Hey Soccer Fans!. It has been a few days and wanted to reconnect with you. No more Memorial soccer . Ugh! I am almost over that loss. Almost. Starting to get excited for the High School Girls season just around the corner, that will be fun to chronicle as well. I have some plans for a few fun posts in the near future. Thanksgiving week will allow some time to hit you with a few extra posts!
World Cup
So, let’s talk some World Cup News. I will start with a recap of a post I wrote on October 10th, the last World Cup qualifying game for the US team (USMNT). It was a tough night.
Weird Night Continues. Just finished catching updates on the US Men’s National Team in their effort to qualify for the World Cup. They were playing the last team in the 6-team group, Trinidad and Tobago, who had not won a game in like three years, no seriously, they were not good. Should be an easy win. Plus, a win or tie would allow them to advance. They are in a great position. They lose 2-1 and one of the goals is an own goal. Shocking! But still a chance to advance. If Mexico beats Honduras and they are favored as the top team in the group, we advance. A late goal by Honduras beats Mexico 3-2. Stunning! But still a chance. If Costa Rica beats Panama and they are favored, then the US will advance. A late goal by Panama beats Costa Rica 2-1. Devastating! I can’t believe I am writing this, the US Men’s National Team does NOT qualify for the World Cup. For a soccer fan who just started a soccer blog, this is depressing. However bad I felt after the Memorial game, this is worse. This really, really sucks.
It still is amazing to think about all the scenarios that played out that night that ended up with the US team OUT of the World Cup Tournament. The most important tournament in Soccer. Since then there have been two developments that have made me feel slightly better about the US team missing out on qualifying.
Italy Knocked Out of the World Cup 2018
Let that sink in for a moment. Italy is not in the World Cup. I have been scanning articles about their loss to Sweden and here are a few quick takes from reading.
National shame….Apocalypse…a historic gaffe…you get the picture. Italy is a soccer crazed nation. Imagine rolling up all the NFL fans, NBA fans, MLB fans into one big group. That’s soccer in Italy. If you think Wisconsin is crazy about their Badgers and Packers, double that for the National Soccer team in Italy. I mean imagine if Green Bay was knocked out of the NFL league for suffering a string of losses to the Cleveland Browns and for a year they could not even compete for the Super Bowl title. Just imagine that, it would send shock waves thru the fan base and the entire football community. That’s what happened! Italy, one of the cornerstones of World Football, out of the World Cup.
Lets share a bit of Italy World Cup history. Italy is one of the most successful national teams in World Cup history. They have won the World Cup 4 times…1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006. They have participated in 18 of the 21 tournaments, the second most frequent along with Germany and have reached the finals 6 times, along with a third and fourth place finish. The choose not to participate in 1930, did not qualify in 1958 and now did not qualify for 2018. Wow! After Brazil with 5 world Cup wins, Italy is tied with Germany with 4 world Cup titles. One of the Top 3 most famous National Teams is out of the World Cup. I still don’t believe it. It certainly takes some of the sting out of the US loss. If I start to get bummed about the US, I just quickly think about how the Italian fans feel and then, I don’t feel so bad. It really is shocking.
Netherlands Knocked out of the World Cup.
Not quite as shocking, but still pretty amazing. Netherlands has finished 2nd THREE times in the World Cup as well as a third place and a fourth place finish. Some of the best footballers in the world come out of the Dutch system of play. They revolutionized soccer training in the 70’s when the finished 2nd in 1974 and 1978. Ajax Football club and their best player Johan Cruyff led the charge, he even has a nifty little foot skill named after him. Everyone started to train like the Dutch. And now….no world Cup.
US History at the World Cup
So what about the US team. Let’s take a look. In the very first World Cup (1930) the US team won two games and lost their third to finish in third place. Their best finish ever and the best finish of any country outside of South America or Europe. 16 teams were part of that first World Cup. In what is called the “Miracle on Grass”, the US team stunned the soccer world with a 1-0 defeat of the top team in the world at that time, England, in the 1950 World Cup. It is considered the greatest win ever by a US Men’s team.
It was 40 years until their next tournament, qualifying for the 1990 World Cup on the last day of qualification with a defeat of Trinidad and Tobago (they got their revenge on us this year). 1954 marked a stretch of 9 straight tournaments missed over a span of 40 years. Ouch.
1990 marked a string of 7 straight appearances in the World Cup for the US team. Our best stretch ever. The top finishes include an 8th place finish in 2002 (Quarterfinals) and reaching the Round of 16 Knock Out stage in 1994, 2010 and 2014. In total the USMNT has participated in 10 tournaments in World Cup history.
USWNT History
So, this is a completely different story. I will have more to say on this as we approach the 2019 women’s World Cup, but suffice it to say our Women’s Team is the dominant force in World Cup soccer. We are the Brazil of the Women’s game. There have been 7 Women’s World cups (first in 1991). The US Record is quite impressive. We have won the tournament 3 times (1991, 1999, 2015), finished second (2011) and third place 3 times (1995, 2003, 2007). They have never finished lower than third in the 7 tournaments. Wow! Come on boys! The girls are killing it!
Future Posts
Planning on another Memorial Season Wrap Up: Volume 3 with an update on post season awards; 8 of our Memorial boys were recognized as part of their All Conference Teams. I am waiting on the full teams to drop a post. As well a post of next years team and who will step up and fill the void of a solid senior class.
Planning a little write-up on Futsal. If you have not experienced Futsal, i think you will enjoy the post. A fun, fast paced game that is critical for player development.
Planning a post on the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League in the coming months as well.
That’s it for now. Keep checking us out and I will keep the posts coming.