: "Soccer people, out of curiosity, what Middle East country has the best soccer tradition? Egypt or Algeria, maybe?"
@stefanfatsis: "2010 Press Freedom Index rankings: Qatar 121st (out of 178), Russia 140th (just ahead of Malaysia!)"
@AroundTheHorn: "This is what Qatar has given the soccer world video."
@GrantWahl: "USA's Gulati: It was US vs Qatar in final round of vote."
@SI_PeterKing: "RT @RunnerLuis: Thoughts on US losing Cup bid to Qatar?... Amazing. Building 10 AC stadia in country size of Conn.? And if oil economy tanks?"
@GrantWahl: "England=Chicago Olympic humiliation. RT @pkelso 1st round: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4, Spain/Portugal 7 & Russia 9."
@milfordio: "Early odds for 2030 World Cup: North Korea 7/1, Somalia 6/1, North Pole 11/1, The Moon 25/1 England 10,000/1"
@GrantWahl: "US was never close today. Qatar got 11 votes in 1st round (1 shy of win), US just 3. Australia was first bid eliminated."
@GrantWahl: "Qatar won final round of World Cup '22 voting 14-8 over the United States."
@GrantWahl: "Official list of round-by-round World Cup vote totals from FIFA: click here. Interesting to see how votes moved."
Before we get to the winners, let's delve into the selection process. The selection process came under scrutiny even before the vote was revealed because it was done by secret ballot, despite the fact that 2 of the 24 members of the FIFA executive committee were not allowed to vote because of allegations of taking bribes in exchange for their vote. Furthermore, since the committee was voting on two world cups, there were rampant accusations of vote trading. To win, a country needed an absolute majority. If an absolute majority was not reached, the lowest bidder was eliminated.
As I am sure most you know by now, Russia will host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. We know enough about Russia, but I am sure most readers have not even heard of Qatar much less find it on the map or even know how to properly pronounce it. My only real connection to Qatar before today was occasionally playing as "that other random country" in FIFA International Soccer on Sega Genesis against my buddy Uncle Patty.
Just to compare Qatar to some things in the United States, it has a total population smaller than Houston, Texas and the entire country is smaller than the size of the state of Connecticut. Finally, Qatar will have to build all new soccer stadiums from scratch to combat the 130-degree heat expected during the 2022 World Cup.
Twitter blew up after the "announcement" even though a number of media outlets reported Russia and Qatar as winners 5 minutes before the actual announcement. Check out some of the tweets that came in from sports journalists and other pundits around the world:
@GrantWahl: "Choosing Qatar and Russia is the biggest indictment possible that FIFA is not a clean organization. Petrodollars talk."
@JasonLaCanfora: "Way to go Sunil! You lost to Qatar. What a joke. Can't land a top coach. Blow it in 2018 and 2022. Please step down for good of your country."
@sportsguy33: "And... all the rumors about insane bribes being thrown around to get the 2022 World Cup have been proven correct! Wow."
@bruce_arthur: "If you're outraged about nations as repressive as Russia and Qatar being awarded the World Cup, I'd like to have a word about Beijing."
@sportsguy33: "Qatar needs to thank its special consultant for the 2022 WC bid: Cam Newton's father."
@the_real_nash: "No beer in Qatar? No Canadians going! The bribe must have been large to outbid Budweiser's sponsorship."
@sportsguy33: "Any time you can hold a World Cup in a hot Middle East country that's smaller than Connecticut + has no soccer tradition, you have to do it."
@GrantWahl: "FYI, I'm not upset that USA lost. If Australia, Korea or Japan had won bid, FIFA would look cleaner and less influenced by oil money."
@FO_ASchatz: "Soccer people, out of curiosity, what Middle East country has the best soccer tradition? Egypt or Algeria, maybe?"
@stefanfatsis: "2010 Press Freedom Index rankings: Qatar 121st (out of 178), Russia 140th (just ahead of Malaysia!)"
@AroundTheHorn: "This is what Qatar has given the soccer world video."
@GrantWahl: "USA's Gulati: It was US vs Qatar in final round of vote."
@SI_PeterKing: "RT @RunnerLuis: Thoughts on US losing Cup bid to Qatar?... Amazing. Building 10 AC stadia in country size of Conn.? And if oil economy tanks?"
@GrantWahl: "England=Chicago Olympic humiliation. RT @pkelso 1st round: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4, Spain/Portugal 7 & Russia 9."
@milfordio: "Early odds for 2030 World Cup: North Korea 7/1, Somalia 6/1, North Pole 11/1, The Moon 25/1 England 10,000/1"
@GrantWahl: "US was never close today. Qatar got 11 votes in 1st round (1 shy of win), US just 3. Australia was first bid eliminated."
@GrantWahl: "Qatar won final round of World Cup '22 voting 14-8 over the United States."
@GrantWahl: "Official list of round-by-round World Cup vote totals from FIFA: click here. Interesting to see how votes moved."
Sunday, June 20, 2010
US v. Slovenia: World Cup Retro Diary
As you know by now, the United States and Slovenia tied 2-2 in a thrilling match of two completely different halves...Slovenia dominated the first half and the United State dominated the second half. Here is my retroactive look at the match:
1': Clint Dempsey elbows Zlatan Ljubijankic for what could have been a red card. At the very least it should have been a yellow card but as you will see throughout the match, this was not the only blown call by referee Koman Coulibaly.
8': Ljubijankic heads the ball straight up into the air. US goalkeeper Tim Howard comes out to snare the ball and as usual yells at his defenders. Howard is a very good keeper but why does he always come out barking at the top of his lungs. Every now and again he could just go about his business. Don't get me wrong, I am all about accountability but Howard's yelling seems like overkill...it becomes ineffective if you always yell. My advice, pick your spots Timmy.
13' - Valter Birsa scores for Slovenia from 25 yards out to give Slovenia a 1-0 lead: Somehow there was not a US defender within 5 yards of Birsa. After the game Howard intimated that he never saw the ball. I hope that is the case because Howard watched the ball soar into the back of the net without even moving. The US is consistent at one thing, giving up early goal. Just to add insult to injury, that goal marks the 12th straight match that the US will not keep a clean sheet.
15': Landon Donovan's free kick is punched clear by Samir Handanovic. If Handanovic didn't punch that ball clear it looked like Dempsey would have had a great chance to equalize.
37': Bostjan Cesar is shown a yellow card for tripping Altodore. Torres takes the free kick and decides to go for goal instead of swinging it into the box. I like the idea of going for goal in that situation but the execution left more than a little to be desired. When I saw that Bradley inserted Torres instead of Clark I was ecstatic...after 37 minutes not so ecstatic.
40': Findley receives a yellow card for a handball that the replay shows hit him in the face. Since this is Findley's second yellow card in as many games, he will miss the US/Algeria match. I actually see this as the only gift referee Koman Coulibaly gave the US. As a quick tangent, not too sure why Bradley started Findley up top alongside Altidore against England and Slovenia. If I were in charge of the US, I would have started anyone (Buddle or Gomez) instead of Findley up top. Then I would bring Findley on with 20 minutes remaining to make some piercing runs. Findley starting consecutive matches for the US shows how much they miss Charlie Davies.
41': Dempsey's cross is deflected by Miso Brecko, robbing Donovan of an easy equalizer. When Donovan is that close he has to throw his body at the ball. Instead the US misses another close opportunity.
42' - Zlatan Ljubijankic scores for Slovenia to give Slovenia a 2-0 lead: Slovenia had two attempts on goal the entire first half, which lead to two goals. Oguchi Onyewu pulled off a tough double gaffe on the goal by failing to close down the attacker while playing on the goal scorer. A play like this by Gooch shows that Gooch is still not fully fit. What a change of momentum, in less than a few minutes the US goes from being tied 1-1 to being down 2-0.
Halftime: I don't think Ricardo Clark brings anything to the table so I liked that Bradley started Torres in Clark's place, unfortunately Torres was completely ineffective. As a result, Bradley brings in Benny Feilhaber for Jose Torres as well as Maurice Edu for Robbie Findley. Agree with bringing in Edu, I wanted Bradley to start him alongside his son instead of Clark or Torres the entire World Cup. The Feilhaber sub is a little surprising. Since Dempsey is going to move up top I would have brought in DeMarcus Beasley or Stuart Holden to play outside midfield instead of Feilhaner.
48' - Donovan scores for the US to cut Slovenia's lead to 2-1: Steve Cherundolo played Donovan into space. Donovan was looking to cross the ball but for some reason no one on Slovenia closed down Donovan so Donovan went towards goal. Donovan struck an absolute screamer into the only place he could go, the roof of the net, for his 3rd World Cup goal (43rd international) and first World Cup goal since 2002.
51': The US almost capitalized on a Donovan free kick but neither Dempsey or Gooch can bury the equalizer.
59': Altidore does the hard part turning the defender while possessing the ball but is unable to capitalize on his hard work. The way Altidore holds the ball reminds me of Brian McBride but Altidore is no where close to McBride in terms of finishing.
69': Marko Suler drags down Altidore just outside the box. If Suler gets Altidore a quarter second later, the US wins a penalty kick...instead they fail to capitalize on the free kick.
72': Andraz Kirm slides in late on Cherundolo and receives a yellow card.
75': Referee Koman Coulibaly continues to baffle me. Coulibaly is talking to Altidore despite the fact that Altidore was simply playing the ball. Coulibaly is really struggling and we haven't even gotten to his Mona Lisa of horrible decisions yet. Not too sure how reffing in Mali qualifies you to ref the World Cup...just saying Sepp Blatter.
80': Bob Bradley inserts Herculez Gomez for Gooch. I like the strategy, the US had to go for broke at that point. Plus, Edu is a better option than Gooch in central defense at this point. I am sure that it would create an uproar in the small but dedicated US soccer community if Bradley started Carlos Bocanegra or Clarence Goodson in place of Gooch but I would support the decision. Gooch is no doubt an impressive physical specimen, I just question if he can go another 90 minutes against Algeria coming off the major knee injury.
82' - Michael Bradley scores for the US to tie the game 2-2: Donovan played the ball long to Altidore, who perfectly nodded the ball towards an on rushing Bradley. Bradley pulled off one of the classiest toe pokes in World Cup history to tie the match. Can't say enough about how calmly Bradley slotted that shot. If the US advance, Bradley's 1st World Cup goal (8th international goal) will go down as one of the best in US soccer history.
86': Off a Donovan free kick, Maurice Edu bags a goal in the six yard box to put the US up 3-2. Wait...referee Koman Coulibaly continues his horrible performance by waving off the goal for a foul on the US. The replays show that at least four Slovenian defenders were absolutely mauling US players. If there was going to be a call, it should have been a penalty kick for the US instead of a foul against the US. It is hard to put into words how horrible of a decision Coulibaly made. ESPN has its talking point until the US plays again...if the US sputters against Algeria, everyone US fan is going to point to this decision as the turning point of the World Cup. If Edu's goal would have stood, it would have marked the first time in World Cup history that a team won 3-2 after going down 2-0 at halftime.
Final Thoughts: The US became the fifth team in World Cup history (the first since the 2002 World Cup) to tie a match after trailing 2-0 at halftime. The US should be happy with the result considering the US is 6-16-5 in World Cup history and has never won a World Cup game after trailing.
The US continued their futility against European teams in the World Cup running their record to 1-9-4 against European teams in the World Cup since 1990. If you were to tell me at half time that the US would have a chance to tie the game 2-2 and have a legitimate gripe about getting robbed on a third goal I would have called you crazy so US fans should be happy with the result.
Bring on Algeria and hopefully the knockout round!
1': Clint Dempsey elbows Zlatan Ljubijankic for what could have been a red card. At the very least it should have been a yellow card but as you will see throughout the match, this was not the only blown call by referee Koman Coulibaly.
8': Ljubijankic heads the ball straight up into the air. US goalkeeper Tim Howard comes out to snare the ball and as usual yells at his defenders. Howard is a very good keeper but why does he always come out barking at the top of his lungs. Every now and again he could just go about his business. Don't get me wrong, I am all about accountability but Howard's yelling seems like overkill...it becomes ineffective if you always yell. My advice, pick your spots Timmy.
13' - Valter Birsa scores for Slovenia from 25 yards out to give Slovenia a 1-0 lead: Somehow there was not a US defender within 5 yards of Birsa. After the game Howard intimated that he never saw the ball. I hope that is the case because Howard watched the ball soar into the back of the net without even moving. The US is consistent at one thing, giving up early goal. Just to add insult to injury, that goal marks the 12th straight match that the US will not keep a clean sheet.
15': Landon Donovan's free kick is punched clear by Samir Handanovic. If Handanovic didn't punch that ball clear it looked like Dempsey would have had a great chance to equalize.
37': Bostjan Cesar is shown a yellow card for tripping Altodore. Torres takes the free kick and decides to go for goal instead of swinging it into the box. I like the idea of going for goal in that situation but the execution left more than a little to be desired. When I saw that Bradley inserted Torres instead of Clark I was ecstatic...after 37 minutes not so ecstatic.
40': Findley receives a yellow card for a handball that the replay shows hit him in the face. Since this is Findley's second yellow card in as many games, he will miss the US/Algeria match. I actually see this as the only gift referee Koman Coulibaly gave the US. As a quick tangent, not too sure why Bradley started Findley up top alongside Altidore against England and Slovenia. If I were in charge of the US, I would have started anyone (Buddle or Gomez) instead of Findley up top. Then I would bring Findley on with 20 minutes remaining to make some piercing runs. Findley starting consecutive matches for the US shows how much they miss Charlie Davies.
41': Dempsey's cross is deflected by Miso Brecko, robbing Donovan of an easy equalizer. When Donovan is that close he has to throw his body at the ball. Instead the US misses another close opportunity.
42' - Zlatan Ljubijankic scores for Slovenia to give Slovenia a 2-0 lead: Slovenia had two attempts on goal the entire first half, which lead to two goals. Oguchi Onyewu pulled off a tough double gaffe on the goal by failing to close down the attacker while playing on the goal scorer. A play like this by Gooch shows that Gooch is still not fully fit. What a change of momentum, in less than a few minutes the US goes from being tied 1-1 to being down 2-0.
Halftime: I don't think Ricardo Clark brings anything to the table so I liked that Bradley started Torres in Clark's place, unfortunately Torres was completely ineffective. As a result, Bradley brings in Benny Feilhaber for Jose Torres as well as Maurice Edu for Robbie Findley. Agree with bringing in Edu, I wanted Bradley to start him alongside his son instead of Clark or Torres the entire World Cup. The Feilhaber sub is a little surprising. Since Dempsey is going to move up top I would have brought in DeMarcus Beasley or Stuart Holden to play outside midfield instead of Feilhaner.
48' - Donovan scores for the US to cut Slovenia's lead to 2-1: Steve Cherundolo played Donovan into space. Donovan was looking to cross the ball but for some reason no one on Slovenia closed down Donovan so Donovan went towards goal. Donovan struck an absolute screamer into the only place he could go, the roof of the net, for his 3rd World Cup goal (43rd international) and first World Cup goal since 2002.
51': The US almost capitalized on a Donovan free kick but neither Dempsey or Gooch can bury the equalizer.
59': Altidore does the hard part turning the defender while possessing the ball but is unable to capitalize on his hard work. The way Altidore holds the ball reminds me of Brian McBride but Altidore is no where close to McBride in terms of finishing.
69': Marko Suler drags down Altidore just outside the box. If Suler gets Altidore a quarter second later, the US wins a penalty kick...instead they fail to capitalize on the free kick.
72': Andraz Kirm slides in late on Cherundolo and receives a yellow card.
75': Referee Koman Coulibaly continues to baffle me. Coulibaly is talking to Altidore despite the fact that Altidore was simply playing the ball. Coulibaly is really struggling and we haven't even gotten to his Mona Lisa of horrible decisions yet. Not too sure how reffing in Mali qualifies you to ref the World Cup...just saying Sepp Blatter.
80': Bob Bradley inserts Herculez Gomez for Gooch. I like the strategy, the US had to go for broke at that point. Plus, Edu is a better option than Gooch in central defense at this point. I am sure that it would create an uproar in the small but dedicated US soccer community if Bradley started Carlos Bocanegra or Clarence Goodson in place of Gooch but I would support the decision. Gooch is no doubt an impressive physical specimen, I just question if he can go another 90 minutes against Algeria coming off the major knee injury.
82' - Michael Bradley scores for the US to tie the game 2-2: Donovan played the ball long to Altidore, who perfectly nodded the ball towards an on rushing Bradley. Bradley pulled off one of the classiest toe pokes in World Cup history to tie the match. Can't say enough about how calmly Bradley slotted that shot. If the US advance, Bradley's 1st World Cup goal (8th international goal) will go down as one of the best in US soccer history.
86': Off a Donovan free kick, Maurice Edu bags a goal in the six yard box to put the US up 3-2. Wait...referee Koman Coulibaly continues his horrible performance by waving off the goal for a foul on the US. The replays show that at least four Slovenian defenders were absolutely mauling US players. If there was going to be a call, it should have been a penalty kick for the US instead of a foul against the US. It is hard to put into words how horrible of a decision Coulibaly made. ESPN has its talking point until the US plays again...if the US sputters against Algeria, everyone US fan is going to point to this decision as the turning point of the World Cup. If Edu's goal would have stood, it would have marked the first time in World Cup history that a team won 3-2 after going down 2-0 at halftime.
Final Thoughts: The US became the fifth team in World Cup history (the first since the 2002 World Cup) to tie a match after trailing 2-0 at halftime. The US should be happy with the result considering the US is 6-16-5 in World Cup history and has never won a World Cup game after trailing.
The US continued their futility against European teams in the World Cup running their record to 1-9-4 against European teams in the World Cup since 1990. If you were to tell me at half time that the US would have a chance to tie the game 2-2 and have a legitimate gripe about getting robbed on a third goal I would have called you crazy so US fans should be happy with the result.
Bring on Algeria and hopefully the knockout round!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday Funday - US Qualifies for 1990 World Cup
The United States men's national team squares off against England next Saturday in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. While England is the heavy favorite, the United States men's national team has come a long way since they last met England in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.
After a shocking 1-0 defeat of England in the 1950 World Cup dubbed "Miracle on Grass", the United States national team had a 40 year absence from the World Cup. In 1989, FIFA awarded the United States the 1994 World Cup. FIFA's decision was criticized around the world because the United States' perceived lack of soccer aptitude. The aforementioned 40 year absence from the World Cup and the lack of a top flight professional outdoor league made the international soccer community question why FIFA would give the United States the most watched sporting event in the world.
The host nation automatically qualifies for the World Cup. In order to justify FIFA's decision to stage the 1994 World Cup in America, the United States men's national team had to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy on their own. If the United States failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, FIFA and the United States men's national team would have become the laughing stock of international soccer for not competing in the World Cup for 54 and only getting to participate by virtue of automatic qualification for hosting the World Cup.
The North and Central America and Caribbean region (CONCACAF) had two spots up for grabs for the 1990 World Cup which was decided at the 1989 CONCACAF Championship. Costa Rica took the top spot in the 1989 CONCACAF Championship on goal differential and qualified for their first ever World Cup. Costa Rica "won" because Mexico was disqualified for fielding improper players (too old) which watered down the field.
On Sunday, November 19, 1989 the United States faced Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain (the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) for the second of two CONCACAF qualification spots for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The odds were stacked against the United States. The United States had not won a game on foreign soil in almost 2 years and in order to qualify for the World Cup they would have to beat Trinidad and Tobago on their home soil.
Some of the notable United States players from the game were John Harkes (current lead color analyst for ESPN's coverage of the 2010 World Cup), Marcelo Balboa (king mullet of the United States men's national team), Tab Ramos (who "hates to practice but loves to win" in his cheesy Snickers commercials), Tony Meola (set back soccer players decades with his failed attempt to kick for the New York Jets), and Paul Caligiuri (the man of the match).
The United States won the match 1-0 thanks to Paul Caligiuri's "Shot heard round the world". Although not as big as "The Miracle on Ice" or "The Dream Team", Caligiuri's goal is one of biggest moment's in United States sports history (unless the United States men's national team can pull of the improbable and win the World Cup).
Sunday, November 19, 1989 was truly a Sunday Funday and the most important day in United States soccer history. Not only did the United States qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years but the United States men's national team also silenced the critics who opposed the United States hosting the 1994 World Cup. Hosting the World Cup in 1994 lead to the formation of the MLS which gave the United States a legitimate professional soccer league in the United States for the first time in decades in 1996. Although soccer is still not a major sport in the United States, without Paul Caligiuri's goal, soccer would be light years behind where it is today.
The MLS will never (or at least not for a number of decades) be on the same level as the English Premier League, La Liga (Spanish 1st division) or Serie A (Italian 1st division) but Americans support winners. If the United States men's national team makes a deep run in the World Cup or even wins (especially with how much coverage ESPN is dedicating to the World Cup), soccer will take off in America and the United States men's national team (and tangentially the MLS) will have huge support.
Sorry if you are not a soccer fan but I have World Cup fever. As a result, I am going to cover the United States men's national team on the blog for the next month or so while still trying to sprinkle in other Cheesehead content.
After a shocking 1-0 defeat of England in the 1950 World Cup dubbed "Miracle on Grass", the United States national team had a 40 year absence from the World Cup. In 1989, FIFA awarded the United States the 1994 World Cup. FIFA's decision was criticized around the world because the United States' perceived lack of soccer aptitude. The aforementioned 40 year absence from the World Cup and the lack of a top flight professional outdoor league made the international soccer community question why FIFA would give the United States the most watched sporting event in the world.
The host nation automatically qualifies for the World Cup. In order to justify FIFA's decision to stage the 1994 World Cup in America, the United States men's national team had to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy on their own. If the United States failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, FIFA and the United States men's national team would have become the laughing stock of international soccer for not competing in the World Cup for 54 and only getting to participate by virtue of automatic qualification for hosting the World Cup.
The North and Central America and Caribbean region (CONCACAF) had two spots up for grabs for the 1990 World Cup which was decided at the 1989 CONCACAF Championship. Costa Rica took the top spot in the 1989 CONCACAF Championship on goal differential and qualified for their first ever World Cup. Costa Rica "won" because Mexico was disqualified for fielding improper players (too old) which watered down the field.
On Sunday, November 19, 1989 the United States faced Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain (the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) for the second of two CONCACAF qualification spots for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The odds were stacked against the United States. The United States had not won a game on foreign soil in almost 2 years and in order to qualify for the World Cup they would have to beat Trinidad and Tobago on their home soil.
Some of the notable United States players from the game were John Harkes (current lead color analyst for ESPN's coverage of the 2010 World Cup), Marcelo Balboa (king mullet of the United States men's national team), Tab Ramos (who "hates to practice but loves to win" in his cheesy Snickers commercials), Tony Meola (set back soccer players decades with his failed attempt to kick for the New York Jets), and Paul Caligiuri (the man of the match).
The United States won the match 1-0 thanks to Paul Caligiuri's "Shot heard round the world". Although not as big as "The Miracle on Ice" or "The Dream Team", Caligiuri's goal is one of biggest moment's in United States sports history (unless the United States men's national team can pull of the improbable and win the World Cup).
Sunday, November 19, 1989 was truly a Sunday Funday and the most important day in United States soccer history. Not only did the United States qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years but the United States men's national team also silenced the critics who opposed the United States hosting the 1994 World Cup. Hosting the World Cup in 1994 lead to the formation of the MLS which gave the United States a legitimate professional soccer league in the United States for the first time in decades in 1996. Although soccer is still not a major sport in the United States, without Paul Caligiuri's goal, soccer would be light years behind where it is today.
The MLS will never (or at least not for a number of decades) be on the same level as the English Premier League, La Liga (Spanish 1st division) or Serie A (Italian 1st division) but Americans support winners. If the United States men's national team makes a deep run in the World Cup or even wins (especially with how much coverage ESPN is dedicating to the World Cup), soccer will take off in America and the United States men's national team (and tangentially the MLS) will have huge support.
Sorry if you are not a soccer fan but I have World Cup fever. As a result, I am going to cover the United States men's national team on the blog for the next month or so while still trying to sprinkle in other Cheesehead content.
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