Because the competition right across the board is so high. Everyone is raising there game. It doesn’t matter which part of the world your from, if you raise your game your going to be hard to break down. Your Country doesn’t have to be hugely populated, Uruguay proved that (More people live in Berlin).
One of the reasons Germany were great at this years World cup was down to Jurgen Klinsmann’s development programme (ditching several veteran players, bringing in fitness trainers from Arizona, using US coaching philosophies, insisting on a 4-2-3-1 formation etc.
Hes on the top of his game right now (based in Southern California too) & “out of work”. Seems logical his next employment should be with the US Federation, although Bob Bradley I believe is doing a fantastic job, I like him a lot. Although having Jurgen on board could give a big boost to the US. If Germany hang onto him, there young squad have the potential to go much further.
I think soccer in the US & the US team are going places & the thought of NY gaining a second team is great.
What makes Spain tick…
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/teams/passes.html
Over 1000 passes more than the Netherlands during the whole tournament, with a far higher success rate. They were also the fittest team (distance covered) of the top 4.
Mexico were the fastest team (32.15 km/h).