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In light of yesterday’s storm - women walloped by Brazil, emotional breakdowns in the media - today is all about getting back to basics, because I don’t want to think that THAT is American soccer. So instead of the increasingly hard to muster Barometer, how about a little reflection courtesy of the Diary Project?

Armin Aliefendic from Austin, Texas, checks in after the jump.

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My name is Armin, and yes, I love soccer. This is to be expected when one is born in Europe… but that’s not the half of it. In the next few sentences, I hope to express why I have such a passion for the sport, and I’m sure some of you out there will be able to relate very closely…

I was born in Bosnia in 1987, and moved to Zurich, Switzerland just before the war started. Times were rough for the family; we had no belongings; everything was left at home; it will always be home. I remember sitting on the balcony, bored, staring down through railing. It just so happened that our balcony overlooked a huge soccer complex were FC Zurich used to play, and I wondered whether I would be playing soccer if I was back in Bosnia.

After a year of living in Switzerland, my family moved again to Munich, Germany. What a blessing that was, going from having to root for FC Zurich to rooting for Die Roten aka FC Bayern Munich, which to this day is still my favorite team. After getting settled in and making some friends, I started to play in Munich for a club.

The next five years were really the years that solidified my love for the sport…I would come home from school every day, do my homework under the watchful eye of my mother, and then run to the training facilities 2-3 miles from our home. It was at this time that soccer became the drive I needed to get through school, homework, and everything else that a kid worries about. As I became older, this drive never went away, and it continued to be the foundation for much of my success, my worth as an individual.

Everything negative can always, somehow be turned around by focusing on soccer and visualizing the grass field in my head. (I hope I’m not starting to sound stupid by this time, so if you think I am, please stop reading and just look at the pictures)…

Anyways, in 1997 my family moved, again, to Dallas, Texas. It is quite safe to say that I was heavily disappointed with the lack of soccer upon my arrival. Where were the soccer fields? Where were the stadiums? I mean, what the hell did people do in their free time?

I soon learned the hierarchy of sports in Texas, which is definitely dominated by football, the kind longhorns play. However, one day my mother and I saw a few soccer fields, and I knew I was going to be all right. It turns out Dallas has a ton of soccer fields. You just have to know where to look.

Since 1997, my family and I have not moved. This is good news because for once in my life all I have to think/worry about is my family, my schoolwork, and soccer. No other things can cause worry or distress anymore.

After moving to the States in ‘97, I have continued to play soccer; it’s an everyday part of my life. Well, that is until I tore my ACL last summer, which put soccer on the backburner for 8 months. It’s important to note that I played a lot of FIFA 07 on Playstation during this time in order to make up for soccer withdrawal. Now, as a student in college, and especially in Texas where the Big XII has no men’s soccer teams, the options are limited. But I have found a great group of guys who share the same passion for soccer. We play in the Austin Men’s Soccer League and are in Division I and our team is called FC Unforgivable. (yes, it’s named after the infamous unforgivable videos). Although I had never played with these guys before, it was weird how once out on the field everybody is the same. We each have our own lives, our own worries, and our own feelings. But when it comes to playing soccer every Sunday, feelings are shared.

Last Sunday, we had a game at 8:00 AM. For those of us who are college students, it is safe to say that it’s hard getting up early on Sundays, especially before 8. However, as my friend Mike and I walked up to the fields, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The beauty of the environment was breathtaking. That’s when I realized how good of an idea it was to actually wake up early! Seeing the goal in conjunction with the fog and the sunrise immediately set me in a good mood, I turned to Mike and said, “Now this is why we play soccer.” As we’re putting on our cleats, I see a kid playing around with a ball, in the middle of the field. What a beautiful sight. I wonder if he’s going to keep on playing for the rest of his life. I wonder if I was ever like him. I wonder… even though I know the answer….

We were all like him at one point in our life. Just us and the soccer ball. Nobody to steal it from you, nobody to ruin the moment for you. I hope more moments happen like this, because looking at these pictures gives me hope. Hope for the success of soccer in the United States. Hope for the success of soccer within ourselves… I hope you guys enjoy all the pictures, and I hope at least some of you could relate to my views…

Just remember to keep the drive going. It’s hard out there sometimes. Every soccer player in the United States knows that. So keep pushing. DRIVE! because that is American soccer.

–photos and story courtesy of Armin Aliefendic–