by J. Brett Whitesell
ESPN missed it, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, and Bob Ley, just didn’t get it. Once again they showed their direct responsibility, as media, for their part in the failure, or lack of legitimate growth in the fan base of American Soccer. During the entire Women’s World Cup Final, staging the U.S. Women’s National Team and Japan, the audience couldn’t escape the greatness of the U.S. in 1991 and 1999. There was a constant barrage of powerful cliché’s, even a comparison to basketball, as they described the greatest team on earth, which of course, is also the greatest nation on earth. Odd there was nothing about 1995 and 2003. True there was the occasional mention of the luck Japan had arriving to the final match on Sunday, and some of their top players, just not as enthusiastically.
In the Penalties, again it was all about 1999 all over again with the U.S. Team battling China. When it was over Japan had saved the first penalty kick and the third, an amazing performance. However, ESPN, Foudy and the lot went on about how the U.S. lost, making constant reference to all the chances the American’s had, how they fought an uphill battle to get there, how they came together as a family, but blew it in the end. That’s not what it was about at all.
Somewhere in America next weekend there will be a U-16 summer tournament where great teams will play and some not so great. There will be hugely financed, experienced, and professionally coached metropolitan teams from Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, and Central New Jersey, playing in this tournament where they have the luxury of having teams staffed completely with 15 and 16 year old players. But then there will be the one team from somewhere in the middle of West Virginia that has mostly 12 and 13 year olds and a few 14 and 15, with a volunteer coach, forced to play in the older age group as they have done for the past few years. They were also subject to embarrassing losses.
This year, though, they will go to this tournament (that consumes their entire budget), after watching the Women’s World Cup Final where Japan, the little, under-financed, “against all odds” Japan coming from behind, twice, to beat the giant Americans. They will not go to that tournament remembering how the U.S. missed all those early chances and how they were ahead for what would be the perfect ending to a Cinderella story back in the States. They won’t even care what the women’s team did in ’91 and ’99. What they will see is that Japan, tiny battered Japan, mentioned for who beat them rather than their international record, even Japan could go to a tournament with giants like Brazil, Germany, China, Sweden, the United States, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, and Central New Jersey. It was possible that even a rag tag team from somewhere in the middle of West Virginia, or Kansas, or Arkansas–––anywhere, could win.
They will go to this tournament wearing magical blue adidas kits.
You see ESPN, Foudy, Chastain, and Ley, this may come as a huge surprise, but it’s not about the United States losing. It is about the Women’s World Cup, soccer, football, futbol, fußball, 足球, le football…………….. サッカー.
It is about Japan.
Sunday they became the “Women of Summer.”
No the USA wore ther choke collar. The USA woemn blew it big time, Bad “D”. This is the real truth. Japan found a way to win. They applied the pressures and ripped out the USA’s heart with those two late goals.