Soccer Rules

Joe Gaetjens secured his place in US Soccer history on the 29th of June 1950. His goal secured the ‘miracle on grass’ as the USA beat England, then the self-proclaimed kings of soccer. On Sunday 11th July 2010, just over sixty years to the day since Gaetjens famous striker, is it possible that another US soccer player could write his name into the history books by scoring the goal that puts the USA on top of the soccer world?

Whilst qualification for next summers tournament is not yet guaranteed, heading the group entering the last two rounds of matches and a trip to Honduras following a 2-1 win in Chicago may, if other results go their way, render the visit of Costa Rica in the final match immaterial. A 3-1 reverse in San Jose put a dent in the US’ hopes but the 4-0 thrashing handed out to their last opponents by their next opponents in August gave Bob Bradley’s boys renewed belief that securing their place for South Africa 2010 is in their own hands.

A number of teams have already been confirmed for the live World Cup finals to be hosted in South Africa and include some familiar faces and some more surprising. Brazil carry on their record of never missing a tournament and are also joined by Paraguay from the CONCACAF rounds. Argentina a previous winner of the World Cup is yet to fire on all cylinders under Diego Maradonna and qualification is far from secure. The World crown has never left the continents of South America and Europe and the latter will also produce strong challengers. So far, they include1966 winners England, reigning European Champions Spain, and the Netherlands who are former European Champions and widely considered to be the best side never to have won the World Cup.

2002 joint hosts Japan and South Korea have both qualified as have Australia. North Korea make a surprise appearance after a 44 year absence from the tournament. Ghana became the first CAF side to qualify for the World Cup finals with South Africa gaining automatic qualification as the tournament hosts.  

The US MNT currently lie 11th on FIFA’s ranking list, lower than 3 of the above teams and with another 2-3 almost certain to join them in South Africa as a minimum. Yet all bets are off once the World Cup finals begins as more often than not previous results are not a necessary prerequisite for tournament success.

The United States national side took place in the first 2 World Cup tournaments back in the 1930s and then in the 1950 tournament hosted by Brazil. However, without an established domestic league and overshadowed by other popular sports in the US, soccer maintained only a minority following. That changed in 1990 when qualification for the finals, on the back of FIFA awarding the 1994 tournament to the US in return for a promise to establish what is now the MLS, when despite losing all three group games the US raised their head above the parapet in the soccer world. Three subsequent qualifications for the tournaments in France, Korea/Japan and Germany in 2006 have raised international expectations of US performance. Indeed, France ‘98 saw the USA reach the quarter final stage losing to eventual finalists Germany by a single goal in a controversial match.

The current batch of players to enter the national team come from leagues and competitions home and overseas. Record breaking Landon Donovan may play in the MLS for LA Galaxy alongside David Beckham but many of his international team mates ply their trade abroad.

Some of the higher profile players of the squad include DaMarcus Beasley of Rangers, Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey currently playing for Fulham and ex Man U keeper Tim Howard currently plying his trade with Everton. However, the list of US internationals on the rosters of foreign clubs continues to grow with representatives of the national squad also in Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Mexico to name but a further four.

With the tournament itself scheduled to take place during the South African winter, the players from North American but with European experience should find the climate to their liking. Other than blips in 1994 and 2002 the trend in recent years seems to be for countries from the host continent to win the main tournament. Brazil have always been he exception to the rule with wins in ’94 and ’02 but the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Africa for the first time produces an interesting question – who will acclimatise best and enjoy the most success?

The women’s equivalent of the United States national team have experienced success in the Olympics and World Cup tournaments in recent history. As the MLS increases the popularity of the game known to the rest of the globe as ‘football’, the ability of the men to step up to the plate and produce their own piece of history will only grow as more and more players register opening up soccer as a game to those athletes who would previously have been lost to track and field, basketball, baseball, hockey, football….the list goes on.

England’s national game for over a century has produced a single set of World Champions. Meanwhile an impoverished Brazil have picked up 5 separate triumphs and achieved a great reputation amongst neutral supporters worldwide. The combination of available population, facilities, ability to attract the best in the world to both play and train is present in very few nations – the US is one of those. And if all these pros come into play one day, a new order may well have started in World Cup soccer.