Coming Close Raises Questions

The chance was there, theirs for the taking. And this is what America’s band of soccer-playing brothers did with it:

Appeared on Letterman and Leno.

Made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Twice.

Got “Good Morning America” interested enough to check in for mid-game updates.

Changed a nation’s sleeping habits for three crazed and caffeine-addled weeks.

Broke through to the front page of some of the country’s major daily newspapers.

Received a phone call from the president.

Redeemed themselves, and their captain, Claudio Reyna, for the disgrace of their last-place showing at the 1998 World Cup.

Proved to the world that men in the United States also play soccer.

Ran the Germans so ragged for 90 minutes Friday in Ulsan that several of them, including the formidable goalkeeper Oliver (King) Kahn, collapsed from exhaustion, clutching the ground for comfort as their lungs heaved to take in more oxygen.

Was it enough?

Will this remarkable run through the 2002 World Cup be remembered for all the gains and inroads soccer made into the U.S. mainstream consciousness after decades of not-quite-passive resistance?

Or will it be remembered more for what Team USA didn’t do with the chance it finally earned after 72 years of thankless laboring:

Make the World Cup semifinals.

As incredible as it is to read it, hear it and even type it, the United States men’s soccer team should have advanced to the World Cup’s Final Four on Friday.

But didn’t.

The Americans outworked the heavily favored Germans so thoroughly that Kahn finished the night on his knees, seeming to give prayerful thanks for the final whistle, which finally meant a cease-fire from everything Landon Donovan, Eddie Lewis, Gregg Berhalter and Tony Sanneh threw at him, which was an awful lot.

Unlike their World Cup meeting in 1998, when the Americans cowed at the very sight of the glowering Germans and ran for cover before being run out of the building, 2-0, this time, Team USA gave as well as it received, and then some. When Germany tried to knock the Americans around in Ulsan, fouling them 14 times, the U.S. retaliated with 23 fouls.

Unlike what happened in Paris four years ago, the only thing yellow about the Americans’ performance in the rematch was the color of the cards they accumulated--five total, mostly in self-defense.

The United States also outshot Germany, 11-6, put more shots on net, 6-2, and controlled the ball for nearly 60% of the match.

And lost, 1-0.

“I thought we were the better team,” said Berhalter, whose lunging volley in the 50th minute struck the arm of German defender Torsten Frings while Frings was standing on the goal line, yet no penalty was called, apparently because he made no play on it with his arm or hand. “I think we played good enough to win.”

Germany’s Kahn and Marco Bode conceded Berhalter’s point.

“We were lucky to win,” Bode said.

The Americans got the Germans’ respect and stamp of approval, which is nice. But the Germans are the ones going on to the semifinal against either Spain or South Korea, which, ultimately, is the thing that matters.

It could have been the Americans. It should have been the Americans.

And it is an opportunity, months and years from now, the Americans will want back, because real shots at the World Cup semifinals don’t materialize every day. Spain, home to one of the most intense soccer cultures on the planet, has never played in a World Cup semifinal. Neither has Ireland or Mexico. England, which invented the sport, has been to the World Cup semifinals only twice.

Given its chance, the United States did a good amount with it, scaring Germany from start to finish, but could have done so much more.

U.S. Coach Bruce Arena, who had squeezed so much out of this much-maligned squad through four games, picked an odd time to keep several key weapons in storage.

Forward Clint Mathis, according to Arena, is “our best goal scorer when he has a look at the goal,” yet Arena didn’t start Mathis and didn’t bring him on until the final half-hour. Instead, Arena opened the game with Brian McBride, whose chief asset--heading the ball--was neutralized by the taller Germans and failed to do much with the ball at his feet during his 57 minutes. Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley would have been the fastest man of the field, which might have caused Germany, which had a handful with Donovan, severe problems. But Beasley did not play a minute, which prompted reporters after the game to ask if Beasley were injured.

No, Arena replied, “DaMarcus could have played tonight. We thought about bringing him in. But Eddie Lewis was having a good game on the left side.”

Mathis did not have a shot in his 33 minutes. Instead, second-half scoring chances fell to right back Sanneh, who knocked two headers wide--one by only inches in the 89th minute--and left back Berhalter and defensive midfielder John O’Brien, whose attempt from the top of the box was hit straight at Kahn.

“I’m disappointed,” said Sanneh. “I don’t want to blame ourselves, but we missed chances to score.”

Reyna walked off the field wrapped in the American flag, fitting after representing it so well Friday. His gritty all-purpose performance earned him game most-valuable-player honors--along with a respectful handshake and hug from his tormenter of 1998, Jens Jeremies.

So the Americans walked away proud, and out of the tournament, and the Germans hobbled off relieved, and into the Final Four. A moral victory still beats international humiliation any day of the World Cup, but the U.S. leaves Asia with a nagging sense of not getting a full return for its effort.

Years from now, we might have the answer, but for now we can only ask: Was the 2002 quarterfinal against Germany the one we’d been waiting for?

Or the one that got away?