Where to begin?
Well, for starters (and the assumed reason from which I was asked to write on this stems), Wednesday morning's match between the US and the Desert Foxes of Algeria was watched by some 8.6 million Americans, numbers high enough to put it in the prime-time Nielsen Top 10. Not bad given that it was the middle of the week, morning, and people, allegedly, work in this country. The viewership of the first three US matches was up 68 percent from the three group matches of the 2006 World Cup, which means.... People are watching! Hooray!
Some thoughts on the match, and the Stars and Stripes chances, etc?
Well, this one's shaping up to be an emotional grudge match with a history of sorts. The US was knocked out of the 2006 World Cup by the Black Stars of Ghana with a crushing 2-1 defeat in the final match of the group stage. This leads me to believe the US will be seeking to return the favor to Ghana, dating back to the last World Cup. Ghana on the other hand, (given that Cote D'Ivoire doesn't somehow make it through the the Round of 16) is the only African side left of the 32 nations that started the tournament two weeks ago. Assumably this means that almost all of the African fans will embrace Ghana as their own side, and actively cheer for them, putting the US in a tough position with lots of vuvuzelas, noise, shouting, etc. It's a good thing the US has a fair amount of momentum going into the match with Wednesday's late minute heroics by Landycakes to put the US through to the next round at the top of the group, something which the US had not done dating back to 1930. Winning the group was important in the sense that, as previously mentioned, the US plays Ghana instead of playing an arguably better German side.
Some may say that the US got lucky by winning the group. I would argue against this. The US had plenty of opportunities to score in its matches against Slovenia and Algeria, and looked better in both matches (I would say) than did the Three Lions of England. The US should have won its second match against Slovenia, but was only awarded a draw when Maurice Edu's 86th minute goal was discounted on the meritless foul called by the (recently fired) referee, which would have easily put the US atop Group C. The US also had a goal waved off on the claim Clint Dempsey was in an offside position in its match against Algeria, and missed a few open net scoring chances that should have been put in, which made the 1-0 match that could have ended 3 or 4 - nil, appear closer than it actually was, in the realm of scoring chances that is.
The takeaway?
The US is a formidable opponent despite what some might want you to think, and certainly have a fightin' chance at advancing to the quarterfinals. (As if they need anything else as a motivating force) If the US were to make it through the the quarterfinals, they would face the winner of the South Korea v. Uruguay match, meaning that they wouldn't be matched up against a tournament juggernaut, yet, and would have a fairly good chance at making it to the semifinals (knock on wood).
The US is certainly capable of beating a Ghanese side with a ton of pace. Hopefully Bob Bradley doesn't play Onyewu again, as he seemed to be the player holding up the US defensive line in its first two matches (especially by way of his lack of pace that led to the playing of a poor offside trap that lacked obvious communication, as well as coordination essential to its proper working). Instead, (given than Jonathan Bornstein is a worthless goon) Bradley should start a defensive line of some combination of Bocanegra, Demerit, Spector, and Cherundolo, all of whom have better pace and agility than Onyewu. I would hope Bradley would start Edson Buddle at striker with Jozy Altidore. I say this because he started Findley with Jozy in the first two matches, and although Findley can turn on the jets and has some serious pace, it seemed to me that he lacked the confidence necessary to put one away, as he was constantly dishing the ball to other players to shoot when he made it to the 18 yard box, rather than taking shots on his own. I also hope Bradley goes with a more offensive minded midfield player to couple with his son, Michael Bradley (nepotism, I know), in the US midfield. This can be found in a player such as Torres, Edu, or Benny Feilhaber, all of whom have more creativity that Ricardo Clark.
If the US pushes effectively, plays solid, mistake-free soccer, is able to keep up with the legs and pace of Ghana, and keeps giving itself scoring chances as it has over the past 2 1/2 matches, it has a fantastic shot (knock on wood, again) at advancing over a certainly-capable Ghanese side.
I'm going to hold off on making any predictions on the match (I'm superstitious, sorry), but I hope this was in some way helpful. Hope your eyes will be glued to the ABC tomorrow morning at 11:30 Pacific Time/2:30 Eastern Time, mine certainly will be.
Please post, questions, comments, concerns, etc. if you have them.
Hoping for a (knock on wood for a third time) USA chant tomorrow,
Ryan
V. helpful, thank you. I think I now know enough to comfortably watch in public without sounding too embarrassingly clueless.
ReplyDeleteI agree in that ghana should not be taken lightly. They have some very good athletes (atheletes if you're Marc jackson) who have good footskill. It will be interesting to see which Ghana team shows up- the team that attacked Serbia constantly or the team that seemed bored and lacking gusto against Australia.
ReplyDeleteAs for the team selection I think Gomez played well and his pace and strength could help out Jozy up front. I think Bradley will start his go to man in Clark and look to control the midfield early against the pacy and quick Ghanaians. I think you are spot on about the back line- onyewu isn't match fit and has last a lot of quickness. Ghana is not much of an aerial threat and we need defenders with good tactical awareness and speed on the wings. As much as I think Bornstein is a goon he played reasonably well against Algeria and may deserve a starting spot. If Spector starts on the wing look for him to get torched early on for his lack of pace.
Despite the team selection conundrum I do believe that the USA will prevail. USA USA USA. Match Prediction: USA 2- Ghana 1. I think the USA needs to go for it in the 90 minutes and try as hard as possible to avoid extra time and penalties, assuming that the crowd will be supporting Ghana vociferously.