Mauricio Pochettino gave an honest assessment of American soccer talent.
“We’re the United States, we’re playing Belgium, we’re playing Portugal,” the U.S. coach said after losing two friendlies in March. “I think Belgium and Portugal certainly have very few players in the top 100 or some players in the top 100. I don’t think we have any.”
When the Guardian published its annual list in December, there were no Americans in the top 100. Christian Pulisic was ranked 116th in the poll by a panel of 219 former players, coaches, technical staff and media. Tim Ware was next at 183rd place.
Spain has 14 people in the top 100, France has 10, Brazil and England have nine each, and Argentina and Portugal have eight each.
“In my humble opinion, I don’t think our talent is that much better than any other country’s,” said former American forward Jozy Altidore. “I think we have just as much talent. So, for me, I’m that crazy guy. I believe and I know the players believe, but why don’t we do that? Why don’t we do that too?”
U.S. players and staff are thinking big, hoping the red-white-blue team can win its first World Cup, or at least advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1930.
The Americans still have to prove themselves to much of the soccer world.
“We want to do this for ourselves. We want to do this for our country. We don’t have to prove it to anyone else,” Pulisic said. “We have good players, we have really good players who are playing in the top clubs in the world. We have a good team and yes, we will try our best to prove that we are right above all.”
Tyler Adams, the 2022 captain and the team’s top defensive midfielder, believes the goal is to reach further than any other team to date. ”
“For the first time in a while, I feel like I’ve kicked a big one down,” he said. “I think we have to try to find that in our own character, and I think we will.”
America only won one game in the World Cup finals.
Dreams and reality collided for America at the World Cup. The U.S. team went 1-7 in World Cup finals, only defeating regional rival Mexico in 2002 before losing to Germany in the quarterfinals.
Since then, they have been eliminated in the round of 16 in 2010, 2014 and 2022, failed to advance to the group stage in 2006, and failed to qualify in 2018.
Despite lacking the pedigree, Pochettino told his players in March that they could win titles.
“Why not us? Why not us? Why not us?” he said. “We have to truly believe that we can get there. We have to dream.”
Only a handful of players belong to Europe’s top clubs
Pulisic in 2021 First American to play in and win the European Champions League final.He helped Chelsea win the title. He is one of six USA World Cup players who play for clubs ranked in the top 40 according to the UEFA coefficient, having spent the past three seasons with 30th-placed AC Milan.
The list includes midfielder Malik Tillman (9th place Bayer Leverkusen), midfielder Weston McKennie (25th place Juventus), defender Sergiño Dest and forward Ricardo Pepi (26th place PSV Eindhoven) and defender Alex Freeman (39th place Villarreal).
The decline of American goaltending
Casey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tim Howard started for England, and goalkeeping, once America’s strength, is now its weakness. This will be the first time a Major League Soccer goaltender will represent the United States at a World Cup.
“Goaltending is definitely a concern,” said Stu Holden, a former U.S. national team midfielder and current commentator on FOX. “We haven’t had an outstanding goalkeeper for years, but you still have the chance to change your perception in one tournament.”
Matt Freeze, who is considered to be a likely starter, made his international debut in June last year, but has only appeared in 15 games.
“That’s not true. I didn’t really listen to anyone outside of the players that were with me and the coaching staff,” he said.
Advantage due to change in home field crowd
The U.S. team often plays its home games in front of a crowd, with the majority cheering on their opponents, and this was also the case in games against Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, South Korea and Turkey.
“Americans are the type of fans who are willing to participate in things that are important to them, even if they don’t like soccer,” McKennie said. “I think that’s a huge advantage because we know how to put on a show and we know how to participate in any big event.”
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
