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| photo by Stephen Yeargin |
- by Joe Curtis, writing from Pembroke Pines, FL
The fundamental goal of a game is to win. That game can be monopoly, FIFA 11, a pick-up soccer game, or a Premier League game. The goal of every game is always to win. Wins, Draws, and Loses are measurements. They measure whether you did enough or didn't do enough to win. It can be argued that the result of today's game did not matter because it is a trial and error process in order to get ready for World Cup Qualifying. In this process there will be failures, which will ultimately lead to success. But how can you decide whether a game was a failure or success without looking at the results? In my opinion, you can't.
Let's pretend we are watching a U.S. friendly. In this friendly we are playing the Netherlands, the #1 team in the world. This game doesn't mean anything because we are not gaining anything by winning or losing anything by losing. In this game Jurgen Klinsmann decided to start a new midfielder, his name is Joe Curtis. This is Joe's first international game, and Coach Klinsmann wants to see what he can do. Joe goes on to score three and assist one leading the United States to a 4-0 victory over the Netherlands. U.S. supporters would probably react to this result feeling that it was a big step forward. As a result of the game Joe's future looks bright, and he is seen as a player that can help the team win when it "counts". Now let's pretend Joe didn't score three goals, and instead had two turnovers that resulted in goals. The result of this game was a 2-0 Netherlands victory. U.S. supporters would probably react to his performance by saying that he was not national team material, and could not contribute to the team. Looking at the two extremes, winning and losing, as a result of Joe's performance the result of the game was important in judging whether or not Joe should be a regular on the team. The game itself did not matter, but the result did.
Looking at the team as a whole, the result is also important. The United States may play an almost perfect game. Distributed the ball well, had plenty of scoring chances, but in the end they were unable to score. This continues for two or three games, and still no goals. The team may be playing well but at the end of the game the team with the most goals wins. The results of these games shows that the current tactics are not working and changes need to be made in order to score. If you are unable to score in friendlies, you most likely are not going to be able to score when the game "matters". Problems that you face in friendlies are going to be the same problems faced in non-friendlies.
A game cannot be evaluated solely based on performance and not the result. Win or lose there will always be positives and negatives, but without a result it is almost impossible to really judge if a team is successful or not. If you were to watch a game without a score, different people will have different opinions. One may see all the negatives and call it a failure. Another may see the positives and call it a success. The result is the deciding factor, because there will always be positives and negatives. The result shows whether or not that team was able to overcome the negatives or challenges. The ability to overcome challenges shows that the team is ready. If a team continues to fail to overcome challenges then more changes need to be made. Only with the result can this be judged.
I find it hard to believe that the final score of friendlies do not matter. As we get closer and closer to World Cup qualifying and the U.S. is still performing below expectation I think those who feel that way will have a different opinion. Life is all about results. A game is no different. The game may not mean anything to you because there is nothing to gain or lose, but the result of each and every game matters.
