The Sports Truth

In a game that will go largely unnoticed by the American public, the United States beat its rival Mexico, 2-0, last Wednesday in front of a sellout, largely pro-Mexican crowd in Glendale, Ariz.

With the win, the United States extended its record at home against the “Tricolores” to 7-0-1, having not allowed the Mexicans to score a single goal in those eight games.

Including games in Mexico and neutral sites, the United States improved to 8-2-1 vs. Mexico since 2000, including the dramatic 2-0 win in the 2002 World Cup.

Last week’s game may have been played in the United States, but placing the game in the very Hispanic southwest was no coincidence. Were the game played in, say New Jersey, the chances of it selling out, unfortunately, would be slim.

The United States may remain undefeated at home, but besides the win-loss record, everything about this rivalry is tailored to the Mexican fans. Of course, this is in an effort to sell more tickets and improve ratings for the broadcast within the U.S., but the clear lack of interest and support for the national team is unfortunate.

Look, I’m not a huge soccer fan, I’ve never watched club soccer in Europe and despite having a thriving franchise in my backyard (the New England Revolution) I can’t get into Major League Soccer. But, there’s something intriguing about the U.S. national team that had me taping the game last night and watching it until 1:00 a.m. (the Duke/UNC game came first, of course).

After watching a very positive response to the U.S. during the 2006 World Cup this past summer, one hoped it would rope more people into following our national team. I haven’t seen the numbers yet, but I’m guessing the ratings for last week’s game were not even close to World Cup numbers.

Part of the problem is an obvious difference in approach to the game. When I told Sports Truth founder Levi Matthews that I wanted to go to Glendale to cover the match for the website, he looked at me with the cocked-head confusion of a dog and asked “isn’t it just a “friendly?” referring to the result-doesn’t-really-matter nature of the match.

Empirically, Levi was correct. But sadly, he missed the point of the match.

It’s no secret that Mexico was out to win the game, calling back almost every player from Europe it could in an effort to bring an “A” team to the United States for a shot at breaking their losing streak. U.S. Coach Bob Bradley was only a shade less aggressive, allowing stars such as Oguchi Onyewu and DeMarcus Beasley to stay in Europe.

Maybe the time I spent in Australia has a lot to do with this. In the summer and fall of 2000 (winter and spring for the Aussies), I got to spend five months in Sydney and immersed myself into their sporting culture. While I enjoyed their club rugby matches, what really got my attention was the energy the entire country invested into its national teams, specifically cricket and rugby.

I know neither of those sports are going to take off in the United States (nor would I really want cricket to) and by the same token, soccer is fighting an uphill battle in the upper 48. But going into a restaurant at 2:00 p.m. on a Wednesday and having the whole bar cheer in unison during an Australia vs. South Korea five-day cricket match was something I hoped the U.S. would embrace one day.

I feel as if the United States soccer team is something the general public can rally around. Maybe the boys won’t get the same support their European counterparts do during “friendly” matches, but it takes wins in matches like these to make the team more important internationally - that means more competitive, and thus, every subsequent match more exciting.

Here’s hoping.

Looks like we will now find out if soccer has what it takes to make it in the U.S. of A. After much speculation about joining Major League Soccer after being demoted from both the English national team and his club team, Real Madrid, David Beckham is coming to America.

In the week leading up to the 2006 MLS Cup Championship the owners passed a rule that would allow teams to spend any amount of money over the salary cap to acquire a player. Many immediately dubbed this rule the “Beckham Rule” - and for good reason, it turned out.

Beckham has been signed by the L.A. Galaxy for a whooping $250 million for five years. This contract easily becomes the largest contract ever given a professional athlete in the U.S., topping the Alex Rodriguez deal of $250 million for 10 years signed in 2000 with the Texas Rangers.

David Beckham brings to U.S. soccer a face that the world will recognize - and relate to the MLS. This isn’t like when Pele came over to the long-defunct North American Soccer League at the end of his career. Teams in both Spain and England still wanted Beckham to play for them and he picked MLS. The other side of the ocean will now take notice of MLS, credibility it desperately needs.

Despite what many people say, Beckham can still play. He scored a goal in the World Cup this year and is merely 31 years old. He is the master of the free kick and set piece. American star Landon Donovan, now his teammate, has to be on his hands and knees thanking the powers that be for getting him the “Lord of the Cross.”

Remember when Michael Jordan returned to play the Bulls the first time with the Wizards, or when Shaq went back to L.A. to face the Lakers? Everyone had to be at those games or see them on TV. Beckham will make every game he plays an event, and people who have never attended a soccer game will be looking to get a peak at who David Beckham really is.

There is a reason David picked L.A. to play for. He wants to be the biggest star there is and that can only be accomplished in two places, L.A or N.Y. Beckham is the quintessential superstar in every sense of the word. He’s the most recognizable athlete in the world, the former captain of the English national team, and married to Victoria Beckham (a.k.a. Posh Spice).

He’s a rock star and a star athlete rolled into one. That said, it’s a lot of money to spend for a league that is still in the red every year. But at some point they had to make a move and see if the league can stand on its own. Expect a few other stars to follow Beckham’s footsteps, as a lot of stars look up to him and will listen if he tells them MLS is where they want to be.

Sports Illustrated columnist Grant Wahl writes today after the five-year, $250M signing of David Beckham by the L.A. Galaxy: “Mark it down: Jan. 11, 2007 will forever be known as the day that Major League Soccer truly arrived on the world stage.”

Never one to be surpassed in being overly dramatic, I tried to come up with something even more over-the-top about the David Beckham signing, but Grant has bested me… for now.

Actually, I’m not sure how accurate a statement that is. Well, we have no idea if it is accurate or not. But is it even realistic?

Personally, I say no, and as a truly casual fan of soccer, I can say that a player like David Beckham is supposed to lure fans to the game. This past summer, I wrote articles for my former employers (contractual obligations prevent me from providing you links to those articles) during the World Cup outlining my increasing interest in the games, even after the United States quietly bowed out.

I even went so far as to try and listen to the penalty kick shootout in the Portugal-England quarterfinal because I couldn’t find an English broadcast (the only word I could make out was “GOALLLLLLLLLLLL!”).

Between my inane attempt to listen to soccer in Spanish and my daily following of ESPN’s British World Cup blogger Michael Davies’ hilarious commentary, it would seem I’d be a prime candidate to be sucked in by Beckham-mania. But I’m not. Maybe this is a knee-jerk reaction, but I don’t see myself attending any of the local New England Revolution matches vs. Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy.

Similarly, I don’t see any of my even-less-soccer enthused friends being fired up about the latest British invasion either. Don’t get me wrong, this has to be a step in the right direction for Major League Soccer, and maybe it will validate the MLS on the world stage. I just struggle to see how this is going to dramatically increase attendance and generate interest.

For the dramatic United States-Italy World Cup match in July, about 10 of us huddled around a tiny TV in Long Island to watch the game, living and dying with each play, just as the fans in Europe supposedly do with their respective club matches. However, for reasons worth explaining another time, the allure of national soccer is obviously far greater in the United States than club soccer.

I do think soccer can be a sport that grabs national attention in the U.S., and in July, it received quite a bit of press from major sports outlets in America. To that end, I believe the way to generate interest in pro soccer is to focus on national teams. Michael Davis had the phenomenal idea of a “War for Independence” tournament to be held every 4th of July pitting the participants in that famous war: England, France, the United States, and Spain.

Think about it. It would give sports fans in the United States something to watch during the long weekend besides baseball, as well as a recognizable date for fledgling soccer fans to associate with a fun international tournament.

The United States Soccer Federation should do whatever it can to get us involved and/or organize more North and South American based tournaments to try and fill the void between World Cups. Sadly, the U.S. declined the invitation to the biannual Copa America - a nation-style tournament held by CONMEBOL the South American soccer federation (the next one is set for 2007).

I’m guessing the USSF has their reasons for not entering, but hopefully the rationale is not that they believe it would draw attention away from the MLS. After all, despite what Grant Wahl thinks, Rome was not built in one day.

Brace yourselves, American soccer fans, you both may be upset about the following news:

After rising as high as number-five in the FIFA monthly rankings earlier this year, the United States has dropped all the way down to 23. For Michael Jordan and LeBron James? A quality number. For world soccer rankings? Not so much.

Brazil remained at the top, despite not even making this year’s World Cup final. Italy, Argentina, France and England rounded out the top five.

Now that the U.S. has fired Bruce Arena, perhaps we’ll fare better in 2010. Maybe Freedie Adu will make the squad. Maybe critics around the world can stop criticizing Americans for only caring about soccer every four years. It’s not like they ever care about the NFL!