Can you guide the team to victory?! Can anyone?!
After the US national team’s loss to Costa Rica in New Jersey, head coach Bruce Arena is dejected. He takes a meditative stroll through his native Long Island. The only question on his mind is “How do I get this team into the 2018 World Cup?”
He finds himself on an abandoned street. Any memory of how he got there is foggy. He searches for help. No one is around. The only open storefront is a shop filled strange artifacts.
Bruce enters the shop. No one is inside. In the back corner sits a mummified monkey paw cast in a beam of golden light. The strange item draws Bruce to it. In a trance, he reaches out.
Meanwhile, you wander the streets thinking of the US national team’s future. An endless string of questions and frustrations overflow in your mind, like “Why did the first World Cup Qualifier in New York take place in New Jersey?”
You know the correct answers. Under your tutelage, the US has won four World Cups in a lengthy save of FIFA 15. If you only could get anyone to listen to your radical and progressive ideas, you could make this a reality.
In a twist of fate, you find yourself in the same strange shop as Bruce Arena. The monkey paw also speaks to you. You and Bruce reach for it at the same time.
With a touch, the world swirls away around you. With a deafening whoosh, you wake up on the floor, drenched in sweat, feeling nauseous. In the dingy bathroom of the shop, you wash your face. You look into the mirror. Your face is no longer yours. You are now Bruce Arena!
Congratulations! You are now the head coach of the US national team! Answer the questions below and try to take the US to glory in San Pedro Sula.
Follow Julien on Twitter @JulienLlerena.
Photo by Yatmandu