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Olympic soccer dreams begin tonight

11 Mar, 2008

By Chris Hummer - Potomac Soccer Wire Editor

With qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in China kicking off in a few hours, I wanted to share some thoughts and perspective - specifically pointing out the enormous opportunity that was missed when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics. Can we afford to fail again this time around? It all starts tonight at 8:00 PM on Fox Soccer Channel or ESPN Deportes!

If you only just started following soccer in the past few years, then it's possible you don't even remember the U.S. team's fourth place finish in Sydney at the 2000 Olympics. At the time for me, Sydney was not only the highest level of success ever achieved, I believe it also allowed terms like "golden generation" to sneak into even the mildly optimistic fans' conversations. Everyone who followed US Soccer then must have asked themselves at least once - "could these players take us to the promised land by 2010?"

Why? Before the 2002 World Cup successes of the full men's team in Korea, the 2000 Sydney Olympics stood as the lone example of what was really possible for the United States in major international competitions. Most of our older players - while respected - had been mentally put out to pasture by fans as far as their chances of delivering a World Cup trophy were concerned. All hope for any future glory rested squarely on this new generation of U.S. player, and when that generation made it to the medal round in Sydney, everything seemed to be coming together, and all the hope surrounding U.S. Soccer's "project 2010" was justified.

That hope was fueled even further with World Cup 2002 and, although led by veterans, the performances of Landon Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley were outright inspirational (note: Beasley did not participate in the Sydney games). Here these guys were, staking a case as teenagers that the U.S. might finally have produced its first truly world class players that were born, developed, and matured right here in our own country.

That's a lot of hope for someone who follows the game closely, constantly dreaming of the day when our National Team - and by association, our domestic soccer culture - would earn respect in the world's eyes. It's a pretty big stretch for any fan in any country to really believe they will win a World Cup, but isn't that why the call it "hope" instead of "fact"?

All this hope was building up. World Cup USA `94 showed what was possible, France `98 was conveniently blamed on the coach, and then Sydney happened. Not long after that, Korea 2002. Could all the hope finally be justified? Could the US team cruise into Greece 2004 and make another major splash on the world's football stage?

Completing the "treble" of advancing to the knock-out stages of three major global tournaments in a row would provide decades worth of debate evidence that soccer in our country deserved attention! Surely, we could send our golden boys to Greek glory, fresh off eight solid years of developing in Major League Soccer.

All we had to do was get past qualifying in Mexico. Unlike the World Cup, our region - CONCACAF - can only send two teams to the 16-team Olympic tournament. So, with Mexico and the US each seeded into separate groups, all we both had to do was meet expectations of advancing to the finals, enjoy a meaningless final match (since both finalists qualify), and then pack our bags for Europe!

Then‚"POOF"‚ it all vanished in Mexico when Mexico finished 2nd in their group behind Costa Rica the day before the final group game for the U.S. team. That scenario ended up being a true test of character for Glenn Myernick's American boys. All they had to do was lose to Honduras to set up an‚ "easier" semifinal
against Costa Rica, but there were two major problems with that approach.

First, it would have been a cowardly thing to do - to play to lose. Programs that value honor and class simply can't go out to lose a game. Nor would the U.S. want to send any sort of message that we were afraid of Mexico. I'm paraphrasing because I cannot find the quote, but I remember then coach Glenn Myernick saying something to the effect of "we always play to win." Losing to Honduras on purpose just wouldn't be the right thing to do.

The second problem; Honduras wouldn't want to play Mexico in the semis either, so even if the U.S. team sat out its star players (a way to keep their honor while still playing to win?), the Hondurans could have done the same. Could you imagine a scenario coming up where one team decided to score on themselves just to get the desired result. It's happened before, and is quite comical - with teams essentially defending the other team's goal instead of their own. Such a spectacle would have been a disaster - instantly giving the soccer-haters in the U.S. sports media all the ammo they needed to continue calling the whole sport of soccer a joke.

Fortunately, honor prevailed on both sides, as the game was thrillingly fought to a 4:3 US win, setting up the do-or-die semifinal against hosts Mexico. In that match, the US faced a stiff test against the home team looking to avenge its 2002 World Cup elimination at the hands of the U.S. It must have been adequate motivation, because El Tri thumped the Americans 4-0 to end our Olympic dreams, and a real chance for us to earn a permanent level of respect around the world as a legitimate world soccer power.

Tonight in Tampa, FL, it all starts again. With the poor US showing in Germany two summers ago, these Olympic games represent a chance for American soccer to right our ship in the world's eye, as well as within ourselves. It's a chance for Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore to lead the most talented U.S. Olympic roster ever assembled all the way to glory in China. I'll be watching, will you?

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