Goallll!!!!

In the U.S., we have the ‘Big Three’ team sports (four if you count hockey).

I’m not sure if soccer – futbol to the rest of the world – will ever reach elite status in this country. But, on days like yesterday, you get the feeling that anything is possible.

The United States 2-1 in over Ghana in its first match in the 2014 FIFA World Cup was as dramatic as it was unexpected. For much of the game, the Ghanans took the attack to the U.S. squad. Further, U.S. players seemed to be affected by the humid conditions in the seaside Brazilian town of Natal. Player after player suffered debilitating leg injuries.

Late in the game, when Ghana tied the score 1-1, you got the feeling it might beat the American team for a third straight World Cup. But then came a corner kick, followed by a header into the net. And “Goallllll!” The U.S. took the lead late and held on to win by the final of 2-1.

Soccer-crazed yanks, everywhere, celebrated.

I don’t pretend to understand the game of soccer. My sole exposure was one season as an assistant coach for one of Holly’s teams (she played AYSO soccer, as a little tot, for a number of years).

The thing I remember most about that experience is that the other two coaches were also named Jeff (think of it…the three of us could’ve teamed up for Coach Jeff Jeff & Jeff’s Blog!).

I really don’t understand the game. And, I fear the average American is probably in the same boat. Soccer aficionados can tell you about the strategy and the pacing of the game. Most of the rest of us just think – as Paul once put it – “there’s just a lot of running around.”

What we do get, however, is the notion of patriotism and national pride. There’s something about being in a place with other Americans chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” with thousands of your fellow countrymen and rooting your team on to victory.

I have had that opportunity twice: First, when I attended a World Cup match with my friend John McManus in Detroit in 1994 (the U.S. played Switzerland to a 1-1 draw) and, again, two years later when I attended the 1996 Summer Olympics (the Games of the XXVI Olympiad) in Atlanta.

And as the nation united by television screens from coast to coast, the U.S. team pulled off a victory in its first game in this year’s World Cup. 

None of us know how the tournament will play out but, for a night, the nation united behind a team and felt that surge of national pride. Games like this one might not bring the sport into our ‘Big 4’ but it will certainly help elevate the status of the game in the hearts and minds of the American public.

JG

Originally posted 6/17/2014