“Soccer will be on the same level as basketball, baseball and football … I know we can surpass hockey in the near future.”Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia
Fifty years after the greatest win in U.S. soccer history – a 1-0 upset of World Cup favorite England that was supposed to signify America’s futbol arrival – the national team is still trying to play catch-up with the rest of the planet. How much ground have they made up, and how far behind are they still? That depends on who you ask, and how you measure.
On Wednesday, the U.S. faces Barbados in a must-win World Cup qualifier in Foxboro, one of their biggest and most-scrutinized games ever. It will go a long way to determining whether America plays in their fourth straight World Cup.
The U.S. has made more progress in the last decade than in the 40 years beforehand, but the most recent soccer memory most Americans have is either the last-place debacle in World Cup ’98, or the disappointing 1-1 tie in Guatemala and 2-1 loss in Costa Rica in their first two qualifiers. A loss Wednesday could eliminate them from World Cup 2002 and set U.S. soccer back years.
“It’s not going to be the end of the world, but it would impede the progress and the momentum we have going. If we win, it’ll keep us going in a positive direction. If we don’t, it’ll set us back,” said U.S. Soccer Federation President Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia, who grew up in Great Neck and graduated from Columbia and SUNY-Brooklyn. “Soccer will be on the same level as basketball, baseball and football. I’m definite we will. I know we can surpass hockey in the near future. It won’t happen tomorrow, but it’s a matter of time.”
It could be a very long time. But at least the creation of Major League Soccer five years ago was a huge step, giving players a top-flight domestic league. Add the full-time residency program for top Under-17 players at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, and Project-40, a developmental team that lets high school and college players compete in the pro A-League where their skills can develop quickly.
And there’s Project 2010, created with the idea of winning that World Cup by that year. Considering powers like Holland and Spain have never won, the U.S.S.F later toned that down to being a legitimate contender by that time. U.S. goalie Kasey Keller admits he doesn’t know “if it can ever happen. It’ll take another 10 years to get competitive. Ten or 14 or 18 years.”
MetroStars midfielder Tab Ramos played for the U.S. in World Cups ’90, ’94 and ’98, and has seen the good and the bad and the ugly, from the late ’80s when many stateside journalists didn’t even know the game’s basic rules, to the team he’ll suit up for Wednesday, a team he calls the best he’s ever played on.
“In 1990 a lot of U.S. journalists went with the team to Italy since it was a new thing that nobody knew anything about. I actually had a reporter, after one of our games, ask me how many players played on the field. So I definitely think we’ve come a long way,” said the 34-year-old Ramos.
“Just the fact that people are interested, saying what happened in Costa Rica, shows (progress). But I think people forget that we’ve never won in Costa Rica, that we’ve never won in Guatemala. This is the best team we’ve ever had, and I think the next team will be even better. We’re in the Top 20; I can remember when weren’t in the Top 100.”
American fans have gotten spoiled quickly. The U.S. was 21st in this month’s FIFA rankings, and has made the last three World Cups, one of only 12 teams to do so. But they’re still far behind the world’s powers because the growth of soccer in this country had been completely stagnant from 1950 to their next World Cup appearance in 1990.
The national team didn’t play a single friendly in 1981, and only one each in ’82 and ’83. Compare the 34 games they played in ’93 to the 34 they played from 1950 to ’71 and it’s obvious why the sport never developed. MLS is the biggest key to changing that.
“Clearly the MLS, that’s a runaway No. 1,” said national team coach Bruce Arena, a Brooklynite. “No. 2 would be the quality of young players going into the pro ranks. Third is having a soccer environment they can play in, see on TV and in stadiums. Some people might be frustrated at the (growth) of the MLS, but people forget what the NHL looked like 20 years ago, what the NFL and NBA looked like in their early stages.”
The MLS has indeed improved rapidly in its five years, both on and off the pitch. Newcastle United of the English Premier League played a two-game U.S. exhibition tour, losing 3-1 to D.C. United, and star forward Alan Shearer gushed over the Americans’ improvement.
“America is definitely on the right track when it comes to football,” Shearer told the Bergen Record, who as captain scored both goals in England’s 2-0 win over the U.S. in ’94. “I was very impressed by their performance out there. Times have certainly changed. The Americans play an attractive brand of football.”
Newcastle coach Bobby Robson sounded like sour grapes when he sniffed “They’ve got the money. They’ve got the power. There should be no reason they shouldn’t make this work.” But Arena estimated Newcastle is worth about $700 million. And what was the entry fee for the original 10 MLS clubs five years ago? Just $5 million. Some British players could afford that while MetroStars all-star Mike Petke makes just $30,000.
“The MLS’ growth is going to impact everything below it. We’ve always had the numbers, what we didn’t have is something there impacting (kids) on a daily basis,” Arena said. “In this country, we do things backwards. In Europe, the top 100 young players in that area will be involved with the team in town on a daily basis. Imagine the top 100 kids in New York involved with the MetroStars in some way.”
America’s greatest resources remain untapped – inner-city youth. Kids from poor communities often slip through the cracks of a flawed system that emphasizes ‘sanctioned’ leagues and paid tryouts.
“I hope we develop a system where we can spot and get the best players available. I don’t think we’ve done that yet. Look not just in the (sanctioned) leagues, but go to the parks, find the best talent,” said Ramos, who was born in Uruguay and attended Newark’s St. Benedicts H.S. Such plans are in the works with the National Team Development Program’s scouting system.
“We’ll scout from the grass roots up. Talented players will be sought out and identified, and put with high quality clubs across the country,” said Contiguglia. “Will it just be the suburban white kid? No. Right now players are identified through tryouts; but they’ve got to show up and pay money. We’re trying to identify kids out there in their own clubs. That’s important.”
More important than anything that happens Wednesday; possibly the most important this regime will do for the sport.
