That was one hell of a gutsy performance by the U.S. National Men’s Soccer Team. Clint Dempsey scored after thirty seconds. Jozy Altidore came up lame in the 22nd minute. Then Dempsey had his nose rearranged by a Ghanan player’s foot. Then Matt Besler tweaked his hamstring and had to be replaced. Then Alejandro Bedoya tweaked a hamstring and had to be replaced. They reminded me of Joe Frazier in the 14th Round with Mohammed Ali. They were battered. Their game plan was in tatters. Michael Bradley wasn’t even playing very well. Then they gave up the equalizer with eight minutes to go, and turned right around and got a winning goal from 21 year old John Brooks, who almost didn’t even make the roster.
I didn’t like their inability to complete passes or maintain possession, and they lacked their normal dangerousness in transition. But, under the circumstances and in that humidity, they pulled off a minor miracle. If they can heal up and at least get a tie against Portugal, they are almost guaranteed a trip to second round.
Portugal had their own injuries. Pepe got a red card and won’t be able to play against the Americans. And after getting thrashed 4-0 by Germany, the Portuguese can’t have much confidence. In any tie in points, the USA currently has a goal differential advantage of five.
I hope Jozy doesn’t have a tear and can eventually make his way back to the team. We need him.
What a great win!
Someone bought me two Jim Bean over the rocks in celebration so I can’t complain haha.
Jim beam*
Take it easy there, seabe.
Oh comon the letters are next to each other. 😛
How was Ghana’s performance? They have something of a tradition of whomping of us and consistently field one of the best African teams.
They dominated play but weren’t very dangerous in the final third of the pitch. Tim Howard made a couple of great saves, but overall the Ghanans were frustrated.
The USA really didn’t challenge much after Jozy had to leave the game in the 22nd minute. After that, it was a mismatch.
Some links I use in World Cup coverage:
○ ESPNFC
○ BBC Sports
○ FIFA
○ BBC match report & stats: Ghana 1 – USA 2
Most impressive teams I’ve seen so far: Brazil, Netherlands, Germany and Italy;
Most surprising teams: Costa Rica, Columbia;
Outsiders: Spain, Belgium.
A few nationals teams have disappointed and I’m not sure they can turn matters around in next match.
That was terrific. Great header by Brooks!!
Altadore’s replacement, Johansson, was getting knocked off the ball pretty easily. That was problematic, since the team wasn’t sending him balls over the top. Also, since they were ahead from jump and maintaining possession became an increasing need as the game went on.
What is the usual playing style of the American team, and was today’s game significantly different?
top-5:
“I didn’t like their inability to complete passes or maintain possession, and they lacked their normal dangerousness in transition.”
That’s what happens when you leave your best player home. I hope they find themselves, late goals can be a catalyst for confidence. They need to take care of business against Portugal.
A player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team’s first match.
I was in a meeting, and could only sneak a peek every 10 min or so. My read is that the Dempsey goal set the tenor of the match – Ghana was on a huge push to equalize. They had all the motivation. We should have countered on that end, but did not – I did not realize that Altidore had been pulled, since I was not watching closely. They dominated possession and shots, due to the need to equalize. After the equalization (’82), we were pressing more, and seemed to have a bit more of the possession. The corner was well placed, and Brooks moved very well to get the open header. The Ghanaese had a similar opportunity in the last few seconds, but did not move to the ball and so we had the header screened.
All in all, I think the US played very well. Many have said that our defense is suspect. Well, we have the answer to that – 80 min of scoreless play. Not perfect, but a pretty decent defensive effort. Ghana did find the answer, but we did well for a pretty long time. Against Germany? Oh, I doubt that will be pretty. But Portugal is our chance. Portugal is now the overrated team, along with Spain. Germany and Holland – wow, but solid, solid, solid.
Wow, all the marbles for both teams on that one. Whoever wins is going on, whoever loses is not. A tie is in our favor, due to goal differential.
I did not watch Germany-Portugal. How was Rinaldo? He did not play in the run-up. Does he seem to have WC fitness? Is his form up to his billing?
Cristiano Ronaldo, world’s best player, needs a performing squad in support. I have never seen such a poor performance by Portugal and once Pepe was gone with a red card, the team and Ronaldo were doomed to lose. Ronaldo seemed to be holding back due to his recent recovery of a hamstring injury.
Real Madrid did beat German champion Bayern Munich, it was a route in Munich!
Great game and very entertaining between two outstanding teams. The game stayed goalless, thanks to the ridiculous saves by Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa …
Brazil 0-0 Mexico
Brazil played against a good Mexico side. On several occasions Guillermo Ochoa showed lightning quick reactions, as a single individual he was definitely man of the match. It’s not the end of the world for Brazil, they created good chances.