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U.S. Soccer at a Texas-sized crossroads
By wwbrown in Advocating Sports
July 28, 2011

It’s a cold Saturday night and I spent the previous hour shivering, hoping kickoff would come so I had something to get excited about.

Then I see the Starting XI for that night, and the wait for kickoff is completely unnecessary as my blood is boiling. Somehow the wasteful Robbie Findley found a way into the starting lineup for the U.S. soccer team’s World Cup opener. It was the first time during my two-week visit to South Africa I thought Bob Bradley didn’t have all his coaching marbles. That June night in Rustenburg was certainly not the last.

Fast forward 13 months and the beleaguered coach of the U.S. men’s national team was relieved of his duties Thursday afternoon. There were some highs, like taking the U.S. to the finals of the Confederations Cup, but those were too frequently intertwined with some stunning draws or defeats.

In his four years as coach Bradley took the Americans to a 43-25-12 record. A quick glance at that would not immediately led one to thinking he should join the 14.1 million unemployed Americans.

However, drawing El Salvador in World Cup qualifying, letting Ricardo Clark see the field against Ghana in the World Cup last summer and embarrassing losses to Panama and Mexico in the recently completed Gold Cup were a collection of unredeemable soccer sins.

Soccer is never going to replace football in popularity in South Texas. However, if the Women’s World Cup — and the Twitter records it caused — are an indicator, the sport is growing in pockets of this country once deemed impenetrable. However, it’s not a stretch to think some of the 70, 267 people who filled Reliant Stadium last month to watch the U.S. advance to the Gold Cup final were from the Crossroads.

Now that Bradley is going to become like millions of other parents and watch his son play from the stands, who do you think should replace him?

Comments


  • gabesemenza gabesemenza Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    My vote is Klinsmann. We need an attacking-minded, creative coach to rejuvenate the men's team and the youth program. I hope U.S. Soccer nabs a foreign-born coach at the very least.

    July 28, 2011 at 6:47 p.m.