Every four years, the world's sport gets center stage for the World Cup, so I feel obligated to devote a certain amount of coverage to it. Sure, there are more entertaining stories in sports right now, especially with Jay Mariotti taking his whining to an entirely new level, but I did have to send off the World Cup in proper fashion, so here are 18 things I think about the World Cup and Team USA.
Of course, I had some help with this piece, as I watched the game with someone who really knows soccer. I watched USA take on Ghana with a player who barely missed out on making the U.S. national team, despite his mediocre soccer game. He did score three goals in an indoor soccer game against team Mexico the night before, so he was more qualified than I.
1. Claudio Reyna is bad for the team. He's lazy and a weak player. The first goal Ghana scored was completely his fault. Analysts say it was a big blow to the U.S. team to lose him, but honestly, they would've been better off if he hadn't played that game.
2. "He better be freaking hurt," my friend said after a replay of the goal. "He couldn't pressure the guy to make a mistake, he couldn't even get up to try. It's the biggest game of his freaking life. He better not be able to play the rest of this game. Hell, he better not be able to play the rest of the year. He betrayed us." I think the verbal assault is as bad as it gets for soccer players that give up easy goals. If this was a lesser-developed country, Reyna may have been shot. Of course, there's that same risk when you pickup part-time work as a limo driver for an NBA player.
3. Soccer fans take soccer very personally. Minutes after he came back in the game, my friend is already berating Reyna again. "If you make a mistake, do you fall down and quit? That's not what a player does. That's not what a man does."
4. Ghana's defensive positioning is very good, I'm told. I simply nod in approval.
5. Reyna comes out of the game to the applause of American soccer fans. This serves only to further antagonize my friend. "Don't applaud for him, Boo him! Boo him right off of the field! Leadership? What leadership does he bring to the table? From being a [insert name of female anatomy]? I don't think so."
6. I can't stand the diving. I just cannot take it. It's terrible. I have so much trouble respecting a sport when players treat the game with the integrity of a Jay Mariotti. Why don't the great players, like a Ronaldinho, dive and roll around every time someone thinks about sneezing?
7. The Americans score as soon as Reyna got off the field. I predict now that he's retiring, the U.S. will begin scoring between 7-12 goals per game in international play now. I just hope Landon Donovan is finished with his career, as well.
8. Ghana takes a 2-1 lead because of a dive. The Americans lose because they refuse to embrace the cowardice of the game. A few more well-place dives and the Americans could be leading. I have a problem rewarding spinelessness, but evidently, soccer doesn't care.
9. In the end, it's not the diving that prevents us from being a decent soccer team — it's the fact that we don't have any great soccer players. We don't do anything special. Great teams have one or two great players that do great things, but the closest thing we have to a great player is Landon Donovan, a great goal scorer who hasn't scored in 18 games of international play. That's ... Reyna-like.
10. I understand soccer, I enjoy the occasional game, and I do find it entertaining and exciting. What I don't understand, though, is how we can't capitalize on the shady side of soccer. Like the goalie for Ghana is making that much money? The right price could turn a goalie kick into an American goal. It would be interesting to take the American approach to the World Cup and attempt to buy a World Cup. I'm sure that would win plenty of favor with the rest of the world.
The Sports Gospel According to Mark is sponsored by BetOnSports.com. All readers get a 10% signup bonus at BetOnSports by entering "Sports Gospel Promo" as the promo code. Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday on SC. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].
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