Tweet
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>You mentioned that the U.S. national team was a collection of good players.</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. Well, that’s pretty easy to figure out when you look at where our players are. Isn’t it?
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>But you said there were many people who thought that since we went to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002, the semifinals in 2006 were the next step. A typically American way of looking at things.</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. Well, I can tell you this: If a team of N.B.A. players can’t win the world championship, and that’s hardly a global sport, look at that example and look at where we are in soccer. Global sports is a whole different animal. This is THE global sport. And when you look at international soccer, we are among the top 30-40 countries in the world. If you think we’re in the top 10, you’re nuts. We’ve just happened to have overachieved in the last eight years.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>What has to change?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. The league has to get better. The players will get better if they play in a better league. They will have better opportunities overseas, and that’s the way our national team will get better. The best players in Brazil and Argentina play in Europe and their domestic leagues are pretty good. Mexico has a pretty good domestic league, but its national team has struggled because they didn’t have many players in Europe. And we’re better than Mexico.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>But what happens now to our players who go overseas?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. They’re not good enough. Or they’re secondary players on generally not very good teams. It’s a natural process. How do Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley emerge out of that group? It wasn’t because of a plan. It just happened they had opportunities. They were talented people that were given good opportunities, who had a good environment, for us anyway, in the Bradenton thing. We will have thousands of kids playing soccer if we create a better environment; players will surface. It’s a natural evolution. It’s not going to be from a plan, it’s not going to be a committee ¬ that’s the next U.S. Soccer stuff, it will name committees, to win the World Cup, committees to do this, committees to do that. But it’s really done at the ground level. People just busting their ass and creating better environments for their kids. More players will surface over time with this league, but this league has got to get better.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>Are American players hungry enough compared to other players around the world?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. No. It’s twofold. They live in an affluent society and have found that even at moderate wages they are comfortable. You can see players around here that are not highly motivated. They also see they are in a certain income bracket that is not going to get a whole lot higher or much lower. Not a tremendous future for them financially, so they don’t have to dedicate themselves like other athletes in other sports do who are making real money. Our guys are studying for graduate school or their next profession. I find it very interesting, as I watch it. We did not have one player attend the Peru-Ecuador game last night {Sept. 6}. That’s the mind-set of our players.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>Are they not soccer fans?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. They are, but they don’t live the game 24 hours a day, they are not fighting enough to get out of this environment and make a better life for themselves. There are athletes that come from affluent backgrounds who are world class. As our environment improves, w
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. Well, that’s pretty easy to figure out when you look at where our players are. Isn’t it?
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>But you said there were many people who thought that since we went to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002, the semifinals in 2006 were the next step. A typically American way of looking at things.</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. Well, I can tell you this: If a team of N.B.A. players can’t win the world championship, and that’s hardly a global sport, look at that example and look at where we are in soccer. Global sports is a whole different animal. This is THE global sport. And when you look at international soccer, we are among the top 30-40 countries in the world. If you think we’re in the top 10, you’re nuts. We’ve just happened to have overachieved in the last eight years.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>What has to change?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. The league has to get better. The players will get better if they play in a better league. They will have better opportunities overseas, and that’s the way our national team will get better. The best players in Brazil and Argentina play in Europe and their domestic leagues are pretty good. Mexico has a pretty good domestic league, but its national team has struggled because they didn’t have many players in Europe. And we’re better than Mexico.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>But what happens now to our players who go overseas?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. They’re not good enough. Or they’re secondary players on generally not very good teams. It’s a natural process. How do Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley emerge out of that group? It wasn’t because of a plan. It just happened they had opportunities. They were talented people that were given good opportunities, who had a good environment, for us anyway, in the Bradenton thing. We will have thousands of kids playing soccer if we create a better environment; players will surface. It’s a natural evolution. It’s not going to be from a plan, it’s not going to be a committee ¬ that’s the next U.S. Soccer stuff, it will name committees, to win the World Cup, committees to do this, committees to do that. But it’s really done at the ground level. People just busting their ass and creating better environments for their kids. More players will surface over time with this league, but this league has got to get better.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>Are American players hungry enough compared to other players around the world?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. No. It’s twofold. They live in an affluent society and have found that even at moderate wages they are comfortable. You can see players around here that are not highly motivated. They also see they are in a certain income bracket that is not going to get a whole lot higher or much lower. Not a tremendous future for them financially, so they don’t have to dedicate themselves like other athletes in other sports do who are making real money. Our guys are studying for graduate school or their next profession. I find it very interesting, as I watch it. We did not have one player attend the Peru-Ecuador game last night {Sept. 6}. That’s the mind-set of our players.
<SPAN class=bold>Q</SPAN>. <SPAN class=italic>Are they not soccer fans?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bold>A</SPAN>. They are, but they don’t live the game 24 hours a day, they are not fighting enough to get out of this environment and make a better life for themselves. There are athletes that come from affluent backgrounds who are world class. As our environment improves, w