Any athlete’s dream is to win on the biggest stage against
the best players. For baseball players it is the World Series. For American
football players it’s the Super Bowl. For soccer players, it’s the FIFA World
Cup. Representing your nation and competing against nations all around the
world and being able to say you are the best in the world is what every
professional soccer player plays and lives for. The FIFA World Cup is the
biggest sporting even in the world. Everyone wants to see their nation hoist
the trophy up after the final match. USA has yet to feel that feeling of
victory at the World Cup. On a more positive note, USA has been making huge
strides throughout the years inching closer and closer to being to call
themselves World Cup Champions. Getting better players for the national squad
is one of the huge strides the USA has taken. Clint Dempsey is one of those big
time players that the USA has. Dempsey stepped on the national scene in 2003
when he played in the FIFA Youth World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. He got
his first appearance with the senior team when they faced Jamaica in 2004. Dempsey
plays a much bigger role than he does for his current club team, Fulham. The
USA needs him more for an attacking role whereas Fulham can have him on the
wing playing more aggressively. Dempsey is a phenomenal scorer and all-around
player that the USA have him play striker position so he can take the majority
of the scoring chances. Dempsey’s soccer career was on the rise and USA scouts
and coaches were taking a good look at how good of soccer Dempsey was playing. In
2006, Dempsey won one of the highest individual awards a player could receive
which was the Honda Player of the Year Award and this really caught the eye of
the USA national team coaching staff. Dempsey was finally put on the national
roster in 2006. He was put the team for the 2006 tournament in Germany where
USA struggled for pretty much the entire tournament which is no surprise in the
earlier stages of USA Soccer. Dempsey was the only American to score a goal in
that tournament which was a equalizing goal against Ghana but the sad part was
that USA went on to lost that game 2 to 1 after Dempsey’s 1st goal
on the actual USA squad but the good thing is that this will not be his last goal
while he is wearing the USA jersey for sure. This would solidify him into the
Starting 11 for years to come.
Making the Starting 11 is hard enough on a national team.
The best soccer players in your nation are on this team and if there is someone
better than you at your position then you are automatically on the bench. When
you first get the call to come play that doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a spot
on the A team, you have to prove yourself in the limited minutes you get and
also in practice. Clint Dempsey had succeeded in breaking into the Starting 11
making one of the best players in the entire country. One of the greatest
honors for a soccer player is to represent your country on the biggest stage
which is the World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup he would get that chance to
represent America. In the qualifier against Barbados, Dempsey was able to make
history for US Soccer. Dempsey scored the fastest goal ever in US qualifying
history when he chested the ball down and slid striking the ball into the net
in recording setting 53 seconds. Some teams don’t score for 90+ minutes and Dempsey
was able to in 53 seconds which is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately for Clint Dempsey, this was his
high moment for a while on the national scene. It wasn’t till the 2009
Confederations Cup that Dempsey showed his worth and that he was back for good.
In the final group stage match, USA was on the verge of elimination from the
tournament and needed a 3-0 win over Egypt while having Brazil beat Italy 3-0.
The USA game was winding down and needed a last minute miracle to move on in
the tournament. Another USA player, Jonathon Spector crossed the ball into box
and your boy Dempsey laid out for diving header and finished for a desperate
USA squad. This gave them the 3-0 victory over Egypt and ultimately advancing
to the semifinal in the Confederations Cup.
Their task of winning the tournament got a whole lot harder when they
got to the semi-final. USA got the matchup against Spain which was the number
one team in the entire world. The USA came out and scored early and needed
another goal just to be in the safe zone and put the game away. Clint Dempsey
was on a high from the game before and was playing very well. Late into the
game, Dempsey came from behind Sergio Ramos took the ball and scored ultimately
giving the USA a 2 goal lead. They were able to hang on and advance to the
final against Brazil. If the USA could pull off a win over Brazil then they
would be making huge strides in the Football World.
The 2010 World Cup South Africa was the biggest sporting of
the year in 2010. Soccer fans wait every four years for this great event in
soccer history. The World Cup is not always seen as the biggest sports event to
Americans just due to the fact that the USA doesn’t have the best success in
the World Cup history. This year is different though, the USA soccer population
started to get hype for the 2010 World Cup. The Confederations Cup, USA made a
statement with good showings against the number one team in the world, Spain
and one of the top teams in Brazil. They finished runner up to Brazil in that
tournament and pretty much shocked the entire soccer world. Soccer was
everything you heard about in the country throughout the year of 2010. I
remember I was a junior in high school during the 2010 World Cup. Waiting for
this tournament felt like it took forever. I looked at highlights of Dempsey,
Donovan, Altidore, and Howard on my computer because I was so hyped for the biggest
tournament in the world. I actually went out and bought me a Clint Dempsey with
the number eight on the back. I had this weird feeling about USA but it was a
good feeling. Just after what the USA did in the Confederations Cup had me
excited to see what we could do on the big stage. One of my good friends plays
soccer and is a huge USA fan and we would go over to his house to watch each
every game throughout the World Cup even the games USA were not even in. Game
after game was played until USA finally got their first matchup against
England. USA were underdogs but didn’t let them stop from getting a result. The
English struck first but after a strike by Dempsey the game was back on equal
terms and would go on to end that way. Dempsey became the second American to
score in two different World Cups after another great American, Brian McBride.
The 2010 World Cup was very hopeful for the USA but they struggled throughout
the rest of the tournament. The USA barely made it into the Round of 16 after
late game heroics by Landon Donovan. The Round of 16 brought more sadness into
USA soccer fans after the team lost heartbreaker to Ghana which seemed could be
a win. Clint Dempsey played very well throughout the World Cup but the team
just struggled and couldn’t get that much needed goal or big defensive play.