OK...it seems a lot of people on this board really care weather we have the respect of he world for our Nats. Personally, I say, "Who cares"! Other soccer nations will never care even if we do win the WC some day. These guys are competitive and that's all that matters. But it's a poser nonetheless. If we win the Confederations Cup, will we get some added respect. My guess is no because the arguement will be from a lot of countries that they did not send their "A" team.
To be fair, this is not our A team either. It is somewhere between our A and B teams, but winning it all ought to get people's attention, if not respect, and only for just a little while. Remember, the Nats have a horrible time playing on European soil. This should be the tourney that turns everything around.
My opinion is yes, because I guarantee you that many of the citizens of Brazil and France truly believe that their "B" teams are much better than our full side. Granted, we wont have our full side, but we'll be taking a mixture. We got respect in WC '02. Any success is going to add respect, no matter who the opponent is. With each great performance or result a handful (or more) are convinced of our ability. That is how respect is earned and grows.
I don't think it will really earn us that much respect because it is only an 8 team tournament that people only care about in those nations. However, if we win it, it could get us respect in the other nations who were involved in the tournament. I don't think other nations want to give the US the credit it deserves. We go to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and then some Wales fans (on another board) say that their first team could beat ours. What a joke.
See: Senegal, Turkey, Korea. All these teams made the final 8. Turkey and Korea made the final 4. They dont have the respect either. Teams make runs in tournaments all the time. Until we become expected to be in the quarterfinals, neither will we. And that wont be for at least 10 years. Whether you or I like it or not, true world soccer respect comes over time. We'd like it to be over night, but for every person that remembers the US team from WC '02 theres another that remembers WC '98.
NO RESPECT BUT THE WC The only way to earn respect is to do well at the World Cup. Success anyplace else only gains you attention.
Yes I believe winning the Confed Cup will help the US's image BIG time. Eight team tourny or not this is a big competition and winning it (even with most teams not sending their complete A squad or w/e) will change the perception of the US. Right now others expect the US to lose, if the US won the Cup then maybe they just wouldn't be surprised if we won. Wales has a lot of recent results that could give some merit to that opinion.
The vast majority of us remembers both. Also, those who paid attention know the difference between the team that played Portugal, Mexico, and Germany and the team that played South Korea and Poland. Think about respect this way: when we win, we're the 10th ranked team on the planet, as we were when we beat Wales. When we don't, we're those lazy/stupid/arrogant/pushover Americans. It takes time for people to change their views on things like this. There aren't any Aha! moments. The U.S., to a large part of the world, is where washed up players go at the end of their careers to be overpaid and lounge in the sun. Wasn't England stunned, just stunned, that Gazza couldn't get on with DCU?
It will help the US gain respect to give up the useless endeavor of desperately wondering when we'll get it. As long as the US continues to play excellent football at the world level (and I think 2002 certainly qualifies for that description), I don't give a limey's arrogant ass whether we get respect or not.
No. Gazza's a fat washed-up alcoholic. He couldn't get a game at Exeter, who were bottom of Division 3 at the time. People are more stunned that any club at all took him on, even one in China's division 2. As for respect if you win (which I'd say is worth an each-way bet) it'll depend on who you beat. Beat France or Brazil then yes, people would sit up and take notice. But if two 'lesser' nations make the final then it'll look like the more fancied sides weren't interested.
I've never really understood this idea of a permanent aristocracy in soccer. If two 'lesser' nations make the final it will be because the favorites scored fewer goals than their opponents. I mean, I hope the excuse of "they just weren't interested" will never be used when a so-called minnow makes the World Cup final. No tournament is about its losers, even if the more fancied sides are among them.
Re: Re: Will winning the Conf. Cup give US respect? Thats not French B Team. It might not be their best squad, but they got a bunch of A - List players. It's like replacing Tom Hanks with Brad Pitt. Yea they are missing Zizou, Makelele, and Viera, but they still have Pires, Wiltord and that wunderkind. They don'y have Trezuget but they have Henry and Cisse and Marlet, plus they have their entire first team defense. I'll be stunned if ANYONE can beat this squad.
The team with the best player on the field always has a great chance of winning. Giggs is better than any player we have bar none. Bellamy is also a better striker than anybody we have. Add Simon Davies, Gary Speed, and a few others and its a very formidable squad. Their first team could definatly beat our first team. I think both teams woudl be evenly matched
Getting to the final in '97 did little to garner Australia any respect. The problem is that few people care about the Confederations Cup. But why the continual pandering after 'respect'? Hardly a week goes by without similar nonsense threads to this. Mass insecurity or what?
No, because it would be useful to the development of the national team if we could get some of our more talented players getting first team action in big European leagues. Without respect, they won't sign Americans to fill those jobs, and without those jobs, our players might not develop as well as they could. Carlos Bocanegra has everything he needs to be one of the top defenders in the world, but he can't get there playing in MLS, or sitting on the bench of some 2nd division side in Europe waiting for "his turn."
Re: Re: Re: Will winning the Conf. Cup give US respect? Well, Senegal and Denmark beat a better-quality French squad in WC 02--I think that makes it imposible to call France "unbeatable". While that squad had bad luck and did not play to the best of its ability, what's to say the same won't be true here? I think France's big selling point is home-field advantage--that got them fired up in 98 and may shake the cobwebs that made them so mediocre last year.
I'm with you. There seems to be an incredible immediate need for validation for a lot of fans. Face it, the rest of the world sees our success infringing upon their game. Finally, I don't care what country you support, you're always going to be at odds with whomever disagrees with your stance...there will always be an excuse/reason why you won/why you were beaten. With the exception of Brazil, I'm sure there are a lot of other country's national team fans that feel the same way about the lack of respect for their teams. Let's just revel in our own success and not worry about what others think of us (stepping off the soapbox).
Re: Re: Re: Will winning the Conf. Cup give US respect? I get sick of this stuff. Rather than type a novel posters often generalize and then others come along and point out how they're wrong. Its not France or Brazil's first choice team. Therefore I said B. Would A- or B+ work better for you? Fine, call it what you will. The point of my post was that these two countries are 100% sure any of their teams, mainly the Confed Cup squads, could kick the crap out of any US team. So we'd turn heads (i.e. get respect) by andancing far and winning.
No. Only continued success in the World Cup and producing players that are playing on the top clubs in Europe will guarantee respect. Possibly beating a defending world champion Brazil and a French team on their own soil is never a bad thing. Especially with the anti-French sentiment in America.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Will winning the Conf. Cup give US respect? Amazing, you just mimicked what I said in my post. The natural tendency for readers when they say "B Team" is to automatically think of a team that won't be that good. I went beyond the whole stupid lettering system and said that their roster is filled with stars (A- List players). I even made an analogy with A-List movie stars to point out that I wasn't labeling the entrie squad. I'm not sure how I pointed out that you were wrong. I just clarified something so that readers wouldn't be led to a wrong direction with the phrase "B Team"
It won't be. Everyone wants to win the world cup. Very few players count winning the confederation cup as being one of their ambitions in life.
Not at all. It's just that the rest of the world isn't looking from a US viewpoint, or trying to compare how the US measures up against other countries. The world isn't in denial, it just doesn't share your fascination with America's climb up the FIFA rankings. It's not even as if the US was the only country to exceed expectations last summer. Japan, Senegal, South Korea & Turkey all did much better than expected.