What are your biggest disappointments as a US soccer fan? Here are my top ten: 1. That Landon Donovan, the most talented American player of the contemporary era (before Pulisic) turned out to be a pussy. If Landycakes had grown a pair and made a go of it in Europe, I really believe he could have been one of the best players in the world. 2. That Hugh Dallas didn't whistle Torsten Frings for a handball in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal. That call goes the other way, and we could have reached the semifinals. 3. That John O'Brien couldn't stay healthy. Such an extraordinary talent (I remember Barca being interested in him after the 2002 World Cup) who never realized his full potential due to injuries. 4. That Stu Holden couldn't stay healthy (see John O'Brien, above). 5. That Bob Bradley came out of the locker room at halftime in the 2009 Confederations Cup final with a 2-0 lead on Brazil and played to protect the lead. If he had told the boys to go out and take it to them in the second half like they did in the first half, we could have won the tournament (and beaten Spain and Brazil to do it). 6. That Klinsi didn't take Donovan to Brazil. If that ball that fell to Wondo late in the game against Belgium falls to Donovan, it ends up in the back of the net, and we're through to the quarterfinals. 7. That our captain for life boned Waldo's wife. A clear violation of the bro code that resulted in us finishing dead last at the 1998 World Cup. 8. That Charlie Davies broke curfew and got into a car with a drunk driver after a night out. Davies was on fire in 2009 (see Confederations Cup, above) and had the physical tools to really help us at striker. 9. That Benedict Rossi snubbed us for Italy. :/ 10. That Freddy Adu never was able to pull his head out of his ass. Watching the highlights of him at the U17 and U20 World Cups, the guy was a world beater. He clearly had the skill to be world class, but lacked the right mentality.
For those of us that are a little older....................................the 1998 World Cup was a huge disappointment based on the progress the USMNT & US soccer had made in the previous decade. And actually, Sampson's results OTHER than the World Cup were very good, hence the disappointment. At the time we didn't know about the Wynalda/Harkes kerfluffle............................ In particular, the game against Iran was a big letdown. We knew that Germany and Yugoslavia were going to be tough, but we expected to beat Iran. 98: The most politically charged game in World Cup history Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...ed-game-world-cup-history#h17vstZ4pCBcRqfq.99
The 2012 Olympic team was rough. Some of the players went on to do bigger things, but for the vast majority they took a heavy step backwards in their career, which is a real shame because there was a lot of positive buzz about this group coming in. Freddy Adu was showing some really good signs, oddly enough. Brek, Mix, Bunbury and Boyd were all in a good part in their career. Even Caleb Porter was in the discussion for the USMNT position. But after the tournament a lot of them floated in oblivion or took a *long* time to come back to relevance (Agudelo, Johnson). I really enjoyed watching them for the short time they were together. They had a really fun attack, just had a really bizarre collapse in the end. I wasn't watching the final game but I was tracking the score and couldn't believe it when it went 3-3.
that top 10 list covers it I think. Im tryin to think of more but those are all nut punchers. I can only think of a few "tier 2" items currently. B-Teaming the Copa America in 2007 and getting the floor mopped with our entrails. Feilhaber not being more involved with the program over the last decade. Clearly one of our better players who can help us here and now. Robbie Finley instead of Brian Ching for 2010 WC. The shocking (probably unpredictable to most) implosion of Ricardo Clark against Ghana. The game was just too big for him. Soooo many injured players that could have helped. Obviously JOB and Stu Holden were tier 1. But even guys like Gibbs, Simek (who was on an upward trajectory), Spector (not the same player since 2009 injury) Current fears: Zusi at RB, "Eric Lichaj-ing" Danny Williams and just having a blind spot at least not calling him in like I said, all notably a tear or three below, you got most of the BIG ones covered.
Another one to consider: 1986 qualifying. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/may/31/usa-1986-world-cup-qualifying-soccer
Wow, that's a great article, mattjo. I remembered that we were a home win away from qualifying in 1986, but I didn't know the full backstory. And I wasn't a hardcore fan yet back in 1986. Interesting stuff.
Great list, spot on for everything. I'm actually surprised that the easily offended crowd hasn't complained about your #1. Landon Donovan had a great career, arguably the best ever for an American soccer player. With all of that being said, let's not sugar coat it a "p*ssy" is a fitting term, he obviously had some instrinsic issues--he could've been so much more.
I agree. In my mind, Donovan was the best American player of the contemporary era. I'm grateful to him for all he did for the sport in this country. But I think it really is my #1 disappointment as a US soccer fan that he could have done so much more. I believe Pulisic will show us what Donovan could have been if he had been willing to stick it out in Europe.
NT wise I'm not sure there's been any huge disappointments. I think the achievements and failures have been pretty much in line with the overall talent level. I guess I'd say it's a bit disappointing to make it to extra time in two consecutive World Cup rounds of 16 and come up short both times. Individually it has to be Altidore at Sunderland. He followed the Sacred Path of the Netherlands and got a record transfer fee and still flopped incredibly hard. In terms of my inner fanboy being let down it has to be Dempsey's loan to Fulham. Had all the makings of a feel good story of "atonement" and he sucked there.
started following us soccer (and soccer in general) around 91, 92. over the first 22 years id easily say mike freaking burns not covering the post. thats been replaced by every day we wasted following our disasterous gold cup in 15 that klinsmann wasnt fired.
Most disappointing match: 1998 1-2 loss to Iran. US was the better team. This was the first Cup with a US squad of full professionals. This was a must-win moment to save the tournament. The coach choked with a 3-5-2 that had zero defensive mids, and the players locked up on the World Stage. Crushing. Most disappointing decision: Klinsi cutting Donovan from the 2014 Cup team. The US's all-time best player coming off a strong 2013 campaign was still more productive than half that US squad. And the US sorely lacked play-makers, which was always Donovan's specialty. And Johannsson wasn't fit and then Jozy got hurt and Donovan was needed. Klinsi's ego overwhelmed talent, logic and need. Dumbfounding. Most disappointing injury: John O'Brien's. 2006 was his time to lead the US. He should have been the CM fulcrum. He was supposed to be in his playing prime. Reyna could have been rotated more wisely to save his legs and Donovan wouldn't have needed to try and carry the team and thus underachieved in what was perhaps his worst year as a pro. So frustrating. (Davies and Holden are close here.) Most Disappointing Referee's call: Hugh Dallas 2002 US-Germany handling non-PK. 98% of referees call this a PK, and most give Frings a red card, too. The US probably ties the game and sends it to overtime. The US had been out-playing Germany and 11v10 would have given the team a fantastic chance at the Semi-Finals. (The phantom PK against Onyewu in the US-Ghana match in 2010 also ranks high.) Most Disappointing player: Clint Mathis. This guy had all the skills and a true scorer's arrogance. But that personality clashed with coaches and ignored fitness and lead to a premature end to his career. He had a good Cup in 2002 and should have been the scoring ace for the 2006 Cup team.
To add to the sad feeling of not qualifying, is that we had performed adequately and generated American soccer interest the year before. While we didn't advance out of our group in the 1984 Olympics, we did go 1-1-1, beating Costa Rica 3-0 (losing to Italy 1-0, and tying Egypt 1-1). We played Costa Rica in Stanford Stadium, and the attendance for those three US soccer matches was 78,000; 63,600; and 55,000. 1986 felt like a huge missed opportunity that delayed a lot.
However, we went into the 2012 qualifying campaign quite concerned about that roster. We knew it had holes, particularly after some players were left off. For instance, Jozy Altidore was eligible for that group. One can make an easy argument that the biggest USYNT disappointment in our history is actually the 2004 Olympic qualifying campaign. I've argued that this was the best youth team we've ever assembled. It might be in terms of future caps. Beckerman, Borchers, Beasley, Convey, Donovan, Eddie Johnson, Brad Davis, Marshall, Whitbread, Gaven, Wingert, Brian Carroll, Logan Pause, Eskandarian, etc. etc. Several players were either injured or not released. I think it was Onyewu and Conor Casey that we couldn't get released from Europe in the end. Ricardo Clark and Edson Buddle went down with injuries and had to be replaced. We went into the cycle and tournament really positive because on paper we knew we had a good group. We did really well in the group stage........................and then things went pear shaped. Zak Whitbread got hurt (surprise, surprise) which left our backline (which was already without Gooch) in difficulty. And then the worst case scenario while playing a tournament in Mexico. El Tri failed to beat Costa Rica in their last group game, finishing 2nd in their group on GD. That meant the US had to face Mexico in Guadalajara in front of 60,000 fans for the do-or-die qualification game. It was a ritual sacrifice. A bloodbath. It was over before it even started as at the time most of those USYNTers weren't used to that type of atmosphere and pressure. For me that 2004 team was a big, big disappointment. If they had actually gone to the Olympics, I think they could have medaled. Add three quality overage players of the era to fill some holes (a keeper and fullback for instance), and look out. Maybe by the time the Olympics came around we'd have also selected Clint Dempsey (who was in his rookie year with the Revs). Teams like Paraguay and Iraq made the medal round for Pete's sake.
The backhalf of Klinsmann era... The USMNT lost heart for a good couple years from 2014 - 2016, and really saw the team regress.
Lots of u-17 players have disappointed, but the class with Charles Renken, Joe Gyau, Carlos Martinez, Luis Gil, Stefan Jerome, Dustin Correa, Juan Agudelo and Jack McInerney was the most disappointing overall for me. Many of those player were linked to big clubs like Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Juventus but none of the moves ever panned out. It's depressing that Perry Kitchen has probably had the best career so far out of that entire u-17 roster. There are a handful of MLS journeyman-level players and the rest have dropped off the face of the earth. http://sbisoccer.com/2008/09/meet-the-future
The 2008 Olympics. That was a genuinely talented, but ultimately star-crossed set of players.They gave up a last second equalizer to Holland in the second game. Then Michael Orozco threw the elbow in the third minute of the last group game and got the red card. This decade, our youth teams just haven't been very talented. But last decade they were. But they never quite figured out a way to win the game that they needed to win.
Youth player development. The US has so, so many good young players. In the right system with the right coaching, the US could be a Top 10 country developing waves of future stars. But the self-interested powers-that-be hold this country back.
I believe the USA has the 2nd most registered male soccer players in the world after Germany. Something about youth development is very wrong.
1. The 2010 Ghana game. After the Algeria last minute goal, it seemed like the whole country was watching for the first time. Favorites in a big spot is not where the USMNT does well, and this was the worst. 2. 2002 Poland. After beating Portugal and tying South Korea, they had it all in their hands. Just had to take care of business against Poland, who were out of it already. There are few games where the USMNT has played worse. They were lucky to end up going through. You hear, now, how Arena got the team to the Quarterfinals, but you never hear about how they absolutely should have been eliminated in the group stage by Poland. 3. JOB...enough said. You can make quite the starting 11 of players cut short by injury. 5. Rossi choosing Italy. 6. MLS. While it is great we have a league, in terms of the USMNT, MLS has mostly hurt: making everyone come back from Europe to start the league a big reason for 1998, the best Americans have no competition for spots, and they block the transfers of young players to better leagues. Everyone wonders why no GK has emerged after Howard. But why would they when a Johnson or Hamid has zero competitive incentive to get better? Hamid has had a locked in, high paying, job with DCU forever and is just as good now as when he started. This is going on with every position on the field and with every player that has no threat for their starting job.
The MLS example is probably a major reason Mexico's team isn't better. Liga MX pays so well that there's no incentive to move to Europe. The same thing also happens with Arab players. And with the Poland game, people often do forget how disastrous that could have been. If Portugal and Korea ended in a draw or Portugal win, it would have certainly been the biggest disappointment in USMNT history.