Chasing the Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup
Books / Hardcover
Books › Sports & Recreation › Soccer
ISBN: 0306816067 / Publisher: Da Capo Press, April 2010
A tantalizing look at the prospects of the United States soccer team in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa
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There is the growing belief that the Americans just may be able to play this game, after all. We glimpsed such possibilities at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, where the U.S. upset Spain, the top-ranked team in the world and European champions, then very nearly beat Brazil for the title....Granted, this was not the World Cup. Still, it was a lesson learned: Sometimes, it doesn't matter how you win, but when you win.... The ball is round, the saying goes. Anything can happen."All of my dreams end the same way, with us winning the World Cup," said Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, about the men's team. "But if we talk about when that will happen, it starts getting a little fuzzy."A tantalizing account of the triumphs and travails of the U.S. men's soccer team in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, set within the historical context of American soccer on the global stageThe U.S. men's soccer team was a huge disappointment at the World Cup in 2006, but a newly constituted team exceeded all expectations in June 2009 with their inspired play at the Confederations Cup in South Africa---where they upset the number one team in the world, Spain, and lost late in the championship game to a supremely talented Brazilian squad. Their impressive showing gave fans, including the ever-loyal Sam's Army, a renewed sense of hope that when the team plays up to its capabilities, the Americans can compete with anyone in the world.In Chasing the Game, Filip Bondy describes the U.S. team's path to qualifying for this year's World Cup---to be held on the African continent for the first time ever, in South Africa in June 2010. Bondy also reveals the back-and-forth saga that resulted in the hiring of Bob Bradley as the American coach, and serves up engaging profiles of several core players, including the U.S. national team's all-time leader in scoring and assists, Landon Donovan, acrobatic goalie Tim Howard, hip-hop devotee and opportunistic goal-scorer Clint "Deuce" Dempsey, up-and-comer Jozy Altidore, and the coach's son, the reticent yet dependable Michael Bradley.Chasing the Game also recounts the glorious highlights of past World Cup matches, like the U.S. team's stunning 1-0 victory over England in 1950 and the 2002 team's advance to the quarterfinals, as well as heartbreaks like the fiasco in 2006, when the U.S. mustered only four shots on goal in three games. Finally, Bondy also traces the origins of soccer and the evolution of the game in the U.S., chronicling how soccer academies like the one in Bradenton, Florida, have impacted the game at both the youth and national levels.It's all here for the first time in one book---the complete story of American soccer on the global stage.Featuring 8 pages of black-and-white photographs
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