What's next U.S. Soccer and South Africa?

Mike Takeuchi
Reprinted Article.

Now what?

While Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final brought a mostly satisfying conclusion to the World Cup, questions within these borders and beyond won't be answered until 2014 and possibly even further in the future.

The bleating of vuvuzelas, questionable officiating, and some dastardly deeds (Luis Suarez comes to mind) aside, this was an exciting Cup to watch. It was punctuated by a final that was not exactly one for the ages, but was exciting enough and at the very least provided a winner that was decided before the dreaded penalty kicks.

The Final between Spain and the Netherlands reminded this writer of the battles between the Lakers and the Pistons in the late1980's, not an epic one of historic proportions like Lakers/Celtics, but serviceable and exciting enough to provide good drama. While La Furia Roja provided the flowing passing and stars like Iniesta and David Villa akin to the Magic/Kareem Lakers, Le Oranje had the wonderful talents of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben that paralleled the Isaiah Thomas/Bill Laimbeer teams that were often overshadowed by claims of the team's rough play and thespian acumen that pulled the Lakers then, and to a degree Spain on Sunday, down with them.

And while it gave this writer the excitement of watching his favorite player, Andres Iniesta, score the winning goal in the Final after 32 years of enviously watching others enjoy the same thing, the final goal had me wondering if that hero would ever be wearing the red, white and blue.

While Landon Donovan and company provided American fans with thrills, their round of 16 exit was probably a couple of games too early to make any lasting impact to carry over to Brazil in 2014, and here in 2018, or more likely 2022.

A USA Today poll shortly after the US was eliminated said that 44 per cent of American fans would stop watching the World Cup-turning their attention to the LeBron reality show, the Major League All Star Game, and even Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France until he fell out of contention on Sunday. This has followed a well-worn pattern of no Americans, no interest. It will be interesting to see in the near future how the governing body will move ahead despite not getting the momentum they were hoping for.

But the above concerns are nitpicky compared to wonder about the future of the host country, South Africa. With the 25 per cent unemployment rate only slightly and temporarily abated by the jobs created by the arrival of the Cup. The $5 billion spent to construct and operate may put the country deep in the red like post 2004 Athens. While Greece's economic downturn wasn't directly attributed to the Olympics, it did have a significant impact while also leaving many former sporting arenas abandoned and neglected, which was later repeated in Beijing following the 2008 Games.

During the matches, there were a lot of things viewers weren't exposed to, including the story about a stadium in the city of Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit) that hosted five matches. Here, they relocated several thousands of residents out of what was considered a shanty or slum to an area a few kilometers away outside of ABC or ESPN camera eyes. Of course, stories like these have been relegated to asides on television or to the inner pages of other publications.

But that aside, there were no major problems of crime or other major issues reported and the host country showed its graciousness and exposed South Africa's true beauty to the rest of the world. One day after celebrating a unifying event, residents were hopeful that they could sustain the good will and raise the status of their country and people that merely 16 years ago, was under apartheid rule. Here's hoping they will.