World Cup Roundup Day 16: The US run ends

The American squad that never stopped playing at full intensity could not make it through a physical Ghanan side. I will be the first one to mention there were some tactical mistakes in the starting eleven. For one Ricardo Clark replacing Maurice Edu is the most glaring. Clark was not very effective in the game against England, not marking Steven Gerrard who promptly scored, and giving up the first goal today. This mistake cost the US a key subsistute in a must win game. The other interesting decision was not starting Oguchi Onyewu. Four years ago I thought he was a horrible player, but this year I think his height and defensive skills really help out the American squad. Many bloggers will blame the coach and ask for his ouster. I will gather these as I see them and provide my two cents, but I think we need to evaluate the way we played in the tournament before making coaching decisions. This squad did not have Charlie Davies who was starting in last years confederations cup run. The striker pair of Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies could be potent with their speed, height, and ability to hold the ball. This does require that Jozy Altidore continue to grow as a player which is likely since he is only 20 years old. The American squad showed the world the American work ethic as applied to soccer and got good results. They achieved a primary goal of getting to the knockout stage and played hard in a tough fought loss to Ghana. I think they played admirably and should be lauded for their efforts. I onaly see an upside for American soccer and soccer fans. Maybe in four years we will be holding the trophy the world covets most at the end of the 2014 tournament.

World Cup Roundup Day 15: The bracket has been built

All group play is over. It is now win and your in, lose and you go home trophy less. The end of group play has produced some very interesting results. Some people will call this tournament wild or wacky, but in truth it just shows that the sport is globalizing at the top level and that the altitude of most of the venues is affecting the ball and players. The group of death did kill a very potent and good Cote d'Ivoire squad. It is sad to say that Africa only qualified one team for the knockout stage. On the other hand the power of South America was on full display as they qualified all five teams that came to the tournament. South Korea and Japan, qualified for the second round showing the progress of Asian soccer since the 2002 tournament. The way that the bracket is laid out the United States could make a deep run to the semifinals if they can beat Ghana and then defeat the likely favorites Uruguay. A semifinal run would be rather great for American soccer and would probably lead to another generation picking up the sport and progressing it further. There is a distinct possibility that the American squad could be even playing in Johannesburg on July 11th for all the title. We already made this run last year in a smaller tournament that no one expected us to win. This all possible only if the defense remains stout and begins to shut down teams more than in the group stage. I should probably make my pick for who will win the world cup at this point. I am going to make two picks since I am an American and believe that we can it all with some luck. If I had to act as an impartial analyst my pick would be Argentina. They have the fire power in Messi to score goals and the emotional leadership of none other than Maradona to guide them through this journey. They have looked unstoppable in group play. The other team that I look forward to watching is the Netherlands; this may be the year they can achieve the goal that has so long avoided them.

World Cup Roundup Day 13: American success

The US pulled off a stunning last minute game winning goal from Landon Donovan. The US should have won this game earlier if it weren't for the fact that another US goal was disallowed for a questionable offside call. In all the group of surprise did provide some surprises and entertaining soccer in the final matches of group play. The end result is that the US won the group and thus avoid facing Germany in the round of sixteen. I have seen in the last three halves a team that is hungry and willing to take their game to the opponent. It should be noted that we played the weaker two of our first round opponents in those games. The US is going to face an uphill battle as we will likely face the African continents last hope in Ghana. The last US-Ghana match up was four years ago in Germany. I must point out that one of the finalists for the World Cup in 2006 started group play with two ties and victory only to gel and make a tremendous run through the rest of the World Cup tournament. Today we saw the hopes of Slovenia, Algeria, Australia, and Serbia end on the soccer pitches of South Africa. Of particular note is that major European powers are due to meet up in the first round of the knockout stages between England and Germany.

World Cup Roundup Days 9-12

I have to apologize to my readers for not posting for the last few days. The US has positioned itself to win group C tomorrow if they beat Algeria. The greater risk is that England may not qualify if they don't beat Slovenia. The group of death has come back to hurt Cote D'Ivoire and the African nations so far. Today Argentina, South Korea, Mexico, and Uruguay qualified for the knockout stage. France finally scored, but it was too late. I don't expect France to have as many scandals and lack of unity and cohesion under the direction of Laurent Blanc. My only hope is that South Africa will be able to become a strong African soccer power in the World Cups of the future.

World Cup Roundup Day 7: Ou est Zidane?

For those of you who don't read or speak French, the title says where is Zidane. The French who had the perfect opportunity to get a victory and all but assure their qualification into the round of 16. Instead they looked like a bunch of good players who were unable to put any offense together. The sum of the players was better than the whole eleven. Raymond Domenech, the coach of France, is leaving the direction of the national team with an undesirable result. It is pretty clear that the France '98 World Cup winning and '06 runner-up generation is retiring and a new group of players is taking their position. The starting eleven of Les Bleus is going to look different in the next few years as young players take over. The key is for them to find an organizer and director of the offense who is similar to Zinedine Zidane. Without him they clearly looked like they had plenty of offensive power, but no one could set the scoring plays in motion. Hugo Lloris is not responsible for either of the goals given up today. He did his best one on one in the first goal, and he dove in the right direction on the penalty shot. The most likely replacements for Domenech as coach are Didier Deschamps or Laurent Blanc both of whom were on the '98 World Cup winning team. Argentina put up a four spot on South Korea which shows that there is still a significant gap between the quality of confederations. Nigeria suffered elimination when Kaita went off for a red card and lost the game 2-1.
Serbia-Germany is an elimination game for the team from the Balkans. A loss to Germany will send Serbia to their second three and out. The match that matters the most to my readers is the US-Slovenia match. This is a must win for America. A victory is critical to put the US into a qualifying position for the knockout stages. This will be difficult with the stinginess of the Slovenian defense. They beat Russia in a knockout playoff. Algeria-England should be a victory for the English. Anything less and Parliament will start an official inquiry. They are already considering being the first country to not go Green.

World Cup Roundup Day 6: Spanish meltdown

Spain and South Africa suffered crushing defeats. The Spanish were highly tauted for their vaunted record in the last two years that came with their offense. Switzerland effectively shutdown the box and frustrated the Spanish forwards and midfield. Switzerland scored on a counter-attack that took advantage of a weak defense from Spain. I believe that Spain will defeat Honduras which was clearly dominated in all offensive categories by Chile. Group H, which contains Spain, Switzerland, Chile, and Honduras, could be decided only in the the final games of group play. South Africa suffered a painful 3-0 loss. This loss has effectively eliminated the host country from the knockout stage, breaking a record. To make matters worse they have lost several of their starters due to yellow card accumulation and the goalkeeper, Khune, getting a red card. The quality of the South African squad is okay, but the non-starters are much weaker than the starters. I just don't see the South Africans beating France and pulling off a miracle to qualify for the knockout stage. Uruguay is a solid squad and could be very dangerous as a first round knockout stage opponent.
Tomorrow's games include South Korea-Argentina which will decide the winner of group B. Nigeria and Greece is effectively an elimination game with the victor still having an outside shot at making the elimination portion of the tournament. In the case of a tie, qualification will be only held a thin strand of hope. The last game of the day is the marque match up between Mexico and France. This match will decide whether South Africa has even a chance to qualify. A tie will be in the best interest of the Bafana Bafana. I feel that France showed it's offense was potent enough to beat a very unconvincing Mexican side. My prediction is France winning that match probably 1-0.

World Cup Roundup Day 5: The Group of Death

Today the infamous "group of death" started play. Group G includes five time winners Brazil, Portugal, African power Cote d'Ivoire, and North Korea. The most highly anticipated match was between Portugal and Cote d'Ivoire. The end result was a draw which was nearly broken up by Didier Drogba in the 90th minute. Portugal didn't look impressive at all and was relying on Ronaldo to create the scoring. They are sorely missing the play of Luis Figo, who is retired, from their Euro 2004 squad. The Ivorians looked like a solid squad that was able to create scoring chances with Drogba on the bench. I look forward to more games with Cote d'Ivoire. Brazil got an unconvincing 2-0 win against North Korea. I was slightly disappointed that Brazil didn't score more goals, but the Koreans were well organized having been playing together as a squad for several years. The Korean defense proved effective to stymie the Brazilian samba style offense. Understandably Brazil has brought a squad that is more defensive in nature, but their offense has been severely hampered in this game and last year's Confederations Cup final against the US. We may see Brazil make an exit from the tournament prior to the semifinals if they continue this quality of play. New Zealand provided quite some excitement by scoring towards the end of second half stoppage time to get a draw against Slovakia.
The most interesting game tomorrow should be the Spain-Switzerland game. Spain is highly touted as a strong contender for the cup due to their offensive prowess. They are also the current European champions which is no small feat. Switzerland were good enough to qualify for the knockout stage in 2006, but is this team as good. Honduras-Chile is an interesting South American-Central American match. Chile was the top qualifier from South America whereas Honduras qualified in the last spot behind the US and Mexico on the last day of qualifying. The US and Mexico have shown in the last few World Cups that they are not cupcake victories in the group stages and have the capability to advance through the knockout stages. The key question is whether there is any other quality sides in our region. If Honduras were to win or tie this would be a major wake-up call that North and Central America are beginning to mature into a strong region for international football. The last match of the day is South Africa-Uruguay. I feel that South Africa buoyed by the home crowd of vuvuzeulas will qualify for the knockout stages, but this match will be important as a victory will put them in the drivers seat to participate in the third week of the tournament.