FORT WORTH, Texas — The late Lamar Hunt may not have believed what has happened to a sport he loved more than football.
No American contributed more to the state of the beautiful game in this country than the late owner and founder of the Kansas City Chiefs football team.
Hunt poured tens of millions of his own dollars into what for generations was a sport beloved all over the world but the United States of America.
Tuesday was Lamar’s ROI.
Not only do Americans play soccer, but they also watch soccer and care enough to be mad about the result.
They care enough to hold watching parties, and leave work for extended lunch breaks to watch soccer games.
What happened on Tuesday afternoon was unfathomable back in 1990. Most Americans over the age of 40 could never have foreseen a day when the United States would play relevant soccer matches in the World Cup.
There is a viable, stable professional men’s soccer league in America, and expectations for the men’s national team.
What has transpired in this 2022 World Cup in Qatar can no longer be the baseline for the U.S. men’s national team.
There is no reason why, given our population and the amount of money we spend on soccer in this country, that the men’s national team does anything other than compete for the World Cup itself.
The World Cup trophy.
We don’t contend for that trophy because our national team is still too entitled. Our national team struts around like they’re the Michael Jordan era Bulls, or Tom Brady Patriots, without having won anything.
There are still too many Americans who celebrate the USMNT appearing in the World Cup, and making it to the knockout stage when the expectations need to be higher.
On Tuesday, the U.S. defeated Iran 1-0 to make it to futbol’s Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014.
The U.S. should have won this game at least 2-0 but the last 30 plus minutes turned into a terrifying exercise of prevent defense.
Said in my best British accent, “At least twice in the final stanza the Iranian side had glorious chances to score the equalizer but were denied a point.”
The U.S. lone goal came on a painful effort in the first half by Christian Pulisic, who after watching replays of said goal may never be able to produce children without medical assistance.
The U.S. did what it was supposed to do in a World Cup, and advance out of group play.
After failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 in Russia, the expectations for our men’s national team regressed. When the team qualified for this current edition of the World Cup, there was too much celebrating when an achievement like this should be a given.
The counter to this argument is that Americans have too many other options; between basketball, baseball, football, rowing, gymnastics, jai alai, lacrosse, volleyball, beach volleyball, hockey, field hockey, horse racing, dog racing, auto racing, boxing, MMA, UFC, X-games, video games, E-sports, they all take away from what could be a global soccer monster.
Not buying it.
We are a nation of 336 million people. That should be enough to compete for one World Cup.
France, population 67 million. Germany, pop. 83 million.
Wales boasts a population of 3 million, and we tied them in our first World Cup game.
The birth of modern American soccer should be considered 1990, when the national team qualified for its first World Cup since 1950.
Thanks to passionate investors, notably Lamar Hunt, the sport has steadily grown. Soccer’s place in the American sports’ landscape is secure.
By 1990’s standards, what happened on Tuesday is amazing.
It’s also 2022, and it’s time not for Hunt to enjoy his ROI but the United States.
The USMNT is legit, and it will be an underdog on Saturday morning when it faces the Netherlands. According to the FIFA world rankings, the Netherlands is 10th and the U.S. 13th.
The USMNT can win this, and advance to their first World Cup quarterfinals match since 2002, when the event was played in Japan and South Korea.
What this current USMNT achieved returns the state of the program to its previous levels, and now it’s time to advance the ball beyond a different goal line.
Elevate your expectations.
Don’t celebrate when you’ve made the World Cup, or reached the knockout stage.
Celebrate when you win the World Cup.
