It’s that time of the year again. Another major tournament. Another quarterfinal round exit (or earlier) for team anglosaxon. While I was happy with the US performance and thought England put in a strong first half against sprightly Germany, now begins the inquest into the soul of our respective footballing cultures. Some will blame individual players – X midfielder messed up on Z play. Others will point the finger at the manager – why did Bob Capello play player Y, and not player W?
I, however, prefer to be a bit more general my blame, so that those accused cannot defend themselves. And the largest group of individuals with the least opportunity to defend themselves is children.
So, yes, I know your immediate reaction. It was mine as well. When Matthew Upson failed to head away a simple long ball, when Jay DeMerit misread a hoofed Hail Mary, before the ball had rippled the back of the net, my mind buzzed…
One simple fact dawned on me – are the English and Americans not doing enough to expose their soccer playing youth to the aerial game? There’s this perpetual myth that our kids don’t play the “continental” way, that if we dress up our six year old boys in leotards and ballet slippers then in ten years time we will dominate the World Cup, crushing the Germans and Brazilians beneath our heels.
First, let’s look at the German’s opening goal – a moment of intricate build-up play and brilliance.
Now, let’s take a brief look at the game winning goal from Ghana.
The delicately weighted passes, the subtle pivots, the heel flicks, is there anything more beautiful and easy on the eye? I thus conclude that there is only one way for England to regain prominent and the US to rise even higher – we must teach our children to hoof the ball 60 yards by instinct, bypass midfield play, and outrun and outmuscle centerbacks.
Because we are not already doing that. And it’s the only explanation, aside from the prospect that the US never had the horses and England’s horses were too old.