July:
Brooks’ Goal, #USMNT Wins Best Moment at ESPY’S
August:
Jermaine Jones Signs with MLS’ New England Revolution
Everyone Gets in on the Ice Bucket Challenge
October:
@LandonDonavan Plays Last Match, Retires From National Team
November
Training Days in the UK Before Final 2014 Friendlies
December
Tim Howard is the #USMNT Athlete of the Year!
World Cup 2014, First Stop: São Paulo, Brazil
President Barack Obama Wishes Team Good Luck
Dempsey’s Goal at 1′ Gives #USMNT Lead Over Ghana
Sub John Brooks Seals First Match Victory
#IBelieveThatWeWillWin Watch Parties Everywhere
@J_Klinsmann Writes ‘Get out of Work’ Note, Recruits Supporters
Round of 16 Loss to Belgium But Howard Sets Record
https://twitter.com/JasonLeeMalpass/status/554677377523924992
February:
Winning First 2014 Friendly — USA 2-Korea Republic 0
April:
World Cup Camp, Training at Stanford
May:
Fan Appreciation Day in NY at Times Square
June:
A Round of Golf @TPCSawgrass Before Final Match of Send-off Series
3-0, Next Stop Brazil
Meet the #USMNT — Final World Cup Roster
OneNationOneTeam
Pre-World Cup highs, like a victory vs. Turkey, have been replaced by a negative slide as the year ended for the national team. — Photo courtesy NewYorkRedBulls.com
The headlines and reports after the US’s latest two losses are similar to the commentary and concern around another team that was once having trouble collecting international wins.
In 2006, ESPN’s Scott Sheridan had this to say about a poor performance from the US national team:
Team USA lost because it keeps changing its roster, never developing the chemistry and familiarity that the best international teams have developed.
In Ireland, the men’s national team was missing some of the fire power from the World Cup as well as a few players who had returned to prepare for the MLS playoffs. So the US was left with an array of young and untested talent, missing team chemistry and apparently goal scorers. The veterans may have helped them beat the Republic of Ireland, but there is no guarantee those players will be part of 2018 WC. What’s a coach to do, rely on the vets now in hopes of a win, or get the younger players the time they need to play and improve?
Fielding a team that is both talented and plays well together is always going to be juggling act that any coach of a national team will be faced with. Klinsmann’s job in that regard is no tougher than his colleagues around the world. The post World Cup troubles that the national team has faced may not be signs of permanent trouble or a cause for concern. The men’s basketball team managed to figure it out and take back its place as world leaders. Let’s hope the soccer team is headed in the same direction.
LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan and His Contribution to Mental Health Awareness
Landon Donovan, #LegenD, during his final 2014 season with the LA Galaxy. (Photo: Kelvin Kuo, USA TODAY Sports)
The everyone-is-familiar-with-it, tough-to-talk-about subject of depression is written about informatively and with compassion by MLSoccer.com senior editor, Nick Firchau. In his Nov. 22 The Word column, he writes about Landon Donovan and the struggles with depression the athlete faced during portions of his career.
We have a sort of stigma that being in a difficult mental place is not acceptable. We should ‘pull ourselves up by the bootstraps’ and ‘fight through it,’ and all this, and it’s a little peculiar to me, that whole idea, that if someone’s physically hurt, we’re OK with letting them take the time they need to come back, but if someone’s in a difficult time mentally, we’re not OK with letting them take the time they need to come back. Hopefully, there’s at least a few people out in the world that can relate to this and can somewhat be inspired.” — Donovan, in a 2013 interview.
It’s not surprising that this disease carries a stigma in the testosterone-predominate world of sports. Social norms would have us believe real men aren’t affected. Of course that is not true. This article points to a study conducted earlier this year that revealed one in four professional football players suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression. Birgit Prinz, a retired German professional footballer and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, who works as a sports psychologist for a Bundesliga club, said this during the announcement of the report:
From my experience and in my opinion it is important to see and to openly demonstrate that it is ‘normal’ for professional football players to experience mental stress and that this does not automatically result in failure of a professional career. But it can be prevented, treated and cured. We have to overcome the myth that professional football players are invulnerable.” — Prinz.
The same can be said for athlete’s in any sport. There are a sprinkling of stories that report others who have suffered from anxiety and depression, and even some who have committed suicide.
As Firchau suggests in his column, in addition to his on the pitch success, Donovan’s stance and support of the significance of addressing mental health, may add to the footballer’s legacy. Bravo to him, and to @nickfirchau for bringing the story to the public.
First Cap: Jordan Morris, Nov. 25, 2014
One highlight in the loss to the Republic of Ireland came at the 77th minute, when Jordan Morris sprinted onto Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and collected his first cap with the U.S. national team.
Morris in action vs. the Republic of Ireland, collecting his first cap for the USMNT. — Photo courtesy USSoccer.com
The Mercer Island, Washington native, who is a sophomore at Stanford, became the first college player to be called up to play for the senior team in 19 years, when he was named to the squad that faced the Czech Republic on September 3. Morris got the call but was an unused sub, spending the entire game instead sitting alongside his fellow U.S. nationals, some of whom had gone to the World Cup in Brazil.
But the talented midfielder again got named to the senior squad and joined the team in Ireland in time for practice. Morris’ international debut comes after the 20-year-old footballer played a year with the Seattle Sounders FC U-23 in the USL Premier Development League, and appeared in 21 matches as a freshman with the Cardinal, and making first team All-Pac-12.
Morris admitted to jitters after getting called by Klinsmann to enter the match.
“Right before I went on, I looked around the whole stadium … it was pretty surreal,” he told MLS.com. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid, so it was an unbelievable honor and a great experience,” — USSOccer.com
As the clock ticks toward 2018, Klinsmann remarked in Grantland on why Morris can be included in the conversation about the future of the national team:
“We have watched Jordan through our Youth National Teams and in the Development Academy for the last couple of years, and he is a very promising player. We saw him during our two weeks at Stanford for the World Cup preparation camp, and also from his play with U-23 team in the Bahamas, and we felt like this was a good opportunity to introduce him to the Senior Team.”
“He’s a forward, very simple, he reads the game very well ahead, he sees the space in front of him and can take people on one-against-one, and at the same time he knows his path is a different one.”
In a scouting report, Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid, who watched the youngster play with the Sounders Academy, highlighted Morris’ aggressive playing style and versatility.
“He’s a slasher. He’s a player that can play wide, he can play up top, he can play as one of the two strikers in a two-man formation. He’s comfortable on both sides of the field and keeps pressure on defenses because he’s willing to make those runs in behind…He’ll go at you. He’s not a passive player on the field.”
Morris’ former youth coach, Dan Strom, with the Eastside FC, also justified his call up to the national team:
“Jordan is a game-changing player who excels at beating opponents one-on-one to create man advantage situations and scoring opportunities for his teammates. As an attacking midfielder he is constantly moving to find space to exploit and then uses his significant change-of-pace speed to break down the opponent.”
Here is a photo essay of Morris and his football career to date:
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On the Ball 