FIFA 2014 World Cup Draw

Well, it's over. The US has already lost next year's World Cup. Welcome to the Group of Death:

Germany
Portugal
Ghana

I may be overreacting, but only a little. Germany is ranked #2 in the world behind only Spain. Portugal is ranked #5 and have one of the best players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo (as well as my influence from being half Portuguese). Ghana is ranked #24 but has knocked the US out of the last two World Cups (both times by a score of 2-1). So, that's fun.

But wait... there's more. Due to where they were drawn, the US also has the FURTHEST TRAVEL DISTANCE OF ALL TEAMS with 8,866 miles between their three game sites in Brazil. Just wow.

I am a homer patriot though so I've already worked out a way they could get out of the group and advance to the knockout round. The USMNT will want to avenge 2010's (and 2006's) knockout by Ghana so they'll be in top form and get the W. Portgual isn't a strong "team" so much as they are 1 star and some scrubs (not really, but I'm simplifying) so that could be a draw. Then, since we play Germany third, they may have already punched their ticket to the next round and would therefore have nothing to play for. See, we can sneak into Round 2! It's that easy!

If nothing else, it gives us something to talk about for the next 6 months. You never know how injuries will play into the situation or other distractions that may arise. Remember how surprisingly poor Italy, France and England were in 2010? Let's hope that's Germany, Portugal and Ghana in 2014!

Support Your Soccer!

I was talking to my girlfriend today about Fox winning the broadcast rights to the 2018 & 2022 World Cups over ESPN (who’ve held the rights to every World Cup since 1994). She caught me off guard when she said she didn’t care about the World Cup and found it annoying last year when people were sucked into the excitement. I chalked it up to her general non-interest in sports but enough people claim to not like soccer that I wanted to better understand why.

Yes, I grew up playing soccer and played it through high school; Yes, I was at the perfect youthful age to be heavily invested in the 1994 World Cup that was played right here on US soil; And, yes, I did win a free workout with the New England Revolution when I was a kid. But I feel like I have a pretty good handle on most people’s complaints about the sport: it’s too slow, there aren’t enough goals, MLS sucks and the foreign leagues are too difficult to follow due to TV rights and cable packages. Fine, if that’s the case then these people should also be uninterested in baseball (slow) and hockey (not enough goals). Yet baseball is America’s pastime and hockey is a popular niche sport that certainly doesn’t get ragged on like soccer does. So, why the hate?

To Americans, soccer is a European sport. Football and baseball are pure Americana; Basketball is urban; Hockey is Canadian. Americans haven’t cared much for European things since 1776. And the biggest thing that has carried over that distaste is flopping. Soccer players are known for flopping, which is a terrible but true distinction. But even all the European basketball players in the NBA flop constantly. It’s just what they do. So the manly American men chop it up to soccer players being weak – “It’s not as physical as football” – as their reason not to watch. Of course, that feeling has become so pervasive that people will just use it as an explanation without ever actually giving soccer a chance.

The World Cup is different though. It’s more like the Olympics; a must-see event that captures the world’s attention and cultivates national pride. Is there a better chant than “U-S-A!” “U-S-A!”? I ended up sending my girlfriend the reaction video to Landon Donovan’s goal heard ‘round the world against Algeria. I rest my case.