As an aside, I plan to write something on the broader subject of soccer with America, but I wanted to get this in before today’s match against Slovenia.
Preamble:
I have been following the US Men’s National Team for about a year and a half now on a consistent basis, I have been following the Philadelphia Union since they were announced, and I played soccer for at least 20 seasons in club, school, and adult-league play. I mention this because I only have moderate credentials to be commenting on soccer, so I welcome anyone to comment on statements they disagree with and add their own thoughts.
USA vs. England: 1-1 Draw
While a win would have been the ideal finish, the draw was about as excellent a result as could be expected. Few experts believed the United States would walk out of this game with any points at all but the team pulled off the one point in the tie and put themselves in a viable position to capture first place in the group.
How the U.S. gave up the goal
The one goal that England scored was thanks to a couple of players who started out the game very slow. Since I was at the game, I had a tough time figuring out which players to blame, but I’ve been told that the culprits are midfielder Ricardo Clark and team captain/defender Carlos Bocanegra. They leisurely watched English players run past them in the box before recognizing the danger as English star Steven Gerrard waltzed up to the goal unmolested to score in just the fourth minute of the game.
How the U.S. scored
Clint Dempsey made several nice moves to get around a defender, but nobody can characterize his goal as anything but lucky. Dempsey ripped a shot off from well outside the box which appears to have caught English goalkeeper Robert Green off-guard. Green strayed from traditional goalie fundamentals and tried to stop the ball with his arms instead of putting his body behind it despite having enough time to do so. This effort caused him to fumble the ball backwards into the goal and crushed English spirits everywhere.
Why the U.S. didn’t give up anymore goals
• U.S. central defender Oguchi Onyewu. Onyewu is returning from a seriously injured knee who, just a couple of weeks ago against the Czech Republic, looked very shaky. Not this game. Onyewu won header after header after header.to keep the English from invading through the air which was the key to preventing more goals.
• U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. Howard, of whom American fans and Everton (Howard’s professional team) fans have come to have absolute faith for guarding the net didn’t disappoint. Even after taking an accidental, yet illegal, cleat to the chest which went unacknowledged by the referee, Howard came up with several spectacular saves. He certainly made the English wish that he played for them internationally as well as professionally.
Altidore’s Almost:
U.S. star forward Jozy Altidore nearly gave “The Yanks” the win when he embarrassed an English defender by dribbling around him and taking a point-blank shot that hit the post after being deflected by the shaky English goalkeeper.
Other Notes:
• U.S. forward Robbie Findley was given the nod to replace the injured Charlie Davies at forward alongside Altidore but left the fans and his chooser seriously wanting. His small frame left him powerless to win and hold balls against English defenders allowing them to focus on Altidore, Landon Donovan, and Dempsey who many fans felt disappeared in the second half (except for Altidore’s almost goal). Edson Buddle replaced Findley part-way through the second half and I would guess that Buddle will take over the starting position.
• The English appeared to get desperate towards the end of the match. The defenders kept skipping their own midfielders by feeding the ball directly to the forwards. This, however, made it much easier for U.S. defenders (who could wait for the ball rather than chase it) to repel the English attack which heretofore had been extremely threatening with the strength of their midfield.
What this game means to us
Drawing England gives the U.S. a chance to be first seed in their group going into the knockout rounds. Why is this important you say? Because the second seed from our group will likely have to play a German team who crushed Australia 4-0 in their first match. Getting first seed will be no picnic either. Ghana’s win over Serbia puts them as the frontrunner to take second place in their division (playing first seed in ours). If Ghana makes it to the knockout round, they will effectively have a home game because the entire continent of Africa will be behind them. Nonetheless, I would still prefer not to play this German team.
Both the USA and England are expected to win their next two games, so the seeding could very well be determined by Goal Differential (GF-GA) and will require more than one-goal wins to gain the advantage.
What to expect in today’s U.S. vs. Slovenia
Switzerland’s unbelievable win over Spain shows us that no team can be taken for granted in this mother-of-all-tournaments. Slovenia didn’t look sharp against Algeria with low possession time and errant passes, but they showed they have a good counter-attack when they catch an overly confident attacking team with too many players up-field. This is how they pulled out a win against Algeria to stand atop the Group C standings. The U.S. cannot afford a letdown game. They need to dominate from start to finish and show the world that American soccer progress isn’t the result of flukes.
Group C W L D Pts GF GA GD
Slovenia 1 0 0 3 1 0 1
USA 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
England 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
Algeria 0 1 0 0 0 1 -1
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