Prior to the World Cup, reporters posed the question, “What does success look like for the United States Men’s National Team?’”
The answers included which round the United States should reach and which players should step up. Few answers explored whether mediocrity was a permanent signature of American men’s soccer.
The best teams in any sport face adversity head-on. They don’t seek the removal of obstacles when they arise, yet in a 48-hour time frame, the soccer team from the Home of the Brave displayed the exact opposite.
The knockout rounds did not begin that way for the United States. Against Bosnia and Herzegovina, striker Folarin Balogun received a questionable red card and the US responded heroically. Playing with only 10 men, the Americans increased their lead and advanced with a 2-0 victory.
The unfortunate red card issued to Balogun meant he would miss the next game, a Round of 16 matchup with Belgium.
Controversy is woven into the fabric of men’s soccer. The sport employs only one referee who sprints through the center of the field and is expected to observe everything. Perhaps the sport could employ two referees, much like the National Hockey League did at the start of the 2000-01 season, but missed calls and vehement arguing are part of the game, much like the ambiguity of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and when it can and should intervene.
The upper echelon soccer teams understand that bad calls and unfortunate decisions will happen, and they are mentally equipped to overcome them. After the second half performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina, it appeared the United States may be one of those teams.
Then, President Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and soon after, Balogun became available for the Round of 16.
The request was inappropriate, and its granting cowardly, but the USA locker room still had the final word.
A team serious about rising to an elite level would have said, ‘This is our journey, our story, our adversity to overcome. It requires no help from the outside.’
Instead, USA coach Mauricio Pochettino inserted Balogun into the Starting XI, and the United States seemed like the entitled child who needed daddy to call the principal to get out of serving detention. It no longer was the team motivated by an unjust situation. Now, Belgium was. And it showed.
The USA Men’s National Team departed the World Cup with an anticlimactic, 4-1 thud, beaten soundly by an inspired Belgium side that played with a chip on its shoulder – a chip gifted by their opponent.
The ability to overcome adversity is what separates great teams from those stuck in mediocrity. The United States had a chance to find its mettle after feeling unjustly treated. How would it rally to offset the absence of a key player? Who would step up? It could have been a defining moment in the growth of a team.
Instead, it accepted a favor.
In the days ahead, there will be many questions regarding what needs to change, which players are to blame, and how youth soccer can be reworked so that the United States Men’s National Team can finally achieve greatness on the world stage.
The first question should be, ‘Does it even want to?’