U.S. Has Big Goals for the World Cup

By Kim Dunbar

Neil Buethe is pretty busy these days. As the Senior Media Relations Director for U.S. Soccer, he’s knee-deep in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. But it’s not his own knees he’s currently worried about.

“The naming of our 30-man preliminary roster is coming up,” Buethe said. “But it’s a little complicated because of some injuries [to key players].”

The preliminary roster for the 2010 World Cup team, which is due to FIFA on May 11, has proved to be a challenging task for the U.S, thanks to an injury bug that has bitten U.S. soccer stars including Clint Dempsey (knee), Oguchi Onyewu (knee) and Charlie Davies (broken leg).

“We’ve had quite a few injuries and are not sure if certain players will be back or able to play for the national team,” Buethe said.

The U.S. opens training camp for its World Cup squad on May 15 but must narrow down the field and submit a final 23-man roster to FIFA by June 1, ten days before World Cup play begins in South Africa.

Although the U.S. is busy building its World Cup team, there is also another important date for which the United States Soccer Federation is preparing: Its bid book to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup is due May 14.

“We bid for both years because it gives us two chances, two bites of the apple,” Buethe said.

Buethe said he expects England to win the bid to host in 2018, but FIFA rules state that no area can host consecutive World Cups. If England wins, it would eliminate some of the U.S.’s competition for the following World Cup.

“It can’t be held in Europe back to back, so there is less competition for us in 2022,” he said.

Europe aside, Buethe said the U.S. faces stiff competition from Australia, a nation in which soccer is an even less prominent sport than it is in America. Buethe said that Australia is planning to show that if they can bring the World Cup Down Under, soccer will flourish, much like it did for the United States after it hosted the 1994 World Cup.

However, the U.S. is more than prepared to showcase its best qualities in order to win the bid.

“To say that soccer in the United States doesn’t have the ability for growth is untrue,” Buethe said. “Look what has happened to soccer in this country since 1994—the [Major League Soccer organization] has grown, teams have expanded and our stadiums have increased in size.”

These are all points Buethe hopes to make while in South Africa. When the U.S. ends its run in the competition, he will stay to promote the U.S.’s bid for the World Cup.

“Getting our message across to officials over there is crucial,” he said. “There will be so many journalists from other countries there, and it is important to get interviews with them to talk about our bid and to try to reach out to them.”

Although there is work to be done across the globe to promote the U.S. bid, Buethe agreed that there is no better place to start than at home. He said America’s enthusiasm for and during the 2010 World Cup can only help the country’s bid.

“If we can show fans rallying around the U.S. team this summer, we can use it to prove that America has the environment,” he said. “The impression is that we don’t care about soccer, and it’s not true. The key is to show that we have a ton of fans with passion for the sport here.”

Buethe said that the U.S.’s opening match in the World Cup against England on Saturday, June 12 at 1:30 CST will be just what the doctor ordered.

“It will be the biggest soccer match ever watched here,” he said.

That is, if everyone’s knees can remain intact.

FIFA will make its final decision regarding the 2018 and 2022 bids on December 2.