I’m bummed. I just broke things off with a guy. He was handsome and fun but not ready for a girlfriend. So I should probably get out of his apartment.

You see, sports fans, I’m new at dating. I entered a relationship right out of high school that ended ten years later with attorneys.

That divorce was four years ago. Since then, I’ve learned a lot, but I’m still pretty new to the game. And this year, I’m not alone…

Enter the U.S. Men’s National Team (MNT). The U.S. was once married to American football. American football was big and strong, and the U.S. was drawn to its power.

We didn’t even go to the World Cup for the 40 years between 1950 and 1990. All the other countries went. They enjoyed the soccer they’d always played, even if they flirted with rugby and other football-based games.

But not the U.S. We were home making chili and buying Buffalo Bills jackets for our own nation’s game of football.

But what if American football didn’t grow and change with us? What if football took us for granted and complained like a diva after being put in a 3-4? Surely, the U.S. would move on…

This year, our World Cup Soccer interest is at an all-time high. The U.S. MNT qualified and played for the FIFA World Cup, but, like me, they have done four years of building. The U.S. has played in a total of nine World Cup tournaments, but only six consecutive. Compared to other countries, we’re just getting back in the game.

A Comparison of Countries for World Cup 2010

1. 

   • Countries playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
   

2. • Countries that are being destroyed by the BP oil spill
   

3. • Countries I mistake for another South America
   

4. • Bugs that died in the scanner?
   

Credit: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the field of 32 includes some great veterans. Brazil, for example, is the only country to have made an appearance at all 19 World Cups. The U.S. being on the world stage with Brazil is like me trying to get a date around The Bachelorette.

To illustrate this, here is an infographic from the 2010 Census Personal Questions Division.

You see what the MNT and I are up against?

It’s definitely carrying through in the action, too. We all saw Maurice Edu’s beautiful one-timer off Landon Donovan’s free kick. You know, the goal in the 86th minute of the U.S. vs. Slovenia match that was disallowed by referee Koman Coulibaly with no in-game explanation.  The game ended in a draw that put the U.S. in the runner-up position of Group C — not the top. 

And I can relate! For the past four years, I’ve let guys make the calls and then found myself knocked out of the top spot. Literally.

Two years ago, I dated a guy in New Orleans who got so drunk at a house party he forgot I was sitting next to him. He then sent me flying to the floor during an overzealous stretching motion. Where was the call on that?!

Another time, I went out with a guy who told me he was on a diet where didn’t eat any food unless he took a picture of it first. He then pulled out his iPhone and proceeded to go through dish after colorful dish. And I just shut up and sat there.

Landon Donovan had tried to figure out Coulibaly. “He just ignored us,” Donovan had said. “Or, he didn’t understand.”

I hear you, Landon! Who knows what they’re thinking when they just clam up like that? You can try to be cool, but before you know it, you’re subject to another bad call.

In the 21st minute of the U.S. vs. Algeria match, referee Frank De Bleeckere disallowed a goal by Clint Dempsey, saying that he was offsides when he received the pass. One Algerian defender and goaltender Raïs M’Bolhi were clearly between Dempsey and the goal line — what was De Bleeckere thinking?

The only thing that the MNT and I can do is step up and control our own destiny. Maybe we’ve put up with some crap in the past, but that just means we have to be really good so that the bad calls of others can’t matter.

Take Jozy Altidore, for instance. It took until the second half of the U.S. vs. Slovenia match for him to really start getting in the other team’s way. But he did it. 

Alexi Lalas even commented about Altidore’s performance: “Thank you, for posting up and getting that ball and being big and causing problems. Finally. Awesome!” 

And let’s not leave out Landon Donovan, who did not leave the U.S. vs. Algeria match at De Bleeckere’s call and a draw. His “loose ball capture” in the 91st minute didn’t just put the U.S. in the lead — it said we have skills over fate!

The guy I stopped dating wasn’t a bad one. He was just … noncommittal. Sometimes I thought he really liked me, and sometimes I thought he really didn’t!

Coulibaly had defied definition in a similar way. The Slovenian defensive backs were all over the U.S. forwards and midfielders AND vice versa, but Coulibaly made the call on the one guy who wasn’t doing anything (Edu). 

The MNT could have given up. They could have driven themselves crazy with stress over the inconsistencies. But they didn’t. Maybe now I’m doing the right thing, too.