U.S. Men’s Soccer Is Far From Glory

At the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the U.S. men’s soccer team pulled off the unthinkable. They beat England. This result reverberated around the soccer world as the U.S. team was made up of part-time players. England on the other hand was full of seasoned veterans. Players who made a living off soccer. It is one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, and rightly so, but as great as that result was, it is still the best result the men’s team has had. That was 70 years ago, and yet here we are.  Since the inception of the World Cup in 1930 the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT), the USMNT has never made it past the quarterfinals of the World Cup. That’s not good. We are also far from improving on that result.

Last Sunday, the current USMNT beat Mexico 3-2 in the final of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League. The current squad put out by head coach Gregg Berhalter is by far the best the U.S. has had in years. Full of young talent who have (smartly) plied their trade in Europe, they showed exactly why we as Americans should be so excited about the future of our national team. Led by “Captain America” Christian Pulisic, the USMNT came from 2-1 down to beat Mexico in extra time. Pulisic scored a 114^th minute penalty to give the USMNT the lead. Helped by a brilliant late penalty save by backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, this victory was by far the biggest the U.S. has had in years. It is important to note however that this victory was against an aging Mexican side. The average age of the Mexican team was 28 years old, compared 24 years old for the U.S.

While the USMNT has improved as of late, the biggest roadblock to any sort of challenge on the international stage remains the youth system, or lack thereof. In countries which have had the most success on the international stage the youth systems have been vital. Teams send scouts all over the world and will sign players as early as six years old. Those kids are then given an education on the field, and in the classroom. Teams pay the families of the kids to keep them on their roster and nurture their soccer skills. In the U.S. it is the exact opposite. “Pay to play” has always been the way to break into the elite status of youth sports in the U.S., and youth soccer is no different. If you want to get better at a sport and play with better players, you must fork out absurd amounts of money.  When I played baseball as a kid, I was half decent. I played at a tournament in Watertown, Wisconsin and some coaches from an AAU team asked my parents if I would like to join their team. Naturally, myself and my family were excited for the opportunity but there was a catch. They invited me to play on their team and then requested that my parents fork out $800 dollars for me to play on the team. Imagine being invited to a party, then told you must buy all the beer, all the snacks, and provide the house for the party. That is essentially what it is like to try and become an elite youth athlete.

If you look at professional sports in the United States, we have the best leagues in the world for baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. This suggests that we have the best athletes in the world as well. This also suggests that we should have the best soccer players in the world because arguably, soccer players are the best athletes in the world. Soccer players must be strong, quick, full of stamina, and in better shape than pretty much anyone else on the planet. In a country of 330 million people, one would think that we could find 11 guys who could take us to World Cup glory. But as it stands, we can only find eleven guys who can beat an aging Mexican team.

While many of the players on the current USMNT apply their trade in Europe, a major overhaul of our national youth soccer system is needed to make any sort of impact on the international stage. It is worth noting that players like Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna, and Timothy Weah moved to Europe at a very young age to improve their game. Hope is certainly not lost on the USMNT, but in the current state of the youth system in the U.S., players must move to Europe to become elite. Another thing that can give U.S. fans hope is that this current crop of players has been playing together for years and will continue to play together. They will have the ability to grow and gel together like few generations before them.

Sunday’s victory against Mexico was a great showcase of what can come for U.S. soccer, and hopefully this victory can propel U.S. soccer in the right direction. But if we do not change the way that we view and treat soccer in this country, we will never fully reach the potential this great nation has.