A tragedy of the unknown

Emotionally, this week saw some of the highest and lowest points in our country's soccer history. On Saturday, a back-and-forth game saw the U.S. clinch qualification for the World Cup, rallying from 1-0 down to beat Honduras 3-2. Barely holding on thanks to Carlos Pavon's errant late PK, the nation celebrated ecstatically after clinching their ticket to South Africa in the most dramatic of ways. I even started writing an article explaining why anything was possible for the U.S. in 2010, from group stage elimination to World Cup champions.

All of that buoyancy disappeared within 3 days, as the news surfaced that Charlie Davies was tragically injured in a car crash on Tuesday. One passenger was killed at the scene of the one-car accident outside of Washington DC, while both Davies and the car's driver needed surgeries for multiple traumas. Davies in particular was in surgery for five hours on Tuesday afternoon, where doctors repaired a lacerated bladder and multiple broken bones, including his left elbow, right tibia, and right femur. As for his recovery, he was responsive in the hospital during Bob Bradley's visit, but the sweeping extent of his injuries leaves a scary degree of the unknown in his future.

The accident has shocked the entire soccer nation with its suddenness and severity, and the outpouring of support from the American soccer community has been incredibly noble. For its part, the media has showed a great deal of sympathy for all families involved, and the restraint on World Cup talk implies the dignified sentiment that Davies' health is the most important issue. As the media keeps a respectful distance, the team itself has led the healing process, rallying in strong support for their teammate. They underscored their unbridled emotion during an otherwise unimportant 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, ending their celebration of the late result by unfurling a banner with Davies' #9.

While its importance has been muted by the shocking tragedy of the event, Davies' value to the national team has not been understated anywhere, especially since his injuries have been described as ruling him out of next summer's World Cup. A wincingly tragic sort of irony has therefore arisen, since it was Davies who asserted a week ago that the USA's available personnel could win the World Cup in 2010. That suggestion was regarded lightly even in America, because the U.S. has shown certain not-quite-Rimet-worthy characteristics in recent years: lack of early motivation, mental lapses in defense, and inability to hold a lead.

The win in Honduras reprised those same issues, yet before Tuesday, Davies had a valid point. Despite those glaring flaws, the first team has only been blown out once in the past two years, in Costa Rica in June. That game's lack of mental preparation won't be repeated in a World Cup, and thus while we haven't been able to finish off teams when we're ahead, we've never been totally out of a game either. At the very least, every game

was virtually guaranteed to be a contest, and given the team's extraordinary resilience, that left the door open to anything from a group stage exit to a finals run.

Now, however, the team may struggle to find its identity without one of its leading lights. Davies has been instrumental to the counter-attacking success that makes the U.S. so dangerous, and in the rest of the squad, only Landon Donovan possesses the same rare combination of blazing speed and clinical touch. Landon is thus the best candidate to lead the front line, but as the team adjusts to any change up front (and in midfield if Landon shifts forward), it may experience renewed growing pains in the year leading up to the group stages.

Such discussions are trivial compared to Davies' recovery, and yet they emphasize how irreplaceable he is to this team on multiple levels. As the saying goes, "A team is more than a collection of people", it is a collective unit, and in this case it is also a brotherhood. Parts can't be interchanged with any expectation that the whole will function in the same way, because that's not how human relationships function, on or off the soccer field. As such, the quandary up front is more than tactical, it is symbolic of the emotionally bewildering expectation that the team must move on without Davies. The unknown is a frightening prospect at the moment, both for Charlie Davies and the soccer nation that prays for him.