Having grown up playing in England, Christian Chambers knows a thing or two about soccer, or futbol as it’s known globally, and like most fans he’s been following this year’s FIFA World Cup with great interest.
Palisades High‘s new girls soccer coach isn’t surprised by all the upsets, nor that the United States is moving on to the knockout phase of the tournament despite many pundits predicting the Americans would fail to make it out of the so-called “Group of Death” with Ghana, Portugal and Germany. Chambers believes the talent is here, but to ultimately win a World Cup the USA must change its college system.
“Kids here are just as good at a young age, but four years in college stunts their growth soccer-wise,” Chambers said. “I’ve seen 17-year-olds here who would make academy teams in England, but if Americans want to win the World Cup they have to encourage players to get in higher level leagues earlier. I was playing semi-pro my last year of high school.”
Asked to pick a winner, Chambers couldn’t decide, but he has a theory as to why his native country has struggled in the sport’s premiere event despite having perhaps the top professional league in the world. England finished last in its group this year and has won the tournament only once, as the host nation in 1966.
“This has been a great World Cup for upsets so making any prediction is tenuous,” he said. “The teams are so even now that you probably won’t see one player take over the tournament. If you look at the top 11 players in the Premier League, none of them are from England. There are only 68 English players and yet there are 20-25 players per team so most come from other places.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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