The Trans-Atlantic Debates: Part 1

Published: 16^th Mar 12 8:35 am

by Alan Dymock
Alan Dymock

RANT It!

Every Friday Rant writers Eric Imhof and Alan Dymock will take part in a series of soccer debates. They will look at some burning issues within the global game.

It is an American versus a Scotsman; a New World soccer fan versus an old school observer of footie. There will be intense discussion, raised voices and the odd literary reference, but it will all be borne out of a love for the Beautiful Game.

Up this week: Can the USA Ever Produce a Ballon d’Or winner?

Alan Dymock: Yes

Sometimes we are prone to exaggerate. We get caught up and carried away. Human nature. So when the USA defeated Italy in Genoa, the first side ever to do so in that soccer stronghold, some people began blurting about progress. USMNT are undeniably progressing. They are not world beaters yet, but they certainly have some players capable of winning a game.

Anyway, this question is one of individual brilliance. Of course those that did the Italian Job were part of a hustling team performance. Standouts like Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore have played in Europe, but like Landon Donovan none of them have drawn huge plaudits. Clint Dempsey, who scored the winner against Italy, has garnered praise, but is not at a top European club.

However, there is no time limit on this! There could be one in 2022 after the Qatar World Cup. The MLS may be drawing bigger crowds and star names are coming over the Atlantic the other way. With investment and the right coaching something good could happen.

If Jurgen Klinsmann is willing to send Brek Shea across to Arsenal to train, before he makes the Olympics squad, maybe there is a chance that younger guys could go the other way, leaving America. European scouts may start contending with college recruiters for US talent. This maybe has to happen, though, alongside investment in more coaches like Klinsmann in order to be on that yellow brick road.

Eric Imhof: No way in hell!

In 1956, when soccer in Spain was by and large rigged by Franco, Alfredo di Stéfano, who eventually became the fourth-highest goal scoarer in Spain’s top division, came in second in the running for the inaugural Ballon D’Or. If that doesn’t indicate just how little chance an American player has at winning the award, than I don’t know what does.

Let’s take a look at some other past recipients, shall we? Roberto Baggio in 1993, Luís Figo in 2000, and the original Ronaldo in 2002 (and 1997)—all players with not only technical skill but also the ability to make their teammates better and, at the same time, inspire fans of all stripes. Even with Clint Dempsey making his meteoric rise at Fulham this season, can you really imagine him beating out the likes of the players on this list, especially while Messi and new Ronaldo are in an on-going arms race?

Look, I’m all for someone like Dempsey being discussed in the running for this award. As I’ve written numerous times, I’m tired of Messi winning it, at least. But let’s be realistic. The American style is different from that of Europe, and no amount of hustle and Dempsey-style knocking around of the ball in front of the net (great strategy—maybe my favorite strategy) is going to convince judges to hand the golden ball to a player from the United States.

Rebuttal: Alan Dymock

Eric is thinking right now; I’m thinking ten years at least. Also, I would not discount the mad old institution just yet. Sometimes players break through.

Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria was in the running in 1994 and just a year later George Weah of Liberia was crowned the best player in the world. He was a superstar for AC Milan but more than this he is from a nation that is a minnow in soccer terms.

Of course Weah played for an Italian powerhouse, and they made him their focal point. I’m not saying this will ever happen to Dempsey but maybe, just maybe, one of the current Under21 players or someone even younger could move to Europe and impact on the game here. If little Messi can be picked up from a young age and heavily invested in by Barcelona, why can’t a young American player? Let’s not forget that Messi and Ronaldo are both products of fantastic Iberian youth systems.

Right now there is a teenage Scotsman named Jack Harper in the Real Madrid academy. There is every chance he could go on to become a Ballon d’Or winner. Who’s to say a kid from the US won’t get the same opportunity?

Rebuttal: Eric Imhof

In ten years, if the workers’ revolution doesn’t come or oil doesn’t run out, I will still be applying the same realism to my writing. Actually, in a strange logical twist, these two circumstances would be prerequisites for a player from the United States winning the award, since at that point nobody will really be around nor will anyone care about professional soccer.

Yes, we’ve got some young talent, and the US National team may well turn some heads in 2014 (as they did in 2002 in South Korea, where, if not for a hand-ball, they would have broken headlong into the semi-finals). But our style does not produce superstars; the only reason Dempsey is so effective and popular is precisely because he’s a rough-around-the-edges bruiser (from Nacogdoches, no less) in a sea of fancy *prima donnas* (Latin etymology intended).

Call me a misanthrope (*South By Southwest* isn’t helping), but I’m not holding out hope for my fellow Americans.

Which side is right?