The U.S. Under-20 national team has its fate in its own hands. A win or a tie today vs. South Korea (12:45pm, ESPN2) in its final Under-20 World Cup group match will put the Americans into the second round of the tournament. A loss would leave seriously jeopardize the U.S. team's chances of advancing.
The Americans will be coming in with confidence after a stunning 4-1 victory against Cameroon in its last group match. South Korea comes in off a 1-1 tie vs. Germany.
I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary after the jump):
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FINAL– That's all for me. Please feel free to share your thoughts (and anger and disappointment) on today's match in the comments section below. Thanks for following along.
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FINAL– South Korea 3, USA 0. An awful, awful performance and now the Americans need a series of things to take place in the remaining games of the first round in order to sneak into the second round. As bad as they looked, does anybody want them in the second round?
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91st minute– USA needs to try and find goal here in order to have a better shot at the second round. Four minutes of stoppage time remain.
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88th minute– USA fans can look on the bright side. The Under-17 World Cup is coming soon and the US team in that age group is much more highly regarded (and I wonder if it could have done a better job in the U-20 tournament). Okay, I'm kidding. A little.
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86th minute– Still 3-0. Americans holding onto third place in the group right now.
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80th minute– Thomas Rongen is sure to hear a lot criticism for the team's performance in this tournament, as he should, but you have to wonder whether the talent just isn't there in this cycle. Would a different formation and lineup have made the difference? I'm not so sure after watching these guys play.
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78th minute– Yellow card for Brek Shea for a two-footed challenge. That would be a red card on some days. WOW.
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76th minute– Yellow for Davies, after pulling down a Korean attacker after being stripped. This game has turned Gold Cup Final ugly.
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75th minute– GOAL KOREA!!! And it's 3-0. This is over and the tourney just may be over for the USA.
Germany leads Cameroon 3-0 though, so USA is still poised for third place in the group if it can keep the scoreline 3-0.
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74th minute– PENALTY to Korea and Opara gets a second yellow card.
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72nd minute– Kyle Davies for Jared Jeffrey. Davies moves to left back and Flores pushes forward into a left wing role.
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71st minute– Duka with a poor shot after a nice move.
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70th minute– Korea comes close after ripping the US defense apart again with a nice pass.
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68th minute– It looks as though Rosetti thought he had already booked Opara, when he had booked Agbossoumonde earlier in the match. At least he corrected that mistake.
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66th minute– Korea draws a foul in the arc and Opara gets a yellow after originally being shown a red. Flores with the original foul. Not sure how Opara gets a yellow when it was Flores who committed the foul. Dangerous free kick for Korea.
Opara misses the next match, if there is one.
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64th minute– A better sequence from the USA, but they can't find a shot on frame.
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63rd minute– Shea with a shank of a shot.
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62nd minute– Diskerud is in for Arguez, and Williams stays on the field.
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60th minute– Diskerud is coming on.
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59th minute– Cruz shot BLOCKED.
How does Korea win so many balls in the air against a defense as big as the U.S. team's?
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58th minute– Williams beaten again, badly, but the Korea cross can't find a shooter. Rongen needs to get Williams off the field.
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57th minute– Another US turnover. This looks hopeless.
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55th minute– Korea's defensive organization is impressive. They stay compact and every player is adept at being able to close down his opponent.
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54th minute– More possession for the USA this half, but still no real good chances being created.
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52nd minute– South Korea subs in a striker for a right back, and we just might see Korea push hard for a third goal.
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51st minute– Flores gets down the flank but his cross is blocked. Still waiting for a good cross in for the USA.
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50th minute– Korea with another attacking surge, but it is ended by a bad shot. U.S. midfield still being outplayed.
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48th minute– The corner leads to nothing, but Korea did get a shot. Amazing how many corners have led to shots for South Korea.
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48th minute– Arguez gets stripped and them commits a foul, earning a yellow card.
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47th minute– Cruz with a cross easily caught.
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46th minute– We're back.
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HALFTIME– Peri Marosevic comes in for Tony Taylor. That's the only sub for the USA.
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HALFTIME– In the group's other match, Germany is leading Cameroon 1-0. Cameroon was issued a red card just before halftime so it looks like a good bet that the Americans can hold onto third place in the group if it can keep the score 2-0 or score a goal.
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HALFTIME– What moves could Rongen make? He could take Peri Marosevic out of the Witness Protection Program, or wherever he's been hiding the FC Dallas striker. Diskerud has to come into this match. Who comes out? Cruz and Shea are the leading candidates. Williams has been horrid today so you shouldn't rule out a sub involving him.
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HALFTIME– South Korea 2, USA 0. The Koreans are dominating possession and the American defense has committed blunders at the wrong time. As for the U.S. attack? It's been non-existent.
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45th Minute– USA can't wait for the halftime whistle. South Korea is moving the ball around with ease.
Rongen needs to make some changes. Williams looks lost today and the three-man midfield is being thoroughly dominated by South Korea.
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43rd Minute– The U.S. defense has been exposed here. Korea is in complete control.
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42nd Minute– Korea is knocking it around with easy, squeezing the life out of this game as the Americans fail to apply any real pressure.
GOAL KOREA!!! Williams is beaten by Bo Kyung Kim and South Korea is up 2-0.
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40th Minute– Taylor needs to stop going to ground so easily. Rosetti is a slightly better ref than the college refs Taylor is probably used to.
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39th Minute- A better sequence from the USA, but Cruz's cross is too weak and the Korean keeper smothers it.
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36th Minute– Shea has a high work rate, but he's also a turnover machine. At what point does Rongen make a change?
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35th Minute– Koreans dominating possession.
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32nd Minute– Ref Rosetti has more successful tackles than any U.S. player so far.
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30th Minute– Another Korea corner.
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29th Minute– Agbossoumonde with a yellow for a high boot. His first of the tournament.
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27th Minute– Not to single him out, but Brek Shea has yet to do much with the ball, which is shockin considering how much of the ball he's had in this tournament.
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25th Minute– A closer look at the goal shows the corner actually hitting Williams in the back. Agbossoumonde fails to clear it, leaving the ball for Korea to finish.
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23rd Minute- GOAL SOUTH KOREA!!!!! Another corner that isn't cleared, this time the Americans are punished. South Korea 1, USA 0.
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22nd Minute– The way Korea is playing I'd say the Americans might be better off playing four midfielders. The lack of pressure from Korean defenders would make it easy to break their defense down, but they can't string passes together with the current group.
Another Korea corner.
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21st Minute– WOW, Korea hits a point-blank shot off the underside of the crossbar, bounces down and out. The shot was blocked by Brian Perk onto the crossbar, before bouncing down and landing in Perk's hands.
Arguez follows with a shot from distance that forces a save.
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20th Minute– Korea corner.
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19th Minute– Early indications are that the Korean forwards don't really have the speed to separate from the American centerbacks. It will take a pretty sharp passing sequence to break down the U.S. defense (Korea has already done it once).
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17th Minute– The U.S. team's strength and tenacity will create some chances at some point, but right now they're struggling to create.
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15th Minute– Koreans look content to knock the ball around in midfield. Do they know they need a win today?
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14th Minute– Opara called for a foul. He's on a yellow so a yellow today would mean he misses the next match, assuming the USA advances.
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12th Minute– Arguez heads the corner away. Korea looks decent early on. Americans still haven't gotten going.
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11th Minute– Korea corner kick.
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10th Minute– Korea's 17 with a good shot from distance, forcing a save from Perk, who was in good position to catch it.
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9th Minute– Not a ton of pressure from the Koreans. Can the USA take advantage and knock the ball around? Still waiting for a good sequences of passes.
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7th Minute– Koreans unlock the U.S. defense, but a centering pass finds nobody and the Americans avoid some danger.
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6th Minute– Cruz tries a shot from distance but it goes wide. Nice pass from Duka to spring him down the right wing.
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5th Minute– Koreans showing some nice poise on the ball early, knocking it around from the back. Americans have yet to have any real possession.
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3rd Minute– If we were doing a drinking game, and we're not since this is a U-20 tournament, passes by U.S. centerbacks that don't reach anybody would be one.
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1st Minute– And we're off.
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PRE-GAME– Hey, it's Mikkel Diskerud's birthday today. Maybe he can get a goal off the bench as a present.
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PRE-GAME– Roberto Rosetti is the referee, the Italian ref is one of the best in the world so that's a good sign.
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PRE-GAME– And we hear that familiar South Korean chant. Brings back great memories of the 2002 World Cup.
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PRE-GAME– LA Galaxy fans will remember South Korea head coach Hong Myung Bo, a former Galaxy defender.
Hey, a Fernando Clavijo sighting in the stands.
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PRE-GAME– There had been some concern about Tony Taylor's hamstring but he's ready to go. No Mikkel Diskerud for a second straight match, but you would imagine he will see some time in the second half.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the USA's starting lineup:
———Shea———–Taylor————-Cruz——–
——————Duka————Jeffrey—————
————————–Arguez————————-
Flores——Agbossoumonde—Opara——–Williams
————————–Perk—————————-
If that lineup looks familiar, it should. It's the same starting XI that beat Cameroon.
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@Not_Amused
I’ll have to rewatch the play sometime to see if you internet insult is worth it. Immediately before turning off my TV I saw the Korean player turn into Opara’s path to the ball. Grats on the internet insult though, those are always awesome.
Break Shea left me wondering: is it possible that a person’s second touch be worst than their first touch?
@tony. i was just thinking that when i got to the last post.
Otherwise, I’m glad I’m at work and now don’t have to waste my friday night watching that debacle. That was Gawd Awful.
worst officiated game ever opara didn’t touch the player on the first yellow. his second yellow the striker jumped into him and opara was between the man and the ball and shea’s yellow card was all ball. announcers are anti-american as well
Posted by: pflavin | October 02, 2009 at 02:22 PM
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Well, I’d say that is one of the best 3 or 4 refs in all of FIFA. He’s consistently great. As for the cards — Opara certainly hit the guy on the first. Of course, the reason he hit the guy might have been because Flores had already tripped him, making it hard for Opara to miss him. The ref did get that one wrong. On the other hand, Opara probably deserved a red for the last foul anyway. He jumped between the defender and the ball and made no effort to play the ball. And there was only the one announcer.
Ownby’s “meaningless” goal in added time was the difference between 3rd and 4th place.
SBI needs an anger management link.
Some of you have some serious issues that you need to deal with.
3 matches and know it alls can tell the future of these kids?
More ignorance
Posted by: This Guy | October 02, 2009 at 02:49 PM
The Truth,
When did you start watching soccer?
Last year probably?
Posted by: This Guy | October 02, 2009 at 02:56 PM
I like it I like it.
TheTruth,
Another thing is Brek Shea got all ball on that challenge and no player. That was a clean challenge.
The Truth,
When did you start watching soccer?
Last year probably?
Maybe you meant to lie and say that you were in South Korea in 2002 not Germany in 2006. I was in Germany in 2006 and didn’t see any South Korean fans. I saw alot of American fans though.
kyle – please let me know how brek shea is solid. He has started 3 straight games in an attacking role and he has scored no goals, he has had no assists, and has yet to beat someone in a one on one situation, let alone deliver any quality balls from a wing position.
@This Guy
That Shea challenge was clean.
Some of you must be from the new age football where diving is okay and CRonaldo is the best player in the World.
Ignorant.
That Shea challenge was a typical Maldini/Baresi challenge that would have gotten applause 10 years ago.
LOL – a two-footed jumping lunge with no intention of playing the ball is clean? In what weird reality do you live in?
SK didn’t beat us in 2006.
When Rongen brings this squad out (minus Tony Taylor) in the 2nd half and they win this match the trolling will end.
Posted by: This Guy | October 02, 2009 at 01:45 PM
I believe our U17s could beat this U20 squad.
Posted by: This Guy | October 02, 2009 at 01:49 PM
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Normally, the saying holds true about opinions and a–h0les — that everyone’s got one. Sometimes, however, some of us have two opinions.
Let throw in some MLS bashing while we are at it.
I don’t watch MLS because it’s inferior to Europe! Fire Bradley! Fire Rongen! Call in Bernardo! Adu should be at ManU by now! Beasley is garbage (usually shouted from the couch of a Fat American)!
Posted by: This Guy | October 02, 2009 at 02:43 PM
MLS is inferior to most European leagues but I still watch it. We shouldn’t fire Bradley. Rongen’s time “might” be up. No on Bernardo. No on Adu. Beasley’s form is in tatters right now and his Nats days are probably over, but he was once such a sick player (I’m in pretty good shape).
Just wanted to see how I stacked up in terms of your definition of a toolbag US Nats fan haha.
I was in Germany in 2006 and I noticed that the SK fans are the best fans in the world. Sad that it’s us that lost to them, but glad that they got some joy.
I don’t see how any of these players will ever be able to hold down a job once they manage to screw up their soccer futures within the coming months. They will probably all end up homeless. I feel so bad for all of these kids since posters on SBI have already determined their futures for them.
Tony in Quakeland:
Judging what kind of soccer nation we are based on comments here is a bit silly don’t you think. This isn’t exactly a meeting of the great minds of soccer having a serious discussion on the state of American soccer.
Anyone else feel that if Opara had Onyewu next to him, that we would be pretty diesel
SBI needs an anger management link.
Some of you have some serious issues that you need to deal with.
3 matches and know it alls can tell the future of these kids?
More ignorance
Diskerud might be the only one with a chance…terrible team…talent pool is obviously lacking…but Rongen’s fault too…limited adjustments.
Funny considering 95% of this team most likely played their last game ever in a USA shirt.
I am crying tears of joy that we are having homicidal arguments about the coach of our U20 team! We’ve come a long way as a soccer nation…
We are a team of limited means of improvement. Limited talent. Limited coaching.
Shea is solid, he’s the only person out of this group that looks like he could turn into a real player.
One of the skill sets that jump out is what each team did from wide positions. For example, early in the match Shea put three or four balls over everyone’s head. Not to pick on him because nearly the entire USA team has poor ball skills.
As for this game, Korea was just quicker to the ball, more skillful, and better organized, long hopeful balls had no chance. If US scouted their previous match they would have seen these strengths.
Let throw in some MLS bashing while we are at it.
I don’t watch MLS because it’s inferior to Europe! Fire Bradley! Fire Rongen! Call in Bernardo! Adu should be at ManU by now! Beasley is garbage (usually shouted from the couch of a Fat American)!
Good to know that these kids have probably already peaked. Here’s to the 17’s…much more expectation with those little buggers.
OK, it’s final. And Cameroon loses 3-0 and US finishes third.
Here’s what’s needed (two of these three have to happen):
1) England-Uzbekistan draw, or the winner does not improve to a goal difference of -2 or better.
2) Costa Rica loses by two goals, or by 1-0
3) Hungary gets blown out by UAE, by four goals, and S. Africa does not win
By the way I’m not even a huge BB supporter I’m just tired of the coaching staff taking all the blame and the players who never see the field are revered as being the answer. Could someone else do a better job? Almost positively but people griping really isn’t going to change anything so some more insightful opinions rather than the standard “HE SUCKS” would be a nice change. I will admit, it is a little bit like a town’s youth team having a coach with his son on the squad but that isn’t his or Jr.’s fault so lets just move on.
Average age for the U.S squad is 18yrs. Some 19yr old on the squad too. A few 17yr olds also on the squad. Korea average right at 20yrs old!???…. The U.S team looked like an MLS team today!lol Very sloppy!
We need Costa Rica to lose by 2 for the US to move on.
Jamie Z:
Interesting that you should mention the 2002 World Cup. The 2002 coach was labeled an imbecile, moron, arrogant, etc. for not advancing out of the 2006 Cup first round in the hardest group in the tournament and with nightmare officiating against him, Bradley gets lots of credit for taking the team backwards.
ahm,
Preach on!
Jamie Z:
That is a really ridiculous comparison. Don’t compare this sad excuse for a team with the USMNT.
Posted by: aristotle | October 02, 2009 at 02:31 PM
Good idea. Let’s just write them off wholesale. I’m actually going to start a petition to send them all to the guillotine. That’ll show ’em!
wow that was really awful.
Zero results? Just what do you consider a result. We made the World Cup quarters in 2002 and just made it to the finals of the Confederations Cup. I’d say the US are actually punching above our weight in recent competitions. We’re a fledgling soccer nation and people expect us to be the big boys overnight with no growing pains. That’s not how it works. Sometimes it takes time to do things right.
Posted by: Jamie Z. | October 02, 2009 at 02:32 PM
Thats BS Jamie, we lost to SOUTH KOREA!!!! not Brazil, not Argentina, not France, SOUTH KOREA!!!
I don’t expect a US team to those nations mentioned above, i do expect them to win or at least compete against teams like South Korea. which obviously didn’t happen today.
Germany 3-0 FINAL
Joe B you are my idol. I normally get annoyed with the people who constantly whine about the US coaches instead of asking for some responsibility from the players but you my friend are different. Instead of coming in with a silly claim or a FIRE BB post you instead provide us with a wikipedia definition of the straw man fallacy which I guess you hope will sharpen our skills in the debate squad? Anyway I was wondering if you could please tell me what the title of the appropriate fallacy is when someone presents an unprovable opinion as a fact. To be extra kind I’ll give this example, “BB should be fired, we need a a real coach from the international scene, then we’d be much better.” I’ve been wondering what the name for this is, a statement which can in no way be proven either correct or false but somehow the speaker (or in this scenario every whiner out there) takes to be fact. Help me out here my friend
The EuroSPort British commentator is spot on it’s the other one on the ITV/S1 channel that is the clown
What are the avearage ages on the U.S squad?? Most Koreans are right at 20yrs old. The Germans had a few that were up there too. I can think of atleast 10 players that are 19-20yrs old that could of played in this game for the U.S!:) I’m going to have to check the average age on each team in this group.
The only good that can come out of this game is that this group of players gets a real wake-up call. Maybe, they get an idea of what it takes to to play at the international level — the fitness required, the cohesion and discipline of 11 players working together, and the sheer skill that is needed to play at this level.
I don’t know if this group of players has it in them, but they will need a lot more practice than they’ve been getting. They need to be fitter, and they need to be more skillful with the ball.
Otherwise, we’ll just have to wait for the U17s to grow up. Hopefully, they are better at this game. Watching Ike Opara — who some have claimed would have been the first pick in the last MLS draft — makes me wonder if there is any real ability and understanding of the game in this country. He has not been good. If he’s the best defender in college, we’re in trouble….
Brek Shea = Terrible.
Why does this dude continue to play? He sucks for FC Dallas, and he hasn’t done a positive thing this whole tournament.
ok the coaches aren’t stupid. can i say the entire USSF is scary smart to keep all their jobs while producing zero results.
Posted by: moosecat | October 02, 2009 at 02:28 PM
Zero results? Just what do you consider a result. We made the World Cup quarters in 2002 and just made it to the finals of the Confederations Cup. I’d say the US are actually punching above our weight in recent competitions. We’re a fledgling soccer nation and people expect us to be the big boys overnight with no growing pains. That’s not how it works. Sometimes it takes time to do things right.
of course Ives will no say anything bad against Rongen nor Bob Bradley even tho he know that they both suck as coaches for the USA. Rongen did good job last U20 World Cup because he had Zizzo, Altidore, M. Bradley, Adu, Robbie Roger, Statela, who are better player back then.
(SBI-Don’t be an idiot. If you read this site with any frequency you would know I criticized Rongen after the first game.)
not sure why the ref called the PK on Opara for being run into. Opara had as much right to be on that spot on the pitch, in fact he was there first and was making a play for the ball. bad ref is bad.
Posted by: baquito alyeska | October 02, 2009 at 02:28 PM
Have you even seen a match in your life? He ran into the korean not the other way around.
yes, I don’t think it is an knee-jerk reaction to say that Rongen should get canned. This is unacceptable. And I’ve been a fan of his. Did I mention that this is not ok? Wow.
Jamie Z:
That is a really ridiculous comparison. Don’t compare this sad excuse for a team with the USMNT.
That Shea challenge was clean.
Some of you must be from the new age football where diving is okay and CRonaldo is the best player in the World.
Ignorant.
That Shea challenge was a typical Maldini/Baresi challenge that would have gotten applause 10 years ago.
I also wonder hoe good SK would be if they didnt hire so many foreign coaches.
If they stuck with homegrown coaches would they be as good as they are today?
gotta agree with you Jamie Z.
I’ve done my fair share of hating in the past (mostly Bradley hating) but while i may disagree with their strategy these are not dumb people. They have lived and breathed the game their entire life and know infinitely more about it than a lot of us ever could.
As for the Korea game, what more to say than flat and disapointing?
We just got served a steaming pot of Kim Kim Koo with spicy whoop ass sauce.