Compelling Soccer

Now that qualification is in the books, it seems like as good a time as any to look at the state of the US soccer team. And of course whenever you look at the state of a squad, it always starts with the head. In this case it is the much debated Bob Bradley, a man whom many didn't want to get the job, many still want fired but who also has picked up plenty of supporters along the way.

Your view on Bradley probably comes down to where you perception of the US Soccer team in the world spectrum. You can see it in the arguments on both sides. Critics decry his conservative style and boring defensive tactics. (Two defensive mids, hooray for bunker ball!) Supporters will tell you the US simply doesn't have the talent to get by consistently any other way. Meanwhile supporters will tell you Bradley's had more success than any other US coach, with the highest win percentage and qualifying for the World Cup at the top of CONCACAF. Critics will retort qualifying for the Cup is the bare minimum these days; anyone should do be able to do that with this group of players. The true test comes in South Africa, where Bradley's tactics will inevitably lead to a knock out in the group stage.

The story of Saturday night's road victory over Honduras, outside of the US locking up it's sixth straight World Cup appearance, was the surprise star of the match Conor Casey. How big of a surprise was Casey's heroics? For starters, if you polled media people or US fans, he probably would have been deemed least likely player to start the game outside of Brad Guzan and maybe Robbie Rogers. Then when you combine that with the situation, supposed difficulty of the game, the stakes and his perceived skill level and you have one of the most unlikely performances in US soccer history.

So, as I mentioned in prior posts, a near perfect situation opened up. A bar by my place was showing the US Honduras match. I also mentioned that I would shun internet feeds and pay to watch the game at the bar. I was looking forward to the experience of getting to watch a soccer game with passionate US fans, something that I haven't done in the past.

Yet, on the night when the US team exceeded the general expectations and beat Honduras on the road, coming from behind to do it, I missed out on most of the fan base euphoria. Why?

Because I watched the game on my computer.