Coach:
First off, Bob Bradley’s future. Bob Bradley is very much a guy who has the support of his players, but unfortunately his shortcomings were evident in the Ghana match. You must at least credit him for at least recognizing them immediately and righting the wrong, we still lost with what you can argue is our top team out there in extra time.
I don’t think it’s good for any national team to have the same coach for more than 4 years, it just never seems to work out well, even if that coach did exceptional. Therefore, I think it is the right decision for BB to move on and take on another challenge as he has more than proven himself as an excellent coach. The challenge for him though is that American coaches don’t get international chances, for an American it seems the top post is the national team job.
While the World Cup is in the past, we have a good opportunity to try some new things out very quickly with a friendly against probable world-champions Brazil in August. We also have the Gold Cup coming up next summer – remember this is the Gold Cup that is important for the winner qualifies for the Confed Cup.
Just think how crucial the Confed Cup last June was to the development of our current squad. BB surely made the right decision in putting in a first-team for the less sexy Gold Cup and playing a youth side in the Copa America.
Keeper:
Yahoo is reporting that Tim Howard is considering international retirement, which quite simply would be a nightmare for US fans. Howard is 31 years old, which might sound old, but really isn’t for a goalkeeper. Look at how good Friedel and Van der Sar look and they’re pushing 40. Would be a huge blow for Tim to retire right now as we need his steady performance for Brazil 2014, or at the very least next year’s Gold Cup.
While I don’t like Arsenal, I would love to see him move there if they come calling. He’s very loyal to Moyes though so I don’t see it happening.
Defense:
For the backline, we have probably seen the last of them at the World Cup. Boca should still have a few more years left, but it’s time for the captain’s armband to finally be handed to Landon. It remains to be seen how Gooch can bounce back from this injury, but hopefully he will come back stronger than ever. Jay DeMerit’s performance at this World Cup should allow him to play one more year abroad as I just don’t understand how he cannot find a better team than Watford.
Cherundolo will be too old next World Cup and looks to have possibly one or two more good years left with Hannover 96, if he resigns there. Bornstein has been rumored to be heading to Mexico, which would be a good fit for him as it plays to his strengths.
We have Spector in the wings, but I can’t really see where the next future of defenders is going to come from. Our backups certainly aren’t young and while someone like Goodson is a good player, I don’t see him being able to replace Boca.
Midfield:
Landon has to move abroad and he must know this deep down. His value will never be higher and if he doesn’t move this summer, the chance will not come again. While his value to MLS will always be higher than his value to a European club, he must go. With Manchester City and Everton interested, Landon should command the value that MLS will want of around $10 million. I would like to see him go back to the Toffees and finally be given the armband for the Nats.
Michael Bradley had a strong World Cup and his stock should be rising. I think he’s somewhat settled at Gladbach after a tumultuous first year and I’d like to see him put in another year there, or if he moves to stay in Germany. I think Germany suits him well, even if an EPL club are interested.
Dempsey had a pretty average World Cup by his standards, nothing exceptional. I would expect him to stay put at Fulham, though change could be in the air if Hodgson leaves and a new coach decides to shake things up. Fulham suits him well though.
Mo Edu is a player who when healthy should be a starter at Rangers next year and this should be good for his growth. I don’t like the Scottish league since it’s a joke, but it’s not the worst place for him right now. In two years he should be primed for a jump down the isle to the EPL. He should be paired with MB from now on in the midfield.
Rico Clark seems settled with Frankfurt after signing with them last spring and I’d like to see him crack the lineup there.
Paco Torres seems happy at Pachuca and should stay there. He’s a player that is still young, but will be invaluable moving forward if he can pickup a little more defensive grit.
Benny Feilhaber is an interesting case. He had a very strong World Cup as a sub, but seems certain to move from AGF Aarhus since they got relegated and he’s a major wage earner. I’d like to see him given another shot with either a bigger Danish club or smaller English club. He seems set for the role of “super sub” moving forward.
Stuart Holden is a player that I can’t understand why he didn’t play more in the tournament, but considering he and Benny play the same position, and Benny was strong, it’s understandable. I see Holden as a player who is ready to take off and I think he will be a key player in 2014. Bolton is a good spot for him now as he can grow there, though they don’t always play super sexy football.
Forwards:
Jozy Altidore showed his talents at this World Cup and I think he’s only going to get better. I’d love to see Villareal give him a shot to stick with the team this season and for him to shine. If he’s going to move, I’d like him to find a better situation than a team like Hull, somewhere like Everton could make sense.
I liked Gomez as a super sub this tournament and he’s signed with Pachuca, will be interesting to see if he can continue his form there.
Buddle is a player that if he’s going to move, now is the time. I don’t see it happening and don’t see him featuring too much for the US squad in the future.
I’d love to see what would happen with Robbie Findley under a new coach, I don’t see him having too much of a future with this team.
It would be great to see CD9 back on the field for that friendly against Brazil in August. We have certainly missed him and he should be the partner with Jozy moving forward in the Gold Cup.
X-factor:
Will Jermaine Jones be healthy for the Gold Cup? I’d be great to see him so I hope so. That would definitely solve the problem in the middle for us.
Can we win the Gold Cup? Absolutely. We need to bounce back from this World Cup and re-focus in another 6 months for that tournament as winning it will be crucial in keeping the momentum going.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Top 5 Things You Shouldn't Hear as a US Supporter
Top 5 Dumbest Things I’ve heard come out of a USMNT supporter’s mouth while I’ve been here:
“Claudio Reyna actually wasn’t that good, he was pretty over-rated”
This is just an outrageous statement. Right now Reyna is simply the best US player ever to play the game. When Landon retires, he will probably have outdone Reyna, but right now it doesn’t get any better than Reyna. His performances in the 2002 World Cup were an absolute masterclass.
Was he too old in World Cup 2006? Yes, probably. His mistake against Ghana cost us dearly, but to use that to tarnish his legacy for the US is downright silly.
“We don’t need Gooch”
While we survived against Algeria without Gooch and he didn’t exactly perform well against England or Slovenia, he is the only shut-down defender we have. He wasn’t healthy during this tournament and thus the reason that he didn’t perform well, but to say we don’t need him is just wrong.
We could have desperately used him if he was healthy enough to play against Ghana and in-form. The Gooch of the 2009 Confed Cup was a world-class defender, and we lacked that quality in the World Cup.
“We should have started that Edgar Castillo kid today”
Edgar Castillo has been way over-hyped. The biggest quality he has is that he ditched Mexico to come to the US and then we capped him to make sure he couldn’t flip-flop again. It’s little more than us winning a small battle against Mexico for decent players.
Make no mistake about it, Castillo is little more than a role player at best. The only reason he’s even mentioned is that he plays the weakest position in the American system, left back. But I haven’t seen anything from Castillo that makes me think he has the quality to play in our side, never mind star.
“We should have picked Brian McBride”
Brian McBride is an American legend and will go down as one of our all time greats. But he’s retired from international duty and quite simply his time has come and gone. He’s not exactly lit up the MLS nor even the Olympics two years ago when he returned to the fold.
He’s a classy player and a role model for the younger generation, but I think it would be wrong to think that he could have made an impact at this World Cup, even though our forward pool, outside of Jozy, was pretty anaemic.
“It’s just Ghana” and “We are North America”
Heard from the fan I was unfortunately sitting next to for the USA-Ghana match. Way to sound like a really intelligent American, pal.
The context of these two quotes was this: “It’s just Ghana” was made in reference to the fact that we were losing 1-0 and 2-1 to Ghana and that we should obviously be beating them since we are so superior. “We are North America” came about after the South Africans starting chanting “We are Africa”. Being a stereotypical American, this was too much for him to comprehend and just couldn’t understand why a South African would be rooting for a Ghanaian team.
First off. Anyone want to tell me who has knocked out the USMNT in the past two World Cups? Right, that would be Ghana. Don’t for a second think that we can take for granted against Ghana or any other team of that stature. That type of arrogance is exactly why everybody loved seeing the English dumped out of the World Cup in ignominy, because their supporters seem to think it is their God-given right to lift the trophy.
Chanting “We are North America” just makes you sound ignorant and oblivious of what this World Cup in South Africa is all about. Disgraceful.
Bonus Round. Here’s a quote that I’m sure was talked about all over ESPN during the World Cup:
“Soccer is finally going to crack the US market since USA-Ghana was the highest watched soccer match ever”.
Quite frankly, I could care less whether the US supports the national team or not or whether the soccer finally breaks through in this country. It is the world’s greatest tournament and I don’t need to tell anyone why they should watch it – if they haven’t already, shame on them.
Unless you are Drew Carey, there are very few people who can quickly learn all that you need to know to be a legitimate fan of our sport. I’m not trying to be exclusive, but I like things the way they are, soccer is followed by those who love the beautiful game and don’t need to quantify that love to anybody. Simply we watch soccer because that is life.
I don’t need so-called ESPN experts that know nothing about soccer telling me about my sport, I don’t need random Americans coming to the World Cup that don’t know Michael Bradley from Bob Bradley and I don’t need to see on Facebook things similar to: “I’m glad the US crashed out since now I don’t have to pretend like I like soccer”.
Give me my Ives, Soccernet and Grant Wahl and I’m all set. Give me my soccer brothers, Sam’s Army and FSC and I’m happy.
Though, while I’m on the topic, if you had been here to witness the jubilant scenes in Pretoria after our victory against Algeria, you’d know that soccer has made it in America. Just don’t think that I’m losing any sleep over whether it has or not.
“Claudio Reyna actually wasn’t that good, he was pretty over-rated”
This is just an outrageous statement. Right now Reyna is simply the best US player ever to play the game. When Landon retires, he will probably have outdone Reyna, but right now it doesn’t get any better than Reyna. His performances in the 2002 World Cup were an absolute masterclass.
Was he too old in World Cup 2006? Yes, probably. His mistake against Ghana cost us dearly, but to use that to tarnish his legacy for the US is downright silly.
“We don’t need Gooch”
While we survived against Algeria without Gooch and he didn’t exactly perform well against England or Slovenia, he is the only shut-down defender we have. He wasn’t healthy during this tournament and thus the reason that he didn’t perform well, but to say we don’t need him is just wrong.
We could have desperately used him if he was healthy enough to play against Ghana and in-form. The Gooch of the 2009 Confed Cup was a world-class defender, and we lacked that quality in the World Cup.
“We should have started that Edgar Castillo kid today”
Edgar Castillo has been way over-hyped. The biggest quality he has is that he ditched Mexico to come to the US and then we capped him to make sure he couldn’t flip-flop again. It’s little more than us winning a small battle against Mexico for decent players.
Make no mistake about it, Castillo is little more than a role player at best. The only reason he’s even mentioned is that he plays the weakest position in the American system, left back. But I haven’t seen anything from Castillo that makes me think he has the quality to play in our side, never mind star.
“We should have picked Brian McBride”
Brian McBride is an American legend and will go down as one of our all time greats. But he’s retired from international duty and quite simply his time has come and gone. He’s not exactly lit up the MLS nor even the Olympics two years ago when he returned to the fold.
He’s a classy player and a role model for the younger generation, but I think it would be wrong to think that he could have made an impact at this World Cup, even though our forward pool, outside of Jozy, was pretty anaemic.
“It’s just Ghana” and “We are North America”
Heard from the fan I was unfortunately sitting next to for the USA-Ghana match. Way to sound like a really intelligent American, pal.
The context of these two quotes was this: “It’s just Ghana” was made in reference to the fact that we were losing 1-0 and 2-1 to Ghana and that we should obviously be beating them since we are so superior. “We are North America” came about after the South Africans starting chanting “We are Africa”. Being a stereotypical American, this was too much for him to comprehend and just couldn’t understand why a South African would be rooting for a Ghanaian team.
First off. Anyone want to tell me who has knocked out the USMNT in the past two World Cups? Right, that would be Ghana. Don’t for a second think that we can take for granted against Ghana or any other team of that stature. That type of arrogance is exactly why everybody loved seeing the English dumped out of the World Cup in ignominy, because their supporters seem to think it is their God-given right to lift the trophy.
Chanting “We are North America” just makes you sound ignorant and oblivious of what this World Cup in South Africa is all about. Disgraceful.
Bonus Round. Here’s a quote that I’m sure was talked about all over ESPN during the World Cup:
“Soccer is finally going to crack the US market since USA-Ghana was the highest watched soccer match ever”.
Quite frankly, I could care less whether the US supports the national team or not or whether the soccer finally breaks through in this country. It is the world’s greatest tournament and I don’t need to tell anyone why they should watch it – if they haven’t already, shame on them.
Unless you are Drew Carey, there are very few people who can quickly learn all that you need to know to be a legitimate fan of our sport. I’m not trying to be exclusive, but I like things the way they are, soccer is followed by those who love the beautiful game and don’t need to quantify that love to anybody. Simply we watch soccer because that is life.
I don’t need so-called ESPN experts that know nothing about soccer telling me about my sport, I don’t need random Americans coming to the World Cup that don’t know Michael Bradley from Bob Bradley and I don’t need to see on Facebook things similar to: “I’m glad the US crashed out since now I don’t have to pretend like I like soccer”.
Give me my Ives, Soccernet and Grant Wahl and I’m all set. Give me my soccer brothers, Sam’s Army and FSC and I’m happy.
Though, while I’m on the topic, if you had been here to witness the jubilant scenes in Pretoria after our victory against Algeria, you’d know that soccer has made it in America. Just don’t think that I’m losing any sleep over whether it has or not.
USA-Ghana: Live from Rustenburg
Back to where it all started just over a year ago, Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Here it was on that fateful day that the USA turned around a 6 goal difference between themselves and Italy and progressed to the second round of the Confederations Cup with a 3-0 victory against another African team, Egypt.
The stage was certainly set for the US to go deep in this tournament and seemed to have all the momentum going for them, but they were about to run up against an emerging African powerhouse, Ghana. One must only look back four years ago to how dangerous this game would be as this was the same nation that knocked us out of the 2006 World Cup.
Unfortunately, after a 2-1 extra-time victory, Ghana now have the privilege of saying they have knocked the US out of the past two World Cups. Yet, unlike the 2006 version of this matchup, the United States exits this tournament knowing that they probably deserved better.
There was no glaring refereeing mistake like the two matches that were to follow the US loss, which those teams can somewhat unjustifiably point to as the reason for their exit, but the loss is just as disappointing.
As I settled into my seat at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, I quickly saw that front row seats behind the goal were certainly not what they were cracked up to be. I had sat in the upper level on all three previous visits to Rustenburg, but was now sitting in the lower level where the advertising boards blocked out the touchline and lower part of the goal. I was behind the net where all of the goals were scored, so this meant on Ghana’s first goal the only way we knew it was a goal was the crowd reaction.
It’s funny how you can drive to what seems like the middle of nowhere, which is essentially where Rustenburg is as it is a sleepy mining town, and then come upon a stadium and then see so many familiar faces. It’s a sort of brethren that was formed this World Cup between the supporters and it was a privilege to sit with Sam’s Army during this tournament.
There were three spots in the lineup which were still in question prior to the match and upon seeing Clark, Findley and Bornstein warming up, you knew they were to start.
You’ve seen the match, so I’m not going to go too much into detail. Unfortunately we had to chase all four of the matches due to early goals being conceded (obviously we didn’t concede to Algeria, but since we needed a win we had to chase that game as well) and this has meant difficult choices in the lineup.
Bob Bradley quickly realized he had made the wrong decision starting Findley and Clark and removed them by halftime and I hate to be critical, but the crowd in Rustenburg was pretty unanimous in those two not starting. I can see Clark, but Robbie Findley has done nothing for us this tournament. I’m not high on any of the forwards, and I’d prefer to see Gomez come off the bench, but I just don’t see why Findley continued to start for us. CD9 was surely missed this tournament, we never found his replacement.
We certainly had our chances though, as soon as Edu and Feilhaber (who had quite the tournament off the bench I must say) entered, the US was in complete control of the match. After Landon’s PK goal, it seemed like the next goal was only a matter of time. Alas, this was not the case.
What have we learned this World Cup? Right now we don’t know who the best partner with Michael Bradley in the midfield is. When we play teams, such as Spain and England, and are going to count on the counter-attack for goals, I think Rico Clark is an acceptable decision. He’s proven that he can be counted on to clog up the middle.
For games that we should win or are at least up against a team that is of equal talent, Ricardo Clark just does not offer enough attacking presence to justify his decision in the team. One can even argue after this tournament that Mo Edu has done enough to start either way, since he offers a nice compliment of attacking and defensive play.
In this system, I don’t see Paco Torres being anything other than a role player as his defensive qualities are just not strong enough. If we were to move to another system, he could fit, but for now he will remain a role player. Though, his attacking presence may be useful in playing teams we should beat where he is not required to play a defensive role and can roam.
It’s a disappointing exit – made more difficult to take especially since we had as clear a road through to the semifinals as one could have wished for. Yet, crashing out in the Round of 16 is nothing to be ashamed about. I had a simply stunning time supporting this team throughout the tournament and I still feel big things are to come from us in the future.
When the final whistle blew, it was one of those moments that you know every four years will come, but it doesn't make it any easier. The only positive is that we lost to Ghana, a team that has done all of Africa proud.
It was hard to watch the US players after the final whistle as they were all devastated. Many of them sat stunned in the dugout well after Ghana had left the field and the supporters had filed out of their seats. Carlos Bocanegra was the last one to leave the field and looked inconsolable, finally leaving the field after Bornstein urged him to.
For Boca, he knew this was the last time he would ever grace the World Cup and it was tough to leave, knowing that this team was capable of so much more.
The stage was certainly set for the US to go deep in this tournament and seemed to have all the momentum going for them, but they were about to run up against an emerging African powerhouse, Ghana. One must only look back four years ago to how dangerous this game would be as this was the same nation that knocked us out of the 2006 World Cup.
Unfortunately, after a 2-1 extra-time victory, Ghana now have the privilege of saying they have knocked the US out of the past two World Cups. Yet, unlike the 2006 version of this matchup, the United States exits this tournament knowing that they probably deserved better.
There was no glaring refereeing mistake like the two matches that were to follow the US loss, which those teams can somewhat unjustifiably point to as the reason for their exit, but the loss is just as disappointing.
As I settled into my seat at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, I quickly saw that front row seats behind the goal were certainly not what they were cracked up to be. I had sat in the upper level on all three previous visits to Rustenburg, but was now sitting in the lower level where the advertising boards blocked out the touchline and lower part of the goal. I was behind the net where all of the goals were scored, so this meant on Ghana’s first goal the only way we knew it was a goal was the crowd reaction.
It’s funny how you can drive to what seems like the middle of nowhere, which is essentially where Rustenburg is as it is a sleepy mining town, and then come upon a stadium and then see so many familiar faces. It’s a sort of brethren that was formed this World Cup between the supporters and it was a privilege to sit with Sam’s Army during this tournament.
There were three spots in the lineup which were still in question prior to the match and upon seeing Clark, Findley and Bornstein warming up, you knew they were to start.
You’ve seen the match, so I’m not going to go too much into detail. Unfortunately we had to chase all four of the matches due to early goals being conceded (obviously we didn’t concede to Algeria, but since we needed a win we had to chase that game as well) and this has meant difficult choices in the lineup.
Bob Bradley quickly realized he had made the wrong decision starting Findley and Clark and removed them by halftime and I hate to be critical, but the crowd in Rustenburg was pretty unanimous in those two not starting. I can see Clark, but Robbie Findley has done nothing for us this tournament. I’m not high on any of the forwards, and I’d prefer to see Gomez come off the bench, but I just don’t see why Findley continued to start for us. CD9 was surely missed this tournament, we never found his replacement.
We certainly had our chances though, as soon as Edu and Feilhaber (who had quite the tournament off the bench I must say) entered, the US was in complete control of the match. After Landon’s PK goal, it seemed like the next goal was only a matter of time. Alas, this was not the case.
What have we learned this World Cup? Right now we don’t know who the best partner with Michael Bradley in the midfield is. When we play teams, such as Spain and England, and are going to count on the counter-attack for goals, I think Rico Clark is an acceptable decision. He’s proven that he can be counted on to clog up the middle.
For games that we should win or are at least up against a team that is of equal talent, Ricardo Clark just does not offer enough attacking presence to justify his decision in the team. One can even argue after this tournament that Mo Edu has done enough to start either way, since he offers a nice compliment of attacking and defensive play.
In this system, I don’t see Paco Torres being anything other than a role player as his defensive qualities are just not strong enough. If we were to move to another system, he could fit, but for now he will remain a role player. Though, his attacking presence may be useful in playing teams we should beat where he is not required to play a defensive role and can roam.
It’s a disappointing exit – made more difficult to take especially since we had as clear a road through to the semifinals as one could have wished for. Yet, crashing out in the Round of 16 is nothing to be ashamed about. I had a simply stunning time supporting this team throughout the tournament and I still feel big things are to come from us in the future.
When the final whistle blew, it was one of those moments that you know every four years will come, but it doesn't make it any easier. The only positive is that we lost to Ghana, a team that has done all of Africa proud.
It was hard to watch the US players after the final whistle as they were all devastated. Many of them sat stunned in the dugout well after Ghana had left the field and the supporters had filed out of their seats. Carlos Bocanegra was the last one to leave the field and looked inconsolable, finally leaving the field after Bornstein urged him to.
For Boca, he knew this was the last time he would ever grace the World Cup and it was tough to leave, knowing that this team was capable of so much more.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Group Stage Review
Most Impressive Team
Argentina
Most Surprising Team
Japan
Most Impressive Player
Too easy to say Messi. I'll go with Diego Forlan.
Most Impressive Young Player
Alexis Sanchez, Chile
Most Likely to Win the Golden Boot
Luis Fabiano, Brazil
Best Goal
Honda's Free Kick for Japan v. Denmark
Best Fans
Chile or Argentina
Best Match
Italy-Slovakia or USA-Slovenia
Biggest Upset
Switzerland-Spain
Shouldn't be that big of a surprise
Italy crashing out
Most Disappointing Team
France. Enough Said.
Most Disappointing Match
Take your pick, either the bore 0-0 draw between Portugal and Ivory Coast or Portugal and Brazil.
Biggest Disappointment
Africa's failure to produce this tournament outside of Ghana
Argentina
Most Surprising Team
Japan
Most Impressive Player
Too easy to say Messi. I'll go with Diego Forlan.
Most Impressive Young Player
Alexis Sanchez, Chile
Most Likely to Win the Golden Boot
Luis Fabiano, Brazil
Best Goal
Honda's Free Kick for Japan v. Denmark
Best Fans
Chile or Argentina
Best Match
Italy-Slovakia or USA-Slovenia
Biggest Upset
Switzerland-Spain
Shouldn't be that big of a surprise
Italy crashing out
Most Disappointing Team
France. Enough Said.
Most Disappointing Match
Take your pick, either the bore 0-0 draw between Portugal and Ivory Coast or Portugal and Brazil.
Biggest Disappointment
Africa's failure to produce this tournament outside of Ghana
Five Young Players
Five Young Players Taking this World Cup by Storm - Keep an eye out for them
Eljero Elia, Holland, Hamburg
Alexis Sanchez, Chile, Udinese
Jozy Altidore, USA, Villareal
Mesut Ozil ,Germany, Werder Bremen
Angel Di Maria, Argentina, Benfica
Eljero Elia, Holland, Hamburg
Alexis Sanchez, Chile, Udinese
Jozy Altidore, USA, Villareal
Mesut Ozil ,Germany, Werder Bremen
Angel Di Maria, Argentina, Benfica
Croatian Soccer Report Blog Post
Another featured blog post from CroatianSoccerReport.com
http://www.croatiansoccerreport.com/2010/06/uvanovic-checks-in-from-sa.html
Check it out!
http://www.croatiansoccerreport.com/2010/06/uvanovic-checks-in-from-sa.html
Check it out!
Moving Forward: Group Stage Performance Chart
Since I'm way behind on my daily updates, I'm going to group each team into a category which reflects their group stage performance.
Primed to Lift the Trophy
Brazil
Argentina
Talented Upstarts
Uruguay
Chile
Surprise Packages
Slovakia
Japan
Solid and Steady
Mexico
South Korea
Ghana
Portugal
Winning, but yet to really shine
Holland
Spain
False Contenders
England
Germany
Just plain average
Paraguay
Nothing Special
Ivory Coast
Going Home with their Heads Held High
New Zealand
South Africa
Greece
Slovenia
Australia
Going Home without a Goal, but weren't awful
Algeria
Honduras
Hit or Miss
Serbia
Switzerland
North Korea
Disappointing
Nigeria
Cameroon
Denmark
Shocking
Italy
At a Loss for Words
France
Primed to Lift the Trophy
Brazil
Argentina
Talented Upstarts
Uruguay
Chile
Surprise Packages
Slovakia
Japan
Solid and Steady
Mexico
South Korea
Ghana
Portugal
Winning, but yet to really shine
Holland
Spain
False Contenders
England
Germany
Just plain average
Paraguay
Nothing Special
Ivory Coast
Going Home with their Heads Held High
New Zealand
South Africa
Greece
Slovenia
Australia
Going Home without a Goal, but weren't awful
Algeria
Honduras
Hit or Miss
Serbia
Switzerland
North Korea
Disappointing
Nigeria
Cameroon
Denmark
Shocking
Italy
At a Loss for Words
France
Round of 16 Predictions
Uruguay – South Korea
Korea are the type of team that give teams trouble because of their athleticism and ability to run all day, but can quickly be exposed by teams that have superior skill as seen by their match against Argentina.
Uruguay was very impressive in the group stage and should have too much firepower for the Koreans, who advanced out of one of the weaker groups. Look for Forlan and Suarez to give Korea nightmares.
Uruguay 2 – 0
USA – Ghana
Ghana is the type of team that the USA traditionally struggle against since they are similar in their strengths – power, speed and athleticism. If Michael Essien was healthy in this match, he would swing the pendulum towards the Ghanaians, but right now Ghana look relatively uninspiring going forwards.
Ghana is goal shy right now with both of their goals coming from penalty kicks and their best bet may be to keep the game scoreless. USA seems to have a flair for the dramatic and I’m going to go with them to continue that streak.
USA 1 – 0 (ot)
England – Germany
Hardly the match that the English would have hoped for as they face their age-old rivals, yet both teams failed to find their top form during the group stage. This is a match that could prove to be entirely unpredictable as both team have been hit and miss so far in the tournament.
I like the English to finally find their feet and Wayne Rooney to break his goal scoring drought. The English have a soft center at the back, which could be exposed by the Germans, but I just don’t see Klose doing the trick. Look for this to be exposed by teams later down the road though.
England 2 – 1
Argentina – Mexico
A rematch of their Round of 16 encounter from four years ago, the Mexicans will be eager for revenge, but run up against an in-form Argentina. Greece may provide a blueprint for how to stifle the Argentines, but I don’t think Mexico has the players or desire to play that type of soccer.
Argentina still has some things to sort out at the back and I am not sure whether they will be able to grind out the 1-0 victory they will need to find at some point during this tournament. However, you must say that the Argentines have been playing some very nice free flowing soccer so far. When you have Messi in your side, anything is possible.
I say history repeats itself, down to the T.
Argentina 2 – 1 (ot)
Holland – Slovakia
The impressive Slovaks will be ecstatic to have reached this stage in the competition, especially after a disappointing first two games. Holland has yet to fully impress, even though they have three victories, but maybe this is a good sign for them. Traditionally they hit their stride during the group stage and then falter at the end.
Marek Hamsek has been an inspiration for Slovakia and they have some good role players in the form of Vittek, Stoch and Weiss. Skrtel has kept them solid at the back, but I just don’t see them breaking down the Dutch defense. With Robben returning, I expect this to be a one-sided affair as I think Slovakia’s win was down to poor Italian defending.
Yet, this could be exactly the type of trap game that gets the Dutch, as Russia was pretty unknown as an international commodity in Euro2008. Still, I like the Dutch to cruise home.
Holland 3-0
Brazil – Chile
What a match this will be. Chile will struggle to replace their suspended players, but Alexis Sanchez has had a breakout tournament at this level and reminds me of a young Ronaldo on the wings. Chile is exactly the type of team that could give Brazil struggles because of their all-out attacking approach, yet they lack a true center forward with Humberto Suazo hurt. They have really impressed me so far this tournament, from their flashy play to their excellent fans.
Brazil has been in cruise control in the group stages, so it will be interesting to see if they can turn it on. I expect this game to be similar to when these two sides met in World Cup 1998, a very open affair. Look for Fabiano to grab a brace and Maicon to grab another.
Brazil 3-1
Japan – Paraguay
Japan have been arguably the biggest surprise team in the Round of 16 as most, including myself, would have predicted that they finished bottom of their group. Their free kick prowess was certainly on display against Denmark and it is clear that their trigger man will be Honda.
I’m not very enthusiastic about the way that Paraguay played in the group stage and don’t see them having the ability to make a deep run in this tournament as the other 4 South American sides. I’m going to go with the upset here, with the Japanese grabbing an early goal and then holding on.
Japan 1-0
Portugal – Spain
The battle of the Iberian Peninsula is one that will not excite the Spanish, but they will surely be happy to avoid the Brazilians at this stage. I just don’t get the feeling that the Spanish side has completely gelled at this stage and Portugal might just be the side to dump them out.
We haven’t really seen that much from Portugal either however. They played a stale 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast in a match that neither dared to lose, trounced North Korea 7-0, and then played to another stale 0-0 draw with Brazil where again both were happy with the draw. It’s not the greatest sample size to judge the Portuguese from, but for some reason I like them here to do the job and knock out the Spanish. CR9 has yet to really shine this tournament and look for him to score the winner.....in penalty kicks!
Portugal 2 -1 (pk)
Korea are the type of team that give teams trouble because of their athleticism and ability to run all day, but can quickly be exposed by teams that have superior skill as seen by their match against Argentina.
Uruguay was very impressive in the group stage and should have too much firepower for the Koreans, who advanced out of one of the weaker groups. Look for Forlan and Suarez to give Korea nightmares.
Uruguay 2 – 0
USA – Ghana
Ghana is the type of team that the USA traditionally struggle against since they are similar in their strengths – power, speed and athleticism. If Michael Essien was healthy in this match, he would swing the pendulum towards the Ghanaians, but right now Ghana look relatively uninspiring going forwards.
Ghana is goal shy right now with both of their goals coming from penalty kicks and their best bet may be to keep the game scoreless. USA seems to have a flair for the dramatic and I’m going to go with them to continue that streak.
USA 1 – 0 (ot)
England – Germany
Hardly the match that the English would have hoped for as they face their age-old rivals, yet both teams failed to find their top form during the group stage. This is a match that could prove to be entirely unpredictable as both team have been hit and miss so far in the tournament.
I like the English to finally find their feet and Wayne Rooney to break his goal scoring drought. The English have a soft center at the back, which could be exposed by the Germans, but I just don’t see Klose doing the trick. Look for this to be exposed by teams later down the road though.
England 2 – 1
Argentina – Mexico
A rematch of their Round of 16 encounter from four years ago, the Mexicans will be eager for revenge, but run up against an in-form Argentina. Greece may provide a blueprint for how to stifle the Argentines, but I don’t think Mexico has the players or desire to play that type of soccer.
Argentina still has some things to sort out at the back and I am not sure whether they will be able to grind out the 1-0 victory they will need to find at some point during this tournament. However, you must say that the Argentines have been playing some very nice free flowing soccer so far. When you have Messi in your side, anything is possible.
I say history repeats itself, down to the T.
Argentina 2 – 1 (ot)
Holland – Slovakia
The impressive Slovaks will be ecstatic to have reached this stage in the competition, especially after a disappointing first two games. Holland has yet to fully impress, even though they have three victories, but maybe this is a good sign for them. Traditionally they hit their stride during the group stage and then falter at the end.
Marek Hamsek has been an inspiration for Slovakia and they have some good role players in the form of Vittek, Stoch and Weiss. Skrtel has kept them solid at the back, but I just don’t see them breaking down the Dutch defense. With Robben returning, I expect this to be a one-sided affair as I think Slovakia’s win was down to poor Italian defending.
Yet, this could be exactly the type of trap game that gets the Dutch, as Russia was pretty unknown as an international commodity in Euro2008. Still, I like the Dutch to cruise home.
Holland 3-0
Brazil – Chile
What a match this will be. Chile will struggle to replace their suspended players, but Alexis Sanchez has had a breakout tournament at this level and reminds me of a young Ronaldo on the wings. Chile is exactly the type of team that could give Brazil struggles because of their all-out attacking approach, yet they lack a true center forward with Humberto Suazo hurt. They have really impressed me so far this tournament, from their flashy play to their excellent fans.
Brazil has been in cruise control in the group stages, so it will be interesting to see if they can turn it on. I expect this game to be similar to when these two sides met in World Cup 1998, a very open affair. Look for Fabiano to grab a brace and Maicon to grab another.
Brazil 3-1
Japan – Paraguay
Japan have been arguably the biggest surprise team in the Round of 16 as most, including myself, would have predicted that they finished bottom of their group. Their free kick prowess was certainly on display against Denmark and it is clear that their trigger man will be Honda.
I’m not very enthusiastic about the way that Paraguay played in the group stage and don’t see them having the ability to make a deep run in this tournament as the other 4 South American sides. I’m going to go with the upset here, with the Japanese grabbing an early goal and then holding on.
Japan 1-0
Portugal – Spain
The battle of the Iberian Peninsula is one that will not excite the Spanish, but they will surely be happy to avoid the Brazilians at this stage. I just don’t get the feeling that the Spanish side has completely gelled at this stage and Portugal might just be the side to dump them out.
We haven’t really seen that much from Portugal either however. They played a stale 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast in a match that neither dared to lose, trounced North Korea 7-0, and then played to another stale 0-0 draw with Brazil where again both were happy with the draw. It’s not the greatest sample size to judge the Portuguese from, but for some reason I like them here to do the job and knock out the Spanish. CR9 has yet to really shine this tournament and look for him to score the winner.....in penalty kicks!
Portugal 2 -1 (pk)
Live from Loftus Versfeld: USA - Algeria
Nice to finally meet you again World Cup win. You’ve been so elusive and we haven’t seen each other in so long, way too long, 8 years to be exact.
Landon Donovan may never score as sweet a goal as he did in this match and many of the American fans, including myself, may never witness a sweeter goal than we did in the 91st minute of this crucial Group C fixture.
Heading to Loftus Versfeld, a venue where I vividly remember the US getting trounced 3-1 and 3-0 by Italy and Brazil respectively during the Confederations Cup, gave me an eerie feeling that today may not be our day. Never mind that only a week ago I was in Loftus and had seen my beloved Bafana Bafana get thrashed by Uruguay 3-0.
Upon waking up that day in Pretoria, I felt as if I was actually the one playing as I had the pre-match jitters as I knew this would be a crucial day in the history of US soccer. Those jitters certainly didn’t ease upon walking into the stadium and seeing that Jonathan Bornstein was starting at left back.
As will be the pre-match protocol until we are dumped from the tournament, the red, white and blue mohawk was out in full swing. For fans that bought tickets through the US Federation, it seemed as though our seating plan was exactly the same for this match as for the USA-Slovenia match as I was sitting next to the same comrades that had sweated those frantic 90 minutes out with me.
Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws were in great voice prior to the match as were our Algerian counterparts and the scene was set for what we all knew would be a crunch encounter.
After Algeria rocked Tim Howard’s bar in the first 5 minutes, they lacked any real desire to move forward, which was surprising since they needed a victory just as much as us. Being at the other end of the pitch, I had no way of knowing whether Clint Dempsey’s goal that was ruled out for offside was the proper call, but just chalked it up as a missed opportunity.
A few moments later the dreaded double text came into my phone – not only should Dempsey’s goal have stood, but Jermaine Defoe had put England up against Slovenia, meaning that it was win or bust for us.
With this knowledge in our pocket, the American fans were on pins and needles for the second half knowing we needed a victory, but seeing our team continuously miss good chances to break the deadlock. This included Jozy Altidore blasting over the bar, Dempsey hitting the post and missing the empty net on the follow-up and a strong Edson Buddle header valiantly saved by the Algerian keeper.
The clock seemed to be sprinting to 90 minutes as I frantically searched for a text message that read “Slovenia scored, it’s 1-1!”. Thankfully, that text message never came.
It took 90 back-breaking minutes, but it was well worth the wait when the goal finally arrived. In the 91st minute, Landon Donovan broke the stalemate, cleaning up a Dempsey rebound and then wheeling around to celebrate the most dramatic winner he’d ever scored.
It was pure ecstasy, utter jubilation and absolute, unbridled joy in the stands at Loftus. Words cannot do the feeling justice.
The next hour is a haze, all I know is the final whistle blew somewhere in there, though I will admit I had no idea the Algerian captain had picked up a red card until the next morning. For once the goal went in, the only thing on all of our minds were tears of joy, hugging every person around you as tightly as if they were a long lost friend and feeling as alive as one can ever possibly feel.
The celebrations continued long after the players had saluted us and left the field. The American section of Loftus was awash with red, white and blue for a solid 45 minutes after the final whistle just singing and dancing in an empty stadium.
After that, the celebrations spilled over to right outside the stadium, where most of the media was waiting to capture us. For what seemed like forever, we celebrated the victory outside the stadium with every song and dance that we could think of.
After that, the celebrations took to the street in Pretoria all the way to Hatfield Square where we watched to see who our opponent for the Round of 16 matchup would be.
For every game there must be a winner and a loser and for as exuberant as the American fans were, the Algerians were just as despondent. Yet, they handled themselves with nothing but pure class and tact outside the stadium and throughout the night. They passed on their best wishes for the US moving forward and congratulated us on advancing.
I even got a huge hug from an Algerian fan for telling him that his team were much tougher than rivals Egypt were last June, which is nothing but the truth.
There was one moment outside the stadium that summed up what this World Cup is about. An Algerian fan came up to an American fan and swapped jerseys with him, just as the players do at the end of the match. Because at the end of the day, we are still one human race.
For no one more than Landon Donovan, this was redemption for a disappointing 2006 World Cup. You could see it on his face as he scored, four years of agony wiped away with the single kick of a ball.
Dear World Cup victory, please tell me we’ll be seeing each other again tomorrow in Rustenburg!
Landon Donovan may never score as sweet a goal as he did in this match and many of the American fans, including myself, may never witness a sweeter goal than we did in the 91st minute of this crucial Group C fixture.
Heading to Loftus Versfeld, a venue where I vividly remember the US getting trounced 3-1 and 3-0 by Italy and Brazil respectively during the Confederations Cup, gave me an eerie feeling that today may not be our day. Never mind that only a week ago I was in Loftus and had seen my beloved Bafana Bafana get thrashed by Uruguay 3-0.
Upon waking up that day in Pretoria, I felt as if I was actually the one playing as I had the pre-match jitters as I knew this would be a crucial day in the history of US soccer. Those jitters certainly didn’t ease upon walking into the stadium and seeing that Jonathan Bornstein was starting at left back.
As will be the pre-match protocol until we are dumped from the tournament, the red, white and blue mohawk was out in full swing. For fans that bought tickets through the US Federation, it seemed as though our seating plan was exactly the same for this match as for the USA-Slovenia match as I was sitting next to the same comrades that had sweated those frantic 90 minutes out with me.
Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws were in great voice prior to the match as were our Algerian counterparts and the scene was set for what we all knew would be a crunch encounter.
After Algeria rocked Tim Howard’s bar in the first 5 minutes, they lacked any real desire to move forward, which was surprising since they needed a victory just as much as us. Being at the other end of the pitch, I had no way of knowing whether Clint Dempsey’s goal that was ruled out for offside was the proper call, but just chalked it up as a missed opportunity.
A few moments later the dreaded double text came into my phone – not only should Dempsey’s goal have stood, but Jermaine Defoe had put England up against Slovenia, meaning that it was win or bust for us.
With this knowledge in our pocket, the American fans were on pins and needles for the second half knowing we needed a victory, but seeing our team continuously miss good chances to break the deadlock. This included Jozy Altidore blasting over the bar, Dempsey hitting the post and missing the empty net on the follow-up and a strong Edson Buddle header valiantly saved by the Algerian keeper.
The clock seemed to be sprinting to 90 minutes as I frantically searched for a text message that read “Slovenia scored, it’s 1-1!”. Thankfully, that text message never came.
It took 90 back-breaking minutes, but it was well worth the wait when the goal finally arrived. In the 91st minute, Landon Donovan broke the stalemate, cleaning up a Dempsey rebound and then wheeling around to celebrate the most dramatic winner he’d ever scored.
It was pure ecstasy, utter jubilation and absolute, unbridled joy in the stands at Loftus. Words cannot do the feeling justice.
The next hour is a haze, all I know is the final whistle blew somewhere in there, though I will admit I had no idea the Algerian captain had picked up a red card until the next morning. For once the goal went in, the only thing on all of our minds were tears of joy, hugging every person around you as tightly as if they were a long lost friend and feeling as alive as one can ever possibly feel.
The celebrations continued long after the players had saluted us and left the field. The American section of Loftus was awash with red, white and blue for a solid 45 minutes after the final whistle just singing and dancing in an empty stadium.
After that, the celebrations spilled over to right outside the stadium, where most of the media was waiting to capture us. For what seemed like forever, we celebrated the victory outside the stadium with every song and dance that we could think of.
After that, the celebrations took to the street in Pretoria all the way to Hatfield Square where we watched to see who our opponent for the Round of 16 matchup would be.
For every game there must be a winner and a loser and for as exuberant as the American fans were, the Algerians were just as despondent. Yet, they handled themselves with nothing but pure class and tact outside the stadium and throughout the night. They passed on their best wishes for the US moving forward and congratulated us on advancing.
I even got a huge hug from an Algerian fan for telling him that his team were much tougher than rivals Egypt were last June, which is nothing but the truth.
There was one moment outside the stadium that summed up what this World Cup is about. An Algerian fan came up to an American fan and swapped jerseys with him, just as the players do at the end of the match. Because at the end of the day, we are still one human race.
For no one more than Landon Donovan, this was redemption for a disappointing 2006 World Cup. You could see it on his face as he scored, four years of agony wiped away with the single kick of a ball.
Dear World Cup victory, please tell me we’ll be seeing each other again tomorrow in Rustenburg!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Live from Ellis Park: USA-Slovenia
After the transport nightmare that was getting to and from Rustenburg, it was nice to be at a hostel within walking distance of Ellis Park, making the lead-up to the match much less stressful as a spectator. After being on a bus with four fans that had gotten mohawks prior to the England match, I had decided it was time to get one too.
Sporting a blue mohawk with red and white sides and ‘USA’ carved in red into the back of my head, I set off for Ellis Park ready to see the boys pick up the three points we so desperately wanted. Little did I know that we were all about to embark upon a match that had everything you could have hoped for as a fan – that is if you were a neutral.
On the way down to Ellis Park, the red, white and blue mohawk was certainly a hit as the South African school children all kept telling me, or were they laughing at me? Either way, I didn’t care.
Pre-match reports were true with Paco Torres starting in the middle with Michael Bradley and the feeling among the US supporters in the crowd was overwhelmingly in support of that move.
With the whistle barely out of the mouth of the Malian referee, the first flashpoint had already happened with the Slovenian players surrounding the referee demanding that Dempsey be sent off for throwing an elbow. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, but this was only a sign of things to come for the referee as it was arguably his most difficult night as a referee.
The first half could not have gone more differently than the script was supposed to read for us. A stunning strike by Slovenia coupled with a great counter-attacking goal left the US staring at a 2-0 deficit at the half. Most of us in the crowd were left stunned, wondering how after such a strong 90 minutes against England we are now looking at ourselves being 45 minutes from for all intensive purposes exiting the tournament.
While I would have thought Stuart Holden would have been the go-to substitution for Bob Bradley as we were in search of goals, he went with Mo Edu and Benny Feilhaber, which certainly proved to work. Torres proved ineffective in the middle and Edu provided the perfect complement of attacking and defensive play.
In a move that pleased the US supporters, we finally saw Dempsey pushed up top and paired with Jozy. Instantly the moves paid a dividend and Landon Donovan proved why he is our talisman, scoring a brilliant goal from the wing. After that, it was one-way traffic with the US surging on and holding all of the momentum. The feeling in the crowd was that we were going to get an equalizer; it was only a matter of time.
Jozy Altidore played arguably his best match in a US jersey as he looked as dangerous as ever in the second half, showing that he is finally progressing into that physical, but skilled forward we always knew he would be.
Around the 60th minute, Altidore turned a Slovenian defender and looked to be clean through, except the defender made a top-notch tackle on him. If he catches Jozy, it’s a no doubt red card.
Shortly after, Jozy turned another Slovenian defender and got dragged down for a professional foul. From my vantage point, I thought it was going to be a red card as the defender looked to be the last man back, but alas is was only yellow. With every touch Jozy looked like he was going to find the net, proving that his man-handling of Jaime Carragher in the previous game was no fluke.
The clever insertion of Herculez Gomez into the match provided just the spark the US needed to find the second goal. A clever run by Gomez provided the space for Michael Bradley to sneak through off an Altidore header and score the equalizer. This set off absolute delirium in the US supporter’s section of Ellis Park. After things had calmed down and I had gotten the beer out of my eyes, I was left thinking, could we snatch a winner?
As we know now, Mo Edu did snatch a winner, but it was called back by the referee for an invisible push in the box. This had set off pandemonium in the crowd for a few seconds, but in the end the US supporters went home happy with the belief that if we beat Algeria we would go through. That coupled with the fact that we had no real way of knowing how bad the blown call had actually been.
All in all, this was the most mentally and physically exhausting US match I’ve watched since the 2006 World Cup against Italy. As a supporter, it was gut-wrenching stuff at times as I couldn’t believe that we were set to crash out at the half. However, in the end it is all to play for against Algeria.
See you in Pretoria!
Sporting a blue mohawk with red and white sides and ‘USA’ carved in red into the back of my head, I set off for Ellis Park ready to see the boys pick up the three points we so desperately wanted. Little did I know that we were all about to embark upon a match that had everything you could have hoped for as a fan – that is if you were a neutral.
On the way down to Ellis Park, the red, white and blue mohawk was certainly a hit as the South African school children all kept telling me, or were they laughing at me? Either way, I didn’t care.
Pre-match reports were true with Paco Torres starting in the middle with Michael Bradley and the feeling among the US supporters in the crowd was overwhelmingly in support of that move.
With the whistle barely out of the mouth of the Malian referee, the first flashpoint had already happened with the Slovenian players surrounding the referee demanding that Dempsey be sent off for throwing an elbow. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, but this was only a sign of things to come for the referee as it was arguably his most difficult night as a referee.
The first half could not have gone more differently than the script was supposed to read for us. A stunning strike by Slovenia coupled with a great counter-attacking goal left the US staring at a 2-0 deficit at the half. Most of us in the crowd were left stunned, wondering how after such a strong 90 minutes against England we are now looking at ourselves being 45 minutes from for all intensive purposes exiting the tournament.
While I would have thought Stuart Holden would have been the go-to substitution for Bob Bradley as we were in search of goals, he went with Mo Edu and Benny Feilhaber, which certainly proved to work. Torres proved ineffective in the middle and Edu provided the perfect complement of attacking and defensive play.
In a move that pleased the US supporters, we finally saw Dempsey pushed up top and paired with Jozy. Instantly the moves paid a dividend and Landon Donovan proved why he is our talisman, scoring a brilliant goal from the wing. After that, it was one-way traffic with the US surging on and holding all of the momentum. The feeling in the crowd was that we were going to get an equalizer; it was only a matter of time.
Jozy Altidore played arguably his best match in a US jersey as he looked as dangerous as ever in the second half, showing that he is finally progressing into that physical, but skilled forward we always knew he would be.
Around the 60th minute, Altidore turned a Slovenian defender and looked to be clean through, except the defender made a top-notch tackle on him. If he catches Jozy, it’s a no doubt red card.
Shortly after, Jozy turned another Slovenian defender and got dragged down for a professional foul. From my vantage point, I thought it was going to be a red card as the defender looked to be the last man back, but alas is was only yellow. With every touch Jozy looked like he was going to find the net, proving that his man-handling of Jaime Carragher in the previous game was no fluke.
The clever insertion of Herculez Gomez into the match provided just the spark the US needed to find the second goal. A clever run by Gomez provided the space for Michael Bradley to sneak through off an Altidore header and score the equalizer. This set off absolute delirium in the US supporter’s section of Ellis Park. After things had calmed down and I had gotten the beer out of my eyes, I was left thinking, could we snatch a winner?
As we know now, Mo Edu did snatch a winner, but it was called back by the referee for an invisible push in the box. This had set off pandemonium in the crowd for a few seconds, but in the end the US supporters went home happy with the belief that if we beat Algeria we would go through. That coupled with the fact that we had no real way of knowing how bad the blown call had actually been.
All in all, this was the most mentally and physically exhausting US match I’ve watched since the 2006 World Cup against Italy. As a supporter, it was gut-wrenching stuff at times as I couldn’t believe that we were set to crash out at the half. However, in the end it is all to play for against Algeria.
See you in Pretoria!
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