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seems like USA plays to much into defense + counterattack based on their fast players… but again, this relies to much on the other team making a mistake for that counterattack to happen. Result = one goal in WC 2006.
The USA team needs to work more on CREATING their own attacks from scratch in order to score more.

Posted from  Mexico

Well, there went another cup. The United States smelled like a$$ throughout there entire showing. I would like to complain, but the United States will never do well until we can absolutely dominate other teams, like Argentina did against Serbia. Until then, the refs have too much control over the game. What did Onyewu do? Oh, I remember now, he headed the ball away from the goal. Falta!!!!! Like the ref did not know he was giving Ghana a free goal. I’m not even going to talk about the US-Italy game. I like how now an intentional elbow to the face draws a yellow instead of a red. The United States needs to learn how to pass better, how to set up the offence better, and how to flop and dive like the Italians and Ghanan players do. (After seeing the 9th Ghanan player carried off the field by stretcher, I thought they made the Italians look like high school drama students) The Ghanans are the real deal.
I’ve seen on other posts that some people are worried that futbol won´t grow in the US. I’ll tell you what, allow Keller (or any Keeper) to tackle any oncoming player if he decides to step out of the box - That will make it more American. I know that some people can justify all of the red cards and yellow cards and penalties the Americans received by referring to their “rule book”, but I cannot. I cannot say that the U.S. is better than the Italians, Czechs, or the Ghanans, but we’ll never know because of the refs. I was an American football player, but 16 years ago I fell in love with “soccer” and Ivé been watching the cup since then. That was the worst reffing I’ve ever seen in the cup, and I wonder now if it’s even worth watching. Players have too little control of the outcome. But no excuses, next time we have to embarrass every team that tries to play us. So get yout act together USA.

Posted from  United States

I’m trying not to sound like a complainer, but the US was basically “jobbed” by the referees the last (2) games…Italy & Ghana. I would like to have seen the 2nd half today without the GIFT penalty kick awarded B4 half. Same with even sides vs. Italy on Sat. Oh well…obviously the world wants US Soccer to be “kept in its place”…

Posted from  United States

Arena blames loss on ref.(pk call) It didn’t help but his coaching descisions were more bothersome for me. This team was way better than what we saw and it has to go back to coaching. How bout Klinsmann, as he lives in Los Angeles. If Germany doesn’t win the cup he might be available. Any thoughts?

It’s pretty bad when the only team we can beat is Mexico. Arena has to go.

Posted from  United States

arena is just way too conservative…we need a coach who is willing to push numbers into the box.

Yes, we can do much better but we need to start playing like other countries do, we need a more aggressive and a smarter game.
We also need to keep in mind that many people out there want to see the US lose.
And, yes, Bruce has to go.
Now, I’ll be a good sports and watch other good teams play, but it hurts…

Posted from  United States

just went to the store to buy a carton of milk…on the back it had a missing person box with a picture of landon donovan and said “have you seen me?”…”date last seen: 18 games ago”…

um… I like conspiracy theories a lot too, but seriously, the whole world getting together to have team USA loose at the world cup… isn´t that just a bit too much?

Posted from  Mexico

hey B, could you please clear these dishes? And send the waitress over…we need to order drinks. Thanks.

Posted from  Singapore

Hey, Eric, be nice. I agree with B. No conspiracies are necessary to defeat U.S. this year. We score one goal in three games. Shots on goal? How many? Set pieces were ragged. I liked how tough the team played against Italy–showed a lot of grit. But that was the only highlight. I would like to see a 4-3-3 and scrap the 4-5-1. The 4-5-1 looked like the Maginot Line against the German Army. It looks impressive but all you have to do is go around it.

Posted from  United States

4-3-3 sounds like a good plan, specially with the new blood coming from young players like Adu and Johnson.

Posted from  Mexico

The growth of Adu and Johnson will interesting–maybe they need to play in Europe to get some seasoning. It is hard to call for Arena’s head at this point, and that certainly won’t cure all of USA’s problems, but can Arena coach a more agressive offense?

Posted from  United States

USA your sill number 1 in our hearts. You guys tried your very best and for that you deserve alot more than the crappy and incompetant ref you got. But you keep up the good work and you are going to really want it next time see ya in 4 years and hopefully with a ref that knows what hell is doing not some idiot who probably forgot to put his glasses or contacts on.

GO USA KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

Posted from  United States

Dononvan choked on all his free kicks! Also to have to men standing by the corner flags during the corner kicks was useless, we needed all the men we could inside the 18. I predicted we wouldn’t win one game, we need size and speed, time for some guys to retire for us to have a chance at copmpeteing, and alittle heart!

Posted from  United States

Dont worry mexico your not that far behind us I will see you leavin after your next game. ADIOS PINCHE GUEY

Posted from  United States

World Cup Diary: United States

Below is a diary of all games played by United States in FIFA World Cup 2006.

Last Updated: June 22, 2006

Date Played: June 12, 2006 (Group Stage)
Opponent: Czech Republic
Scorer/s: Jan Koller (CZE 5’), Tomas Rosicky (CZE 36’, 76&#821…

Posted from  United States

Soccer is the “beautiful game” - the open-field play, sportsmanship and constantly running clock all make the game fluid and exciting to watch.

It is also a game of sportsmanship and compassion - for example a team will kick the ball out of bounds when an opponent is injured on the pitch.

But the game has been exposed in this World Cup more then ever before. The dives, over-bearing referees and “falling down injured” techniques to run time off the clock take away from what is otherwise, a wonderful sport.

Ghana played hard and deserves to move on, but the phantom call for the penalty kick and all the dives/time wasting techniques used by the club at the end of the match were disgusting.

The US has a long way to go - they’re not as skillful as other clubs from around the world - but at least they play the game right. I can’t recall a single unreasonable “dive” from the US squad all-tournament (perhaps because they were always playing from behind and not looking to waste time).

I guess it does not pay to play the game as it was meant to be.
I hope the poor performance in this year’s cup does not hinder the growth of soccer in the USA - but I wouldn’t be suprised after watching the US get manhandled by the Czech’s only to play well against Italy and Ghana and lose because of a few questionable calls.

Posted from  United States

Poll:

Tell me who do you blame for US loosing the World cup..?

http://www.geocities.com/megapc/index.html

Posted from  United States

ok…sure the penalty kick was a very bad call, but lets look at how the ball ended up in the box in the first place….bocanegra has a chance to clear on the sideline (either out of bounds or up the field) and he mishits straight up in the air and then has to try and win a header…the ball inevitably ends up in the box, thus the famous penalty. An easy clearance out of bounds or up the field and US would have went in to half tied…end of story. blame the refs, blame bruce, blame the wet fields, but ultimately the poor play in crucial moments ended the US run in this world cup.

Posted from  United States

B and friends, thank you for the valuable insight regarding goal scoring. I had no idea that goals equated to points and that points equated to a better liklihood of winning. I thank the Lord that there are people like you that shy away from stating the obvious and choose to educate dumb Americans with your out of the box thinking. By the way, did you know that if a baseball player is blind, that he has less of a chance to make meaningful contact wih the ball? In closing, I would just like to say “don’t touch fire; it’s hot.”

Posted from  United States

Ghana: Rejoice tonight as you have advanced to the second round. Rejoice for your country and for Africa. For tomorrow your arrogance will consume you. So, proud you seem in your victory, yet you laid down like a child milking the clock. Next time I challenge you to stand up and play like men.

Pimpong you are a pathetic excuse for a footballer. To simply lay down in the 85th minute, stand up and play like a man. Essien was not much better, just a better actor – I guess all that time in Europe has taught him something. Dive after dive.

I will hold my head high this evening knowing that the US played a respectable game. The team did not cry after the game because of the bad calls. They took it like men, swallowed their pride and moved on.
This game has illustrated all that is wrong with football today. The refereeing is biased and inconsistent. Too many players take dive after dive, too waste time or to simply get the foul. FIFA must put an end to it. Pimpong should have been carded in the 85th minute.

So again I say rejoice Ghana rejoice. Speak of how you will defeat the world champions, speak of how well you match up. Your arrogance and ignorance will consume you. For Brazil will have no mercy on you. Brazil 4 Ghana 0

P.S. The US will be in the next world cup. . .will you?

Posted from  United States

Well just another day at the office of course. that’s for the brazilian team, U.S should learn that arrongancy will not take you to places reserved for classy team as Brazil as you might have noticed today shows the world who is who.”Jogo Bonito” ENOUGH to win the game and get the points and carry on with a smile on their faces without offending the opponents,to the point of having the opponent’s fans enjoying the lost and loving and cheering the team that won. That’s Brazil’s team, classy, without bulliying and making the entire world LOVE THEIR EFFORTS.needless to coment that U.S. team does not belong in this classy effort. Their put out was awful, the soccer they played it’s not up to par with the world, Whaooo at least the third world (ahem)countries, could show us how to enjoy and be safe and not freaking out in security matters. when are we going to learn how to behave like the real BIG BOYS instead of always running scare of everything. it is not necessaraly anyone’s fault on this team. Unfortunally the lack of confidence, lack of team effort. it shows the GLOOMING AMBIANCE AND ENERGY of this country.(U.S.) where is the spirit. when was a last time U.S. was represented favorably on any sport in the world (not even baseball) Ohh I forgot the cold war is over there is no competition any longer, at least we used to radiate. I Believe we have to do a major WAKING-UP and start to believe more in a positive way about the real matters, the matters that at least for a month keep the world as one.

Posted from  United States

Futbol, or Soccer whichever you prefer to call it is a pure sport and should be kept as such. Poor attitudes expressed by the ref. in the last match against Ghana and some people blogging about politics obviously don’t know or love the pure game. As they continue to smear those that live it.

BAKIYE1 needs to give the team USA the respect they deserve, but that would require grammatical skills which his blog obviously lacks. The team USA played hard, kept their heads on straight and made many fans proud all over the world. I think many people will wake-up knowing we played well and more positive in the face of truly poor officiating and great acting that is being recognized by many.

As for team USA 2006 being classy, they are without doubt classy as they are in a class of there own, shown by their determination in the face of great opposition. And like many admired teams they have critics and fans, that still need to recognize the love of the game, like life is the reason we play the game. Not for simply the win only, as the best and most seasoned players know that it’s not winning that is everything. It’s getting to play the game! Keep it real, keep it PURE! GO WORLD CUP, PLAY ON!

Thanks TEAM USA, you are GREAT!

wow, the american soccer team got spanked this year.
Embarassing.
Truly Embarassing.

Posted from  Canada