United States Futbol/Soccer

The past few days, when it comes to the sports world, the only thing on the news right now either has to do with NBA free agency or the World Cup.  I'm tired hearing about the NBA and where players might go, especially when they don't know, and in the end, they might all end up playing together anyways.  It's a shame competitive sports has come to this, but it has.  So with that in mind, I figure why not talk about the boys wearing the red, white, and blue who just lost to Belgium a few days ago.

I admit, I'm not the biggest fan of futbol, or soccer (what we call it hear in the U.S.), but I've always been fascinated by it.  I knew so many kids in school who played it, and when I had the time, I watched MLS games on TV.  Obviously, the competition isn't the same here compared to worldwide, but it's not a bad place to start if you just want to talk about casual interest.  As I got older, I started following FIFA and playing the video games, getting to know all the well-known players, but the World Cup coming only every 4 years and my frustration with the game caused me to take a break from it.  But like any sports fan, whenever there's a tournament involving sports, I usually always pay attention.  Especially when it has players I like, such as Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world and a few other star players.  Because of that, I've been rooting for other teams, but I've still been rooting for the U.S as well, since they're the underdog.  They lost to Belgium, which was expected, but they played their heart out trying to win and prove their naysayers wrong.  Even though the results weren't what they wanted, I think they did.

Despite feeling so good, I think I look at the glass halfway when it comes to U.S futbol/soccer.  Yes, they made progress by making it past the knockout round, but their play itself was sub-par at best.  They gave up goals and turnovers at the most inopportune times, couldn't score, and couldn't close the games when it was necessary.  I understand excitement from futbol/soccer fans around here because the U.S. did something they've never done, but let's not declare them as champions; they still have a lot of work to do when it comes to improvements.  I will say, though, that I am proud most of all that there is good competition.  And even though futbol/soccer isn't one of the major sports around here, within the next decade, I think it will be.  Hopefully, by then, the red, white, and blue, will be better and ready to play.