I was one of THOSE people…

I Was One of THOSE People…

The Cast

By The Fillerbuster

July 9, 2026

I watched all of the USA FIFA World Cup games, like a lot of people.  Actually, for better context, I watched a LOT of the other games too.  And, please note that these are my original thoughts.  I am sure there are plenty of expert articles out there that I am too depressed to read still that explain it in a much more eloquent way.  But, this is MY cast, my thoughts, and my angle.

The title of this blog?  True.  I was one of THOSE people.  I believed this World Cup was different.  I believed the team was different.  I thought the semifinals were a possibility (with just an sort of expected win vs. Belgium and then a miracle vs. Spain?).  I had true hope, folks.  I was hard core.  I was one of THOSE people pre-World Cup.

Let’s take a step back.

I went to UVA, where soccer was life.  You didn’t take a date to football games.  You took them to a soccer match (and also the football game if you were lucky).  But, it was the beginning of the renaissance of USA soccer.  Half of our college team played for the team that made a brief run (sounds like Groundhog Day) at the 1994 World Cup, on our soil.  Tony Meola, John Harkes, Claudio Reyna, Ben Olsen, Jeff Agoos were those guys.  Anyway, we won three of four NCAA titles when I was there (and two of the three before), and then the World Cup accentuated the country’s progress.  We made the knockout round.  Bottom line, I was in college during the awakening of US Soccer in our generation.  The 2002 team would make the quarterfinals.  Baby steps to the elevator, as Bob would say in What About Bob?

Back to the present.  I believed this time.  I wanted to believe last time, and the time before. But, I think I THOUGHT I believed in the last few decades, especially when I was in college (’91-’95).  And, in 2002.  I actually DID believe this time.  I noticed passing more like Spain, I noticed more energy, I noticed better tactics, I noticed better defense, and…I got sucked in.

The Belgium match.  You can’t come out flat against a team like Belgium.  You can’t afford to, and they WILL make you pay for it.  And, they did.  Sure, we are proud to be currently #16 in the latest FIFA world rankings.  But, the jump from #16 to #8 is monstrous.  And, when you play a team in the top ten, it is the wrong time to come out like a deer in headlights.  The confidence from playing the lesser teams like Australia, Paraguay, Turkiye, and Bosnia vanished.  The WEIGHT of the team we were playing felt different from the opening kick, and that won’t work.  Belgium sensed it.  And, they didn’t do anything tricky.  Those were pretty simple crosses we didn’t defend.  We had defenders either standing still, or doing the same job and marking the same player.  Sloppy stuff.  Once it became 2-0…well, I will explain it the simplest way possible to non-soccer people.  Jim Rome once explained it best to Americans.  Each soccer goal is worth two touchdowns in American football.  1-0 is 14-0.  2-0 is 28-0.  It helps you put it in perspective.  Still not impressed with our overall plan, energy, touches, etc., I admit I got a little excited when we scored a very similar free kick as we did in our last match.  That good feeling was the only 60 seconds of happiness I felt the entire match, as Belgium immediately came down the field and scored.  When we did our Soccer 101 goalie mistake to make it 3-1, I told my wife that we would have to play reckless, and 4-1 was much more probable than 3-2 because we had to take chances.  I admit to not watching the fourth goal.  Depression had set in, and I figured I might as well get some extra sleep and start heading to bed.  Bad showing…in front of newly energetic fans, the world, and shaking heads and rolled eyes of every other team in the top ten in the FIFA rankings.

Why are we not progressing?  Why was this the same old story?  I thought about it in my depression.

• Our young superstar athletes choose other sports.  Granted, I am not asking for a bunch of LeBron James to be on the pitch, but we live in a culture where young kids want to be hoopers, football players, baseball players, hockey players, etc.  Soccer is an afterthought for being a star, becoming famous, being the best ever, or cementing a sports legacy.  Our youth does NOT all grow up wanting to be soccer players.  And, that is not a bad thing necessarily.  We rule many other sports (wait, we use to have basketball, and now we don’t, the best baseball players are from other countries, the best hockey players are from other countries…OHHHH…we still have football, so actually we don’t rule many things these days).  Anyway, again, it is not a bad thing.  Just don’t be like me and expect the impossible again in four years.
• Money.  Our kids have to coerce their parents to pursue the expensive soccer dream.  Clubs give money to young possibilities early on.  There is a substantial buy-in delta between other countries and the United States.  Nothing will probably change, but national teams and club teams are literally watching out for the young prodigies, and giving them the money and path to succeed.
• History.  The mental element.  However you want to say it.  Soccer is in every other country’s CULTURE.  We are trying to build a culture, a foundation, and I fear that only the basement is built at this point of the house.  People in other countries literally wake up and think about soccer.  And, you can’t tell me that isn’t felt on the pitch when our team suits up against theirs.
• Infrastructure.  It is so different in other countries.  The infrastructure in the United States is to weed out the weak, maybe help the talented, and everyone in between is lost in the shuffle.  I sell distribution for multimedia to casinos.  It reminds me of the casinos that are stuck in 1995 and running around with thumb drives to get necessary guest information on TV’s to them to boost bottom line.  It is dated, clunky, and not ready for maximization of internal talent.  Other countries, well, have MY product, and use simplicity in their approach to expand audience, streamline the process, and boost the bottom line.  Yes, I am in sales.  I just said that other countries are like my company, and the United States is like all of my competitors.  Whatever.  Anyway, the infrastructure/backbone of our soccer PATH is different at every level.
• The coach.  He achieved the necessary attitude of the team, and that showed during the buildup games against inferior (to the top 10) opponents, but his team did not perform in preparation when it counted.  Sure, the players win the games and not the coaches, but somehow they looked ill-fated from the beginning of that match.  He is paid a large sum of money.  We had the same result as 1994, at the beginning of the soccer renaissance in this country.
• Pulisic:  Injuries derailed what was supposed to be his awakening.  Shame.  The rest of the stars at the World Cup ARE doing that.  Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, etc.  All stars have provided special moments during this World Cup.  Pulisic was a no-show.  Yes, I get it that you can’t control injuries.  But, the stage was IN his country, and he didn’t deliver.  He wasn’t even delivering for his club team before the World Cup, so maybe our best player is just a pretty good player in the world’s eye.  He does amazing things with the ball, and the talent is obvious, but he had the most giveaways on the pitch in that first half vs. Belgium.  In a comparison with basketball, it is like a point guard doing really fancy stuff with the basketball, but turning it over 7 times in a half.

I am worried that buy-in nationally will NOT continue after this game.  I am worried that all of the factors above can’t be fixed in four years.  I am worried now that I will die with the USA still hoping to get to a semifinal at the World Cup.  How many times can we do this?  This was a big lost opportunity that seemingly was climaxing as far as country spirit IN our home country hosting the World Cup…and we allowed it to fizzle away.

Don’t take this as a pessimistic article.  Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am perhaps the biggest optimist you have ever met.  But, this article is a reality check, a grieving release, a brainstorm, a venting, and literally a sobbing on paper.  Optimists can still be sad about less than optimum results.

OK.  Back to reality.  With who is left.

Actual Predictions: France and Spain are the two best teams, hands down.  But, they are on the same side of the bracket.  And, there is always ONE surprise as we get this far into the bracket.  France will beat Morocco, and Spain will beat Belgium.  Give me Spain to beat France, although that is a toss up (and I also don’t want to pick the obvious pick).  Spain in the final.  On the other side, England will beat Norway, and my surprise is Switzerland over Argentina.  England over Switzerland, and England will be in the final.  Spain over England in the final.

Rooting-For Predictions:  I will root for Morocco.  I will still root for Spain.  On the other side, I will be rooting for both Norway and Switzerland.  Let’s have Norway win that one, and beat Spain for the World Cup title…so we can do rowing celebrations for the next four years.  Plus, LOVE that guy Erling Haaland. 

Before the next World Cup, I will watch many, many USA matches, and have the same aspirations.  And, maybe next time I will be right, or maybe I will be wrong again.  And, you can take this as sadness, loss of hope, or refusal to believe in the future.  But, this I promise.  Regardless, in four years, I WILL, again, be one of THOSE people.