Dispatches From South Africa: U.S. Soccer’s Reward For Four Years Of Work
PRETORIA, South Africa – Four years ago, after the final U.S. match in the first round at Germany 2006, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati walked forlornly through the mixed zone press area, talking to reporters in soft tones about a U.S. team that seemed stalled on the tracks.
He was even handed about it, but bad things were ahead – like Bruce Arena losing his job, for instance – and Gulati surely knew it. He was businesslike, but it was something less than a happy scene, obviously.
Contrast that to Wednesday, when the U.S. Soccer president walked the room like a proud new father. Gulati wasn’t strutting; he’s not really a cocky sort. He was just beaming and soaking in the happy scene like everyone else, talking about what the moment meant for U.S. Soccer.
Gulati, a smart and humble guy who really does usually tell it like it is, was asked about his preferences for the second round:
“I don’t know, in this tourney, who it’s good to avoid?” he said. “Do you?”
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber was nearby. He was smiling the smile of fresh accomplishment, too. Don’t forget, 18 of the 23 men on the U.S. roster had come through MLS.
Garber had been in the U.S. locker room in the mad moments after Wednesday’s historic win. He had sat with former president Bill Clinton during the match. Clinton also visited the locker room and said a few words to the team. Or, shouted a few words, as it were:
“The guy was really emotional,” Garber said. “He took off his jacket, he was taking pictures, signing autographs.
”He made a little speech. He said, ‘You guys really made us all proud! As a fan, as somebody who cares about our country, I’m really proud to be an American.’ Then he gave them a cheer and they started shouting “Go U.S.A.! Go U.S.A.! It really gave me the chills. …we don’t get many moments like this at all.”
Landon Donovan, post-Algeria match, Pretoria, South Africa
Garber knows Landon Donovan pretty well. They pop up at events throughout the year, and Garber has intervened personally in past contract negotiations with Major League Soccer’s biggest American-born brand name.
"I did say something to him, and I almost got a little choked up," Garber said. "To have a guy that, I think, so much of the hopes and dreams of our team rest on his back. If Landon has a good game, everybody is feeling good about Landon and the U.S. team. If he has an average game, everybody says, ‘Man, what’s going on with Landon?’ To have him pop that in there! Well, you guys were watching the game like we were. I thought it was going to be another lost opportunity. To have him pop that in there, and then to look over at Sunil and see him have tears running down his eyes. … I got a little choked up. And I don’t get choked up too often. I’ve been in this business a long time, and that doesn’t happen too often."
Most of the players involved in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Loftus Versfeld Stadium stopped to answer questions.
Donovan, of course, was a popular man. He talked more about the highs and lows in his life since the last World Cup. He said it hurt after the Ghana game four years ago when the United States was officially eliminated. But he really sank in and really hurt badly a week or two later.
Since then, he’s also gone through a divorce and been in therapy. So, the weight of it all came down after he hit the goal, and as he spoke about it in the minutes afterward.
Bradley didn’t stop to talk to reporters – no one really asked for him, as he had already spoke at the official FIFA post-game news conference. There, the U.S. manager had his say about Donovan.
"Without a doubt Landon has grown in so many different ways," Bradley said. "From the soccer end, he mentions the low after the World Cup in 2006. But there was also the challenge of taking a bigger role, being more responsible as a leader. I think these kinds of challenges came at a good time for him and he’s never shied away from challenges. If you look back to 2002, he’s young and being in your first World Cup is pretty exciting. 2006 now is, for him, one where he learned a lot. But to have the chance then to come back in the prime of your career, there’s a special feeling when you play on a team where you know people are really counting on you. Your character, your personality is really at the core of how that team does. Some players play their whole careers and never experience that. When you have that, it takes time to get a feel for what that’s all about. But over these years, both on and off the field, I think the fact that he’s grown and matured and accepted these types of challenges has made a huge difference."
