Ping!
I hold my fingers crossed. :-)
The matchup of the day today will be our man Onyewu "Gooch" Oguchi (6'4", 200 lbs) who will be defending Czech monster Jan Koller (6'8", 220 lbs).
SOCCER HATERS -- Please have some class and stop adding stupid keyword and stop hijacking this thread.
Don't you have something better to do than to post about how much you think soccer sucks, in a thread clearly intended only for those who're interested in the world's biggest soccer tournament?
We need to beat the Czechs if we really want to get out of this group into the next round. We have a better chance of beating the favored Czechs than the Italians. Here's hoping we equal or surpass the performances of Costa Rica, T&T, and Mexico.
This should be Day 4 thread. Yesterday was Day 3.
One thing in USA's favor is the experience of the Yanks--I think something like 12 of the 23 have played in WC before. That experience will help them withstand the frenzy of the first 5 minutes of each half, when nervous energy is at its height and the Czech team will want to put the USA on its heels. If Reyna can calm down our midfield, we have a good shot at winning. I trust McBride to control the center forward area and to make some key passes to Donovan streaking into the box.
Anybody know what's going on with Hiddink on the sideline? Looks like he's lost his marbles for sure...
AMAZING. Go Australia! 3 goals in 10 minutes. Great intro to our game with the Czechs.
Feel sorry for Japan's goaly. He was excellent but ...
Keenly looking forward to the USA game.......
Go America!!
O my God,
who are infallible Truth
and can neither deceive nor be deceived,
I firmly believe all that you have revealed
and propose to my belief through your holy Church,
because you have revealed it.
I believe that you are one in nature
and three in Persons:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I believe that you are the Creator of all things
and that you reward the just
for all eternity in heaven
and punish the wicked
for all eternity in hell.
I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God made man,
that he suffered and died for my sins
and rose from the dead in glory,
and that it is only in him
through the Holy Spirit
that eternal life is given to men.
I believe in fine all that your holy Church believes.
I thank you for having called me
to the true faith,
and I affirm that with the help of your grace
I will live and die in the holy faith.
Sigh.
Beasley is LUGGAGE and a waste of a roster spot. Hasn't had a good touch in months. It's obvious that everything should go through Reyna and Donovan if we're going to have any chance to win.
Right now all I can say is.....
Go Ghana!!
I'm very frustrated. 3-0, worse than England v. Paraguay, Sweden v. T&T, or even Germany v. Costa Rica.
But the game is over, and it was pretty convincing evidence that the US is NOT #5 in the world. I couldn't figure out how we got that high anyway, with losing 1-0 against Morocco and managing only 1-0 against (not exactly a world power) Latvia.
We play like a brickmason lays bricks - very predictable buildup, no creativity, no flashes of brilliance. Way too methodical. This seems to be Arena's style. I don't enjoy watching it much, on the other hand it worked pretty well in 2002.
I also don't know why this article (and most others) make such a big deal out of Donovan. He's scoreless in something like 12 international games. McBride is far more dangerous - witness his goals for Fulham against Mu.
I hoped against the odds that we'd at least repeat the exciting play of the 1994 World Cup. Brazil were very lucky to have escaped with a 1-0 win, and might not have done so had they not cracked Ramos' skull (he was creating most of our chances at that point). Maybe we should bring back Multinovic!