Analysis of US Soccer win

Soccer is a passion of mine, and I was deliriously happy after the US beat Spain in the Confederations Cup. Since I'm so much in the habit of writing frequently, I started thinking about how I would explain the significance of the win to a non-soccer fan. Having finished it and been largely pleased with it, on a lark I sent it to the local newspaper, The Winchester Sun. One must expect editorial changes, and while I'm not crazy with some of them, I was very pleased they gave some column inches in the paper to share my thoughts.



UPDATE: The link to the July 25th Winchester Sun article, now requires a login, so I'm including the full text here on the page:

One Giant Leap

By Jason McKinley Williams

Very rarely, soccer elbows its way into the consciousness of the typical American sports fan. Usually, the news is either something negative or it involves the personal life of David Beckham. Less common is the story heralding some purportedly significant event in US Soccer history: defeating Brazil in some exhibition game, or the nationalization of teenage sensation Freddy Adu.

The US Soccer team’s 2 – 0 victory over Spain in the Confederations Cup on Wednesday falls into this last category. But, this story is different. It actually is a red letter date for the sport in this country.

The Confederations Cup pits the champions of various continental tournaments against one another, along with the host country and the current World Cup winners. After being placed in a round-robin group with Brazil and world champions Italy, most pundits assumed the US would fail miserably, and the US team dutifully complied with those assumptions once the tournament started. Having been thrashed by those two powerhouses, they entered the last group game needing to defeat Egypt by 3 goals, and hoping that Brazil would defeat Italy by at least 3 goals. A fairly hopeless proposition.

Except, that is exactly what happened.

The reward for that gutsy performance was a date with Spain, widely seen as the best team on the planet and favorites for next year’s World Cup. The Spaniards had not been beaten in 35 straight games (tying a record) and had won 15 straight games (also a record). The ESPN.COM pre-game commentary on the match bluntly revealed the expected result: “Hello and welcome to Spain's thrashing of the US.”

Except, that was not exactly what happened.

The US played aggressive, well organized soccer. The wise strategy against a superior team is to play solid defense, stay compact, and look for chances to score on a fast-break counter attack. The US executed that plan perfectly.

More significantly, they fought with a determination and fervor that was stirring to behold. Visibly exhausted players raced at full speed to interrupt the nonstop Spanish attack. Players flung themselves into the path of shots on goal. At a huge talent disadvantage to the gifted Spaniards, our national team responded with intelligence and heart.

In the end, the US did what England, Germany, Italy, France, and many others had failed to do since Spain’s streak started in the fall of 2006—they convincingly defeated the best team in the world. Not in an exhibition with experimental line-ups, but in a significant international competition facing some of the best players in the world.

Roughly a year ahead of next summer’s World Cup, the result gives clear evidence that the US team is, at blinding speed, making progress toward becoming a legitimate player on the world stage. It is the dream of every long suffering soccer fan, and increasingly, the dream of children racing around parks all over this country.

Today, that dream leaped closer to reality.