Getting in on the Action

I too have had some revelations about our beloved nats over the most recent series of friendlies which have been heightened by watching the Euro '08 games (the oooofa championship as Highlander's mom would have it). But since I want to focus on watching Spain crash and burn later this morning I'll only bring one to your attention right now: We need to become Germany in footballing terms.What? But P2010, you've criticized Germany for years:

They're boring to watch.
They have no style.
They look like a military unit with those boring haircuts.
The masses of young, angry male fans dogmatically chanting in German under the bright lights is spooky.

Ok, Ok, let's face it, I've said some pretty offensive things about German football over the years. But let's be honest, the only reason I've said it is because they win. Something our nats have not mastered outside the hemisphere. How do German teams win with what I would characterize as a lack of flair and technical ability? Their fitness is phenomenal. Their passing is unselfish and priority 1. They play solid defense. They have fantastic goalkeepers. They take their chances. They recognize their limits and always play their game. This means that even in lean times talent wise, Germany is a force to be reckoned with. Our Nats will never be the most technical or athletic team in the world, the U.S. big four sports draw too much from the talent pool for that, but we already share a lot of those qualities that have made Germany a contender. The ones we lack are commitment and creativity. The commitment to always play to our strength and the creativity to realize that doesn't mean just playing route one football. Team play is all about running hard off the ball to create spaces for one another and moving the ball quickly. Sure, when Germany has had an ethereal talent like Klinsmann they have used him to his strengths, but let's not convince ourselves that Deuce is the second coming of Tab Ramos just because he's the most technically sound youngster we've got.

That's all I've got to recap on the MNT, but speak of the devil, or teamwork that is, and maybe we've come to the heart of why Spain has been such a colossal disappointment in major championships. That Euro win in 1964 is a long time in the past, and it gets even further away when you realize that in the time since they haven't made it past the quarters of the Euro Championships or the World Cup except in France 84. You look at the talent they have now and all the talent they've squandered over the years and you can only think that somehow they have never managed to get the squad really working and clicking together. So what fate do they suffer this year or do they finally break their championship duck? Honestly, I can't see them winning the whole thing, but could we see them sent home at the expense of Russia and Sweden? I think that's not too big a stretch.