Football Partnerships

By Alex Kotler

It was early 2001. Newly single, having parted ways with my college girlfriend, and living in New York City, I was invited out by a buddy of mine. We were supposed to go to a party with a lady friend of his, and a friend of hers, who happened to be Claire Danes – of the movie Romeo & Juliet fame.

For that Hollywood minute, she was one of the ‘it’ girls.

My buddy talked it up. “She’s single, man. And I heard she likes short dudes.”

“Bugger off,” I told him. But, in my head, I was scheming like Mike Myers as Wayne in Wayne’s World: She Would Be Mine. I would sweep her off her feet and she would fall for the funnyman.

That is, if she showed up. And to save the suspense, she didn’t. But the damage was done. I had stolen a glimpse of a possible future, and it wasn’t mine.

Earth to Alex. Time to return.

–

Last Wednesday, the United States defeated Spain, the world’s number one ranked football team, to reach the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup.

To call the victory shocking would be an understatement.

Without hardman Marcos Senna and needle-threader Andres Iniesta, the Spanish were already anticipating the final match against likely-opponent Brazil, or better, the post-season holiday.

But a deft turn and a sloppy parry by Iker Casillas gave the US a lead. Then, a Landon Donovan pass found its way to Clint Dempsey, as it glanced off of Gerard Pique and a sleeping Sergio Ramos for the second goal.

Tim Howard gave a thunderous performance and Jay DeMerit was booming. Benny Feilhaber showed flashes of his Brazilian roots and Landon Donovan ran like lightening for 90 minutes.

All of the coefficients for the perfect storm formula were in play:
(Spanish Overconfidence + Unlucky Finishing) + (American Will + Good Fortune) = US Upset.

–

Sunday, before the final, I spoke with my grandmother, Honey.

“What are you doing today, dear,” she asked. “I’m going to watch the Confederations Cup Final,” I told her. “Oh, that’s right,” she replied, “I read about the ‘Miracle On Grass’.”

She was referencing George Vecsey’s article, following the victory over Spain, which appeared in the New York Times on the 24th.

He wrote: “…the victory Wednesday [was] probably the second-biggest upset by an American team, behind only the 1980 Miracle on Ice by the hockey team over the Soviet Union in the Olympics.

Americans love underdog stories. We have an entire movie industry devoted to them, sports in particular. (Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid have each resurrected their washed-up careers playing baseball wash-ups.)

Still, this ‘Miracle’ was as close a second to the Miracle on Ice as Real Madrid was to Barcelona this past season. Here’ why:

1. This was the semi-final of the Confederations Cup, not the gold medal match of the Olympics.

2. Despite disagreements over military strategy, Spain and the United States are not political adversaries. US-USSR relations in 1980 were, well, frosty.

3. The importance of the match, regardless of what was said during interviews, was far greater for the Americans than the Spanish. The Spanish squad had nothing to prove and will not lose much sleep over their broken win streak.

–

Forty-six minutes into the final, an expletive comes screeching out of my mouth as sure as the back line lose their marks. I see the inevitable unfolding.

The US are playing ten men behind the ball.

In the story of David and Goliath, David strikes the Philistine down with a stone thrown from afar. (The verse is quoted in Hoosiers, a classic basketball underdog story.) David doesn’t play rope-a-dope with him, sitting back and letting Goliath tire. (Only Rocky Balboa, the other classic movie underdog, can do that.)

Point being, the US defense cannot withstand constant bombardment by the world’s most potent offense and escape unscathed.

I slug my beer and try to brush the goal off.

My buddy, not the same one (re: Claire Danes), says to me, “If the US pull this off, it would be huge for Football Partnerships.”

I meditate on that for a moment. Would it be? It would be a massive achievement for the US to actually win a competitive FIFA-sanctioned tournament.

Before I can put it into perspective, though, it’s 2-2 and I’m praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive.

But Lucio out-jumps Clint Dempsey to send the US home on a very long plane ride without a trophy.

–

After the victory against Spain there was a buzz. People were talking, circa the ‘Can David Beckham transform soccer in the US?’ discussion.

However, following the US defeat to Brazil, as with Beckham’s loan deal to AC Milan, people were quick to denounce the team, and the sport in general.

Elation. Deflation. That seems to be the cycle.

We beat the best on a day when they were not at their best but we were clearly better and thus we bested the best. What that means is that we are not the best, but it does mean that we can beat anybody if we bring our best game.

Anything more is hyperbole.

–

The United States, as both an emerging soccer market and a national team, is making forward progress. With patience, over time, we will mature and become increasingly competitive.

At present, though, the situation is delicate. We are easily excitable. We get carried away. And we make unreasonable demands of our leagues and our sport.

Let’s be careful with the management of expectations. I don’t think I could handle being stood up by Claire Danes a second time.

The United States’ 3-2 loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final was seen by 3.9 million people on ESPN, the most-viewed non-World Cup game for the American team on the cable network.

ESPN said Tuesday that Sunday’s game received a 2.6 cable rating and was seen in 2.6 million homes. The audience was the third-largest to watch the team on ESPN, trailing the 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany at the 2002 World Cup and the 2-1 victory over Colombia in the first round of the 1994 World Cup.

Several U.S. games have drawn more viewers on ABC, which like ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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