Roger Grossman on USA’s World Cup loss: How do we get over this?

Roger Grossman
News Now Warsaw

You don’t have to be a soccer fan to understand the feeling Americans have today over the outcome of Monday’s loss to Belgium.

You don’t have to understand offside offenses or stoppage time.

You don’t have to have ever kicked a soccer ball or learned how to “trap” the ball with any part of your body.

You just have to be a living, breathing human being with red, white and blue in your bloodstream.

From the start, it was very clear that the US was not the confident, secure side that they had been in their first four matches in this year’s event.

They couldn’t pass the ball, and when the pass was close enough to being on target our guys couldn’t control the pass.

We passed it to the wrong person on a continual basis, and we seemed to never have enough guys in the correct positions on defense.

So, the questions that inevitably come up on days like today are, “why” and “how”.

Let me try to help you with that.

Clearly, Belgium was the better “side” (soccer teams are called ‘sides’ instead of ‘teams’ internationally) from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

They were quicker, they were more skilled, they were more determined and they were laser focused.

And maybe Belgium was better the whole time and not just on this one night. They certainly are a more veteran group than the 11 players the US put on the pitch for this World Cup, but many experts thought that the Belgians’ age might be their undoing in this tournament — particularly in their match with the Americans.

And many of the US players from this year’s roster took the field in Qatar four years ago, so our team was not full of greenhorns by any stretch of the imagination.

And the Americans received the “gift” of getting their leading goal scorer and top offensive threat back from a one-match suspension that is standard with getting a red card.

When a player in virtually every soccer league in the world gets a red card, it carries a three-fold penalty.

First, that player is ejected from that match.

Second, that player’s team cannot replace them during that match, so they finish with one less man. For example: when a player gets red carded in a match, they are out of the match and their team has to finish that game with 10 players. It would be like a hockey team being on a power play for the entirety of the game.

And finally, that player is banned from playing in the next match. They can be replaced in the lineup, but they just can’t play.

It’s a harsh penalty, but red cards are reserved for the worst offenses and repeat offenders.

There is no appeals process for overturning a red card, so there is no one to hear a team’s plea for help when a red card is issued — until last week.

FIFA “suspended” the red card against the US, which essentially put that player on probation for one calendar year.

There was no explanation for how they came to their decision. They just did it.

And that, friends, is why FIFA is viewed as the most corrupt sports organization in the world.

Even with all their players available, the US looked like they couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

And let’s, again, give credit to the Belgians. They were openly angry at the FIFA decision, and they showed it from the moment they put boot to ball in Seattle.

They were in the processed up being “jobbed” by FIFA, and they were not having any of it.

That’s a life lesson for all of us, isn’t it.

We know that’s what they were thinking because when they scored to make it 3-1 and essentially put themselves into the quarterfinals, they collectively put their index fingers over their lips and told the massive American audience in Seattle to shut up and sit down.

Normally, I would not be impressed by that sort of behavior, but in this case I thought it was fitting and appropriate.

The Belgians came to the stadium Monday with a mission to fulfill and a wrong to right in their eyes, and they did that with 90 minutes of mastery of the game of soccer and of their opponents.

The US didn’t look ready to play, and maybe it was because FIFA’s decision less than 36 hours before kickoff was shocking even to them. Everyone knew the rules that had been in place for decades.

I don’t believe in Karma, as such, but I do believe that what happened Monday night was impacted by the decision to let a banned player from a host country play — just not the way anyone expected.

And maybe it’s better this way. Maybe it’s a just result.

The saddest part of this is that this year, on home soil, with several favorites like Germany out of the way, was a legit opportunity for America to make a run. We were not going to win the whole thing, but every win would have been an investment in the sport’s growth here.

Now the narrative that has existed will remain: “The US will never be a threat to win the World Cup and will continue to be a wannabe soccer superpower.”

After Monday, it’s hard to deny that reality.

The post Roger Grossman on USA’s World Cup loss: How do we get over this? appeared first on News Now Warsaw.