The following comes from John Haydon's Washington Times column. In today's column Haydon interviews "Chevy Chase-based writer Ian Plenderleith has written about soccer in England, Germany, Switzerland and the United States for Britain's popular fan magazine, When Saturday Comes."
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Q: The U.S. men's team is ranked 11th in the world. Is that a fair ranking?
A: I don't think the FIFA world rankings have meaning to anyone who is a soccer fan. The fact that the U.S. team reached the World Cup quarterfinals was an exaggeration of its ability. But the U.S. is definitely in the top 20 to 30 teams.
Q: When will the U.S. team win the World Cup?
A: It won't.
Q: Not in 20 years?
A: The U.S. team has as much chance as Scotland, which means it won't.
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Peter Kurilecz
Richmond, Va
pakurilecz@aol.com