Land of the Free

Watching the US Men’s National team’s loss to Brazil over the weekend had me reminiscing about an old Revs favorite that the US could really use right now. Seeing the quality of the free kick that Ronaldinho took to score the game-winner, and comparing that to those the US took throughout the summer Gold Cup and Copa America tournaments had me wishing that Joe Max Moore was still playing. Right now, and arguably at no time since Moore retired, there is simply nobody on the US squad who can strike a dead ball well enough for the US to truly compete on the world stage.

Is there anyone coming up through the national team ranks who can take a free kick the way Joe Max Moore used to?

This has got to be one of the biggest lessons for the US to take from this year’s games. Every high level youth club should go out right now, buy a free kick practice wall and a couple of bags of balls and mandate that every high-level 16-year-old player (male and female) spend at least an hour a day practicing free kicks. Then maybe in five years the US will have a dead ball specialist that other teams are afraid of.

Right now, they really are no threat at all from set pieces outside the box and, no matter which players are developed and how well the team plays leading up to the 2010 World Cup, any coach who scouts the US team will simply tell his defenders to foul American forwards before they get into the box, knowing that the consequences of such action will be minimal.

My hope is that David Beckham's arrival inspires some kids to work hard on this vital aspect of their game. Given the clear deficit in that area, any player who learns how to deliver a world-class free kick ought to be guaranteed a place on the squad.

Look at the way Beckham kept his place on the England team during the 2006 World Cup, even though the rest of his game was off. It was worth keeping him on the field just for his free kicks. More importantly, defenders were scared to foul the other English forwards because they were afraid of the consequences of giving Becks a dead ball opportunity.

For an example that’s closer to home, look at Mexico’s shock win over the summer against Brazil in Copa America. The first goal came from the run of play, from an exquisite ball into the box from the right. Just a few minutes later, presumably to stop a similar ball from the same spot, the Brazilians committed a foul just outside the box. A 1-0 lead against Brazil would probably not have been enough for Mexico to win the game, but a beautifully-taken free kick gave the Mexicans the two-goal cushion that was enough to settle them, unsettle the Brazilians, and see El Tri through to victory.

The US needs this part of their game to improve drastically and quickly. In a country where specialization is the norm for our sporting heroes, it’s surprising we don't develop more of these types of specialist soccer players. We need to start now, and as soon as we do Bob Bradley needs to include that player in his line-up. Failing to do so at the highest level is like starting every game a man down.