So what did we accomplish?

[Spin]

After sleeping on this whole thing for a night, what did we really accomplish?

We lucked into a point against a beatable England on their own goal.

We needed last second heroics to beat a team from a country of New Mexico's population. (Not counting illegals).

And we needed an extra time goal to beat a third world country with the population of California.

We make Stage 2, and don't show up against another third world country with the population of Texas.

OK, I get our best athletes are drawn (pressured?) into football and basketball when they get too old for youth leagues. I get that we had a couple bad calls in the four games. What's new?

It would be different if we were simply beat because we didn't have the skills they do. But that's bullcrap. We have much better training and nutrition technology and facilities than the last 3 teams we played. We have players who play in First Division leagues around the world. Aston Villa. AC Milan. Rangers. Borussia Mönchengladbach. West Ham United.

They had no heart. Unless they were about to get throttled by "World Powers" like Slovenia. Many times they advanced deep and looked like they didn't even know each other. Bob Bradley has to go.

And that's NOT the best we've ever done, we made the quarterfinals in 2002 with Bruce Arena coaching. We were ranked 4th in the world. But the US needed a "fresh approach". How did that work out for ya?

I'm disappointed. Almost embarrassed.

[ejcool27]

We won our bracket and bracket the England was suppose to win...Fifa rankings are about the same as college football rankings they mean nothing....the fact of the matter is we tied an English team we should have lost too....yes it was a soft goal, but we looked just as dangerous as them in the second half.....The other two we got the results we needed....America's Fifa ranking is so high because they qualify with teams like Canada and Cuba....It's like Memphis in College basketball......our rating is higher then it should be.....Ghana was the favorite and we looked like the better team.....I'm proud of our boys, and every time they went down....It's was Bob's subs that brought us back...I hope they keep him for the 2014 campaign he deserves it....plus by then his son is going to be a beast!

[Z.I.P.]

After sleeping on this whole thing for a night, what did we really accomplish?

We lucked into a point against a beatable England on their own goal.

We needed last second heroics to beat a team from a country of New Mexico's population. (Not counting illegals).

And we needed an extra time goal to beat a third world country with the population of California.

We make Stage 2, and don't show up against another third world country with the population of Texas.

OK, I get our best athletes are drawn (pressured?) into football and basketball when they get too old for youth leagues. I get that we had a couple bad calls in the four games. What's new?

It would be different if we were simply beat because we didn't have the skills they do. But that's bullcrap. We have much better training and nutrition technology and facilities than the last 3 teams we played. We have players who play in First Division leagues around the world. Aston Villa. AC Milan. Rangers. Borussia Mönchengladbach. West Ham United.

They had no heart. Unless they were about to get throttled by "World Powers" like Slovenia. Many times they advanced deep and looked like they didn't even know each other. Bob Bradley has to go.

And that's NOT the best we've ever done, we made the quarterfinals in 2002 with Bruce Arena coaching. We were ranked 4th in the world. But the US needed a "fresh approach". How did that work out for ya?

I'm disappointed. Almost embarrassed.

The one advantage that Bob Bradley has going for him -- (the only advantage?) is what W. Bush called "the soft bigotry of low expectations" (who wrote that for him, I wonder? ).

The USA was arguably less well prepared than any team in the tourney. How do you give up soft goals in the first 15 minutes in three of four games if you're well prepared? I think it was Erik Wynalda doing the Chivas v FC Dallas game last night who asked the same questions, but in a very gentlemanly manner. Bradley is not the only one to blame in the US Soccer administration, but how, at this point in history -- after 15 years of MLS play can the US have developed no world-class strikers? And how could a defense that has been playing together for so long have allowed such easy opportunities to the opposition?

Let's go ahead and make wholesale substitutions! Do we have a hope for four years from now -- and beyond? If we do, it is on the backs of the youth. We have to bring people like McInerny along (slowly, yes, but better than we did with the Freddy Adus who proceeded him). USSoccer should be involved in getting players like McInerny, Gil, and the other kids who are "too good for college" placed at good European (or South American) training grounds, where they'll play consistently, at least with reserve squads, working their way up to top leagues like Serie A, La Liga, DFB and the Premiership/Championship. At this point, I fear Jozy Altidore has been wasted to history. AND, I really believe we must give the same serious look at the national youth program. Bringing the Colombian in to coach was a great move -- and not a minute too late. However his one World Cup with the U17s was a failure. We have to have a longer-term plan than four-years at a time. Sunil Gulati's own job has got to be under pressure at this point. What has HE accomplished in about 6 years at the helm of American soccer?

The good thing for Zips fans is that in four years time, we could well have several former players with USMNT caps. Follow the play of Kitchen this year and next. Look to see if Sarkodie has a break out year. Valentin is on track at this point to be a future star in the country. And looking at how the US backfield has played for 8+ years, they could get very serious looks before 2014 in Brasil.

[skip-zip]

I'll chime in before soccer slips into obscurity again.

I look beyond things like whether good young athletes are "pressured" into playing football or basketball. Or, the coaching, or the way we teach soccer.

I think the overwhelming factor here is that sports fans simply don't have the level of interest in the sport that they have in other countries. Just look at the college level. At the national championship game, you could probably count the people in the stands. With football or basketball, they're looking for ways to fit 100,000 or more into venues, and have hundreds of thousands more people who would go if they could only get in. Many Americans simply don't care much for this sport. A good number of people who showed interest in these World Cup games did so because it was a big, worldwide sporting event that had our beloved USA competing against other countries. And they wanted to see us beat some of these countries. I was sitting next to a guy in a bar watching the USA/Ghana game, and something happened during the game that nobody understood. The guy next to me said, "I don't know what just happened. I don't ever watch soccer". Yet, the guy was just as excited about the happenings in the game as anyone else in the place. I think this summed it up for me.

[tbozeglav]

At least they were watching the game, supporting our country's team and trying to have an interest in the sport.

[skip-zip]

At least they were watching the game, supporting our country's team and trying to have an interest in the sport.

Unfortunately, I think you are correct on the first two points, but probably not on the third. For whatever reason, many Americans just don't have any interest in this sport.