-"Helping to Bring The World's Sport to American Shores"
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The United States, An Emerging Power? by Stuart Murray The following is a letter written on October 8, 2001 to NY Times columnist George Vecsey, a good friend to US soccer. Dear Mr. Vecsey, "In most ways the United States is a giant player in the world. Soccer is the rare exception. In the world's most popular sport, the United States has to sweat to get out of a group that includes Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and the amalgam of Trinidad and Tobago." Are you not aware that the U.S. has been ranked in FIFA's top 20 for a couple of years and is currently at 19th, down from 16th? Does that not make the U.S. a major international soccer team? Regarding the strength of CONCACAF, here's something for you to consider: No other qualifying division of its size has as many teams in the FIFA top 20 -- three (Mexico, 10; USA 19; Honduras 20). You can check out www.FIFA.com to confirm this. None of the European divisions has more than two teams from the top 20. South America is one big division and has four teams in FIFA's top 20. Further, CONCACAF has five of its six teams in the FIFA top 35. So-called lowly Trinidad Tobago is 35th, but not long ago was 29th. (Costa Rica has been 31 for some time.) The sixth division member, Jamaica, is 53rd or so, but has been ranked in the top 50 most of the past few years. Only South America has as many teams as CONCACAF ranked in the top 35, also five. So, the U.S.A. is a top team in the world and is in one of the toughest World Cup qualifying divisions in the world. FIFA's standings say so. I've been a semi-pro soccer player as well as a soccer youth, scholastic, and college coach. I've also done considerable delving into American soccer's history. As a former reporter, I'm obliged to say that it's time our reporting of American soccer comes up to the level of our play on the field. Sincerely, Stuart Murray is a writer/editor who wrote "Go for the Goal!", a self-coaching book for young players, for Simon & Schuster. |
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