Thoughts on the USA vs. Algeria Game and the USA's Chances in the Knockout Rounds

The USA vs. Algeria match yesterday was probably the most intense soccer game this country has ever partaken in, and I can say I was there to witness it in person. Did I have faith through in through? In all honesty, I did not. I wasn’t sure if the goal we needed to progress was ever going to come. But I assure you, when it did, I cheered as loudly and as passionately as I ever have in my entire life. Never has a sporting event moved me to tears, but yesterday did. It was the best sporting event I will possibly ever go to, and this is somebody who has seen his hometown team play in, and win, the Super Bowl. I will never experience what I went through yesterday.

The day started much earlier than it should have: 5:30 AM. We were told to wake up at this time by the company that we got our tickets through, despite our pickup time being 7:20. It also ended at 5:30 AM the next day when we finally got back to our hotel, with our company putting us on the 2:40 AM flight from Pretoria. A long day that had me truly frustrated with the people who were playing a huge part in my getting to live my dream of seeing the World Cup live. Truly cannot complain though, they got us to Pretoria (capital of South Africa, and is an absolutely gorgeous town) and they gave us great seats: we were in the lower deck, about twenty five rows up, just behind the Algeria bench. We also were pretty close to former president Bill Clinton, and were able to get some fantastic pictures of him looking out over the field from his suite.

The lineup that Bob Bradley fielded had three changes from the one that played against Slovenia: with Herculez Gomez, Maurice Edu and Jonathon Bornstein starting in place of Robbie Findley, Jose Torres and Oguchi Onyewu. The inclusion of Bornstein was a terrifying prospect to me: he is, in my opinion, the least talented player on the USA roster. However, he is the only natural left back that we have, hence why he was included to replace Onyewu, who Bradley must feel has not been up to snuff in South Africa. I have to say that this defense appeared much better than the one that took the field against Slovenia, mostly because of how organized they were. Carlos Bocanegra was very good in central defense, being much more vocal than Onyewu was in the previous matches, meaning that Jay DeMerit could play with a little more confidence knowing where Bocanegra was. Steve Cherundolo was our MVP in the first half, with much of the offense flowing through him on the right flank. He also did a great job of neutralizing Nadir Belhadj, Algeria’s talented left winger. And Bornstein, as much as he terrifies me, played a decent game. He was conservative and consistent, and proved that he can have a role on this team as long as he attempts to play within his skill level and does not try to make surging runs down the left flank that he simply can’t make. The biggest thing for the American defense was that they gave the Algerians the early goal opportunity that the Americans always concede, but the Algerians were unable to take advantage of it, hitting the crossbar instead of finding the back of the net.

The midfield had a quieter game than they did against Slovenia and England. Despite this, I think Edu is the man to start the next match against Ghana; he appears to bring the best out of Michael Bradley, and that is crucial to the USA’s success. Landon Donovan had an inconsistent game, Clint Dempsey missed a sitter (and scored a goal that was incorrectly disallowed), and Bradley played his usual game of controlling the offense going forward and making the occasional surging run into the box. For me, Bradley has been our second most important player this tournament behind Tim Howard. I’m not trying to snub Landon, who without the USA would not be in the Round of 16, but Bradley has been fantastic this whole tournament. He kept the fantastic midfielders of England in check, then played an all around superb game against Slovenia that culminated with him scoring the all-important tying goal and contributed heavily to the USA keeping a shutout for the first time this tournament against Algeria. He’s done this all without any continuity in terms of who he has played with in the center midfield position. Four different players have played alongside him there (Edu, Torres, Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber, who also played well against Algeria coming on as a substitute), and Bradley has done a great job of adjusting to each of their styles of play, continuing to be a productive player along the way. At his young age, he would be a perfect pickup for a big European club after this World Cup. If it actually happens I am not sure of, but has he earned that big money move? Yes

The forwards of this USA team are very tough to rate because the job of the forward is to score, something none of them have done yet. Despite this, the forwards have had a good tournament in my opinion, and had another consistent performance against Algeria. Herculez Gomez was a good substitute in the starter position for Robbie Findley (who was suspended through receiving two yellow cards in the previous games), but wasn’t quite active enough for my liking. He had one great chance, but had a bad angle, and the Algerian keeper parried it away. Jozy Altidore, despite missing a sitter from six yards away, had a very good game. He is the type of player who gets better as the game goes on because his unique combination of size and speed wears down defenders. Are you aware he’s drawn 6 yellow cards this tournament from defenders? That’s a sick number of cards, proving just how difficult Altidore can be. The next step for him is technique though. Too many times his bad first touch ended an American chance to score. He has plenty of time to get better though since he is only 20 years old, making him an exciting prospect for the future.

As the game went on, I began to get less and less confident about our chances. I’d seen this too many times in sports: one team dominates and creates chances to win the game, but are unable to take advantage of them. This appeared to be another one of those games, especially heading into stoppage time. That was until Landon Donovan scored the biggest goal of his career, picking up a loose ball in the box and tucking it home after a Clint Dempsey shot, from a Jozy Altidore pass, was deflected by the Algerian keeper. I didn’t have a great view of the goal as it was on the other side of the stadium, but when I saw the ball go into the net, I, along with the other Yanks in the stands, erupted into cheers of jubilation and relief. I hugged my dad, mom, sister, and any American near me. I even hugged a couple of random South Africans behind me who didn’t care who won the game. I then broke down and shed a few tears: I had dreamt of attending this World Cup for six years and my family had traveled a far way to get to South Africa; one second it was to watch our boys finish third and miss out on advancing, to seeing USA soccer history. That goal, and the win that came with it, took the USA to the top of their World Cup group, the first time we’ve achieved this (we also set a World Cup record for least amount of minutes leading a match by a group winner, with two minutes in the lead). With this in mind, as the final whistle blew, I stepped on a few empty seats in front of me, raised my USA scarf high above my head, and proudly chanted USA along with the rest of the crowd. It was a moment of pure elation, where everything seemed right in the world.

I can only thank the USA players for providing this fantastic personal moment, whose performance truly epitomized their strengths as a team: grit, determination and desire gave that team victory yesterday and advanced them, not skill. It’s something the 2006 edition of this team sorely lacked, but it’s a quality this team appears to be overflowing with. Every player hustled; every player wanted the team to succeed. Not every team has this, just ask the French and Italians (delighted both teams are out by the way) and this quality is our team’s greatest strength.

Looking ahead, the USA appears to have a manageable draw to make it to the semi finals. Their Round of 16 opponents is Ghana, with their potential quarterfinal adversaries being either Uruguay or South Korea. All three teams are beatable; the USA shouldn’t be intimidated by any of them. That said, the Ghana game is scaring me greatly. Ghana will most likely be the only African team left in the competition, and will be motivated to advance to the quarterfinals more than any other team in the field. They will also have the support of the rest of the world; everyone wants Africa to do well this year (myself included). There will be no neutrals in Rustenburg on Saturday; the stadium will be all Ghana, with a few Americans sprinkled in.

That said, I am encouraged by how Ghana has played so far in this tournament. They really have not been that great of a side, scoring only two goals, both from the penalty spot. The Ghanaians were lucky to take all three points from a woeful Serbian side (my bad on that one), tied a lackluster Australia team without their key player, and were dominated by Germany despite only losing 1-0. Ghana is also a team with a weak goalkeeper in Richard Kingson, so there could be chances galore in front of the net for our boys. Considering the USA’s other potential opponent was Germany, the Americans have to be satisfied. The Ghana game is anything but a freebee though, and they will have to bring their A-game to have a chance of winning. That said, if the Americans get past Ghana, making the semifinals is expected from my point of view; when you get that far in the tournament and you either have Uruguay waiting for you, who has yet to play any team of true skill (a Mexican team that was all but guaranteed of advancing doesn’t count) or South Korea who simply aren’t as good as your team, you must no longer hope but expect victory. That is the difference between good teams and great teams: taking the field with the expectation of victory. I anticipate Uruguay to be waiting in the quarterfinals. If we get past Ghana, the chances of the USA making its deepest run at a World Cup in the modern era will never be higher. The question is whether they will take this golden opportunity ahead of them. For their sake I hope they do, as they will truly never have a better draw to get to the semifinals than the one laid out in front of them now.

Thoughts on Upsets Galore and African Disappointment

Today was a day mostly spent shopping for me, so I do not have any major experiences to talk about. I did stand in line with my Dad to try to get tickets to the North Korea-Portugal match, but unfortunately we were unable to. What made the day a slightly sad day was that North Korea got absolutely obliterated by Portugal. So much for the whole Portugal playing down to their opponent theory I had, although the Koreans did play very well in the first half before tiring out.

This result was bad for two reasons. The first is that it eliminated the North Koreans from advancing. Anyone who has read this blog (the proud and few) know that I have a small crush on the team from this mysterious, militant communist nation, and their involvement has been one of my major headlines of this tournament. Just sad to know we only have one more game, hope they get a point. This comes to my second reason for disliking the Portuguese win today: it effectively has eliminated the Ivory Coast (North Korea’s next opponent) from advancing, making it look like Africa will not advance a single team this year. This is truly depressing; the South African people have been fantastic hosts, and while they appear to support every team here (except France, nobody likes them), they really want the African teams to do well. This is supposed to be Africa’s tournament: if no African teams even manage to make the Round of 16 then this tournament will lose a lot of its flavor. Ghana is in the best position to advance, but they face Germany, who will most likely need a win to advance: you would be foolish to bet against the Germans in this situation. The team with the best chance in my eyes is actually South Africa. The French are imploding (hilariously I might add. I wonder if they now wish the Thierry Henry handball did not happen so they wouldn’t have to go through this embarrassment), meaning they’re ripe to be slaughtered. South Africa will be motivated; I suspect they will win by multiple goals. What they need is Uruguay to beat Mexico by multiple goals too, and they will have a chance. I’m not counting the hosts out yet, I know the odds are against them, but crazier things have happened in this sport (USA advancing at last year’s Confederations Cup). That said, I would be foolish to anticipate this actually happening: Africa will be lucky to get one team this year in the knockout rounds.

It is odd how poorly Africa has done this year, since this year’s tournament has really been that of upsets. Actually it’s hard to call these results upsets because this field is so even, so I suppose a better description would be traditional powers losing to normally lesser teams. It’s hard to pick a favorite as there are so many to choose from, but here are the choices: New Zealand (tying both Slovakia and Italy), Japan (beating Cameroon), Switzerland (beating Spain), Serbia (beating Germany), Algeria (tying England), Mexico (beating France), Paraguay (tying Italy) and Uruguay (tying France) all fit this description. I’d have to pick the New Zealanders as my favorite, especially the tie with Italy, since the Italians were beyond lucky to get out of there with a point. I’m aware they hit the post a few times, but they also blatantly had the referee giving them every decision, and assuming that every time one of their players was on the ground it was the result of a New Zealander fouling them. Truly pathetic Italy, congratulations on needing to dive to get results against New Zealand who is made up of pretty much semi-pro players. I really dislike this edition of the Italians: uncreative, old, cocky and as I’ve alluded to, diving more than trying to play productive soccer.

The Swiss have also been fantastic this year, despite losing to a very good Chile side today. Did you know that the Swiss have only allowed 1 goal in their past 6 World Cup matches? Crazy statistic, this team is truly underrated. Their emergence as a good team could also be bad for Spain (currently up 1-0 on Honduras), who may not advance. The Spanish still have to play Chile, who are sky high in terms of confidence right now and will be tough to beat. That will be a Spanish victory, but it will be close, and goal difference will come into play.. How disappointing would it be if the Spanish do not advance? The tournament favorites not making it out of their group? That would not be good for the tournament either, especially with how so many good teams are on down years.

Speaking of how poor traditional powers have been this year, I realized a fun fact today: the four semifinalists from the 2006 World Cup (Italy, France, Germany and Portugal) have as many wins at this World Cup as the four Asian representatives (South Korea, Japan, North Korea and Australia): 2. Not only that, the two teams who have those wins (Germany and Portugal) both lost in the semi finals, meaning neither of the finalists from the last tournament have a win yet. They currently stand at a collective record of 0 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, with their opponents being New Zealand, Paraguay, Uruguay and Mexico. The last time one of these teams made at least the quarterfinals of a World Cup tournament was 1986, when Mexico made it to the final 8 as hosts (New Zealand and Paraguay have never made it that far, and Uruguay hasn’t since 1970). This fact shows just how unconventional this tournament is shaking out to be, and how weak the normally strong teams are. Because of this, I believe it raises the chances of the World crowning brand new champions this year. My pick? The Dutch, who are yet to slip up in South Africa, while talented teams around them, are doing it daily. These types of tournaments are really the best kind. Ones where traditional powers dominate, like 2006, are fun but they aren’t nearly as enthralling: watching nations’ teams break new ground is always more fun then watching teams search for more tournament victories. And I believe it is this type of fun that we, as a collective audience, have to look forward to.

Thoughts on the Cape Town Fan Zone

I just got back from an exciting safari, where I saw most of the fantastic animals that South Africa has to offer (unfortunately no giraffes): hippos, water buffalo, springboxes, zebras, crocodiles, warthogs, ostriches, lions and cheetahs (a huge moment for my older sister Anna, who has wanted to see cheetahs in Africa since doing a report on them in first grade). It is 3 PM now in Cape Town, and the Slovakia vs. Paraguay game is on. I realize that I didn’t even remotely mention what I did on the first day here in Cape Town, which was going to the official fan zone. The fan zone is a giant square in the middle of the city (the one in Cape Town happens to be where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech after being in jail) where there are huge televisions, tons of fans from all over the world, vendors and food. Fantastic atmosphere, simply one for an individual who loves the game. The games I saw were Argentina vs. South Korea and Nigeria vs. Greece.

The first game was the Argentina vs. South Korea game. I found myself rooting for South Korea, despite having Argentina in the finals of my predictions. This was partially because of how much fun it would be to have an Asian team do well at this tournament, but also because there was a huge contingent of South Korean fans there. Mostly college kids, this group of roughly 40 people spent the entire game chanting in Korean, no matter what was happening in the game. It is good they were so positive because their team was promptly played off the park by Argentina. They even smiled when young Italian fans no older than 12, still bitter over getting eliminated by the Koreans in 2002, ran over and flipped them off every time Argentina scored. Still, this did not deter their spirit. The best part of the game was when Lee Chung-Yong pounced on a mistake by Argentine defender Martin Demichellis, and calmly slid the ball into the back of the net right before halftime. After Chung-Yong buried his shot, the Koreans exploded and began running around the square, waving their flag with huge smiles on their face. A couple began high fiving random people around them, which I returned enthusiastically with a big smile on my face, trying to let them know that I was firmly on their side. It wasn’t meant to be though, as a second half brace by Gonzalo Higuain (who had a hat trick on the day) sealed the Koreans fate. After the game though, the disappointed Koreans sang their hearts out, letting the rest of the square know that their World Cup hopes were anything but over.

Now after that game I thought the Koreans were dedicated and crazy, but they paled in comparison to the Nigerians. About ten minutes before the game, my dad and I began to hear loud drums and chanting. It was coming from a distant corner of the square. We headed over to find not one or two, but three large groups of Nigerians, all dressed in vibrant green, making as much noise as possible. Why there were three factions was confusing to us, but we realized that the different groups could easily be individuals with different political beliefs. A country rife will political unrest, this could easily be the answer. It didn’t really matter to us what they believed in though, since all three groups were attempting to make the most noise. There also appeared to be some form of tribal praying as well, as one group huddled around a giant sack-like object that one of their members were wearing and began dancing in unison. Not quite sure what was happening there, but as a spectacle it was great. Eventually, the three groups got together in front of the massive screen where the game was being shown, and all three joined in singing songs and supporting their team. Soccer unites everyone, and I felt I was witnessing something important.

The game was not a great one for the Nigerians though. When they scored, the place erupted, as most people there were rooting for Nigeria over Greece (most African teams are receiving the support of the South Africans since Bafana Bafana appears to be heading out of the competition). But after the red card, it was a depressing affair as it became apparent that Greece were much better than anticipated. The Greeks eventually beat the Nigerians, despite heroics from the Super Eagles’ goalkeeper, 2-1, effectively eliminating Nigeria from the competition. It will take a miracle to see them through, so it was not fun to be around the hundreds of Nigerian fans who had much higher hopes than what had just transpired on the pitch.

The fan zone is one of many fantastic experiences I’ve had since being in South Africa. This place is fantastic, I’m truly in heaven here. Ok well, the New Zealand vs. Italy game is about to come on: come on you All Whites!

Thoughts on the USA vs. Slovenia Match

Sorry to those who expected me to respond immediately after the USA vs. Slovenia game, I simply needed an entire day to pull together all my thoughts after an emotional day that rendered me absolutely exhausted (this is of course assuming there is any demand by people who are interested in what I'm rambling about on here, but I know this is not the case). For most Americans, the game started at 10 AM and ended roughly around noon. For me, it started at 3 AM and ended around 1:30 AM the next day when I went to sleep. A long and exciting day, but one that I will remember for the rest of my life, and one that had a happy ending.

We left for the airport at 7 AM (the game was in Johannesburg, we’re staying in Cape Town), but I awoke at 3 AM simply out of excitement. I felt like a kid before Christmas Day, but multiplied by 1000. When FIFA decided to stage the World Cup in South Africa some six years ago, I’ve wanted to go. The second I heard the World Cup would be in Africa, I knew I had to go to a match. It’s been so far away, far away for a good chunk of my life, so please excuse me for being too excited to be troubled by sleep on the eve of something so major to me. I thought it would be best to lower my heart rate though so I wouldn’t suffer a stroke that would keep me from attending the match. My cure was listening to the calm music of The Middle East, Regina Spektor and The Dodos (all music given to me by my lovely girlfriend Becca, so thank you for assisting in the prevention of my death).

Eventually, my parents knocked on the door, I showered and we departed for the airport. Everything went smoothly until we got to David, our driver to the game. David, working his first day on the job, was able to get us to Ellis Park easily, but not find the parking lot we were supposed to be in. This resulted in us being driven all over the terrible area surrounding the stadium for an hour and a half, during which I saw my family’s emotions range from worry, to annoyance to rage. Eventually, David found our lot (right next to the stadium) and we got out. The atmosphere of the event wasn’t comparable to anything I’ve been to, and this is coming from someone who has seen his hometown team in the Super Bowl. Everywhere you went there were crazy costumes, vuvuzelas blaring (overrated, not in any way annoying and should be allowed) and drunk Slovenians screaming at the top of their lungs. We Yanks outnumbered them and were quite feisty, but there was something special about the Slovenians; their country is not well known (often confused for Slovakia), especially for its sports, so they were clearly excited and proud to be in the world’s spotlight for once.

We took out seats, which were fantastic despite being in the upper deck and got prepared to watch the game. Our section ended up being pretty heavily Slovenian, so we couldn’t scream “USA!” too loudly for fear of being attacked. Then the starting lineups marched on and the national anthems started playing. Not going to lie, I got emotional once the players stepped on the field. I suddenly realized the magnitude of this moment, how much time I had spent imagining it and how there was no more waiting, that I was experiencing it. I sang our anthem like I never had before (emphasizing the “O!” like any proud Orioles fan), and then the match began.

The first half was a nightmare. The first Slovenian goal resulted in our row getting drenched in beer that was chucked into the air by the jubilated Slovenians in front of us. They yelled and taunted at us, but then apologized profusely for the beer spilling. It’s kind of hard to hate a country that has only existed twenty years and has a population the size of Brooklyn. Anyway, after the goal went in I immediately began to feel an intense pain in my right side. I honestly thought I needed to go to the hospital, I hadn’t felt pain like this in my life. I knew it was a result of my fear of what may happen during the match, but for a few minutes I thought I needed medical assistance. The USA rallied though, with some fantastic chances being created that really should’ve been put away before the half was out (I should state that my wild card for the USA, Jose Torres, got the start I was clamoring for, but was absolutely awful. My bad, but still think he has a role to play for us in the future if not at this World Cup). After a particularly close one where a Slovenian defender stepped right in before Landon Donovan could pounce on it on the goal line, I had this sudden feeling that Slovenia were going to score again. Sure enough, a long pass, a misstep by Jay DeMerit and it was 2-0 to Slovenia.

Absolute shock and horror were my emotions at halftime. And a little bit of anger: I’d waited for this moment for years, and this was what I was going to see? I kind of wanted to go in to the locker room and yell at the players myself, but even if I could have this arranged, I wasn’t physically able to because my right side hurt so bad I could barely stand. But after the second half started, I sensed a new sense of urgency in the team: this was it, their backs were pretty much against the wall, they had to do something. The way this started was Landon Donovan’s goal, but Donovan did so much more after it. He was fantastic, and provided that go to player the USA has for so long desired in big games. That was the difference between this game and the Ghana game 4 years ago: we had a player who took the game and put it on his shoulders, pretty much saying “I’m going to carry you guys to a result”. We controlled the match, causing our row to get much more vocal and the Slovenians to go dead silent, after being raucous the entire first half. The goal was coming and finally it came with Michael Bradley finding the net. His celebration was great; the look on his face was of pure joy, relief and excitement, just fantastic to watch. He’s a potential captain for our team, that moment proved it. It was also great in the stands as the Slovenians were dead silent and shocked, ripe to have USA flags thrust in the faces and suffer “USA!” chants. Although I’ve stated I don’t have anything against their country, in that moment, I wanted nothing more for them to know that my team, my country, had just overcome theirs against all the odds. In their face. Also, thankfully, my intense pain all of a sudden left. Amazing what a goal can do to one’s health.

Then came the Maurice Edu incident, which is what every USA fan is talking about. Should the goal have been allowed? Yes, I’ve seen numerous replays and it should’ve been allowed, especially with the amount of shoving the Slovenians were doing. Edu is innocent, there is no doubt his goal was fine. I personally do not care. The USA gave up two goals and was lucky to come back against a very defensive and organized team, one that doesn’t blow leads often. That is the story for me: the USA was almost all but out of the competition and clawed their way back in. Their play in the first half has made them lucky to still be alive, so they shouldn’t complain too much. Now, if they still don’t advance then I will definitely feel a little bit robbed because we did the work to win that game. That said, if we do not advance it’s because we choked against Algeria, an inferior team we should beat, so even then I really won’t be able to complain. At this point I’m thankful we’re still alive (and actually would prefer to finish second so as to avoid the Germans and get the Serbs, who are all of a sudden not pathetic anymore).

After the game, the USA fans were ecstatic while the Slovenian fans were distraught. I consoled a few of the ones who spilled the beer in front of me; I would feel awful in their shoes, as would most sports fans. My spirits couldn’t have been higher though, as I proudly held my newly bought USA scarf above my head and chanted my country’s initials. My actions caused me to get spotted by an ABC reporter who interviewed me on camera for about 3 minutes which was fun. I didn’t end up on the news, but my Dad took tons of photos of me being interviewed, so I have proof this actually happened. Then we got back to the airport safely (no miscues by David), and got ready to leave. At this moment I immediately felt exhausted. I’ve never been that tired, not even when I got dehydrated at the Obama inauguration. I suppose this is what happens when one cares far too much about their team; I’d say this is a symptom of World Cup Fever. I literally passed out the second I got in my seat on the airplane, and pretty much don’t remember anything until the next morning when we awoke to go to Robben Island (which was a great time, very moving as well).

Overall, I would say the experience exceeded all expectations I had, which is saying something. The come from behind aspect of it was great, although a win would’ve been great. Really cannot complain though, especially after that first half. In terms of the USA advancing, Algeria still being alive does us no good. Algeria have a history of bagging it when they do not have a mathematical chance of advancing, resulting in them getting blown out, which would’ve been nice for us considering the magnitude of this game. It’s a tricky game, but I still like us to win and advance. The key is an early goal; if the Algerians start to see no hope early, they could still bag it and we could win big. It is not a necessity, but a goal in the first fifteen minutes and I would almost guarantee a USA victory.

Who goes with us is tough though. England has been dreadful, and Slovenia really does deserve to advance. Unfortunately for Slovenia though, I don’t see it. We Americans call our game a comeback; they call theirs a massive choke. That is a tough one for them to recover from, especially when their opponent is a talented team like England. I pick the English to win, meaning the USA could get first on goal differential. Either way I really do not care: bring on the Serbs, Germans or Ghanaians (sorry Aussies, don’t see it happening), the spirit of this team really could take us to the quarterfinals. The Serbs have been known to choke, the Ghanaians are inconsistent and this isn’t Germany’s year (Lukas Podolski’s failed penalty shot was their first at the World Cup since 1982. If that doesn’t spell out it isn’t their year, I don’t know what does.) The Americans are a good team, not a good collection of individual talent, but a good team, something many teams are not at this final (England, France, Cameroon etc.). But I’m getting ahead of myself: let’s just hope for a win against Algeria, that’s all Americans, can ask for right now. Thankfully for us though, I think our boys will deliver, and I will be lucky enough to witness it live.

Well I’m off to sleep. It’s 11:40 here and I’ve got to wake up at 5 AM and go on a safari. Hopefully won’t get stamped on by an elephant. Enjoy the soccer everyone and leave your thoughts and opinions!

Thoughts on the Last Matches of the First Round of the World Cup

Since the last time I posted, so much has happened, much of which I have not seen, that is making this tournament look more and more like a tournament for the underdog, just like the 2002 edition of the World Cup. The biggest upset was the Switzerland over Spain match. This has really put a dent into the Spanish quest for their first World Cup because if Switzerland win out and take first place, that means the Spanish would have to settle for second and a round of 16 match with (most likely) Brazil. I’m not shocked the Spanish got beaten, since I believe their backline is average at best, but how early in the tournament it was and who the opponent was. This is one of the worst losses in Spanish football history: no way should a team with the talent of the Spanish lose to Switzerland. This result has put all the big boys on guard I expect; any team can beat any other on any given day here, and if you get caught napping like the Spanish did today, it could mean your chances of winning go down the toilet. I’m not saying the Spanish are done, but they did themselves no service today with that loss. They must now rely on Switzerland slipping up somewhere, but if that squad was able to beat Spain, they should be able to take Chile and Honduras.

I would also like to state that my favorite teams so far have been the real Asian teams (why Australia is in the Asian confederation still puzzles me. Also, totally called the Aussie flop that is about to take place). As I stated earlier, South Korea were a true joy to watch, Japan totally deserved their victory over Cameroon (who I had in the semifinals? That looks like a great call right now) and North Korea looks very difficult. I’m developing a soft spot for North Korea, with their team spirit and lack of physical size making them the ultimate underdog at this tournament. But their tactics play to their strength: they generally have seven guys on defense not counting the goalie. Not only that, they’re brave defenders and are totally for the team (while I don’t think communism is a good way to run a country, it isn’t the worst way to run a soccer team). It really is a shame this bunch come from an anti democratic, militaristic state because if they weren’t I would’ve totally jumped on the bandwagon already. I’ve already got one foot in; the whole communist thing is a turn off for me though. They deserved to get something from the Brazil match, and they may actually get one off of Portugal and Ivory Coast. By the way, that game looked dreadfully boring from what I’ve seen, with the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo, who livens up a game simply by stepping on the pitch and being the douche that he is. But back to North Korea: all I’m saying is that Brazil were LUCKY to get all three points from that fixture, and since Portugal and Ivory Coast aren’t nearly as good as Brazil, one has to think the Koreans have a legitimate chance at getting a result before heading home. Also, no player seems to care more about how his team does than Jong Tae-Se, who would literally start to cry if he did something that wasn’t productive for his team. I realize that I’m going against my duties as an American, but I don’t care: GO NORTH KOREA!

The New Zealand tie was also truly a great one. On this blog, I didn’t even think the All Whites were worth my putting in the effort to research them, but they proved me wrong. Their goal may end up being the best celebrated one of the whole tournament, as I’m pretty sure nobody within the New Zealand camp actually thought they would get a point in South Africa, let alone score a goal. Slovakia has to be kicking themselves right now: they let the whipping boys of the group take two points from them. That’s going to come back to bite them, especially with Italy in their group. I do not favor the Italians, and really thought my prediction of a 1-0 Paraguay victory would come true, but the Slovakians have pretty much handed the Italians advancement on a silver platter with this dud of a game. Frustrating from the perspective of someone who finds the Italians a great bore to watch, but they could still get the Dutch in the Round of 16, which would mean curtains for the Azurri. Also, the team I’m angriest at is Serbia. My dark horses looked like absolute jokes against Ghana, and now look like they have no chance of advancing, needing the beat electric Germany to have a shot. And to think I almost changed my pick to have the Serbs finish first: thank god I’m not that incompetent or I would shut down this blog so I would stop humiliating myself. It’s tough knowing two of your semifinal picks are on the brink of elimination, and have only played one match. It’s also comforting when your winners are known for being the best choke artists in the world, and that the last semifinal team is coached by an absolute lunatic. What was I thinking with these picks? Oh well, got to stick by them now. Mostly, I’m not going to let them ruin my watching of this tournament, because if my happiness was based off of my predictions, I would become thoroughly depressed.

I’m not sure when I will post again as I am in Africa experiencing this World Cup first hand, but I will at the latest try to post after the USA vs. Slovenia game and let people know what it was like to go to the game (and if the vuvuzelas are as bad as advertised). Until then, have fun watching the games and look for me on the TV screen during Friday’s game!

Thoughts on the Trip to Cape Town

Well, where do I begin? I suppose I should start with my location: I am sitting at the desk in my hotel room in Cape Town, South Africa. After six years of dreaming about going to this fantastic spectacle, and roughly 42 hours of traveling (including a layover in Dubai) I am finally attending the World Cup.

The trip was long, but surprisingly not that stressful. Much of that has to do with Emirates Airlines. If anyone reading this ever has a chance to fly with that airline, I would suggest taking it: it will change your standards for airlines. The main thing that is fantastic about modern Emirates planes is the ICE system, which stands for Information Communication and Entertainment. The seat in front of you has a tv on the back of it, and you are given a remote. With this remote, you can choose from roughly 200 movies to watch, a whole host of television shows, games to play but most importantly, World Cup matches to watch. Granted, they were the days’ previous matches, but since our hotel in Dubai didn’t have the Brazil vs. North Korea game, I was very happy ICE was playing it. Oh and speaking of Dubai, I can tell the two days I spend there after South Africa are going to be wild. It’s like a much crazier Las Vegas in a much stricter society, making for an interesting combo. Also, when we landed there at roughly 11 PM, it was 111 degrees. Well at least I’m allowed to wear shorts there. In the United Arab Emirates, women are supposed to be completely covered except for their faces while in public, meaning my mom and sister are going to have to wear khaki pants and light sweaters while there. They’re trying to get me to suffer along with them by forcing me to wear pants, as opposed to my preferred shorts: we’ll see how that goes for them.

After sleeping (sort of) in Dubai, we boarded the 9 AM flight for Cape Town, arriving in the rainbow nation around 5 PM. We were off the ground for literally five minutes when the first vuvuzela horn was heard. We hadn’t even gotten out of the airport yet (and as I type this at 10:30 PM, at a fairly isolated hotel, plugged into my IPod, and South Africa having just lost to Uruguay, I still can hear the dull horns. I’d like to state up front that before going to the tournament, I was very pro-vuvuzela. We shall see if that remains the case. The hotel we are at is fantastic. It’s tucked away in a nice neighborhood and has a gorgeous view of the whole city. I was a little worried when we got off the plane, since the first thing you see once you depart the Cape Town airport is the many miles of townships, giving me all of a sudden this horrible vision of our hotel being a tiny shack with mud floors. The townships seem endless, it makes one wonder just how many people reside in them. They’re also much worse in person than they are in movies or any other media: I wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to live in those awful conditions. Really reminds a tourist that this beautiful nation was under the rule of apartheid no less than fifteen years ago.

Upon my family's arrival at the hotel, we relaxed and then watched the South Africa vs. Uruguay game at the bar in the lobby. The game was a depressing affair, as Uruguay dominated the game, led by Diego Forlan, winning it 3-0. To make matters worse, South Africa’s number one goalkeeper was shown a red card for fouling Luis Suazo in the penalty area, meaning he will not be available for the now must win match against France. Although the outlook is bleak, I’m not counting out South Africa yet. Either a win by France, or a tie means that South Africa could advance with a win against the French. I know their backs are against the wall, but being the hosts comes with the added perk of the enormous stadium’s crowd backing you. It also doesn’t hurt when France could’ve easily imploded by then, so their rocky situation may help Bafana Bafana sneak through. Anyway, tomorrow’s plan is to go to the fan zone. Been looking forward to this for years, since many people seem to think the massive centers full of people cheering for the games on the massive television screens is a better experience then actually attending the matches. We shall see, but I expect a full crowd to be there for at least the Mexico vs. France match. Then Friday is the big day: USAvs. Slovenia in Johannesburg. I will be in attendance and cannot wait! That pretty much describes this entire trip: I’m mostly thankful to just be here and be a part of the atmosphere. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially since this edition of the tournament is in Africa.

Thoughts on the USA vs. England Game and the First Two Days of the World Cup

Never has a soccer match showed me the significance of the goalkeeper position than the USA vs. England game. The two players who occupied that position, Tim Howard for the States and Robert Green for England, not only changed the course of the game, but just how qualifying may go in Group C. The door has now been opened for either Slovenia or Algeria to have a decent chance at progressing, especially if one of them wins tomorrow at the other’s expense, and much of this is because of the play of the goalies in the first game.

In the lead up to this monumental clash, the only position the English were willing to concede they had lesser players at was the goalkeeper spot, with the trio of Green, David James and Joe Hart not inspiring much confidence amongst English supporters. Tim Howard is a fantastic keeper, particularly good at one on one situations with strikers and doing a great job of organizing the defense in front of him. Whichever keeper was going to stand between the pipes for England, they would not provide the calming presence from the back that Howard does for the USA: the defenders of the USA know they have a great shot stopper behind them, while the English do not. I firmly believe the most important position on the field is goalkeeper because a fantastic goalkeeper having a great game can stop an opponent from scoring, no matter how dominant the opponent is. This was put on display tonight. Howard was phenomenal, making great saves against Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emile Heskey and Frank Lampard, as well as slide in to collect a ball that resulted in him taking cleats in the chest from a sliding Heskey. He kept the Americans in the game, while Robert Green cost his team the win. I’m aware that a team with the talent the English have should be capable of putting more than one goal into the net against the United States, but based upon what actually happened in the game, the ten outfield players for England played well enough to win 1-0. It was their goalie Green who cost them the win, by pulling a Bill Buckner on Clint Dempsey’s weak shot from 35 yards away, and allowing the ball to dribble into the net after being unable to scoop it off the ground. I could’ve stopped that ball at the age of five, not sure how Green wasn’t able to, but people will blame the ball. To Green’s credit, he hasn’t said anything along these lines because I believe he is aware that that isn’t the case. The ball wasn’t flying at him, it wasn’t dipping and ducking, it was rolling to him at about the speed of a ten year old bowling a bowling ball: not speedy at all, and one that a professional should stop 100 times out of 100. Granted, the score could’ve been 2-1 had Green not made a good quick reaction save on Jozy Altidore’s shot, after the striker was able to power past Jamie Carragher to get a rare open shot on net for the Americans. Nobody, especially the English, will remember that because Green’s absolute howler will overshadow his otherwise good game. And I know it’s cruel, but he deserves all the heat he is about to get because that one play may affect England’s attempts at finishing first place in the group and avoiding the tough winner from Group D. Once again, the English, I stress to you that soccer is a game that has two smaller competitions within it: one between the outfield players and one between the goalies. Both are important, but today showed just how vital the competition between the goalies is, with one keeper potentially ruining his team’s World Cup chances, and another providing the lifeline necessary to keep his team’s chances breathing.

While England do have the better talent, and I think they were the better outfield players today, the grittiness of the USA players, especially the defenders, balanced out the equation and made it possible for the Americans to gain a draw (a result I predicted by the way, 1-1). The central defenders, who I’ve been critical of, played their socks off, particularly Jay DeMerit, who silenced Wayne Rooney for much of the match. World class striker Rooney was not nearly as effective as he should’ve been in this game, and much of that had to do with DeMerit’s tenacious play, and how he refused to allow Rooney any space to work with. I thought Michael Bradley did a great job in the center of midfield. He was combating the middle of the park with superstars Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and more than held his own against them (maybe would’ve done better had Maurice Edu or Jose Torres been in the game instead of Ricardo Clark). Hopefully he receives the necessary help in the center of the park in the next game versus Slovenia, allowing him to take control of the game the way he has in the past for the USA. Up front, the USA did not look great though. Other than the one chance Altidore created, I never really saw any venom from the strike partnership of Altidore and Robbie Findley, no spark that told me they were going to score at any point in the match. I wonder if maybe the solution to this is to bench Jozy Altidore (a tough statement for me to make since I just got my USA jersey with his name on the back). I think the speed of Findley is a weapon that if unlocked could be key for the USA’s chances of progressing, and that maybe Edson Buddle may be the player to do that. I know it was a friendly against a weaker team, but Buddle and Findley looked better together than Altidore and Findley, maybe that partnership should be given a shot against Slovenia. Just a thought.

I have not only watched the USA vs. England game, but all five matches that have been played. The first day was a little disappointing to me. The South Africa vs. Mexico game didn’t really take off until the second half, and while Tshabalala’s goal was very good, the lame goal Rafael Marquez scored made for somewhat of a dud first game. It looked great compared to the next game though. Shame on Uruguay for putting an unexpected five players on their backline, but even more blame sits with the French who were unable to break them down. France, as I predicted, look set to implode. None of the players played with the passion and the fire expected of a team at the World Cup, and this terrible dynamic with Domenech may cause this talented team to not progress to the knockout rounds. I still like my pick of Mexico winning the group, with South Africa finishing second. Day two was much better though.

My favorite team performance so far has been South Korea’s, who ran a very slow Greece team off the park with its effective passing and work rate. The Koreans look like a well oiled machine, and even though I picked the Nigerians to advance, I would love to see South Korea take the second spot behind Argentina. Ji Sung Park is a fantastic talent, as his goal today proved, and I would love to see him make the knockout stages in what he has said is his last World Cup final. Argentina looked dangerous, but was surprisingly unable to finish. This is OK against a Nigerian team that didn’t look dangerous except for one shot in the second half that required a good save from the Argentine goalkeeper, but this will not work in the latter stages of the tournament. Overall, I believe the first matchday of the tournament will get better as we go along. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s three matches, all I expect to be exciting, as well as high quality in terms of the performances of the teams on the pitches. They should be interesting to observe, and make it worthwhile to wake up at 8 AM, when I would much rather be sleeping.