How Big Was That WIN?
by Dave Clark on Jun 23, 2010 12:23 PM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
27 comments
I think that's an easy question to answer, but the answer exists on so many levels.
- Big Enough that I will be co-hosting an hour of soccer talk on KJR-AM (that's 950) with Dick Fain. This will include World Cup talk, some listener calls and Taylor Graham. Eight PM Tonight!
- Logically it wasn't as big as the victory of Spain in the Confederations Cup
- Emotionally it was bigger
What are your thoughts on the victory? Anyone want to name their first born Landon? Is this the start of something bigger?
Again - the United States won a Group Stage in a World Cup for only the second time (1930, you remember that right?). The USA finished higher than England. Landon Donovan has two goals in the Cup.
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I’m speechless. I can’t find the words to describe how I feel right now.
Columbus til I die, Columbus til I die. I know I am, I swear I am, Columbus til I die!
"Turner, at midcourt...inside it, at the buzzer, GOT IT!!!!"
We're the Big Ten, who the F@*# are YOU??!?!?!
by Andrew Tolliver on Jun 23, 2010 12:36 PM PDT reply actions
Check out how the bracket is taking shape
A semi-final appearance is within the realm of possibility.
by PeterJH on Jun 23, 2010 3:23 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Big, but expected
Listen I love that we won, god knows my heart can’t take many more matches like the last two, but weren’t we supposed to win this one? Didn’t we really dominate the match? Maybe it is the drama of how we won that has caused everyone to react this way, it was without a doubt the most exciting finish of a match in a long time, and I think it was the best match of the Cup so far.
It is huge, but bigger things are to come.
First group win in U.S. history
I’d say it’s a pretty big deal
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by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 23, 2010 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions
1930?
Or are we not counting this one?
by magistermilitum on Jun 23, 2010 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions
80 years of frustration
It’s been a long road from not making the Cup from 1950 – 1990 to the team we have now. It took a lot of work way way way out of the spotlight by a lot of people to get us to this point. I kid you not, when Landon slotted home that goal, it felt like my whole time as a soccer fan had been waiting for that moment. The moment where skill met expectation met execution.
Yeah, I hope we do well in the next couple rounds, but it still feels like a moment of arrival for US soccer.
Sure
But the fact is we have not won these games in the past. Even in 2002 we backed into the round of 16. This is big precisely because we did dominate and won a tough game we were supposed to win.
by brokejumper on Jun 23, 2010 10:24 PM PDT up reply actions
In your opinion, which one(s) were better and why?
by Coug1990 on Jun 24, 2010 8:10 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Errr, let's see
leafing back through matches The first matches p much all sucked.
Serbia-Germany 1-0 had better offensive football
Japan-Netherlands 0-1 and Switzerland-Spain 0-1 had much better defensive football
And overall better in quality of play were, I dunno, pick any, Ivory Coast-Portugal 0-0, Brazil-Ivory Coast 3-1, mebbe Ghana-Germany 0-1
Honestly in most World Cups I could pick most of any match, but this has been an exceedingly poor World Cup. As such, this match wasn’t one of the worst, but it wasn’t the best.
Thanks. I will not ever say that the US match was the best quaility because it was not
It was exciting though and yes, especially for us here in the states.
It is still my contention that the group stages always have poor play and as the lesser teams get eliminated, the quality of play picks up.
I was asked where I expect the USA to have their run end
I said round of 8, but if things break right the SemiFinals.
Uraguay will be a tough opponent but a USA v South Korea Rd of 8 would be a great opportunity.
USA is at 18% chance for semis right now.
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Suazo or Forlan vs. Bornstein? That could get ugly.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Not bigger than the victory over Spain in the Confed Cup??
Are you nuts?? A Victory that tops your group in the WC and Galvanizes support at home for a team and a sport that desparately lacks exposure domestically and internationally. Really? that a pretty bizarre view. I mean, USSF doesn’t spend millions developing a team for the Confed cup. Its only the WC that counts for anything!!
"Kia Kaha" -be strong
Spain was ranked #1 in the world
So yes, that win is bigger in some ways and I wouldn’t say that it is a bizarre view. The confed cup is basically a preview/practice for the world cup. You are right that no one spends millions prepping directly for the confed cup, but they do spend millions prepping for a world cup and part of that preperation is ideally tournaments like the confed cup. To say that beating the #1 ranked team in the world, a team that hadn’t lost in 35 matches and had WON 15 straight.
The win also put the USA in a FIFA final for the first time in the history of our federation. Not a small feat. The world cup is a big prize, but the Confederations cup is also a big prize and beating a team like Spain in a major tournament is every bit as important as beating an Algerian team that the USA should beat.
Final point, without the tournaround in the confederations cup last summer, without beating Spain and nearly beating Brazil, the USA is probably not expected to do as well this summer and would lack some of the confidence that comes with beating Spain. The number of times the players have referenced that experience as they prepped for the world cup is telling of just how big that victory was for the federation, the players, and as a result for the country.
To be fair, no one really cares about the Confed Cup
It sounds like a really big prize, and it’s very true that beating Spain was very impressive, but it’s like the FIFA Club World Cup: the bigger teams don’t really care about it as it’s seen as a second-tier tournament.
That said, it was certainly a big win for the USA team itself and soccer in the USA. But for people outside the USA, I’d say that any World Cup performance is seen as more telling of quality than a Confederations Cup performance.
I agree, A win over Spain is always impressive.
But, it is the difference in being an actor performing at the 5th Ave in Seattle or performing on Broadway. Performing at the 5th ave is very nice, but Broadway is what it is all about.
Making the Final inexpectantly
Vs winning a group stage when expected to just finish second.
At this point the USA is only marginally better than people thought. Confeds Cup they were much better.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
by Dave Clark on Jun 24, 2010 11:11 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
as for theater analogy
Lead Role on 5th Ave. against a supporting role on Broadway
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Sounder At Heart
by Dave Clark on Jun 24, 2010 11:23 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Being a role player on a MLB teams bench
Or being a great player in the minors, but never making it to the Majors.
The minors are filled with players who rake it in the minors, but are not good enough for the show.
Another thought
I do understand your point and do not necessarily disagree with it. Take the context out and a win over the Worlds number one ranked team in Spain is much better than a win over Algeria any day.
Yes
But in order to ever make it in the show, you have to perform in the minors. The confederations cup is the minors of FIFA tournaments, there is no argument about that. But the USA hit a grand slam after striking out early, and that helps with confidence that they could perform on the biggest stage.
That is not necessarily true. There are countless players who never did well in the minors whose talent was such that they made it to the majors
Randy Johnson was not not a good minor league player and struggled his first several years.
But, to me this is almost like arguing about which child you love most. They are both achievements. I
However, I know that the US played Brazil in the finals of the last Confederations Cup. But, beyond that I couldn’t tell you any of the other past winners.
But, I can tell you that Italy won the last World Cup and before them it was Brazil (2002), France (1998) and Brazil (1994).
Yes, I agree
I wasn’t arguing that the world cup performance isn’t more important and valuable. Just that I don’t view the win yesterday as hugely more important than the win over Spain.
We were expected to advance. And we should beat Algeria. Winning the group is great, but that has as much to do with England not performing as the US performing.
While the confederations cup isn’t as important and isn’t a huge deal as a tournament, the match against Spain was a huge moment for the US. If the level of importance is a combination of how important the venue is, meeting or exceeding expectations, and who the opponent is, the World Cup wins by a landslipe on venue but the confederations cup win was a better opponent and lower expectations.
For most sports fans in the US, soccer might have “arrived” when Donovan’s goal went in. But for soccer fans, this has been a wave that is just cresting now.
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