Five Reasons U.S. Soccer Fans Can Come Out of Depression

After watching one of the worst games played by the United States Men’s National Team in years in San Jose, Costa Rica the natural reaction for any die hard American soccer fan is to crawl up in a ball in some dark corner until it’s safe to come out again. But as pitiful as head coach Bob Bradley’s team was this past Wednesday night, there’s no need for U.S. soccer fans to abandon ship just yet. Like the Boss says, “At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe.” ...

1. No One Wins at “The Purple Monster”Estadio Ricardo Saprissa is one of the hardest places for any country to win. Saprissa’s turf is probably the worst FIFA approved field in the world and it was evident that the Americans were never comfortable on the pitch Wednesday night. U.S. has never won at Saprissa nor has any country in 2010 World Cup Qualifying. Good news is that a new stadium in Costa Rica is being constructed and I doubt the U.S. will ever have to play in “The Purple Monster” again. Excuses aside the U.S. sucked beyond any field excuse, but conditions certainly didn’t help their cause.
2. Jose Francisco Torres: Not Just a Fun Name to Say AnymoreThe one bright spot in the game against Costa Rica was the calm presence on the ball of one Jose Francisco Torres. Therefore it left many soccer fans scratching their heads when at halftime Bob Bradley chose to substitute him for Sacha Kljestan. The midfielder who we stole out from under Mexico’s nose doesn’t score a lot of goals, but he facilitates beautifully through the midfield. I think he earned another start for this Saturday against Honduras.
3. The Return of Connor CaseyNot long ago Connor Casey was known only as “that bald guy in Colorado who was suppose to be the next Brian McBride, but never panned out”. Ok, perhaps everyone didn’t refer to Casey exactly like that, but his career with U.S. soccer was written off by many. Towards the end of last year Casey went on a goal scoring spree that has spilled over into this season in MLS with a league leading 8 goals. Casey was called into the U.S. team for the Honduras game with striker Brian Ching likely out again with injury. Casey has the size to play the role of the big striker that the U.S. typically features and his shiny head is good for knocking crosses into the back of the net.
4. Saturday’s WCQ Against HondurasU.S. Soccer is reporting that 50,000 tickets have already been sold to Saturday’s World Cup Qualifier against Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago. Soldier Field only holds 61,000 fans so the game should be near capacity which in itself is a great victory for U.S. Soccer. Getting 50,000 fans to a soccer game that doesn’t involve David Beckham or the U.S. vs. Mexico rivalry is a great achievement. U.S. Soccer has been pushing the game hard with advertising and their hard work is paying off.
5. Soccer is On the Rise in AmericaThe day is coming when soccer fans in the United States can mingle with the rest of the American sports landscape as “The World’s Game” is growing in popularity stateside. This past winter’s U.S./Mexico game set T.V. records with over 11 million watching the game on Univision and ESPN2. ESPN invested much more this year in the UEFA Champions League Final and boosted viewership by 33-34% from the previous year as 1.4 million Americans tuned in.

   The MLS has no doubt benefited from successful expansion clubs such as Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders who nearly sell out every game while the worldwide media storm Beckham created when he came over the pond two years ago has helped the league garner some attention as well. However, the future for the MLS is in the quality of soccer it puts out on the field and I feel that the league is getting better talent wise every year. So don’t cry U.S. Soccer fans, soccer is on the rise.