U.S. Men’s National Team v. France at Stade de France, Paris, 11.11.11

Starting around the second game of Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach of the U.S. national team, announcers and commentators began to discuss whether “results matter” in these friendlies. Unless I’m very much mistaken, in this context a “result” means whether a team wins, loses, or draws. And in almost every case, soccer authorities as reliable as Ian Darke and as illogical as some I don’t care to mention have shouted from their swivel chairs that yes, results matter!

This is absurd. The results—or if you prefer the final scores—of these friendlies do not matter in the least, any more than the final scores of NFL preseason games “matter.” As Klinsmann put it, "I don't give a crap about win records. . . . What's important is how the team develops and improves step by step, hopefully with a positive qualification, and plays an impressive World Cup in Brazil. That's our goal."

To again state what should be obvious to everyone but apparently isn’t: the final scores of these friendlies do not matter. For the U.S., final scores matter in the Gold Cup, the Olympics, World Cup qualifiers, and World Cup games. If the U.S. won (or lost) every friendly it played by fifty goals, it wouldn’t help (or hurt) them one whit in their pursuit of winning or even qualifying for the World Cup or any other tournament.

This is all very different from saying that friendlies don’t matter. As Klinsmann observed, friendlies are used to develop the team. Friendlies allow players to build a rapport and develop technical skills against top-flight competition. The games allow coaches to test out different lineups, evaluate individual talent, work on set pieces, and on and on. About the only things that don’t matter about friendlies are their final scores, which are all anyone seems to want to talk about.

Speaking of which: the final score in this one was 1-0 in favor of France. It was the fourth 1-0 loss for the U.S. in six matches under Klinsmann. The game itself was, unfortunately, not as close as that final score suggests. France probably should have scored at least another goal, probably two, and the U.S. failed to generate their own chances. Moreover, the match was fully as boring as your average NFL preseason game, by far the drabbest outing under Klinsmann. The midfield play was especially bleak. Brek Shea, Maurice Edu, and Kyle Beckerman looked lifeless to a man, and Danny Williams seemed to turn the ball over every time he found it at his feet.

On the relatively bright side, Clint Dempsey muddied his jersey en route to drawing two yellow cards and numerous other fouls. Jozy Altidore also looked strong, and should, perhaps, have drawn a penalty kick in the 20^th minute when he was taken down inside the box while making a turn. (I acknowledge it’s odd to single out two attacking players for praise in a game in which no serious chances were generated for their side.) And the U.S. defense was solid as a unit, though the woodwork helped them in the 55^th minute, Tim Howard helped them with a great save a minute later, and a carelessly inaccurate blast from close range helped them in stoppage time.

While final scores in friendlies don’t matter, individual player performances and the team’s performance do matter. The most disappointing aspect of this game was the near-total lack of creativity from the U.S. players, particularly in the final third. It undoubtedly would have helped to have had Landon Donovan (out due to the upcoming MLS championship) and Jose Torres (out with an injury) in the lineup. But one got the sense that not even Lionel Messi himself could have summoned up brilliance against France had he donned a U.S. jersey. For whatever reason or combination of reasons—the long MLS season, the travel, the full and hostile stadium, the quality of the competition, etc.—it was clear from the first kick that this was not the U.S.’s night. Klinsmann is surely hoping that this forgettable effort was an aberration and not the sorry regression it appeared to be.