U.S. Soccer is a massive underdog, but the match is a great opportunity to play free of the immense weight of expectations.
Did you know that Lionel Messi is really good at soccer? Did you know that Jermaine Jones, Bobby Wood and Alejandro Bedoya are out for the USMNT semi-final match up with Argentina Tuesday? Did you know that Argentina is number one on the super-important FIFA World Rankings brought to you by Coca Cola?
Well, you would if you read the interwebs, so…you know, get on it. Because I don’t wanna talk about that stuff.
With France hosting the premier International Flare-Throwing Competition on the other side of the Atlantic, it’s easy to lose the idea of sports as entertainment under the rubble of hooligan think pieces and Olivier Giroud criticism, particularly in a sport so intertwined with the national identities of most of the world’s citizens. But after a genuinely rough week in the United States — where the foremost creator of escapist television dumpster fires is now the presidential candidate of dumpster fires — it has never been more important to remember that USA vs Argentina doesn’t have to be a referendum on the state of US Soccer or the job security of Jurgen Klinsmann.
Maybe it could just be fun.
Skrade. Like Brady. 