WORLD CUP 2010

Happy hour starts in 5 minutes
And one last program note, for anyone that has TIVO, or who for any vampires here:

ESPN will be broadcasting their 30 at 30 special again, at 2:30 am, either Friday morning, or Saturday morning.

The show is called "The Two Escobars," and it is the story of the mafia trying to influence the WC.

It is supposed to be an amazing show.
 
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I started watching it the other night, but I was exhausted and couldn't keep up with all the subtitles.
 
Well, looks like the US has a real chance at getting out of the Quad that includes Ghana, S. Korea and Uruguay. Then things are likely to get ugly if they reach the Semi's where a meeting with either the Netherlands or Brazil looms, assuming Brazil tops the Group of Death with a win or draw over Portugal tomorrow.

I'll be glued to my computer monitor for that Brazil/Portugal match tomorrow. That should be some show.
 
If you can get to a TV or have access to a computer with a beefy connection to the internet so you can stream ESPN3.com, the Chile/Spain game is definitely worth watching. These guys are getting after it aggressively.

It has the additional drama of the Group dynamics. If Spain beats Chile and the Swiss top Honduras, someone is going home with 6 points which is seriously tough. Six points would have won two of other Groups outright (including the US's own Group C).
 
Why did that Chilean keeper leave the goal like that? Sheesh. Bad decision there. 1-0 Spain.

I'm switching back and forth between this asd Honduras/Switzerland but the Spain-
Chile game is probably a bit better. Spain started out kinda flat though.
 
And now, down a man and losing 2-0, Chile has a tough mountain to climb. The second half is likely to be much less entertaining. :(
 
Honduras 0, Switzerland 0. The Swiss are out, and Honduras gave lessons on how close it's possible to come to scoring goals without actually scoring any. Interesting.
 
Anyone else have pterodactyls in their stomach?
 
Well, through the first 10 minutes, our boys once again look like they overslept for a pickup game at the local sandlot. No energy, no cohesion, no sense of the moment ... nothing. And predictably we've conceded yet another soft early goal.

Ghana's making us look like we dont' belong.

Sigh.
 
Findley has an uncontested shot from inside the area and bounces it off the keeper.

Right there is the difference between the USA and the legitimate contenders.

We don't have finishers.
 
I beg to differ, Om. We have finishers, they just don't play Forward. Donovan and Dempsey are the only real finishers on the squad but they both play wide most of the time.

Rough first half although not as bad as the first half against Slovenia.
 
Can't agree with you, Neo. Donovan's almost at world-class level as a striker, but we have no one else who has the assassin's cold-blooded mentality that the real goal-scorer's have.

We've seen it twice already today ... Findley's effort earlier was too quick, unimaginative, tentative. Bradley's a few seconds ago was by the numbers ... a guy like Messi, or Suarez from Uruguay, they don't just blindly turn that ball toward goal and hope it goes in, they look up and either control the ball or at least adjust their shot to the keeper. Bradley just turned it in and hoped. Nothing wrong with that, given the skill level ... just not the kind of individual brilliance you see from the teams we'll be watching come final four weekend.

Not ragging too much here, just recognizing that we're still not producing the true world class finishers. It's going to take another few years.
 
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Unbelievable.

Total defensive breakdown in extra time in the elimination round of the World Cup.

Couldn't even get 5 minutes in.
 
We look used up ... 102 minutes in. Can't say I blame us, but it's hard to watch the guys want to but not quite be able to get there.
 
I'm thinking Coach Bradley goofed with the original lineup. Clark never looked good in the middle with Bradley and so the coach had to go to the bench way to early. If Edu comes in at halftime rather than the 30 minute mark I think we would have been better off.

Also not sure whey the Coach is so enamored of Findley either. Dempsey/Altidore with Feilhabor out on the wing looks so much more effective and has every time they put that combination together. I know Findley is fast but if he can't find the net all the speed in the world won't make a difference.

The other thing that has to change, and it has nothing to do with "finishers", is the way this team comes out and concedes a goal early. This is 3 matches out of 4 in the World Cup where they gave up one in what...the first 10 minutes? From that point on, Ghana could lay back and make our boys work harder. What is with the poor early defense?

Tough loss. Ghana is becoming to the US Soccer team what Tampa Bay is to the Redskins. :(
 
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Hard to feel too bad about it ending this way (although obviously, it's a disappointment). Ghana had the weight of the African continent on their shoulders, and played accordingly. That 2nd goal was a thing of beauty, nearly indefensible. We looked like one should have expected...we gave our best but were just one miracle short of reaching our goal. For the record, Altidore had a terrible World Cup. He failed to finish at least 5 plays that could easily have been goals. The guy may be a great player, but he didn't show up for the US squad.

Regardless - the Americans showed a lot of grit and determination, just couldn't finish enough plays to advance.
 
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