As with what mechanical engineering, motorcycle maintenance and marine biology, what I know about soccer could fit inside a space much smaller than a soccer net.
I certainly don’t know what constitutes offside. Then again, I don’t know what is and isn’t pass interference in American football, nor have I bothered to learn why 0 in tennis is called “love.” But you know what they say. There’s a thin line between love and 15.
Anyway, about soccer. The United States lost 4-1 to Belgium Monday, thus failing to reach the men’s World Cup semifinals. It remains a forever spectator in the Elite Eight, or whatever they call it. The quarterfinals, I guess. How pedestrian.
With that ignominious defeat to a nation of 11 million people came the usual blather about why not enough American males are drawn to the game and that people in this country in general still regard it as a niche sport. The U.S. has won four women’s World Cups. Apparently, there is a path to get from here to the soccer mountaintop.
Fox’s telecast of Monday’s game had 30 million viewers. Which cleared the previous all-time high for an English-langauge soccer telecast in the U.S., which was the 26.4 million that saw the U.S. beat Bosnia and Herzegovina five days earlier.
Had the Americans knocked off Belgium instead of getting flattened, the viewership for Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal aganst Spain would have included a lot of people skipping work, school, dental appointments and Pilates sessions.
Spain, by the way, would have shut out the U.S. and controlled the game because it has world-class players and we — if I may be so provincial as to say “we” — do not.
A backyard in my Cedar Rapids neighborhood
When I hear about how the U.S.’ best athletes are drawn to other sports instead of soccer, I look at Lionel Messi of Argentina. He is 5-foot-7, 148 pounds, 39 years old, and isn’t the soccer equivalent of Usain Bolt when it comes to dashing 100 meters. He merely is a wizard at doing the right things on a soccer pitch.
The sport rewards brains and instincts more than muscles and speed. At least that’s how it looks to someone who has played the game only during grade-school P.E. class, where anyone’s pass to a teammate usually was accidental and goals were counted if the ball went over the goalkeeper’s head, even if it was 10 feet over. In those prehistoric times, we didn’t have actual soccer goal posts and nets here.
It was fun, though.
The U.S. playing so well in getting to the Sweet 16 did a lot to enhance the event for American couch potatoes like myself. Then it met its toughest foe in the tournament and crumbled. It happens. Especially to the U.S.
But that England-Mexico game the night before … OMG, what a classic. Argentina’s comeback win over Egypt Tuesday … OMG, the same.
I’m an underdog guy, so I hope Norway or Switzerland plays Morocco or Belgium in the championship. The smart money, though, is on a rematch of the 2022 final between Argentina and France. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. That would be OK, too.
I’ve loved watching the World Cup. Unlike recent editions, the matches have been on at times that were workable. And, there has been so much to enjoy.
The dazzling and relentless individuals like Messi and Mbappe, Norway’s Erling Haaland and England’s Harry Kane have been so brilliant. Many a goalkeeper has been sensational. The story of Cape Verde tying traditional soccer powers Spain and Uruguay, advancing to the knockout round, and barely losing to defending champion Argentina in an mesmerizing contest, was beyond terrific.
Cape Verde, by the way, has roughly the population of Iowa’s Polk County. The U.S. has 350 million residents.
Most of all, the passion of the fans from around the world who ventured to North America for extended stays to party, cheer and make their presence felt has been a reminder this stuff is supposed to be fun. The way Scots took over Boston and Dutch flooded Kansas City in festive moods was just great.
If I could get tickets to Saturday night’s Argentina-Switzerland quarterfinal in Kansas City, I’d go from Cedat Rapids to Arrowhead Stadium Saturday without thinking twice. If, that is, the price were about $1,308 less than the lowest price for tickets on Vivid Seats as I type this. Which was $1,508.
Many people won’t get this and won’t want to get it. But you saw those TV numbers for the U.S.’ last game. I know people who starting watching the World Cup in the last two or three weeks and have gotten into it. One day, maybe, one of their grandsons will play for a U.S. team that makes it to the men’s World Cup’s version of the Elite Eight, or even the Final Four, or better yet, the big enchilada.
But probably not.
Believe it or not, I wasn’t overserved.
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