POEM: World Cup

World Cup

I

loved watching
 
the
United States
 
World
Cup team
 
play
soccer.
 
Their
game
 
was
unique:
 
they
usually
 
did
not care
 
about
possession
 
in
the midfield,
 
so
they were

usually
on the
 
defensive.
Then
 
they
would
 
flip
the

tables

and
 
advance
to
 
offense
on the
 
fast
break
 
down
the field
 
to
the
 
net.
They
 
were
the
 
fastest
players
 
in
the
 
world,
and
 
they
had
 
the
best goalkeeper
 
anywhere.
Other
 
teams,
the haughty
 
Europeans,
for
 
example,
would
 
just
sit there
 
and
dominate
 
possession
in
 
the
midfield
 
forever,
feeling
 
superior,
but
 
wholly
unable
 
to
break
 
through
with
 
a
goal.
 
That
is why

it
was
 
so
heartbreaking

to

see
 
the
U.S. team
 
lose
in

extra
time
 
to
Belgium.
 
Just
devastating.
 
Now,
I have
 
to
watch
 
them
all play

not
haughty football,
 
but
what
 
I
would call
 
arrogant
soccer.
 
No
more
 
Team
USA

to

shock
 
the
world
 
with
their
 
goals
and
 
their
wins

as
the
 
great
underdog
 
triumphs.
No
 
more.
Now
 
it’s
just

arrogant
soccer,
 
all
tournament
 
long.


—Nicholas Patti