A Heroic Effort
The US soccer team is in the cellar of their group entering the last day of group play in the World Cup. No American has scored a goal and the US has given up three more goals than they have scored. On Thursday, the Americans play a powerful, frightening Ghana s
quad coming off a crushing of the Czech Republic (the same team that beat the US 3-0 one week ago). Even if the US beats Ghana, they will essentially need Italy to defeat the Czechs in order to advance to the next round.Against Italy on Saturday, the Americans gave one of the most exciting and inspiring team efforts I have seen in sports. I thought about the game all day, and how I could apply what I had seen to my own life, in both the present and the future. In the Italy game, the US somehow scrapped out a tie despite an unfair, nightmarish series of events seemingly contrived against the US by a mysterious third party. It appeared to me that the Americans were feeding off the adversity, growing stronger and more determined with every sickening disadvantage placed against them.
After the game, we held the first annual Leisure Sport Olympics. I kept thinking back to the soccer game as I tried to keep the ship afloat throughout the afternoon and evening. A number of unfortunate circumstances and cancerous participants (cough-Ben Howard-cough) took the wind out of the event's sails and it was all we could do to try to patch the leaks and get the ship to its final dock at my house in Westminster. Luckily there were six other intrepid souls who shared my same determination, and we were able to complete the event around 3 AM on Sunday morning. The Bag, spurred on by a surprisingly strong result in Wiffle Ball HR Derby and consistently solid play in most of the subsidiary events, won the trophy fairly easily. Overall the Olympics were not as cohesive or entertaining as I had hoped, but I had a good time and believe the other final six shared that sentiment.
The US may not advance further in this World Cup, but I will always remember the heart, poise, determination, and passion for the game they played with on Saturday. I hope I can bring these same qualities to my own competitive endeavors.
posted by GnightMoon @ 1:45 PM
1 Comments:
Well the United States just lost to Ghana...it's funny how for the next 4 years I am not going to hear anything about US soccer, but as soon as the world cup rolls around everyone will be all gung-ho again.
I don't claim to be an expert, or even an amateur when it comes to soccer, but I can say that to a complete novice the US did not look like they were on the same level as most of the teams that played. They certainly did not look like the fifth ranked team in the world. People were going crazy about the US pulling out a tie game...I was not impressed.
Overall I thought the United States looked slower, less skilled, and less determined than all of their opponents. Hopefully the US team will be motivated by this poor showing and will actually score more than 1 goal in 3 games in the next world cup.
Post a Comment
<< Home