On respect

I agree entirely with Dan's big-picture analysis of the Argentina result. The discussion raises an issue that's often discussed by US fans and commentators: the issue of the US getting respect on the international stage. There are those that argue that gaining this respect is an important thing, and that results such as last night's, where our C-team got stomped, don't exactly help.

I have never understood this argument. "Respect," whatever that means, yields no tangible benefits to US soccer and quite possibly could cause some harmful effects. For instance, I want players who line up against the US to have in the back of their minds a preconceived notion that we are not a good team. That might cause them to only give 80%. Likewise, it wouldn't be good if MLS lost the vast majority of its top players.

Besides, frankly who cares what people in other nations think of our team? The only thing that matters is overall success. And if experiences like this years Copa raise our chances of future success in World Cup qualifying, then I'm all for them.