Sports

The Loss That Led To A Win: USA Advances To Round Of 16

Ewan Watt Freelance Writer
Font Size:

Only a matter of weeks ago, U.S. soccer coach Jürgen Klinsmann was heading toward becoming the least popular man in America.

His decision to leave Landon Donovan out of the squad drew howls from some corners of the press and social media. One ESPN journalist called for his firing, warning that the German’s decision was so disastrous the U.S. looked set to for a “debacle” akin to the team’s disastrous 1998 campaign.

Klinsmann’s honest assertion that the team “won’t win” the World Cup, as well as his attempts to defend Donovan’s omission, then led to Michael Wilbon — another ESPN pundit — calling for him “to get out of America.” How things have changed.

In years to come, people will be talking about America’s accomplishment of qualifying from the so-called “Group of Death” rather than how it was achieved. To say that the United States thrilled all spectators with beautiful soccer would be a little bit generous, even though they did provide generous doses of drama.

The opening game against Ghana was a struggle against a team that failed to break down a stubborn defense, while the game against Portugal was scrappy and heart-breaking almost in equal measure. Thursday’s 1-0 defeat against Germany was probably the least impressive out of all three, with the U.S. seeking to frustrate their world-class opponents, only to struggle at times to break out of their own half.

But none of this really matters. Job done. For all the white boards and analysis, soccer is a game of outcomes and results over process. Few expected the U.S. to break out of a group that included two of Europe’s (actually, the world’s) strongest soccer forces and Ghana, a side that has sent the Americans packing from the World Cup on their last two campaigns.

For all the criticism he received prior to the tournament, Klinsmann’s tenure as coach has been marked by improvements on the field and growing respect for the U.S. on the international scene. Reaching the knockout stages has only solidified that. If the purpose of hiring Klinsmann was to take U.S. soccer forward only a handful of deranged individuals would fail to acknowledge his success.

Few will be praising yesterday’s performance, however. The Germans dominated possession and overwhelmed the American midfield, leaving very few opportunities for their opponents. German-born Jermaine Jones found himself in the thick of the action, but often for all the wrong reasons — being barged over by the referee as he ran into the box and then breaking his nose in a “friendly fire” collision with Alejandro Bedoya.

Half-chances fell to Graham Zusi, who curled a shot over the bar, and Clint Dempsey, whose header from close range flew over as well. After what was probably America’s nicest build-up play in the game, Bedoya had an opportunity blocked that deserved something better.

Michael Bradley, who performed better against Portugal than he did against Ghana, was again caught ball-watching on several occasions and struggled to get into the game. Despite some nice play and aggressive tackling, Bradley’s touch often let him down as he struggle to stamp his imprint on the game. His inconsistency should trouble Klinsmann.

Thomas Müller’s second-half strike was the only goal of the game. But with Ghana failing to win and Portugal struggling to improve on their goal difference, a defeat was enough for the United States to seal their first ever back-to-back appearances in the World Cup knockout round. Given their opposition, it’s hard to overstate the magnitude of Klinsmann’s (and his team’s) accomplishment.

Ewan Watt writes extensively on state and national issues in the US, covering the 2012 presidential election for both print and online publications. He is providing commentary for the Daily Caller on a regular basis throughout the World Cup. He writes strictly in a personal capacity. You can follow him on Twitter at @ewancwatt

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel