Bohemian Rape-sody
>> Monday
(Sorry if that title offends anyone, but espn.com already stole "Czech Mate.")
Since our resident soccer expert Mike is frolicking around Italy this week, I have taken it upon myself to be the "soccer guy" for a few days until he gets back. By which I mean I will write about the U.S.'s blowout loss tonight and then never write about soccer again.
As I've said before, I don't claim to know a ton about soccer. Nor am I all gung ho about the U.S. doing well in this World Cup. (Sorry, I'm just not a very patriotic person.) But there are a few things I do care about and understand--namely hype, logic, random probability, the inconclusivity of short tournaments, and sports in general.
Without looking at the U.S.'s results from international play since the last World Cup, I do realize that, on the whole, they have been more successful than in the past and have not simply ridden the '02 Cup hype train to a #5 FIFA ranking (which I know is meaningless, but throw me a bone here). However, I also strongly believe that the high expectations--especially from the largely soccer-ignorant public like myself--has almost everything to do with the '02 run and, furthermore, with the assumption that the '02 run was a sole product of a rapidly improving U.S. soccer program.
But anyone that watched the last World Cup remembers how much luck went into a couple of those wins (and into a particular Portugal loss). The expectation that the improvement from '98 to '02 would somehow duplicate itself from '02 to '06 was rather absurd. Using parallel logic, I guess those who believed in a U.S. World Cup title should be booking a George Mason national basketball title in Vegas right about now.
As far as I'm concerned, it would really blow if the U.S. won the World Cup. Why cheer for a country that only pays attention to the sport for a few weeks every four years over populaces and players that live and die (quite literally, under some regimes) by their World Cup success? The 0.7% ratings share right now bemoaning a Carolina Stanley Cup victory over a Canadian franchise knows exactly what I mean.
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2 comments:
Grazie, Vinnie.
The thing that no one seems to understand is that just getting to the 32-team finals is an accomplishment in its self. After that, it's more or less a crapshoot in the group stages, since the teams are chosen by random draw.
Going out in the first round may be disappointing, but is by no means shameful. Some other teams to have gone out in the first round in recent years include France, Uruguay, Poland, Portugal, and Argentina. Good teams like Ireland and Turkey didn't even make it to the finals this year. Last night (afternoon)'s performance looked pretty bad on TV, but the Czechs are one of the most offensively prolific teams in Europe (see my World Cup Preview). I was hoping to see some organization in the second half, but all in all, expected a result similar to this one.
Didn't France actually fail to make the knock-out rounds in '02 after winning in '98? (Granted, it was on home turf, but still.)
Also, how dare you steal my mom's family's ancestors' language! Just for that, I'm cheering for Italy on Saturday.
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