They should not have survived, they would not die. After going down three games to none to the Sharks, the Los Angeles Kings rallied to win the series.
Against the Ducks they stared death in the face twice and arose victorious. Everyone thought the Chicago Blackhawks would win with ease, victim number three, and against the Rangers, the Kings of California never led for the first three games.
The only word to describe the run of the 2014 Stanley Cup Champions is…zombies.
It is that zombie-like resilience that could propel the USMNT to an improbable victory in a very difficult group that boasts two of the world’s best players in Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Germany’s Mesut Ozil. At the front of the Yanks’ naysayers is their own manager, Jurgen Klinsmann who has stated candidly, “…for us now, talking of winning the World Cup is just not realistic.”
Hardly representative of the trademark optimism that permeates from sea to shining sea.
Klinsmann is not making many friends today, with these comments coming just weeks after leaving all-time leading scorer, Landon Donovan off the 23-man World Cup roster, the American boss is not in the business of diplomacy.
Largely responsible for the success of the German side that will battle the United States in the last match of Group G, Klinsmann aided in revamping a youth system that has produced such stars as the aforementioned Ozil, Mario Gotze, Thomas Muller and Marco Reus, who gave everyone in Group G a bit of hope when it was announced an injury will keep him out of the competition.
It is clear that Klinsmann has similar designs for the future of American football as he has chosen youth over beauty with an eye toward 2018 and 2022.
While no one in their right mind will favor the US to hoist any trophies in July, the Yanks are certainly capable of making a run under the radar. It is a daunting task to be certain, but Dempsey, Altidore and company are Ameri-cans not Ameri-cant’s. Whether it will be the Walking Dead or a walk of shame remains to be seen, the United States begin their World Cup quest down in Natal against their bitter arch-nemesis from Africa first in Ghana.
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