The USMNT’s embarrassing failure to qualify for the World Cup has been litigated time and time again since it suffered a 2-1 loss in October’s final qualifying match against Trinidad & Tobago.
Some have blamed ex-head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Others have blamed Bruce Arena’s reliance on MLS players. But in a recent feature from ESPN, one anonymous “former U.S. international” flirted with xenophobia, pointing at the dual-national players (typically German-Americans) for their lack of desire in qualifying.
The player said via ESPN:
“There was definitely a thought process that were great when the World Cup came around, but they didn’t want to go down and fight in a game like Trinidad or in Honduras or Guatemala, the travel and that kind of stuff,” the former U.S. international said. “A guy like Fabian Johnson, in big games, in qualifiers, at times it just looked like he was going through the motions.”
After the 2014 World Cup — which featured a diverse roster with dual nationals like Jermaine Jones, John Brooks, Fabian Johnson and Julian Green — several prominent figures in U.S. Soccer openly questioned the commitment of dual nationals. It was an embarrassingly nationalistic stance that went contrary to how the top soccer powers operate. Abby Wambach, Bruce Arena and Tim Howard have all made critical statements about foreign-born players.
Howard said nine months before that World Cup failure, via USA TODAY Sports:
“I think it slips away because you bring in …,” Howard began, before pausing for thought. “Jurgen Klinsmann had a project to unearth talent around the world that had American roots. But having American roots doesn’t mean you are passionate about playing for that country.”
Howard tried to walk back on his remarks. But really, the notion that the USMNT should not try to field the best team possible is ridiculous.
Plus, in the context of the Trinidad loss, it’s not relevant. None of the German-American players started against Trinidad. John Brooks, who scored the 2014 game-winner against Ghana, was not seen fit enough to play by Bruce Arena.
This particular dual-national argument appeared to come from a lone anonymous player who is no longer part of the national team. Other players who spoke to ESPN mentioned tactical direction, fatigue and complacency. It could very well be a lone sentiment that the federation has distanced itself from.
If anything, the roster that the USMNT fielded in its 3-0 win against Bolivia was a step in the right direction. It was loaded with youth playing at top clubs in Europe and Mexico — just Alex Bono and Walker Zimmerman are in MLS. Even Julian Green was back in a USMNT jersey.
0 Comment for "Ex-USMNT player blames foreign-born players' lack of 'fight' for World Cup failure"