Coaches Comments

Deaf World Cup Greece 2009

"It has been an incredible 4 years since I took charge of the US Men’s team. Having already tasted Gold medal success with the US Women’s team at the Deaflympics in Australia 2005 it was my ambition to bring the same glory to the men’s team which unfortunately was a shambles when I took over.

I brought in George Danner as my Assistant Coach. It was evident at the first camp in Pensacola in the summer of 2006 that a lot of work was needed to get these guys to think like a team and to really understand the game. We only had two years to create a squad capable of giving a good showing at the Deaf World Cup to be held in Greece 2008. There were some encouraging sign’s at the first camp. I noticed this group of players had great characters and brilliant leaders as well as some real talent. It was imperative I use these assets to benefit the development of the team.

This squad of players would have to face incredible obstacles to compete at the top level of international soccer. We were the only nation who didn’t get funding from any major organization or government backing. This was mainly due to our lack of ability to get our Tax ID number reinstated. Obviously this meant that all the responsibility to raise money for camps, tournaments, etc. would rest solely on the shoulders of each player. This burden would restrict players attending as many camps as they would have liked, which was hardly the right preparation needed go to Greece and take part in a major International competition, but what we lacked in preparation and funds we made up for in a group of fantastic young men who were willing to sacrifice everything to represent their country. We boarded the plane to Greece with a totally professional attitude.

Our rival’s in the Group stages of the tournament would be Holland, France and China. A great 2-0 victory over Holland gave the team a great confidence boost but a disappointing 3-0 loss to the reining European champions France soon bought the squad back to reality. We now had to beat China if we were to make US Deaf Soccer history. The men’s team had never progressed past the Group stage of any International competition since their conception in 1965.The team gave everything for a great 2-1 win against the Chinese which put this squad into US Deaf Soccer History books.

Our first game in the knock-out stages was against the mighty Italians, one of the favorites for the Gold medal. The US men’s team shocked the European masters by tying 2-2 after extra time. This meant a penalty shoot-out, which the US won. We were now in the world of dreams, a semi final against Turkey. The US would dominate this game against the Turk’s who were intent on getting as many of our players sent off as possible. Five yellow cards and two red still didn’t discourage the US team, who created four glorious chances but failed to convert into goals. 0-0 after extra time meant another penalty shoot-out, but this time our luck ran out. The Turks won, our dream was over. We left Greece knowing US men’s Deaf Soccer now had the respect it had craved for so many years."

-Coach McDonald