Anybody who followed the US through the Copa America will finally realize the numskull decision-making of the USSF.

Satisfied with an inferior cup win (thanks to highly biased refereeing) a few weeks ago, USSF returned the majority of their regulars back to their MLS squads, foregoing a trip to Venezuela and a real test of International quality.

I guess that Bob Bradley, the USSF, and red journalists like ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle, can offload the blame for the poor showing to letting the Greater Chicago U19s get a run in on the International stage, but for true soccer savages, it must go down as the biggest farce thus far in American Soccer.

Of course you can’t really blame the players, Beckermen, Gaven and Co. were basically thrown to the wolves by the time the final match with Columbia was concerned, battling it out for last place horrors–Ecuador in Group B was also in a no-win situation, but at least they were in all their games; in the end, edging out US for 2nd to last place on goal difference–the Americans with -6 and Ecuador -3.

Over the span of these most recent tournaments the only player to give some glimpse of hope in the years to come would be Ricardo Clark, who we hope will continue developing despite the trappings of MLS Soccer. The rest had no business being out there. From coach’s son to former Chivas USA players, it seems Bradley will blanket his selections to “a number of factors” before ever giving the actual answer.

I just hope that youth is not the reason given for our Copa America debacle, especially with the U20s currently being played in Canada. Surely, American fans can no longer be glossed over by commentary of our “outplaying” opponents at certain times in the game—I guess two touches for a central midfielder in 45 min. constitutes astonishing possession for somebody.

Well, I would say it’s back to the old drawing board, but in American Soccer it’s really back to the player/parent auction.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Soccer World, Copa America 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.