The U.S. team (unlike FIFA which lets host countries dictate broadcast rights, which led to the stupid blackout) is very much living in the 21st century.  This is the sixth consecutive World Cup berth for the Americans – which means that this generation of U.S. players can’t even remember a time when  U.S. didn’t make it to the world’s biggest and best sporting event. 

The last time they held a World Cup without the USA was in Mexico in 1986. Argentina won that World Cup  (Maradona’s team beat Germany in the final; the famous “Hand of God” victory over England was a quarterfinal game).

I have no idea how the U.S. team will fare in South Africa next summer. This is a team that has looked, at times, lackadaisical and confused (in qualifying earlier this year and early Confederations Cup) or brilliant (against Spain and the first half against Brazil in Confed Cup).

It has several experienced players. But experience doesn’t seem to serve the U.S. team particularly well in the World Cup. In 1994, a team full of novices did pretty well as the home hosts. Four years later, those players were more experienced and expectations were higher – and the U.S. team imploded in France, finishing last in the field.  

The best performance in the modern era came in 2002 in South Korea. Again the team was largely inexperienced, the result of turnover in the four year cycle. Bruce Arena had the team he wanted and the U.S. made it to the quarterfinals, where the Americans narrowly lost to Germany.  That set the stage for high expectations in Italy – players like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley were more seasoned, Arena had been on the job for four years.  But, despite an exciting tie against eventual champion Italy, the U.S. didn’t play very well.  Germany – a fantastic World Cup overall – was a big letdown for the Americans.

Who knows what to predict now? Bob Bradley hasn’t seem to be a particularly inspired leader, yet he’s coaxed some excellent performances out of his team. Tim Howard is a world class keeper. There is some exciting young talent on the team like Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies.

And then there’s Donovan. Donovan – who has waffled in his apparent commitment to his sport over the years – seems to be a changed player and one now determined to fulfill his potential as the best American player in history. The change is a result of several things: maturity, the weird anger and pressure involved in playing with Beckham on the Galaxy (by the way, Grant Wahl’s book “The Beckham Experiment” is an excellent read), and now Donovan has an impending divorce from his wife.  Donovan was always seeking domestic bliss and comfort and seemed unable to balance soccer ambitions with his personal life. Now he seems to be all in. And he’s magic on the field right now.

Donovan, one of the older players on the team, was four years old the last time the Americans didn’t make the World Cup. Bet he doesn’t even remember. Onto South Africa.