Since I last updated my two teams, USA and Mexico lost to Ghana and Argentina respectively. I really thought that this was the US's chance to make it to the semi-final. Because if they would have beaten Ghana they would've faced Uruguay and avoided the scary teams i.e. Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Spain until the semi-final. Mexico, I thought had a fighting chance but that was it, as history repeated itself.
I will continue blogging throughout the remainder of the world cup, however I will continue my hiatus until this weekend and the next round of games. Not only will I blog about those games but I will also chime in with my opinion of the direction US soccer should take in the coming months and years.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Preview: USA v Ghana
Today at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa The group C winners will face the group D runner ups in the Round of 16. As the knockout phase of the tournament begins the US finds itself in unfamiliar territory as winners of their group in the last 16 of the tournament. They will face Ghana, who have played solid defense but showed little offense as they scored only two goals (on penalties) during group play.
The starting lineups for each team can be found here.
Once again Oguchi Onyewu finds himself out of the starting XI and Ricardo Clark finds himself back in it. Robbie Findley assumes his starting spot after missing the Algeria game serving his suspension due to yellow card accumulation. Still no room for Edson Buddle which still baffles me and this is t one of the few times where I agree with the Ginger (Alexi Lalas).
Key Player for the US: Landon Donovan. He might not be the official captain but he's shown that he is the heart and soul of this team and the team follows his lead. If he disappears in this game it will be another repeat of the thrashing Ghana gave the US in the group stage in Germany 20006. But if he can avenge that poor display of four years ago and lead his team, the US will find themselves in the next round...the Elite Eight to put it in American terms.
Key player for Ghana: Asamoah Gyan. The scariest scoring threat I see in Ghana. Watch out for him having a breakthrough game and keep the hopes of the lone Africa nation still standing alive.
Prediction: I can see this going to penalties, and it is a toss up from there. However I will pick the US as winners in regulation 1-0.
The starting lineups for each team can be found here.
Once again Oguchi Onyewu finds himself out of the starting XI and Ricardo Clark finds himself back in it. Robbie Findley assumes his starting spot after missing the Algeria game serving his suspension due to yellow card accumulation. Still no room for Edson Buddle which still baffles me and this is t one of the few times where I agree with the Ginger (Alexi Lalas).
Key Player for the US: Landon Donovan. He might not be the official captain but he's shown that he is the heart and soul of this team and the team follows his lead. If he disappears in this game it will be another repeat of the thrashing Ghana gave the US in the group stage in Germany 20006. But if he can avenge that poor display of four years ago and lead his team, the US will find themselves in the next round...the Elite Eight to put it in American terms.
Key player for Ghana: Asamoah Gyan. The scariest scoring threat I see in Ghana. Watch out for him having a breakthrough game and keep the hopes of the lone Africa nation still standing alive.
Prediction: I can see this going to penalties, and it is a toss up from there. However I will pick the US as winners in regulation 1-0.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Post Game: USA 1 - Algeria 0
Wow! Landon Donovan's strike on a rebound in the 92nd minute put the US on top of group C and into the round of 16.
Highlights from ESPN here
Highlights from ESPN here
Preview: USA v Algeria
Today the Red, White and Blue will face the Desert Foxes in Pretoria for their third and final game of the group stage. The US will be assured of a place in the Round of 16 if they simply win. A tie coupled with an England loss also gets them in. The other scenario would be for England to tie without outscoring the US in their tie.
The Lineups
United States:
Goalkeeper: Time Howard
Defense (L to R): Bornstein, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Cherundolo
Midfield (L to R): Dempsey, Bradley, Edu, Donovan
Forwards: Gomez, Altidore
Algeria:
Goalkeeper: M'Bolhi
Defense: Belhadj, Yahia, Halliche, Bougherra
Midfield: Ziani, Lacen, Yebda, Kadir
Attacking Midfield: Djebbour
Forward: Matmour
Notable change in the lineup for the US: Oguchi Onyewu is not starting, in his place Carlos Bocanegra moves over and Jonathan Bornstein moves into the left back position. Robbie FIndley is suspended due to yellow card accumulation but in his place is not Edson Buddle but Herculez Gomez. Buddle has only seen a little bit of game time in this world cup , and that was in their first game against England. I cannot figure out why Bob Bradley continues to look past him.
Key player for the US: Jonathan Bornstein. IF he can prove his doubters wrong and show that he does have the pace and mental toughness to play at this level and if he can provide some early stability and put an end to the US giving up early goals, then the US offense will do the rest.
Key mathcup: US forwards against Algerian defense. England failed to create space and meaningful chances in their game against Algeria. The US forwards must have looked at how Algeria defended Wayne Rooney and should have found a way through. If they can open up and expose that defense it will lead to great result for the US. Jozy Altidore showed, in a couple of runs, last game against Slovenia that he is capable of holding the ball up.
Prediction: The US will score and give up a quick goal before they rebound and take the lead once more. The US will advance to the next round with a 2-1 win.
The Lineups
United States:
Goalkeeper: Time Howard
Defense (L to R): Bornstein, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Cherundolo
Midfield (L to R): Dempsey, Bradley, Edu, Donovan
Forwards: Gomez, Altidore
Algeria:
Goalkeeper: M'Bolhi
Defense: Belhadj, Yahia, Halliche, Bougherra
Midfield: Ziani, Lacen, Yebda, Kadir
Attacking Midfield: Djebbour
Forward: Matmour
Notable change in the lineup for the US: Oguchi Onyewu is not starting, in his place Carlos Bocanegra moves over and Jonathan Bornstein moves into the left back position. Robbie FIndley is suspended due to yellow card accumulation but in his place is not Edson Buddle but Herculez Gomez. Buddle has only seen a little bit of game time in this world cup , and that was in their first game against England. I cannot figure out why Bob Bradley continues to look past him.
Key player for the US: Jonathan Bornstein. IF he can prove his doubters wrong and show that he does have the pace and mental toughness to play at this level and if he can provide some early stability and put an end to the US giving up early goals, then the US offense will do the rest.
Key mathcup: US forwards against Algerian defense. England failed to create space and meaningful chances in their game against Algeria. The US forwards must have looked at how Algeria defended Wayne Rooney and should have found a way through. If they can open up and expose that defense it will lead to great result for the US. Jozy Altidore showed, in a couple of runs, last game against Slovenia that he is capable of holding the ball up.
Prediction: The US will score and give up a quick goal before they rebound and take the lead once more. The US will advance to the next round with a 2-1 win.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
French Nightmare Over, South African Dream Crushed
France and South Africa were sent home packing today as Group A finished their group play today. South Africa's hopes of advancing were given a boost as they held a 2-0 lead over France at the half and Mexico trailed Uruguay 1-0 in the simultaneous match being played. South Africa's win brought them level on points with Mexico, who eventually lost but they were unable to make up the goal differential after a 2-1 win over France. Bafana Bafana end on a high note with a win over a once proud French team now in shambles but it now holds the distinction of being the only host nation to fail to advance to the second round.
Finally France can go home and think about everything that went wrong and hopefully put it all aside when Euro 2012 qualifiers begin in September. They will enter with the debacle of South Africa behind them as motivation and with a new coach and a new attitude. What is certain however is the status of French superstar Thierry Henry. He played little in his fourth World Cup and finished the club season on the bench for FC Barcelona. If a move to MLS is indeed in his future, who knows what kind of form the one time World Cup champion will be in once the qualifiers come around. It is just sad to see it end this way for Henry if this really is the end for Henry's career with Les Blues.
Finally France can go home and think about everything that went wrong and hopefully put it all aside when Euro 2012 qualifiers begin in September. They will enter with the debacle of South Africa behind them as motivation and with a new coach and a new attitude. What is certain however is the status of French superstar Thierry Henry. He played little in his fourth World Cup and finished the club season on the bench for FC Barcelona. If a move to MLS is indeed in his future, who knows what kind of form the one time World Cup champion will be in once the qualifiers come around. It is just sad to see it end this way for Henry if this really is the end for Henry's career with Les Blues.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Post Game: Slovenia 2 - USA 2
This was a tale of two halves. The Slovenes very much dominated the first half grabbing a 2-0 lead going into the half. But smart substitutions by Bob Bradley to take out Jose Torres and Robbie Findley (who both especially Torres were disappointing) and brought in Benny Feilhaber and and Maurice Edu, and later switching to a 3-man defense by subbing in Herculez Gomez for Oguchi Onyewu.
The US played inspirationally well and they showed heart. It was sparked by a goal from the best US player ever Landon Donovan early in the second half. The US looked to have a goal in the 85th minute by Maurice Edu from a free kick from Donovan. It was disallowed by the worst referring job I've seen.
That was also a tale of a horrible referee. I have been applauding the jobs the refs have been doing during the World Cup. We can't dwell on this but everyone both on the English network and the Spanish network said there was nothing there to disallow the Edu goal. (Edu has a history of scoring late, important goals). If anything the ref could have given a penalty because of two separate instances in the box. There was no offisides or anything against the US upon seeing various replays. Its not like that was his only bad call against the US in that game. It was one of many for this guy making his World Cup debut as a ref.
Why did Bradley not start Buddle, I've been calling for Findley to sit forever and Buddle didnt even make an appearance off the bench. The US wasted another 45 minutes and showed their class in the second half. You have to wonder what the US could do if they concentrate in the first half.
The US played inspirationally well and they showed heart. It was sparked by a goal from the best US player ever Landon Donovan early in the second half. The US looked to have a goal in the 85th minute by Maurice Edu from a free kick from Donovan. It was disallowed by the worst referring job I've seen.
That was also a tale of a horrible referee. I have been applauding the jobs the refs have been doing during the World Cup. We can't dwell on this but everyone both on the English network and the Spanish network said there was nothing there to disallow the Edu goal. (Edu has a history of scoring late, important goals). If anything the ref could have given a penalty because of two separate instances in the box. There was no offisides or anything against the US upon seeing various replays. Its not like that was his only bad call against the US in that game. It was one of many for this guy making his World Cup debut as a ref.
Why did Bradley not start Buddle, I've been calling for Findley to sit forever and Buddle didnt even make an appearance off the bench. The US wasted another 45 minutes and showed their class in the second half. You have to wonder what the US could do if they concentrate in the first half.
Preview: USA v Slovenia
The US will face group C leaders Slovenia in their second game in the group stage. The US is tied with England for second in the group with 1 point apiece through their 1-1 draw and Slovenia leads the group through a 1-0 victory over Algeria.
Lineups:
USA:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard; Defense (left to right: Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Cherundolo; Midfield (left to right: Dempsey, Torres, Bradley, Donovan; Forwards: Altidore, Findley
Slovenia
Goalkeeper: Handanovic; Defense: Jokic, Cesar, Suler, Brecko; Midfield: Kirm, Radosavljevic, Koren, Birsa; Forwards: Novakovic, Ljubijankic
Key player for USA: Michael Bradley. He needs to be the man on the ball in the middle. When he's at his best he's a great holding midfield and a great passer who creates chances and also gets back on defense.
Key player for Slovenia: Robert Koren. He's their captain and best player and the goalscorer in last week's win over Algeria. Koren, who plays in England with West Brom, needs to be on his game for Slovenia to have a chance of beat the US.
Key matchup: Robert Koren v USA defense. Koren is Slovenia's biggest threat. The US shut down Wayne Rooney in their last game. If they can do the same for Koren the US will have an easier time getting three points out of this game.
Prediction: The US will step up on defense and keep a clean sheet. In the end the US attack of Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore will prove too much for Slovenia and they'll win 2-0.
For the US, it is the same lineup that faced England except for a change in midfield where Jose Torres replaces Ricardo Clark. It was Clark's mistake on marking Steven Gerrard that allowed England's first goal last week.
I still wonder why Robbie Findley is starting over Edson Buddle. Buddle had shown good form but is being relegated to a sub role. Findley's speed however should tire the Slovenian defense allowing for a goal for the US in the second half.
Lineups:
USA:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard; Defense (left to right: Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Cherundolo; Midfield (left to right: Dempsey, Torres, Bradley, Donovan; Forwards: Altidore, Findley
Slovenia
Goalkeeper: Handanovic; Defense: Jokic, Cesar, Suler, Brecko; Midfield: Kirm, Radosavljevic, Koren, Birsa; Forwards: Novakovic, Ljubijankic
Key player for USA: Michael Bradley. He needs to be the man on the ball in the middle. When he's at his best he's a great holding midfield and a great passer who creates chances and also gets back on defense.
Key player for Slovenia: Robert Koren. He's their captain and best player and the goalscorer in last week's win over Algeria. Koren, who plays in England with West Brom, needs to be on his game for Slovenia to have a chance of beat the US.
Key matchup: Robert Koren v USA defense. Koren is Slovenia's biggest threat. The US shut down Wayne Rooney in their last game. If they can do the same for Koren the US will have an easier time getting three points out of this game.
Prediction: The US will step up on defense and keep a clean sheet. In the end the US attack of Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore will prove too much for Slovenia and they'll win 2-0.
For the US, it is the same lineup that faced England except for a change in midfield where Jose Torres replaces Ricardo Clark. It was Clark's mistake on marking Steven Gerrard that allowed England's first goal last week.
I still wonder why Robbie Findley is starting over Edson Buddle. Buddle had shown good form but is being relegated to a sub role. Findley's speed however should tire the Slovenian defense allowing for a goal for the US in the second half.
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