And that my friends is how the cookie crumbles...
Of the millions of US Soccer fans who are crushed today after the US failed to beat Ghana, the one person I'm thinking most about is my sister. She is the most hardcore of hardcore US Soccer fans, and I'm not sure how she's gonna take all of this. Maybe she'll root for her second favorite team (England), or maybe she'll just stop watching.
Today's game was a bore. We played almost as badly as we did against the Czechs, and even with the unnecessary penalty kick, we wouldn't have won. Sure there are a lot of what if's out there. What IF McBride's header went in? What IF the penalty was then not given? What IF we didn't have red carded players who played today's game... none of it matters.
The best two teams from Group E advanced. And that's the end of that.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Had another run-in with crap customer service in India. This happens in the US too- they take people with no technical common sense and put them in the call lines. But whatever, not gonna waste more ink on that.
SOooo... today's the big game. Or rather, today are the two big games that decide whether the US goes to the round of 16 or not. There are 7 different ways in which the US could advance, all of them needing the US to beat Ghana today. It's not going to be an easy task. The Ghanaian defense is stingy, and their striker Michael Essein is ridiculously fast. Both teams are very physical, so I can see a whole bunch of yellow cards and fouls being given out. Perhaps more than any other game I've watched thus far.
Basically it boils down to this- if the team that showed up against Italy shows up today against Ghana, we'll probably win. If the team that showed up against the Czechs shows up, we'll lose.
Let's wait and see...
SOooo... today's the big game. Or rather, today are the two big games that decide whether the US goes to the round of 16 or not. There are 7 different ways in which the US could advance, all of them needing the US to beat Ghana today. It's not going to be an easy task. The Ghanaian defense is stingy, and their striker Michael Essein is ridiculously fast. Both teams are very physical, so I can see a whole bunch of yellow cards and fouls being given out. Perhaps more than any other game I've watched thus far.
Basically it boils down to this- if the team that showed up against Italy shows up today against Ghana, we'll probably win. If the team that showed up against the Czechs shows up, we'll lose.
Let's wait and see...
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Astonishing. Amazing. Awe-inspiring.
As I was preparing to watch the US-Italy game on Saturday, all I hoped is that they'd do their best. Their best meaning that when they lost, they'd lose knowing that they gave it their all against a superior Italian team.
What I got was something completely unexpected.
What I got was America playing like men on a soccer field who don't get respect. Who don't have anything to fight for except themselves, and to prove everyone wrong. To shut up the naysayers and once again inspire the millions who pinned their hopes on US Soccer's proverbial back.
From the first minute onwards, they fought like dogs and kept fighting. After the game, Landon Donovan had to be given an IV to replenish fluids. Brian McBride had three stitches under his eye. Jimmy Conrad had cotton stuffed up his nose, and played part of the game with vision so blurry he had to ask a teammate whether he was bleeding. Our goalie Kasey Keller said it just right after the game: "Those guys bled out there."
But the Americans did the unthinkable- they tied the mighty Italians 1-1. We've never taken a single point on European soil, and now it's finally happened.
It was the most beautiful game of soccer I'd ever seen in my life. I was shaking during and afterwards, and just wanted to tell the guys one thing:
"We're proud of you."
As I was preparing to watch the US-Italy game on Saturday, all I hoped is that they'd do their best. Their best meaning that when they lost, they'd lose knowing that they gave it their all against a superior Italian team.
What I got was something completely unexpected.
What I got was America playing like men on a soccer field who don't get respect. Who don't have anything to fight for except themselves, and to prove everyone wrong. To shut up the naysayers and once again inspire the millions who pinned their hopes on US Soccer's proverbial back.
From the first minute onwards, they fought like dogs and kept fighting. After the game, Landon Donovan had to be given an IV to replenish fluids. Brian McBride had three stitches under his eye. Jimmy Conrad had cotton stuffed up his nose, and played part of the game with vision so blurry he had to ask a teammate whether he was bleeding. Our goalie Kasey Keller said it just right after the game: "Those guys bled out there."
But the Americans did the unthinkable- they tied the mighty Italians 1-1. We've never taken a single point on European soil, and now it's finally happened.
It was the most beautiful game of soccer I'd ever seen in my life. I was shaking during and afterwards, and just wanted to tell the guys one thing:
"We're proud of you."
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