How Can the USA Counter Ghana's Speed?

This is the question the broadcast giant ESPN is asking today. I hope Bob Bradley reads this and gets the message: The ONLY game he decided to bench the inept and slow Oguchi Onyewu was the only game the US National Team, not only won, but also kept its goal unbeaten.

Need we say more? Onyewu may be tall and strong as many people in the United States, who claim soccer expertise, believe those are the only good traits a soccer player needs to possess. They couldn't be more wrong, as Onyewu has demonstrated time-and-time again how dangerous he is in the back line due to his lack of speed, inability to read or anticipate plays, inability to properly use his size and strength -creating many dangerous situations and penalty kicks for opponents- to clear the ball out of danger, but most importantly, his lack of passion and heart. Am I the only one who notices Onyewu pretty much walking almost the entire match? He is always the last man to the ball. He is always the one leaving suicidal space between him and the opposing attacker. He is the only defender I have ever seen to duck on a shot to avoid getting hit by the ball. I could continue for hours on why Onyewu should not even be on the National Team, but the fact of the matter is that he is in South Africa. But how can we "defend" our team from Onyewu? Simple. Do not play him.

In Germany 2006 the US National Team was in a must-win situation going into the last match of the group phase against Ghana to have any chance of advancing to the second round. Onyewu, in a very stupid no heads-up play caused a penalty kick in favor of Ghana who went on to win the game.

Now in 2010 is a different story. The U.S. has advanced into the knock-out stage and now faces Ghana, again, on Saturday at 11:30 AM PST. The Ghanians are fast -very fast,- physical and technical. We all know that the weakest line on the National Team is the defense. So, the only chance to diminish the problem is to bench Onyewu. Bocanegra in the middle is not necessarily the best option, but it is all we have. Bornstein on the left side is also not the best answer, but will have to do. DeMerit, in the middle, and Cherundolo on the right side have had so far a superb World Cup, but will have to step-up their game to contain the Ghanian gazelles.

In the midfield line Maurice Edu has proven he is the starter. No more experiments with Torres, or anyone else. Michael Bradley is going to have to recover the ball, and most importantly serve it to American players, not Ghanians. Donovan and Dempsey should complete the middle line. Will the US need to play defensively and counter-attack in order to have a shot at winning the match? I don't think so. The US has the necessary weapons to beat Ghana, but will have to do so in an orderly fashion. So far in this World Cup the first 15 minutes of every US match have been atrocious in terms of lack of concentration in defense. We can no longer afford the same style. Possession, full concentration and pressing the Ghanian build-up and attack on their side of the pitch will prove to be the keys for a US win.

Obviously, none of the keys mentioned to win the game will have any meaning if the US does not put the ball in the net. Altidore and Gomez up front should be the starters, as they have proved to be the most dangerous. But Dempsey, as an attacking mid, along with Gomez and Altidore will need to be more accurate on the finishes.

In summary, if Onyewu does not play, if coach Bob Bradley does not even consider DaMarcus Beasley as an option at any stage of the game, if we press Ghana deep on their side, if we are fully concentrated from the opening whistle, and most importantly, if we capitalise on our scoring chances we should see the US National Team advance to the quarterfinals of the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup.

Huge Mistake is Game Difference for USA

An unbelieveable mistake by second-string England goalkeeper Robert Green allowed the U.S. National Team to earn a draw against heavily favored England in their World Cup opening match.

A late 40th minute first half shot by English Premier League-based U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey slipped through Green's hands to the disbelief of millions of british fans around the globe. Although Dempsey's shot had some power behind it, it should have been easily handled by Green. Instead, it slowly rolled in to the goal as a deflection. This blooper, which will never be forgotten in England, became the equalizer for the USA.

When players were still "warming up" during the initial minutes of the match, a lack of concentration in the American backline saw England and Liverpool's captain Steven Gerrard penetrate the penalty box alone. Gerrard ran up the middle to take on Tim Howard and slip a low shot into the net barely at the 4th minute of the match.

The American reaction was inmediate in effort and intent, but shy. It lacked control of the mid-section of the pitch and it seemed as if the yanks took quite some time to shake off the debut jitters. England began to possess and control the ball, which in turn became the opportunity for goalkeeper -who earns his trade in the English Premier League- Tim Howard to start having tremendous saves. In the end, his continued brilliant performance earned him "Man of the Match" honors.

England dominated the match in all areas of the pitch, and Fabio Capello, England's manager, clearly outsmarted his American colleague Bob Bradley. In his effort to break the tie, Capello performed substitutions which further allowed the Brits to control the tempo and flow of the match. This, however, found absolutely no response from Bradley, who failed to get a decent read of the match even while in progress. Although American forward Jozy Altidore could have given the U.S.A. the much dreamt-of upset over England late in the game with a shot which hit the post after a deflection from Green, England had many wasted chances. The fact that Tim Howard was nominated as the Man of the Match speaks volumes of his performance, the number of spectacular saves he had and the clear dominance the Brits exercised at will on the pitch. When Bradley finally realized he should make some substitutions, he sent forward Steven Buddle to replace Jozy Altidore. While it was clear and obvious England was applying tremendous pressure on the American side of the pitch, the reasonable option for substitution should have been Jose Torres to aid in the recovery of the ball in the midfield. Bradley, however, seemed to be witnessing -or reading- a much different reality.

The Americans earned a hard-fought draw against one of the tournament favorites, mainly due to the heart and passion the players exhibited. It was definitely very far from playing head-to-head with the English team. As we have said many times before in this blog, this is where the main difference between U.S. Soccer and the rest of the world lies in. There is absolutely no possible way we can ever expect to become a soccer world power when we are managed by coaches whose only experience has been in American colleges and the MLS. Take Capello, for instance. Winner of everything in Italy with A.C. Milan in the eighties and Real Madrid in Spain. European Champions League experience for many years, European Cups, UEFA Cups, you name it, he's manged there. He is not the only manager with that kind of experience in the world cup. In fact, is the norm. How can Bradley -or any other American coach, for that matter!- compete against that? If we ever want to "wake up" to the reality of world soccer, especially at the world cup level we have to start by hiring world-class coaches.

It was nothing short of a miracle that we tied against England. We can not continue to invoke higher powers for ninety minutes in order to obtain decent results and not be embarrassed at the world cup.

Diego's Argentina Flies Past the Super Eagles

The biggest surprise on the Argentinian side was Diego Armando Maradona's wardrobe choice. I had never seen Diego that well dressed, but that goes to show the level of respect he has for the biggest party of them all, the FIFA World Cup.

The entire stadium was also "dressed" in big-time party attire. The Argentine fans' flags hung throughout the stands and the Nigerian fans colorful attire and dance provided a true world cup feel to the highly anticipated match.

It did not take long for Argentina to settle well into match-level quality. In fact all of three minutes to generate the first clear scoring chance which in very characteristic fashion Gonzalo Higuain shot wide, alone in front of the goal. Three minutes later, Gabriel Heinze headed the ball into the net from a corner kick to give Argentina the lead. It did not take long for Argentina to settle well into match-level quality. In fact all of three minutes to generate the first clear scoring chance which in very characteristic fashion Gonzalo Higuain shot wide, alone in front of the goal. Three minutes later, Gabriel Heinze headed the ball into the net from a corner kick to give Argentina the lead.

As Diego himself had announced yesterday, there were no surprises in the line-up which jumped to the pitch. That is one of the characteristics of Diego, very consequent between what he says and what he does. As expected, though, the weakest Argentine line is the back four, and as they should continue to advance in the tournament that back line could give the Argentine people, and Diego, a real heartache.   

The albicelestes continued to control the match at will after the goal with no surprises as to who the main playmakers would be. Lionel Messi was the heart of the team, with Carlos Tevez displaying his usual talent and poise. A great first half by Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama prevented the Argentines, especially Messi, to extend their lead, so the first half ended with that lone early goal.

The second half was almost identical to the first in that Argentina controlled at will the tempo of the match. Aside from a close-range shot by a Nigerian midfielder that missed the target by inches on the 71st minute, Nigeria did not show the determination and will needed to have a chance to beat Argentina.

In the overall game analysis it has to be very worrisome for Argentina to control a game pretty much at will and come out with only a one-goal advantage, scored by a central defender. As it has been stated many times, Higuain is not the answer up front, and Maradona has to consider making Milito the complement to Tevez and Messi. Otherwise, Argentina is not going to have enough weapons to go far in this cup, and Diego will complete his on-going fallout with the Argentine people.

Uruguay and France Dissapoint

I expected this match to be a well-played, hard-fought, attack-and-defend ninety minutes. It was anything but. Uruguay, except for maybe two decent scoring chances, decided to group themselves deep in their territory to try and contain France's attacks.

It was a good defensive display by the Uruguayans. But the lack of offensive commitment almost goes against their hard-earned warrior-like reputation.

The French were able to constantly and almost continually play on the edge of the Uruguayan eighteen, but that was as far as they could get to. They lacked ideas and manpower to destroy that backline and was almost always finding Ribery alone in the push-forward commitment. Not enough for a team that is fighting really hard -and struggling in their efforts- to find an identity amongst a star-studded side which barely made it into the World Cup finals.

For Uruguay, one missed chance in each half by Diego Forlan would be all they could come up with. Not very much of creation in the midfield nor penetration up front for this team, which will have to change quite a bit in their remaining two matches should they expect to make it past the group stage.

France actually looked quite a bit better than they had in their last several friendlies where they were struggling to find their best form. Still it was not enough, and head coach Domenech is going to have to think long and hard about what he can do -if anything- to avoid the embarrassment of not making it out of group play.

South Africa vs. Mexico Recap

It took the South Africans, hosts of the FIFA World Cup, a good 30 to 35 minutes to get past the debut jitters and nerves. During that time, Mexico could have capitalized on at least half-dozen opportunities which were wasted by Franco and Dos Santos, including a disallowed goal for a clear off-side position.

When South Africa finally settled in the match they only had roughly 10 minutes left in the first half, but left a clear indication of the damage they could inflict upon the Mexican defense should they apply themselves. So, Mexicans and South Africans went into the locker room for the break tied at zero apiece.

In the second half South Africa was the team decided to emerge from the battle -figuratively speaking, of course- as the winner. Showing more control of the midfield through ball recovery and good distribution up the middle, the bafana-bafana tried to exploit the speed and explosiveness of Tshabalala up front. The efforts paid off when Tshabalala sent a left-footed rocket past diving surprise-starter Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez on the 55th minute. It was a superbly executed play and definition by the South Africans to send their anguished and excited nation into contagious ecstasy.

Surprisingly, South Africa continued to control the midfield and continued to create opportunities for them to extend their one-goal advantage, without much fortune. It would be Mexico, however, after three substitutions who would get on the scoreboard and tie the score on the 79' from a poorly executed South African defense off-side trap which left Mexican central defender Rafael Marquez alone in front of the goal to send his shot past keeper Khune through his near post.

It would be South Africa again who would create the last chance of the match on the 90' when forward Mphela hit the Mexican post when Perez was already beat. It would have certainly been the icing on the cake for a nation which turned en-masse to support the bafana-bafana in their world cup opener. The score would not be moved again and South Africans and Mexicans split everything evenly in a great party-like atmosphere during the opening of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

When The Only Thing That Matters is Results

Only hours away from a very anticipated debut in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, US National team head coach Bob Bradley has many unanswered questions. Our first game will be against, no less, England, one of the perennial cup favorites who manage to constantly disappoint its fans.

For this edition of the World Cup, however, England comes as a heavy favorite. In a sport where the only thing that matters around the world is results, and head coaching jobs are the most unstable positions in the world, the job security which Bob Bradley enjoys is stunning. Bradley replaced Bruce Arena, who spent eight years in front of the US National Team, at the end of 2006. Unheard of in the world of soccer. Why only in the United States are soccer coaches enjoying such longevity in their posts? Well, the quick answer is that the bulk of the sports media and fan base are focused on other "major" American sports, thus what happens in US soccer, stays in US soccer. Coaches and players are not praised when major accomplishments are achieved, let alone criticized when things don't go so well.

Bob Bradley, as the US National Team head coach, has taken the team to the world's biggest single sporting event. Excellent. But he has done it with a great share of mistakes which went mainly overlooked due to poor competition during the qualifying process in our region. But almost no one ever pointed out those mistakes, or were not important enough to make newspaper or magazine headlines. On the flip side, should some of those mistakes flourish again during the world cup, we are in for another France '98 or Germany 2006-like embarrassment at the world level.

Let's put things in perspective here. In any other country of the world Bradley would have been fired long ago. The United States had a chance to achieve world-renowned headlines and admiration in June of 2009 when it reached the FIFA Confederations Cup final against Brazil. After a stunning and unexpected 2-0 lead at halftime, Brazil was able to come back and defeat the Americans 3-2 almost exclusively on Bradley's mistakes. That would have gotten him fired anywhere else in the world. Not a word said about it in the United States. During world cup 2010 preparation every participating nation worked on their team strategies and tactics for several games prior to traveling to South Africa, while Bob Bradley, inexplicably, continued to evaluate potential roster members almost to the end of preparation. That would have caused an upheaval and uproar anywhere else in the world. Not a word said about it in the United States.

Knowing how Bradley thinks and operates he is very likely to start Oguchi Onyewu in the central defense for the US opener against England. Onyewu has not played a full ninety minute match since a serious knee injury requiring reconstructive surgery in October 2009. To even consider Onyewu on the match roster to play against the likes of England's Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Defoe or Peter Crouch is nothing short of suicide, and the start of a possible very short-lived world cup experience.

When the only thing that matters in soccer is results, it is time to let people at the head of our national teams and soccer federation know when they do not conform to soccer-like norms. It is time for all of us to become vocal and express our feelings. The last thing we want is another embarrassment when the eyes of the world are placed on our national team.

All we can do now is wish Bradley and the boys the best of luck for a successful world cup. With the players we have I am confident we can at least advance to the round of sixteen. Anything less than that will be a major disappointment.