USA Soccer Isn't Elite Because the Elite Teams Are Ridiculously Good

US Soccer remains second tier, underneath the true superpowers of the sport. The US is somewhere outside the top 10 in the world, but inside the top 25. They're equivalent to a mid-major college basketball team. They're the Wichita State of world soccer. They advance a few rounds, but the big boys always wind up winning it all.

And that's not a criticism. It's difficult to crack into the top 10 in world soccer. To do so, one of those elite teams would have to be dislodged. Do you think Germany is going to fall out of the top 10 any time soon? They're in their 15th straight World Cup quarterfinals. That's 60 years, and most of that time they were playing as a divided country.

There are a number of reasons the US is good, but not great at soccer. Our best athletes play football, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, track and field, and so on. We don't have soccer academies like European league teams have, signing 13-year old prospects to train with the best coaches and learn from the best players in the world. College and MLS players don't get the experience of playing against the best in the world on a regular basis like players in European leagues.

However, there are more reasons beyond internal ones, to explain why US Soccer is not elitel. We don't give enough credit to other countries for how good they are at the sport. Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, France, Argentina, this is their game. Only 8 countries have ever won the World Cup, and powerhouses like Brazil (5 World Cups) are a significant reason why it's so hard for anyone else to win.

It's arrogant to presume that if the USA tried a little harder at soccer, they'd be able to take control of the game from these powerhouses. This game is theirs, and has been for decades. They've controlled the game throughout the years against repeated challengers.

Look at England. They don't have the same "disadvantages" that the US has, with other sports taking priority, and with a college system instead of an academy system. Yet they struggle in these tournaments just the same. England won their World Cup 48 years ago. They've never won a European Championship.

We don't produce great players at the same rate and abundance as soccer powerhouses.

The only truly world class player on Team USA is Tim Howard. There are a number of great and good American players, but Howard is one of those rare players that can change a game all by himself. He's the goalkeeping equivalent of Messi or Ronaldo.

You've also got guys like Clint Dempsey, who scored 50 goals in 184 goals for Fulham in England years ago. That's very good, but Brazil and the Netherlands have a couple of guys much better than Dempsey. Germany has 4 or 5 guys that can all score as well as Dempsey. Argentina have Messi. Uruguay had Suarez. And those two guys are on an inhuman level.

Matching these teams is incredibly difficult. The notion that "we don't win the World Cup because we don't do X, and we don't do enough Y" basically ignores the fact that dozens of other countries want to win the World Cup too. And they've been playing this game, and playing it well, for decades. And they too struggle to succeed in these tournaments.

Soccer is to Brazil and Germany what hockey is to Canada. Only more so. The US could send all their young soccer phenoms to European academies, they could give financial incentives for top athletes to choose soccer over other sports, and we'd still find ourselves on the second tier. English players go to academies and get paid millions, and they still can't get to the next level.

The good news is, soccer can be cyclical. A handful of players can lift a team to a higher level. Spain dominated for a few years, they've fallen back down. Uruguay is nothing without Suarez. If Portugal found another great player to support Ronaldo, they'd be dominant.

Team USA has improved over the last 20 years. They're a few players away from being true World Cup contenders. Maybe those players will come along in 5 or 10 years. Maybe they won't and the US might even find themselves struggling to qualify again.

That's why it's important to enjoy every good moment, every goal, every save, every win, every World Cup qualification, every advancement from the group stage.

Luis Suarez Should Be Banned from the World Cup, John Henry Should Make a Statement

Luis Suarez is one of the most dangerous strikers in world soccer, not just for his scoring, but for his biting. Late in Uruguay's match against Italy, Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini. He received no punishment on the field but FIFA are investigating the incident.

It's the third time Suarez has bit an opposing player. A dental hat trick. He's bitten opponents in three countries on two continents. In the past he's sampled Dutch and Serbian flesh. This was his first taste of Italian.

The whole thing is just insane. It's one thing for players to push, shove, even headbutt or punch in the heat of the moment. In all sports, players lose tempers and cross such lines. But to revert to biting someone, and to do so repeatedly, is so psychologically bizarre. That's something you'd expect a troubled kindergartner to do, and then the teacher would have to call home to his parents.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Suarez? I'm afraid I have bad news. Luis is biting again."

As the Hannibal Lector and vampire jokes flow, so does the disgust and embarrassment from the soccer world. Few are defending Suarez. One of the few is Uruguay head coach Oscar Tabarez. After the game he said:

"I do not see why he would not play anymore at the World Cup as you are suggesting. Suarez is the target of some British press. If we see he is going to be attacked, which has begun at this press conference, we're going to defend him. I'm not going to repeat a response three times. I didn't see (an) incident with Suarez. I'm not going to comment. This is a World Cup. It is not about morality."

Those remarks had been translated from Spanish to English. I'll translate from English to Coachingese:

"If Suarez gets suspended, we have no chance. I'd defend him even if he bit off my left nut."

Uruguay's captain, Diego Lugano is in utter denial:

"You need to show me what happened because I didn't see anything. Did you see it today or did you see what happened in other years? You couldn't have seen it today because nothing happened.”

It's up to FIFA to discipline Suarez, because his coach has no interest in doing so, and clearly Suarez has no concept of self-discipline. Suarez feels unfairly criticized by media and fans even though he's been suspended twice for biting other players, and once for using racially charged language against an opponent. In his mind he's a victim. Everyone is out to get him and he can't figure out why.

There's a Boston connection to this. Suarez plays for Liverpool FC, which is owned by John Henry and Fenway Sports Group (FSG). Suarez is the team's best player, by far. This is the equivalent of David Ortiz biting an opponent during the World Baseball Classic.

Will John Henry do or say anything about this incident? Liverpool/Red Sox Ownership stood behind Suarez in 2011 when he was suspended 8 games and fined 40,000 pounds for directing racial language against an opposing player. I don't expect Henry or FSG to defend Suarez now. The evidence against him is too blatant, and he's a repeat offender.

I would like to hear something from FSG. Anything. This is a big story across the world, and Suarez works for John Henry. You'd think Henry would want to comment. Will any media in Boston ask Henry about it? Will any reporter have the stones to ask Henry if Suarez's recent contract extension includes full dental coverage?

Suarez should be banned for the remainder of the World Cup, perhaps longer than that. And the team that pays him millions should issue some sort of statement about the incident. John Henry and Fenway Sports Group can't sit on the sidelines. They need to take a stand one way or another.

He bit a dude. How can you not come out and say "That's messed up?"