National Team Shits the Bed
Seattlest joined a subdued crowd of about 80 at Greenlake's Kiwi and Kangaroo for this morning's US-Ghana game.
Though we arrived in a red, white, and blue "Git 'er Done" hat and waving a small, plastic U.S. flag, our fellow fans displayed little national pride. A U.S. jersey there, a red and blue shirt here. Pretty pathetic. Ok, the last six years haven't been our best, but come on--first colony to break away from the mother country? The Erie Canal? WWII? We have a lot to be proud of.
Not our national soccer team, however. They came out showing the same predictable offensive strategy that's garnered them a big fat ZERO shots on goal their first two games--flipping the ball high to the one forward and hoping he'd head it in. Didn't work against the Czechs, the Italians, and it wasn't working against the Ghanareans.
US Coach Bruce Arena (who must be a Bush appointee, right?) didn't prepare his team for the speed and skill they'd face in international play. He also didn't choose the one guy who might have been able to score, former Tacoma Stars star Preki. Sure, he's 43, but could he really have done worse than Landon "would you like the ball now?" Donovan. Preki once scored on Brazil. Brazil!
Donovan, by the way, is apparently the best player in MLS. To give you a baseball analogy, the MLS is the soccer equivalent of a league where Willie Bloomquist is the best player. Ugh.
Our cries of "do something!" went unheeded. Our cries of "Landon Donovan, you are a useless piece of garbage!" were assented to, but pointless. The U.S. lost 2-1, showing no urgency even in the final minutes, and dejected American fans plodded out to face their workday. We continued to wave our flag, though. Come on--we're the country that created The Rockford Files. Hold your heads high, fellow Americans.
