If It Moves, Kick It is a tumblelog.

The joy (and agony) of 1-1

Brian Phillips tries to explain to his countrymen what a draw in the World Cup is all about:

“The existential conflict of soccer in America, at least once you’re invested to a certain degree, is that we want to be good but we also want something to celebrate. So we put the team in a weird bubble that lets us be sentimentally happy about them (we went up 2-0 on Brazil!), but that also means we’re always a little more anxious and depressed than we let on (we let them score three in the second half!). In a sport with so many layers and nations, you’re probably always forced to make some version of that distinction, and unless you want to go down the screaming-media permanent-meltdown route, thinking of individuals and what they’re able to accomplish is a humane way to care about a team.

“But there’s also a moment when you have to say that your game can contend with reality, no Little League buffer necessary. U.S. soccer is there. That’s something to be proud of on its own. I’m glad it’s over, because now this tournament can start. I’m also glad it happened, because it told us something we needed to know. No, it isn’t going to make soccer popular in America.”