After more than 60 matches, a scintillating group stage that cut the 32 team field in half, and a knockout round that had its share of storylines and drama, the 2014 FIFA World Cup is now down to its final two teams. Germany and Argentina will clash this coming Sunday at one of global soccer’s most storied venues, the Estadio do Maracaná in Rio de Janeiro, for a chance to win the trophy that every soccer player in the world dreams of hoisting above his head. This will be the third time these two soccer powers have faced each other in the World Cup Final. Argentina defeated the Germans 3-2 in 1986, and Germany returned the favor 4 years later with a 1-0 triumph in 1990. Ironically enough, both teams are in search of their first World Cup title since then. It’s a proverbial rubber match 24 years in the making.
Of course, it was just over a week ago when the United States men’s national team’s journey came to an end with a thrilling, hard fought 2-1 extra time defeat to Belgium. Much has been said since then regarding the team’s performance in Brazil and what it means going forward for the sport of soccer in this country, both short-term as well as long-term. It cannot be argued that the sport has made enormous inroads over the past two decades or so, both in the quality of play on the field and the level of fan interest when the quadrennial global festival known as the World Cup comes along. Nowhere was this more evident than in the fact that Team USA qualified for the knockout round out of the most difficult group in Brazil, and in observing the legions of fans who congregated in city parks, stadiums, bars, etc. to watch the team go head to head with the four opponents they faced.
Having followed the US men’s soccer team since they qualified for their first World Cup in 40 years back in 1990, it really is inspiring to see the manner in which the sport has evolved in this country over the past 25 years or so. In that period of time, our side has gone from a ragtag group of college kids and minor league pros barely able to compete at the highest level to one full of talented, multimillionaire athletes and regarded globally as a Top 15 team. More and more kids are playing soccer at the youth level, as indicated by US Youth Soccer statistics which show that there are almost twice as many registered players (3.02 million) now as there were back in 1990 (1.615 million). Our professional league, Major League Soccer, has continued to improve and its existence has been absolutely essential in developing top-level professionals. The league has also made significant progress in attendance, even surpassing that of established top-flight domestic leagues in Brazil and Argentina in recent years.
As a television and digital media product in the US, World Cup soccer has never been more popular. Team USA’s second group match against Portugal, along with their Round of 16 loss to Belgium, were the two highest rated soccer games in American TV history. Both eclipsed viewership of deciding games at the most recent NBA Finals & World Series. According to AL.com, only 3 college football games during the 2014 bowl season had more viewers. What’s even more astounding about these ratings numbers is that they don’t even include the massive communal viewing of the games we saw across the country or watching them through ESPN’s online/app feature, which is becoming a larger trend as broadband technology becomes increasingly prevalent.
It should also be said that the time window of a soccer game tends to be very TV-friendly with its 2 halves of play virtually uninterrupted by stoppages or commercials and the games’ relatively short 2 hour duration. In today’s attention span-deprived world, such a format, regardless of statistics or perceived paucity of scoring should, in theory, attract that all-important 18-34 demographic TV networks tend to gear their programming towards. Add in the growing juxtaposition between TV and social media and the potential for continued growth of interest domestically cannot be underestimated. For example, Germany’s 7-1 demolition of Brazil on Tuesday ranks as the most tweeted-about sporting event of all time, and it wasn’t just coming from abroad. My Twitter account was full of non-soccer American athletes and personalities giving their 144-character-or-less take on the game.
If we are to isolate this discussion to the direction that American soccer is headed as this year’s World Cup comes to an end, there are still glaring issues that need to be addressed if the sport is going to capitalize on the fervor which gripped our nation during the past month and take the next step in its evolution: becoming a part of world soccer’s elite. It’s clear to me from our performance in Brazil that though we’re closer than we’ve ever been at anytime in our soccer history, we’re not quite there yet. I know I’ve praised MLS in terms of what it’s done for player development and where it has come since its inception, but I’m still of the belief that our top players need to ply their trade in the top European leagues if they are to realize their full potential on the global stage, at least right now. Some, not all, of the MLS-based players looked thoroughly overwhelmed against Germany and Belgium. There was simply not enough quality midfield play. Michael Bradley was a turnover machine, and I think he would’ve done better to stay with Roma as opposed to moving to Toronto FC.
Soccer in the United States is still missing that transcendent goal-scoring maestro in the mold of a Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Let’s face it, our culture has always been geared towards love of offense, and it’s this perceived characteristic of soccer that has continually hamstrung it in the eyes of the sport’s skeptics here. Do you wonder why the NFL keeps trying to castrate defensive play so that quarterbacks can put up ridiculous stats and the multi-billion dollar fantasy football industry can remain happy? There’s no doubt that we have an elite level goalkeeper in Tim Howard, but the cynic in me wants to think that the aforementioned skeptics are saying, “The only position America has a chance to dominate in world soccer is goalie since it’s the only position where you can use your hands!” When US soccer can produce a player that is one part supremely gifted global superstar forward a la Messi, another part big time brand like LeBron, and one more part marketing darling in the mold of Peyton Manning, our program will take another step towards not only being able to compete at the World Cup, but having the capability to realize that childhood dream every soccer player in the world has of holding the trophy in their hands and raising it in ecstatic jubilation.
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