Higgins | World Cup builds foundation for U.S. Men's Soccer

I n the 73% humidity of the Brazilian jungle, the United States Men’s National Team battled for a fierce 120-minutes against Belgium’s Red Devils. Even with a history-making performance by goalkeeper Tim Howard, with a World Cup record 16 saves, the U.S. fell 2-1, allowing two goals in extra time.

And with that, the United States’ 2014 World Cup campaign came to a close. The USMNT’s future, however, is far from dismal.

The U.S.’s stint in Brazil, though shorter than most fans may have hoped, lays the foundation for the future of American soccer.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s initial decision to leave Landon Donovan off of the U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the 2014 Cup was hotly contested by sports pundits when it was first announced in late May, but the choice proved sound. Yes, Donovan’s expertise in the attack zone might have come in handy given Jozy Alitdore’s hamstring injury-induced absence. Yes, we may always wonder if Donovan would have been able to pull out a game-winning goal in the waning minutes against Belgium like he did against Algeria in 2010.

But Donovan doesn’t fit into the identity of the team.

Of the 23-man roster, only six players remain from former USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley’s 2010 World Cup squad: Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Brad Guzan and Howard. This fact alone set the tone for Brazil: the team needed to prove itself and gain valuable international experience.

seasoned members of the team. And they did just that (save perhaps the lackluster performance of Bradley).

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What’s more is this narrative that Klinsmann so carefully crafted has given something for ambivalent American soccer fans to rally behind. After all, who doesn’t love an underdog? Especially when that underdog is in arguably the most competitive group in the entire tournament, playing against some of the best players in the world (did I mention Cristiano Ronaldo?).

In the short term, the USMNT will face a barrage of media inquiries of how and why they came up short (except maybe Howard). But let’s not forget that no one expected the team to even advance beyond the Group of Death.

For U.S. fans, I can only hope that these four hard-fought games in Brazil will be enough to sustain futbol fever until Russia in 2018. If not, it shouldn’t be too hard to relearn the words to the USMNT’s rallying cry: “I believe that we will win!”

That win didn’t come today. It won’t come around for another four years. But maybe, someday, American fans’ chanting will be heard for more than just four games on the world’s biggest soccer stage.

LAINE HIGGINS is a rising College sophomore from Wayzata, Minn., and is a staff writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian. She can be reached at dpsports@thedp.com.

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