June 12, 2006
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Soccer…
I apologise if I get some Americans mad at this point of my Xanga, but your arrogance and over confidence annoys me sometimes, and now it has come back to bite you in the ass.
Man, there’s a reason the Americans still call the sport Soccer. Cause they can’t play football. It was such a dissappointing match, I would not be surprised if the Czech Republic won by 5 goals to nil.
Americans are always so confident that they will win and now they have been humbled and out played by the Czechs. Now hopefully they can show some grit and play some good FOOTBALL against Italy and Ghana, but I’m not so sure about both those teams losing to the USA…
Now to ensure the USAs advancement into knockout stages (unlikely at this point)they will need to win and at least draw their last two games. But on top of that, Italy need to have a draw with Ghana tomorrow, and the Czechs must lose against Italy, but win against Ghana. The the US will also have to rely on Ghana winning/drawing with Czech Republic and Italy and then Italy also winning against the Czechs and and least drawing with Ghana. Complicated? yes it is. But I really feel that this is not going to be USA’s year.
In 2002, no doubt they were one of the big surprrises reaching losing out to eventual runners ups Germany in the Quarters, next to Senegal beating France and almost getting the the quarters. But this year, they just don’t have the quality. Especially with the non selection of Talor Twellman from the New England revolutions, USA is seemingly lost for tactics.
Unless Bruce Arena, has something up his sleeve, they are going home early. Which is just as well, because the Los Angeles Galaxy is in dire need of Landon Donovan back in the lineup, cause they have lost all but one game this season in the MLS, while they drew the other one.
Donovan, is an amazing footballer, and I have no doubts I will eventually see him captaining the American Side in the future, but right now. Bruce Arena, needs to figure out how to get Landon space so that he can do what he does best, get the ball forward and make things difficult for defenders with his crossess.
I’m not a US fan. I never have claimed to be. I am a majoy England fan, but I love watching football, and the World Cup is the ultimate time to watch. For those who are fans every four years, they admit that they can’t help turning to the TV to watch as many matches as possible, because it really is a beautiful game. But if America continues to play like they just did, I will be forced to skip the last game they play.
England has had a great start, and though the over 30 degree heat had played a factor in their lacklustre display against Paraguay, we still were able to collect the three points and that is all that matters for now. But if we are to make a run for the big prize, we will need to play much better than that showing against Paraguay.
It seems now, Wayne Rooney has a chance to play some part in the Trinad Tobago game on Thursday, and if that is true, it will be a big boost to the squad, just to have him on the bench. The later start time of 6pm Germany time will be a welcome change from the late afternoon heat, though it will wreak havoc on me when I have to watch it at midnight.
So In the next couple of days we would have had a chance to see every single team in action. And so far, Germany, Holland, England, and surprisingly, Australia have shown great promise to win or place second in the group…
See you tomorrow…
Jonathan Out!
P.S. Congratulations to Australia who played a fantastic game to register their first World Cup win, on their debut. I was very happy to see Harry Kewell get through that one unscathed and Tim Cahill making some fantastic plays. Hands down, the Man of the Match for me.
Comments (5)
We can’t be good in every sport. Most American athletes will follow the money and go into baseball/basketball/football/hockey if they are big strong or fast. American coverage never once mentioned US is favored to win, only it was a tough match. Czech is the no. 2 ranked team after all. America comes into every world cup with a sense of humility. Of course we hope to do well, but the underdog often loses, thats why they are the underdog. We are very much aware of our lack of success. The MLS is is what, 10 years old? MLS sucks, by the way. I went over break, I’d rather watch my brother’s under 16 club play, they make less mistakes. Its for rookies and retirees. Soccer is still not our game, just as England would never win any of the 4 sports mentioned above. England has won the cup, what once while they had home advantage, despite the enormous interest in the sport and massivley inflated payrolls of their players. Where is the return on investment there? In conclusion, reaming the US for losing a match they were not favored to win doesn’t make much sense.
Well, most Americans don’t care about things outside their country. Will they care about SOCCER? Yes, but only a few of them…
I laughed as soon as I saw Soccer…totally knew what you were going to say. I’m still laughing in fact.
Its nice though, we have a TV in our section at work so we keep the games on during the day. Just about everyone in the office is a fan except for a couple of guys who get ragged on all the time.
well, before this tournament, the Americans did have some right to be confident, as they are 5th in the world.. it’s just that they were playing the Czechs, who are 3rd… plus, they had an inexperienced defender, onyewu.. plus, beasely and reyna, not sure who else, have had injuries this past season, which meant they haven’t seen much pitch time this year..
anyway, the US are a decent team, they just were up against a superior team. like they would against england or germany
You know what, you should be a sports journalist. Seriously.
(of course non-pc content aside…)
no I’m not an american. :p