The ‘beautiful game’ befuddles the USA once again
The Waffles won.
No surprise. Waffles don’t lose. Not on my menu. Whether Chicken and, Belgian or just plain Waffle, they top the breakfast treat rankings.
Belgian Waffles have deeper pockets for more toppings (strawberries, blueberries, powdered sugar and chocolate sauce are fan favorites) and have a lighter texture and richer flavor.
Until Monday night, Belgian Waffles were said to be more popular In the USA than regular Waffles.
Until that soccer game in Seattle left America sleepless. The Belgians topped the USA (I refuse to cave to the international style and write Belgium “beat USA” or “USA were beaten …”) in the World Cup round of 16 Monday night.
Surely if Belgium had a mascot, it would be the Waffle.
Soccer fans know there are World Cup mascots, 50 years worth (seriously) for this global event, contested every four years. Three for this year – Maple the moose (Canada), Zaya the jaguar (Mexico) and Clutch the bald eagle (us) — the first time more than one has been in use.
The most popular: Zakumi, described as “a friendly leopard,” for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Footix (France, 1998) is high on the list. Looks a lot like the Kansas Jayhawk cradling a soccer ball.
The original was World Cup Willie, for the 1966 event in England, when the Beatles and James Bond were sizzling. So was the home side. It won.
The home side this summer did not. For the fourth straight World Cup, the USA was halted in the round of 16.
We hear soccer in America is better than ever. More popular, obviously. Better?
I’m no student of what is called the beautiful game, but I’ve seen enough to recognize Belgium dominated Monday’s match like the 4-1 final appears. The talking heads, most with foreign accents, said it was one-sided.
Even the USA’s coach, Argentina’s Mauricio Pochettino, said his team was unable to meet the moment.
“We were not good enough today. We don’t need to find another excuse.
“We need to learn. It’s a process to learn. We need to assess that game and see why we didn’t approach that game in the same way [we did] the rest of the World Cup. Different result, maybe the explanation is easy. It wasn’t our day collectively and individually. Of course the responsibility is [mine]. We need to check what we did, because it wasn’t the way we normally play.”
Give him credit for a standup reaction.
Leading up to Monday evening’s flameout, the buzz was about President Trump’s successful call to FIFA’s leader, Gianni Infantino, seeking reinstatement of the USA’s standout player, Folarin Balogun. He had been issued a contested red card suspension for a foul in the Americans’ Round of 32 victory.
Pochettino and players said they were unfazed by the upheaval. Obviously Belgium wasn’t, either, although its coach earlier said he thought it was an April Fool’s joke.
Believe it or not, Belgium was without two of its top players Monday, idled by injury, and still dominated. Moments after the game ended, the visitors’ social media team fired off a post showing teammates celebrating with the catchphrase, “Overturn this.” Fair comment.
Twist of irony: Balogun was born in Brooklyn when his English parents, with Nigerian roots, were visiting and airline officials decided his mom’s (mum’s, they say across the pond) pregnancy was too far along for her to prudently fly home. Balogun’s fit on the USA roster is what the president is trying to eliminate — birthright citizenship, given to anyone born in America, just upheld by the Supreme Court much to Trump’s disgust.
But if the president was king, the guy he just lobbied to play for the USA wouldn’t be an American.
Back to soccer, where logic also only occasionally prevails. A team can get outshot 18-3 and win. Not the case Monday night, but it happens.
Pochettino was hired in August 2024, touted as one of the world’s best. He’s paid $6 million, three times as much as the U.S. Women’s National Team coach. That makes me queasy.
Poch’s proponents can say America won its World Cup group play for the first time since 2010. Including all those “friendlies” played with no stakes, his two-year USA coaching record is 18-2-11. Looks good, but the bottom line is the bottom line. He was hired to do better than his predecessor in the World Cup. He had two years to do it. He didn’t.
The USA soccer leadership doesn’t need to carry this any further. There’s a very easy solution. After hearing over and over in the postgame breakdowns that the USA suddenly didn’t believe in itself at this point of the tournament, I’m convinced a coaching change is necessary.
Take Me Home, Country Roads. Time to turn to Ted Lasso for World Cup 2030.
Makes more sense than President Trump backing Balogun.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com