It's difficult to be anything less than very disappointed with the United States Men's National Soccer Team's performance. In fact, I'm struggling to be anything less than angry. No wins. One tie. Two losses. And an early exit from the 2006 World Cup. It's unacceptable.
Plenty are going to call for Bruce Arena's job and I suspect Arena might oblige them tomorrow. There is simply no question this wasn't Arena's finest hour. The team appeared to lack chemistry. They lacked fight. They lacked many things that lay at the feet of their head coach. Thus, Arena will probably step aside.
However, Arena is far from the only culprit of this debacle. The players are as much to blame as their coach. In particular, Claudio Reyna, Landon Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley seemed to collectively slip between invisible, barely visible and visible, but making us wish they were invisible.
Some have suggested the PK before the half did the U.S. in today. If it did, then shame on both Arena and his captain, Reyna, for not getting the team's mind back into a WC match they trailed by only a single marker with a half to go. That's why we pay a coach, that's why a guy gets to wear the armband.
As for Donovan and Beasley, they were simply dreadful. One of them really needed to become the offensive centerpiece and neither was up to the challenge. Of course, Arena could easily be blamed for putting both players in positions that made it difficult for them to succeed. And I do. However, in futbol, like any other sport, your stars have to play like stars in order for you to win. For the USMNT, their stars failed to do so. That's why they are done in World Cup '06.
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