Nuremberg, Germany – For the next four years, U.S. Soccer can talk all it wants about the bad start against Czech Republic and the red cards against Italy and the controversial penalty kick against Ghana. But as the Americans limp home after a disappointing first-round exit from the World Cup, there is one inescapable conclusion they should face during the next four years instead.
American players must get better.
That is according to Bruce Arena, the U.S. coach. Whether he is around to coach the team is another question. In his post-World Cup press conference Friday, the longest-tenured coach in the Cup did not guarantee he’d be back, whether it’s his choice or U.S. Soccer’s.
“This can’t be that important right now,” Arena told reporters. “It’s not for me right now. I don’t have a timetable on it.”
What he is more interested in discussing, and what is probably of more interest to a growing legion of U.S. fans, is what can be done to improve the national team. Not counting Italy’s own goal in the 1-1 tie, the U.S. scored one goal, matching Togo and only better than Trinidad and Tobago.
Three opponents outshot the U.S., 29-21, but more importantly, they had 12 shots on goal to four for the U.S. In three games, the U.S. had four shots with scoring potential. The area where the U.S. clearly lags behind the soccer powers of Europe and South America is in scorers.
Brian McBride, who has the most career goals among active Americans with 30, did not draw much extra attention from opponents and, at 34, has played his last World Cup. Landon Donovan, considered a major scoring threat, had one good game.
Arena took over in late 1998 and says he sees progress merely by the respect opponents give the U.S. and the heightened expectations of the players and fans. But he also sees the improvement that’s needed, in areas across the board.
“We’re developing our game from the top down instead of the bottom up,” Arena said. “We have to do a better job of developing our elite players early, get a better soccer environment, demand (Major League Soccer) play an important role in developing players and not just wait until they arrive from college.”
A better environment
With a population of 295 million, the U.S. has more than 100 million more people than Brazil, the next most populous nation in the World Cup. The American youth soccer boom began nearly 30 years ago, and more children play soccer in the U.S. than baseball.
Yet the U.S. does not have an established goal scorer, let alone an international star. The closest may be midfielder Claudio Reyna, who made FIFA’s 2002 World Cup all-star team. However, Reyna, 32, announced his retirement Friday after his fourth World Cup.
“How do young players develop?” Arena said. “No one knows. It’s a crap shoot. It’s a numbers game in any sport. You need greater numbers, and if you put them in a better soccer environment, better players will emerge. The job of U.S. Soccer is to develop the environment. You need clubs to develop players.”
Arena also said the U.S. needs better competition in preparation. Its region of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football obviously isn’t strong enough. The four CONCACAF teams here went a combined 1-8-3, with only Mexico advancing before losing Saturday to Argentina, 2-1.
Since August 2004, the U.S. played only one team outside CONCACAF that made this year’s World Cup, losing to England, 2-1, in Chicago in May 2005. Arena would like to set up more friendlies with traditional powers. However, scheduling is difficult. The summer MLS is one of the few soccer leagues in the world that doesn’t play in the winter.
“(Competition) needs to get better,” Arena said. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to deal with the league and set up some competitions during the MLS season, which I know isn’t a perfect situation.”
Reyna, who has played in England, Scotland and Germany, says U.S. players would benefit from playing in Europe. Of America’s starting 11 Thursday against Ghana, only five play in Europe, the rest in the MLS.
“It helped me get better,” said Reyna, who retired with the fourth-most caps in U.S. history, 108. “You learn a lot from losses or bad situations.
“In Europe, because of the intensity of the leagues and pressure from the press and fans, you’re in those situations all the time.”
No decision on Arena
What the U.S. did have, with Arena, was continuity. That could end if he decides to leave or U.S. Soccer pushes him out. He talked briefly to Daniel Flynn, CEO of U.S. Soccer, and Sunil Gulati, the vice-president, after the game and no commitment was made.
Finding a replacement would be tough. U.S. Soccer wants an American coach, and the U.S. has done a worse job developing coaches than players.
Arena is going home to Virginia, where he will watch the World Cup on TV and “lose a few golf balls.” But he sounded like a man who has coached his last game for the U.S.
“There’s a bright future,” he said. “Every job I’ve been in, I’ve left a better team and organization. That’s the case here as well. I’m proud of that.”
