Seattle: Could the United States really win the World Cup? After two opening victories, by an aggregate 6-1 scoreline, that is the wildly optimistic question being posed to many US television pundits, including Fox’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who answered a simple “Yes.”
While aware they are still vast underdogs against traditional powerhouses like Spain, France and Argentina, the US players were not exactly afraid to stoke those hugely ambitious dreams either, after beating Australia 2-0 Friday.
“I think we came here to compete, and to compete, you have to win every game,” US star midfielder Malik Tillman told AFP in Seattle after the win. “In the end, if you want to win the tournament, same again, you have to win every game. I think that’s also our goal for the next one.”
So far the US have only faced limited opposition in Paraguay, who they beat 4-1, and Australia. Next up is eliminated Turkey, in what will be a dead rubber for both teams. Sterner tests surely await in the knockout, with Belgium and then Spain among the likeliest foes in wait if the US win their last-32 clash. It is worth noting that the US have only won one knockout game in their entire World Cup history -- a 2-0 win over Mexico in the round-of-16 in 2002, when they reached the quarter-finals in their best campaign of modern times.
World Cup hosts do have an impressive track record of lifting the trophy on their home turf. Six have won in the tournament’s history, most recently France in 1998, who followed up that inaugural win by building a dynasty and reaching three more finals.
But no host winners have ever been such extreme long shots as the US, perennially seen as potential future giants of untapped promise, too distracted by homegrown sports like NFL, basketball and baseball to truly compete at the world’s most popular sport.
