US Soccer Finds Identity in Diverse Backgrounds After Decades of Search

US Soccer spent decades searching for coherence. It found something better

For years the United States sought a single soccer identity. Instead, its best team emerged from a patchwork of backgrounds, cultures and development paths In 1993, the United States Soccer Federation handed a contract to Rinus Michels. But the Dutch godfather of Total Football, operationalized through his on-field avatar Johan Cruyff, was not hired to coach the national team, or to coach anybody, really. By this time, Michels, who managed the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer L...

By Leander Schaerlaeckens