US World Cup Dreams

By Jackson Fritz

In case anyone doesn’t know, the the biggest football game of 2010 won’t be the Super Bowl, but the FIFA World Cup, where soccer (football to the rest of the world) will be played in South Africa next summer. Now, in America soccer isn’t one of the most popular spectator sports. In fact, Major League Soccer has only been around for about 15 years. Most die hard soccer fans don’t even follow MLS teams. Their favorite teams usually play in Europe, especially the English Premiere League. But for the World Cup, the US players may be able to pull off some upsets to prove how good they are. 

 Most of the US players play in the US. But some, like goalie Tim Howard, play abroad, providing some experience of other countries and players. But the biggest story for the US team is the draw. Each World Cup the 64 qualifying teams play in groups of 4 in a round robin tournament. The top 2 teams of each group advance to single elimination tournament. This year, the 14th ranked US is playing 28th ranked Algeria and 33rd ranked Slovenia. But the strongest team is 9th ranked England. The last time that these two countries played in the World Cup was in 1950, where America pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, winning 1-0. This game is considered to be one of the most anticipated of the entire World Cup.

Why?

Well, the United States of America and England have a long history together, starting with the colonies. America gained independence from England and remained independant after the War of 1812. Our two countries have fought wars together and have created a powerful bond. However, all the battlefields of the ages is now centering on a small soccer stadium in South Africa. Should America beat Slovenia and Algeria in the round robin, America will automatically advance to the next round. But if America should beat England, it would be one of the greatest upsets in World Cup History, as England has just beaten the US 2-0 in a friendly match. Even casual soccer fans won’t want to miss this one.