FIFA Rankings and the Tooth Fairy Eric Salsbery

When you are a kid, you are innocent. Your parents are infallible.
You believe the things they tell you, like there is a Santa Claus, there is an Easter Bunny, there is a Tooth Fairy and there is a God.

Obviously as you grow up… You learn that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny don’t exist and the God thing is way too controversial for this blog.

What happens? Well it becomes increasingly apparent that the people that grounded you to your room for lying should have been right there with you in time out…

I am not going to be all cynical and blame my parents for my cynicism and mistrust… I am going to thank them…

Thank them because had they not told me about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and the rest… I would have been totally taken in by the modern “grown up” equivalent… things like “Peace through use of Military Force”, “The More You Buy, The More You Save” and the worst of them all, the “FIFA World Rankings”.

FIFA’s little fairy wings and tutu were evident last night in Nashville as the #5 ranked USA hosted 36th ranked Morocco in a World Cup warm up match.

The lack of match fitness or a sense of urgency of the USA in the 1-0 loss were apparent throughout the lackluster performance.

It actually reminded me of a certain Rocky Mountain club… the way the players trotted around the pitch aimlessly, unable or unwilling to connect a series of passes in the midfield. Total chaos on the attack and Steven Cherundolo’s brain fart in the 90th minute capped a defensive performance that looked to be mailed in from Colorado.

A bright spot;
Bobby Convey continues to amaze me. Last night Convey handled the ball with authority, taking the attack to Morocco. His footwork was impressive, with very few mistakes. He was the only bright spot in the match.

The low spot was not really a surprize given the frequency, but disappointing just the same. Claudio Reyna pulls a hamstring and is taken out early. Future uncertain.

The team is due to meet Venezuela and Latvia on Friday and Sunday respectively. Both teams failed to qualify for Germany.

Team USA will need to win both of those matches because two more matches like last night and I will have absolutely no faith in Team USA next month in Germany when it matters. The trip to Germany will be short indeed.