Dempsey and Bradley are really the best (Tim Howard not withstanding). You raise a good point about age, but you've got kind of a new age with bradley and altidore and a bunch of other developing players that hopefully stand poised to take over. Were definitely not a top club yet, but we've had some good performances the past few years, and football is only gaining in popularity here and you have to think that eventually we can put together 11 men out of 300 million that can be competitive. The biggest problem that is always going to face football in the states is popularity. The best athletes we have are never going to choose football. Hell, the best athlete's these days aren't even choosing "america's national pastime" (baseball). At best, the top footballers are maybe the 3rd or 4th tier of athletes we have. This is never going to be able to compete with the rest of the world, where football serves as the focus point for youth athletics and the public sports consciousness.
Performing well at one or two tourneys and playing a few good practise matches doesn't necessarily mean anything, though. Remember Euro 2004?
