I spoke too soon when I said the US looked the better side. They did for a good part of the first half, despite the early Czech goal, but once the Czechs went two up, the Americans seemed to lose all heart and began strolling around the pitch like a tourist party. Especially painful examples: given a corner, the American (didn't catch his name) barely ambled over; when you're playing catch-up, you run, not walk, toward every opportunity. With less than a minute of stoppage time before the half, the Yanks had a throw-in deep in Czech territory; by the time Onyewu lazily sauntered upfield, the minute has gone and the ref's whistle went as soon as the ball was in play. That's not how you win football matches, or much of anything else, for that matter. I'm very disappointed. Also disappointed to see former Fulham donkey Eddie Lewis making the same sort of wildly misdirected kicks that he used to specialize in at Craven Cottage, and not to see current Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra in action, but all in all, unless something very dramatic happens, the USA are not going far in this tournament.
UPDATE: It's ended up 3-0, which puts me in mind of another v. annoying thing about those American announcers: their habit of pronouncing said scoreline "three-nothing" instead of "three-nil." I had planned on listening to commentary from Britain on Radio Five Live while I watched the action on TV, but they've been blocked from the internet, just as they are for Premiership games. As I say, v. annoying. Which should suffice as a description for the USA performance today as well. They just didn't seem to care all that much. Even the manager sat on the bench with a slightly bored and disinterested look on his face, as if he were trying to tell the cameras, "Hey, don't look at me, I don't even know those guys out there."
UPDATE: It's ended up 3-0, which puts me in mind of another v. annoying thing about those American announcers: their habit of pronouncing said scoreline "three-nothing" instead of "three-nil." I had planned on listening to commentary from Britain on Radio Five Live while I watched the action on TV, but they've been blocked from the internet, just as they are for Premiership games. As I say, v. annoying. Which should suffice as a description for the USA performance today as well. They just didn't seem to care all that much. Even the manager sat on the bench with a slightly bored and disinterested look on his face, as if he were trying to tell the cameras, "Hey, don't look at me, I don't even know those guys out there."
2 comments:
i was suprised at the US's lackluckster performance. maybe i bought into the espn hype, but i actually thought they had some sort of chance to play respectably against the czech's. bruce arena's "calling out" (more like selling out) of the US team afterward seemed pointless. a good manager shouldn't kick 'em when they're down. he looked bored during the game and stoned afterwards.
EJ was the only member of the side who gave a fuck. You actually have to have 5 capable midfielders to play a 5 man midfield. I see us going out and maybe not even scoring a point.
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