World Cup 2010 Preview: The United States

Yes, I said that publicly. No, I am not alone in believing that The Yanks could make some serious noise. Others feel the same. No, none of us are currently taking a Schedule-3 narcotic.

How's about you let me list some reasons why the U.S. might actually make it out of their pool before demanding a urinalysis, okay?

First of all, this squad has a lot of the right kind of international experience. I am not referring to international matches where the individual members were members of team U.S.A., although there is quite a bit of that as well. I am talking about real international experience, the kind that pays in coin of the realm. Seven of the current members play in the top three professional leagues in the world: one plays in France's Ligue 1, one in Germany's Bundesliga, and five in the richest professional league in any sport in the world, England's Premiership, and that doesn't count America's most important player, Landon Donovan, recently finishing a rousing run on loan to the Premiership's Everton. The men who have already played in the Premiership this season will be of even greater value during group play, as England is included in America's draw. Players like Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, and Frank Lampard will be familiar to our own Premiership veterans. This is precisely the kind of experience that will prove priceless because the guys who play in these leagues are already in direct competition against many of the men they'll be facing in June in South Africa.

Second, this squad is relatively young. Don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting that the Yanks are a bunch of callow youths. However, these guys aren't old enough to have grown up with the pervasive feeling that the U.S. simply sucks at soccer. They have played this game all their lives, with varying degrees of international success. Some of them (Jozy Altidore, for example), are the kind of athlete that could have competed at the highest levels in other American professional sports and that is the beginning of what could mark a seismic shift in U.S. soccer fortunes. How many of our best goalkeepers currently play in the NBA? How many of our best defenders lurk beneath helmets in the NFL? How many great middle-backs and strikers have we lost to MLB? For once, we may no longer have to talk about what could have been. The genuine (lasting?) presence of respectable, international-quality soccer in the U.S. is finally paying dividends. These guys haven't grown up in a world where John Harkes is the anomaly and Alexei Lalas is just the guy who runs the L.A. Galaxy. These guys have lined up across from the likes of Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo and (rightfully) believe that they deserved to be there.

It's worth noting that soccer phenom Freddie Adu probably won't make this squad, even though he's around five months older than Jozy Altidore. Any squad whose lineup Adu can't crack is solid, indeed.

Third, the draw itself is more favorable than appearances might seem to warrant. England, of course, is the elephant in the room, favored to figure in the championship. Slovenia is also in the draw, having dispatched the Russians (no small feat, that), and that's where things get interesting. Three of the four teams in Group C are capable of advancing. Only two will advance. It's no stretch to suggest that England will struggle against either the Americans or the Slovenians. Remember, the Slovenians put the Russians out, and the Americans played Brazil to a standstill for 80 of 90 minutes (and I daresay that that loss might be more helpful than a win, because it left the Yanks with unfinished business to attend to). Algeria is basically a group win, so everyone is 1-0 after that game. A win and a draw after that is likely enough to get a team into the round of 16, whereas a loss to either of the other two teams would be utterly devastating.

All things considered, I believe that the U.S. men will advance to the round of 16. I even believe that, with the right Group D draw, the Yanks could reach the quarter-finals. I will make no further predictions of success, because the round of 16 represents the world's varsity, and the quarter-finals? Heere be dragones...

Whatever the U.S. does this year will likely represent their best performance ever, and the future looks even brighter than their prospects this year.