Like a lot of people, I was genuinely thrilled when the USA made it to the semifinals of the Copa America. They haven’t exactly made it that far a lot - twice at the Confederations Cup and that’s about it, not counting the Gold Cup. This is the closest thing the USA gets to a non-World Cup major tournament, and so the excitement about making it that far was a real thing.

Then the USA played Argentina, and got absolutely dominated. That was about the end of the excitement, and instead, the same questions got thrown around. Depending on who you ask, the USA needs a better coach, or a better youth development system, or a better domestic league, to fix everything that ails America.

It’s not that easy. There are no easy answers. Over at Soccer Insider, I gave some examples of countries that have it all - and still can’t win it all.