Don’t let all this euphoria keep you from noticing U.S. soccer’s steps backward.
Large MLS crowds and exceptional media coverage for the new league come a year after the U.S. national team a strong fourth at the Copa America.
Then we look at what the U.S. U-20 team did at the CONCACAF championship last April.
It lost to Canada for the first time in that tournament’s history, and fell to Mexico for the seventh time in eight attempts. The Jay Hoffman-coached team finished third.
(It could still qualify for the U-20 World Cup because FIFA is expected to expand the field to 24.)
The U.S. has never won the U-20 CONCACAF championship, although U.S. Soccer likes to claim it dominates the region.
In fact, there has been no progress at the crucial U-20 level for six years.
In 1989, U-20s finished fourth in the world under Bob Gansler. Under Bobby Howe, they failed to qualify for the 1991 U-20 World Cup, but he guided them to the 1993 quarterfinals. Next, coach John Kowalski failed to qualify his team the biennial world championship.
From 1991 to 1995, the U.S. full national team coach, Bora Milutinovic, had nothing to do with the youth teams. How they were run was indeed nebulous.
To maximize the benefits of youth national teams, their coaches must work under the full national team coach’s direction. They should be picked by him.
That man is currently Steve Sampson. He did something most admirable: When he should probably have been at home recovering from emergency surgery, he went to Mexico to watch the U-20s.
If that indicates his dedication to the national youth teams, maybe progress is around the corner.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Mike Woitalla