U S Soccer Federation

Few people know that on a quiet tree-​lined stretch of the near south side of Chicago sits the «brain trust», if you can call it that, of United States soccer. Inside these offices sit a man (or maybe a little ogre) named Sunil Gulati — a businessman with no soccer background. And, from his office — I like to picture it as a dungeon, though I’m sure it’s a golden palace — he makes bad decision after bad decision on how to build soccer in the United States.
Looking for a new coach? Why not hire another MLS/U.S. college retread instead of an internationally respected guy. Have one of the worst calls in the history of the World Cup made against you (when even the BBC says the United States shouldn’t have had a goal waived off against Slovenia when their home team is fighting in the same group)? Filing a protest would take too much effort and paperwork. It’s much easier just to sit back and hope to get a better referee next time. Pressure MLS to conform better to the international calendar. Why? Because it would help player development to have them available for games. Unnecessary! Get the United States team back into the Copa America? Why test it against the best national teams in South America? They might get intimidated, lose confidence.
Yet, somehow, despite Enron/​Goldman Sachs/​BP level incompetence at the top, a rag-​tag band of second-​tier European players and MLS all-​stars managed to get to the second round of the World Cup and won its group over England in the process. These players with unbreakable hearts came from behind twice and scored in the last couple of minutes of the final group game to do so. They stared elimination in the face twice and laughed! Laughed not out of hubris but out of hope.
Maybe that flows from the top, but I doubt it.
Anyhow, despite the U.S.S.F., I’m proud of my home country’s soccer team. No need to look overseas for a team to support when the United States plays a no-​diving (okay, not much, Jozy Altidore does go down a bit easy), offense-​minded, soccer that matches the kind of soccer that people in the United States would like to see the whole world play.
And the leadership hasn’t been all bad. The U.S.S.F. is trying hard to bring the World Cup back to U.S. soil in 2018 or 2022. They finally opened a training center in 2003. And you can’t argue with results like a second place in the Confederations Cup and consistent women’s team success. Still, if we had a better governing body in the United States, soccer success on the men’s side might have come to the United States a long time ago.