If it’s summer time, it must be U.S. Soccer digging a hole for itself.
Two years ago, the U.S. men’s national team was taken behind the woodshed by American-raised Italian forward Giuseppe Rossi at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, only to bounce back in dramatic fashion against Egypt, upset Spain and take a 2-0 lead into halftime in an eventual defeat to Brazil in the tournament final.
Last summer, the U.S. returned to South Africa and again made its 2010 World Cup as difficult as possible, with a pair of ties against England and Slovenia, a late-as-possible victory over Algeria and a slow start in a deserved but disappointing loss to Ghana.
Should it come as a surprise that in the last 10 days, the U.S. has been embarrassingly overwhelmed against Spain, fortunate against Canada and ultimately stagnant in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Panama, the nation’s first-ever defeat in Gold Cup group matches (24-1-2)?
“You can’t start that way,” U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan said. “I think for some reason we were just a little lackadaisical, a little complacent early.”
But the performance was consistent with how the U.S. has played for the last two years under coach Bob Bradley, who earned a contract extension last summer despite the concerns that things might grow stale.
Should the U.S. also remain consistent in its character under Bradley, a comeback victory over Guadeloupe on Tuesday and a run to the Gold Cup final could still be in store. But the latest false start is evidence that Bradley’s second chapter has begun in the same fashion that his first ended.
