This is what I know about the World Cup. It’s being played in Brazil, and U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann needs a refresher course at the Herb Brooks School of Motivation.
Klinsmann announced that the United States will not and cannot win the World Cup, and the best it can hope for in Brazil is a participant’s ribbon. He’s probably right. Team USA is in a brutal bracket with Germany, Portugal and Ghana, and is a long shot to come home with anything but a sunburn. But before his team opens play against Ghana on Monday, Klinsmann has to come up with something better than “you’re not going to win,” right?
You’ll recall, Brooks coached the 1980 USA men’s ice hockey team to the gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Team USA pulled off the biggest upset in sports history, knocking off the Soviet Union in the semifinals. Before the game, Brooks delivered the kind of speech they make movies about.
Really. Check out Kurt Russell as Brooks delivers a version of the “great moments are born from great opportunity” speech in “Miracle.” It has to be the most famous pep talk of all time.
What is Klinsmann going to say to his team before the game? “Hey, just don’t get hurt.”
Brooks inspired his team of underdogs to do the impossible. What does Klinsmann inspire? Adequacy, maybe.
Fans of mediocre teams know, in their heart, when the object of their affection has no shot. Fans also know that, if the team plays out of its mind, and everything breaks the right way, there’s a chance. Nobody wants or needs the coach to throw the long odds in their face.
Team USA’s dismal chances aside, I’m making the same promise to myself that I made in 2010, and 2006, and 2002. I’m going to try and enjoy the World Cup. I’ll forget that the sport is run by FIFA, the most corrupt organization in history. This is a group that awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where the average summer temperature is 104 degrees. Players will be more comfortable playing soccer in a pizza oven than on the pitch in Qatar.
However, it is nice to know, if me and my buddies bring FIFA a sackful of money, we too can host the World Cup.
I’ll try to ignore players that fall and writhe on the turf in agony from nothing but a stern look. That’s always been my biggest problem with the highest levels of soccer — the diving.
It happened on Friday, when a Brazilian player flopped late in a game against Croatia and was rewarded for his amateurish behavior when the ref called a penalty. Brazil converted the penalty shot, and took the lead. It looked like a parody of a flop, except it was real, raising the bar for floppers for the rest of the tournament.
The best players in the world shouldn’t have to resort to such buffoonery. The best officials in the world should know better than to reward such abject nonsense.
Still, I’ll watch a few games. I’ll keep an eye on Klinsmann’s Team USA on Monday night against Ghana. I’ll even watch the matches against Portugal and Germany, even though the coach gives his team no chance to win.
Great moments used to be born from great opportunity. Klinsmann decided the opportunity was squandered before he even tried.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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