Landon Donovan took a hiatus from the National Team, but has been great since his return. So have his teammates. By Noelle Noble, via Wikimedia Commons

United States Men’s soccer. It’s not a punchline anymore.

Recently, the US national team has been on a small tear, winning a record 10 straight games. On Wednesday, they defeated Honduras 3-1 to move into the Cup Final where they will meet up with Panama, who defeated Mexico in the semi-finals. During their run, the USA team has not just been defeating opponents but putting beat-downs on them.

The only competitive game they have played was a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the group-stage finale. Aside from that game, the USA has outscored opponents 19-4 in Gold Cup games. In addition to star players Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore, the team has recently added other creative players such as Joe Corona, Jose Torres, and Omar Gonzalez who have certainly helped in this recent turnaround.

But the new success the team has had is a direct result of the pace of play this team is playing with. It was clearly evident in the El Salvador game when the US team forced an easily noticeable change in pace of play in the second half, created more chances, and cruised to a 5-1 victory. Aside from slowing things down to an unwatchably-slow, defensive 90-minute struggle, having as much conscious control of the pace of a game is not something the US team could ever be counted on to do in the past. Under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, they have really found their groove.

While the Gold Cup is filled with “B” level teams, this is a huge improvement from what they have been. While the red, white and blue has their immediate focus on the Gold cup, Klinsmann is also eying next summer’s FIFA World Cup, a tournament they have all but punched their ticket into.

The team still has much to do. If the US is to be a contender in the World Cup, there are new levels that must be reached. Settling for a few match victories will become less and less acceptable as Klinsmann and the current roster continue to raise expectations from United States soccer fans. Maybe soon soccer in the US will become even half as popular as it is in other countries, and it’s about time. As Terrell Owens once said, “Get your popcorn ready.” For once USA soccer means it.

Officiating a sport is equal parts psychology, integrity, listening, and at the same time not listening. A baseball umpire can miss a single call that determines the game. A basketball official is forced to listen to 6’10” of whining on a nightly basis. In football, the Line Judge has a coach in his ear all night and has to try to not let it sway him.

All those guys (and girls) have tough jobs, but none is as physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding as a soccer referee. While there are three NBA referees for 10 players, four MLB umpires for 9 field players and 4 bases, and seven officials on an NFL field for 22 players, one soccer referee stands alone on a field that can be up to 130 yards long x 100 yards wide. To give you a frame of reference, an NFL football field is 100 yards x 53 yards.

With players spread over most of the field for most of the game, the opportunity for high jinx from players is abundant. And, especially at the highest levels of the game, soccer players don’t disappoint. I would contend it’s one of the main reasons the game hasn’t caught on in this country in the fervent way many soccer fans predicted it would.

Whenever a player takes an elbow in the face behind the play, gets kicked (as Freddy Adu did the other night in the Gold Cup Final), or is pushed or shoved behind the official’s back, the 22-1 player-referee ratio has always seemed unmanageable to me.

One of the marvels of high-caliber soccer leagues and even the World Cup at times is not just how the players play, but how much control one ref can keep over the entire 90 minutes.

FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, has tried to empower the referee (and his two assistants, who mostly stay on the sideline) more recently. There has been experimentation with things like communication systems. Theoretically, the 2 assistant referees should be the proverbial eyes on the back of the referee’s head. But from what can be a 100-yard-wide field in soccer, it would be difficult to imagine seeing anything accurately from the opposite sideline. Even when taking into account the two assistant ref’s, the amount of space and number of players to cover still doesn’t seem altogether reasonable.

An easy solution would be to add an assistant referee. Soccer has experimented with it some and has had limited success. One place this model has worked is in the NHL. In a sport with a referee system somewhat similar to soccer, the additional official on the ice has been nothing but a rousing success. Hockey games are much more exciting since the change a number of years ago and, with players not getting away with many of the grinding, stalling tactics they were in the past, it has contributed to a change in the pace of the game.

I can picture the additional ref having the a similar effect on soccer. If even some of the shenanigans of soccer could be limited, US fans might even find themselves enjoying the game more.

Some would say that soccer is the most popular sport in the world — that changing soccer even by adding an official would be painful and maybe sacrilegious. But every sport has to change sometime and an extra official could help solve a lot of the issues US fans have with the sport… When it comes to crazy soccer shenanigans, players getting away with things during the run of a game, and post-play shoving and trash-talking, an additional official could help.

Along with the great players, one of the reasons I most enjoy watching the English Premier League is the way the game is officiated. The players are the best in the world, but so are the officials. It makes a difference. Unfortunately, not every league has officials that good, and so why not make their jobs easier- at least at the highest level? Why not add a fourth official?

American soccer fans, usually a step behind, thought they had a golden ticket.

When Adu signed with Major League Soccer at the age of 14, the hype was palpable. Popularity of soccer had been growing in the United States and for American die-hards, this was the next step toward the game gaining mainstream credibility in this country.

As has become something of the norm with American soccer over the past decade though, hype turned quickly into disappointment. Adu was able to show some skill, but now he was playing against men over twice his age and in their prime. At a svelt 5′ 8”, Adu was physically overmatched by the professional players he battled every night.

After two years in Washington, D.C., the luster seemed to have worn off. Adu was traded to Real Salt Lake and was soon just another player in Major League Soccer. The promise of early national team dominance seemed to have gone away.

Now 21 years old it seemed until recently that Adu was not only forgotten by the easily-distracted American sports fan, but also by the US National Team. Until this year’s Gold Cup.

In the semifinal, it was Adu’s energy and the skill of his early long-ball that led to the game-winning goal vs. Panama.

In the final game on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, Adu showed that while he may not be the next Pele, he can still be a productive player.

No longer is Adu easily nudged off the ball with physicality. Adu’s strength showed Saturday as he battled a physical Mexico defense. When purposefully kicked in the head by a Mexican defender, Adu got up and simply shook it off. In a sport where players need stretchers and magic spray to make them better, the 21 year-old Adu’s toughness is what American fans like to see.

Despite not playing a full game in the Gold Cup, Adu was called on to start and play the over 85 minutes. Prior, less physically and mentally strong iterations of Adu would have never allowed for this long a stint.

While the rest of the United States team saw the game crumble around them, Adu kept hustling and demanding two Mexican defenders from the wing. The Americans failed to take advantage of the Mexican focus on Adu, but on a team that needs pressure taken off Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, Adu’s emergence bodes well.

By the end of the game, the United States was embarrassed by a stronger, faster, more talented Mexican squad. Mexico might be one of the most fun teams to watch if it wasn’t for the stereotypical CONCACAF antics they displayed.  Adu may have looked solid, but the rest of his team definitely did not.

Now if the Americans could get some better defenders on their roster, they might be able to take a next step. For now, despite Adu’s success, the US team continues to regress, their defenders, along with defensive midfielders like Jermaine Jones, looking like they may be better suited wearing clown shoes rather than soccer cleats. Are there not better defenders than this in the entirety of this country? Where is Alexi Lalas when you need him?