As the United States gets ready to face five-time champion Brazil, presented by Liberty Mutual, there is cause for concern for fans of the Stars and Stripes. And that's not just in football, as anyone who attended a humiliating rugby loss to Australia over the weekend can attest.
But we digress and since this blog's focus is football, it's long been a dream of the U.S. fan to see a player compete for a top-notch club like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United - the favourite club of the fictional character this blog is named after.
Well those dreams were dashed by the departure from Barca of U.S. stud Ben Lederman. Credit to eagle-eyed IMOTGP reader Adam Belgeri for pointing out this story. Lederman has been profiled numerous times and U.S. fans were excited about his relationship with Barcelona and by extension, the great Lionel Messi.
Instead, thanks to Barca's cheating ways, Lederman will no longer be part of La Masia. His father is crushed, his fans are crushed and this blogger is devastated. The sad truth is that if Lederman returns permanently to the United States, he may only be able to look forward to a MLS career steeped in mediocrity in which 37-year-old has-beens dominate the league and other past-their-prime stars lounge and watch tennis. It's a sad set of events.
It appears Ben Lederman is all set to join the notorious IMG Academy as just a 15 year old. As you may remember, the IMG Academy was once thought of as being the key to US Soccer's rise to world dominance when the inaugural class produced the likes of Landon Donovan, Damarcus Beasley, and Kyle Beckerman. In other words, he's going to the United States' equivalent of La Masia! I can't see what could go wrong here..
ReplyDeleteWell Beas played in a UCL semi and that's quite an inaugural class. Still, looks like IMG has done nothing since then.
DeleteJust be thankful Lederman doesn't play basketball. According to their website, IMG's basketball alumni/trainees include Larry Sanders, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Tyrus Thomas, Ronaldo Balkman and Michael Beasley.
ReplyDeleteWell one good thing about IMG is this heart-warming story ...
Deletehttp://goo.gl/gbhlty