OFFICIAL WORLD CUP 2006

[jack's smirking revenge]

The kid for the Washington National or Senators of MLS, i dont really know, Ado i believe is called a soccer prodigy by Sports Illustrated. Ado signed a pro contract at age 14, i believe. Why isnt he with the US national team? Too young? If so, and if he develops his skills like Michael did his in basketball, perchance he will eventually become America's soccer saviar...just like Beckem is with England.

I have to admit that I haven't followed Ado that closely, but I think his absence from the national team has to do with age and experience. He could be the next big USA soccer personality, but when we only crank out one every few decades, its hard to compete with the rest of the world, which is dominant because their sole focus is the sport of soccer.

tyler

[HarveyWallbangers]

Right now, Adu is overrated. He's not good enough to make the national team. Hopefully, he improves. The game needs a star. The one guy on the team who I think could become a star (with some European seasoning) is Eddie Johnson. There's something about him. He's fast, but he's not a wimp. He seems to wreak havoc when he's in there. Now, if he can just learn to stay onsides.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Soccer woven into fabric of America
by Norman Chad

The World Cup is far and away the greatest sporting event on Earth - the Olympics, on a good day, are a distant second, and when I say "a good day," I'm not talking about one of those days in which there's synchronized swimming or Nordic combined - and yet, here in America, the earth doesn't move for soccer's monthlong spectacle.

With the World Cup under way, I think it's important to understand our relative apathy toward the globe's No. 1 sport. To do this, we must examine the past. So we now proudly present an abridged History of Soccer in America:

1492: Christopher Columbus discovers the New World and is aghast to see Native Americans playing football.

1687: King James II visits the colonies, complains that he can't find a pub showing an English Premier League match.

1775: Paul Revere makes his famous ride, shouting out, "The British are coming with soccer balls! The British are coming with soccer balls!"


1793: Overheard at an Alexander Hamilton dinner party: "Soccer? Please. We're an action nation."

1891: James Naismith casually tosses a soccer ball into a basket at his home in Springfield, Mass., inadvertently inventing the game of basketball.

1898: The Spanish-American War ends in a 0-0 tie. (Note to readers: I made that one up.)

1918: Women's suffrage is passed by Congress, giving soccer moms their first political foothold.

1930: The first World Cup is won by Uruguay, in Uruguay. Most Americans could not find Uruguay on a map if you gave them a map of Uruguay.

1950: The United States upsets England, 1-0, at the World Cup for its greatest soccer victory. Like Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game 12 years later, nobody actually sees it.

(Column Intermission I: Queen Latifah announced "National Women's Confidence Day" last week. Fine. Couch Slouch is announcing "National Divorcés Sympathy Week.")

(Column Intermission II: I heard a stat the other night on an HBO documentary: Every day around the world, sex occurs 120 million times. Thank goodness I'm not adding to that problem.)

1968: The North American Soccer League is formed. After an initial surge of interest, most NASL facilities are converted into Starbucks.

1978: While 2.2 billion people worldwide watch Argentina beat Holland in the World Cup final, 79 million Americans turn to "CHiPs" with Erik Estrada!

1980: Soccer hooligans arrive in New York and get trampled by Jets fans en route to Giants Stadium.

1981: Kitty Menendez grows tired of driving Lyle and Erik Menendez to youth soccer games, so she starts just dropping them off at the mall.

1989: Women begin playing soccer in large numbers. Future President Bill Clinton develops a keen interest in soccer.

1993: A USA Today survey indicates that "watching soccer on TV" is the 273rd most popular leisure pursuit in America, right behind "complaining about the weather" and "talking on the cell phone while driving an SUV."

1994: The World Cup comes to America, but most Americans ignore it because McDonald's is offering the McRib sandwich "for a limited time only."

1997: C-SPAN ponders replacing Senate hearings with MLS games, nixes idea due to ratings considerations.

2002: The U.S. defeats Portugal in the World Cup, prompting ESPN's Jack Edwards to say, "Mine eyes have seen the glory," coincidentally the exact words I used when I saw the Hershey's chocolate factory on a third-grade field trip.

2005: I date Mia Hamm, but she breaks up with me on her birthday when I fall asleep watching "Bend It Like Beckham" on home video.

[Fosco33]

FUBAR!!!!!!

Can we protest this bullshit?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Great result. For those that didn't see it, here's my analysis:

The USA's new lineup outplayed Italy early, getting a couple of good chances. Clint Dempsey and Bobby Convey played outstanding early. Landon Donovan rebounded from a poor game. They stiffled Italy for the first 20 minutes. At 22' the USA made a bad tactical mistake, and Italy made them pay for it. At 27' The USA got a decent cross, the Italian defender kicked it into his own goal--although Brian McBride was right there to put the ball away if it hadn't gone in. Big break. A little later, the Italians had perhaps the dirtiest play in this World Cup that I've seen when De Rossi swung a wild and intentional elbow at Brian McBride--severely bloodying McBride's face. He deservedly got a red card. For about the next 20 minutes the referee lost control of the game, and really hurt the USA's chances. Two very questionable red cards put the USA down a man for almost the entire second half. From there, Kasey Keller stepped up and made several outstanding saves--showing why he's one of the best keepers in the Bundesliga. I thought DeMarcus Beasley rebounded, and played okay as a substitute. I thought Brian McBride did a good job of bouncing back and winning a lot of headers late. The USA played pretty good a man down until about the 75th minute. At 70' the USA narrowly missed taking the lead. They scored, but they were correctly whistled for an offsides because McBride was shielding the goalie from an offsides position. From there, Italy put on a mad attack that the USA was just barely able to thwart. Nobody on the USA played poorly. Some guys that deserve praise are Dempsey, Convey, Keller, Mastreoni (who I have never liked much), McBride (with some underrated headers in his own end), Bocanegra, Cherundolo (another guy I've criticized a lot) and Onyewu in the back. There wasn't a goat, but if I had to choose a guy, it would probably be Eddie Pope. He had a few questionable tackles, and he should have been more cautious after Masteoni picked up the red card. I would have liked to seen Eddie Johnson in the game also.

Great result for the USA. For the USA to advancance, they need to:

1) Beat Ghana and have Italy beat the Czech Republic.
2) If Italy ties the Czech Republic or if the Czech Republic beats Italy, they'll likely need to beat Ghana by 4 goals or so. That's VERY unlikely to happen.

Root for the floppers from Italy to win their next game and hope the USA can beat Ghana. The one good thing is that the two games are at the same time, so the Czechs and Italy will likely not being playing for a tie.

[Tarlam!]

This was about the worst officiating I have ever seen in a Cup game in my life.

The USA were robbed.

[red]

that was shit

the team played their asses off, but we got screwed

like the guys said, the refs ruined this game for the teams and the fans watching. that was just pathetic

and then the come on after the game and said that the ref had been suspended for "irregular officiatiing" a few years ago. why the hell was he allowed to ref in the world cup?

and harv, i wouldn't say the ref lost control of the game, HE was out of control for about 20 minutes

pretty ballsey for a guy to screw over the us, when theres a whole shit load of americans with guns and bombs sitting right next door

[Fosco33]

Can someone explain what happened on Ghana's second penalty kick attempt? It looks like it went in the goal - the post match announcers on ESPN said that the ball ended up out of the back of the net.

[red]

Can someone explain what happened on Ghana's second penalty kick attempt? It looks like it went in the goal - the post match announcers on ESPN said that the ball ended up out of the back of the net.

i'm not sure exactly what you are talking about. but i think that ghana kicked the first one and it went in, but the ref blew the whistle right when he was about to boot it to give a czech player a card. then on the redo, i think he just hit the right post

[No Mo Moss]

The US v. Italy game was one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever seen. The ref was a joke and ruined legitimate shots for both teams to win, but the US definately got the worlds attention battling with only 9 men against Italy. It is very possible that they will advance. VEry impressive today, kudos to them.

Updated: June 17, 2006
Playing with a purpose
By Wayne Drehs
Archive

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- When the referee finally blew his whistle, when the emotional roller coaster of a soccer game finally came to a screeching halt, all Landon Donovan could do was lay there.


Andy Mead/GettyImages
U.S. midfielder Pablo Mastroeni sees red against Italy.
His body was numb. His emotions conflicted. Smack in the middle of the field at Fritz-Walter Stadium, with chants of "USA, USA," echoing from all around, he tried to make sense of what had just taken place on the field before him.

"I guess it's bittersweet," he said. "You want to win the game. But at the same time, we gave everything we had. I mean ... everything ... we ... had."
When he made his way to the locker room, Donovan would need an IV to replenish his fluids. Not far away, three stitches held together the gash on Brian McBride's left cheek. And Jimmy Conrad walked through the postgame interview scrum with a chunk of gauze poking out of his nose. And those were only the bumps and bruises that were visible. In a physically exhausting match with 37 fouls, four cautions and three expulsions, there assuredly was more.
But at least for a while Saturday night, no one on the U.S. could feel the pain. Despite losing two players to red cards in a span of two minutes, despite playing a man down for almost the entire second half, the Americans tied Italy 1-1 Saturday, keeping their hopes for advancing to the next round healthy and alive.
"These guys bled for our country and our team tonight," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said afterward. "Today was about the team."
It was the type of performance manager Bruce Arena had hoped for. All week long, he had harped to his players: Play with heart. Play with spirit. Play with a purpose. But most importantly, play to the absolute peak of your abilities, so that when the game is over you can sit in the locker room and look your teammates in the face with nothing but pride.
Saturday, that was more than the case. Though the outcome was a tie, one point in the World Cup standings rather than three, it was a performance that restored hope in the U.S. team. Five days after a deflating 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic, five days after Arena criticized almost his entire roster for its lifeless performance, the Americans outperformed one of the top teams in the world, playing for much of the game a man down.
"This was the team we knew we had," defender Jimmy Conrad said. "This is the group we all felt so confident about. And today, we showed a bit of our character and our pride, to nobody else but ourselves. We can look each other in the eye after this one."
For much of the afternoon, it seemed like a day of destiny for the Americans. First Ghana upset the Czech Republic, helping the Americans' chances of advancing out of Group E. Then once the players stepped on the field, they were greeted by a sea of red, white and blue. An overwhelming showing of fan support one U.S. soccer official called the greatest he had ever seen on foreign soil.
Italy scored the first goal, but then, in one two-minute span in the first half, Cristian Zaccardo booted a ball into his own net and Daniele De Rossi was served a red card for elbowing McBride in the cheek. The match was tied at 1 and the Italians were down a man. Things were going the Americans' way.
"I was thinking, 'here's the greatest two minutes in U.S. soccer -- an own goal and a red card,'" Conrad said. "Then we turned around and gave it back -- or the ref gave it back."
Seventeen minutes after De Rossi's ejection, in the final minute of the first half, Pablo Mastroeni was sent off for an illegal tackle, making the game a match-up of 10-on-10. And then, in the second minute of the second half, U.S. defender Eddie Pope picked up his second yellow card of the match, sending him off for good.
In the blink of an eye, a one-man advantage for the U.S. had devolved into a one-man disadvantage.
"Two red cards in a span of five minutes is pretty hard," Arena said. "There's no way you prepare a team to play 10-on-9 for 45 minutes in a World Cup against a team like the Italians."
For the remainder of the game, the U.S. would play with nine. Italy would have 10. Possession after possession, the Italians took their shots. Some were blocked. Some missed target. Some goalkeeper Keller snagged out of the air. None found the back of the net.
The Italians would have a corner kick in the 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th and 90th minutes -- and not score.
"When you're down a man you're the wounded tiger," Conrad said. "It almost brings the team together a bit. You play smarter. No me-me-me, no dribbling and trying to do it on your own. It's all about the team. We couldn't cover all those guys. There was way to much open space out there. So we just had to make the plays when they came to us. That was the mindset."
The goal was simple: Bend but don't break. Don't let the Italians score. One single goal and the Americans' chances of advancing to the next round would have been near dead. Thursday's match against Ghana would have become just about irrelevant. But it never happened. The American team effectively killed a penalty for 43 minutes, at one point springing DaMarcus Beasley loose for a shorthanded goal of its own, before the referee called it back after McBride was ruled offsides.
The tie, coupled with Ghana's upset victory over the Czechs, now means the U.S. can reach the second round with a win over Ghana and an Italian victory over the Czechs. But regardless of whether or not that's how it plays out, the Americans now have a performance they can be proud of. After the match, the U.S. locker room was a scene of high-fives, handshakes and pats on the back, a far cry from five days ago.
"I can't give enough praise to every single player who wore our shirt," Arena said. "We were the better team tonight -- a team that deserved a point."

[HarveyWallbangers]

I've been reading the BBC and other international newspapers, and many still can't give the USA any respect. Some did... saying they deserved the result or better--while others basically said the Amercians played a thuggish game. I think that' s a joke. Other teams are physical, and the Italians flopped a lot. Personally, I'm glad to see the Americans play physical. Australia too. You can't let these teams get too comfortable. We did that against the Czech Republic.

[Tarlam!]

I think th problem isn't the team or the standard you play, Har. It's more the world can't deal with how lowly "Soccer" is regarded in the USA.

Think about it. USA is dominant in every other game/sport. Why do they not have a World Cup victory yet?

The truth is, it's only a matter of time...

[Homer Jay]

I admit I'm not a soccer fan so go ahead and yell at me. So, now the USA finally scores a goal, and it is a soft goal at best. Now the world should be singing our praises? Two games 1 goal. I'm glad you all enjoy it. I've tried, but still the only thing I can find that is more boring is watching paint dry.

Go USA!!!

To an uneducated eye the officiating looked atrocious.

[red]

I admit I'm not a soccer fan so go ahead and yell at me. So, now the USA finally scores a goal, and it is a soft goal at best. Now the world should be singing our praises? Two games 1 goal. I'm glad you all enjoy it. I've tried, but still the only thing I can find that is more boring is watching paint dry.

Go USA!!!

To an uneducated eye the officiating looked atrocious.

the reason we think the world should be calling us a little bit more then a crappy team is the fact that we tied italy. they are one of the giant power houses in soccer year in and year out. for us to stay with them (and IMO we were the better looking team all game) is a huge victory for the US. even if it was only a tie

when you understand the game it becomes more fun to watch it. to me its much more fun then watching baseball and basketball

[red]

and it looks like i'm not alone in saying i'd rather watch the world cup over the other things (except football)

espn has a poll up asking which is the most interesting event

world cup
nba finals
us open (golf)

the world cup leads with 47%
nba finals is second with 38%
and the us open has 15%

with over 122,000 votes

so it looks like more americans are starting to tune in to the world cup