Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By CAITLIN MURRAY
It was the day every U.S. Men’s National Team fan was waiting for — and it did not disappoint. The Americans came up with a huge win over Ghana to open the World Cup with three points. Goal-scorers John Brooks and Clint Dempsey will get the attention, but it was in large part thanks to the quiet leadership of Jermaine Jones, SBI’s Man of the Match.
Elsewhere in Group G — the so-called “Group of Death” — Germany destroyed Portugal, coming away with a whopping 4-0 win that puts Portugal in a precarious position as they face the USMNT on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Landon Donovan continued to poke fun at his very public and unceremonious dismissal from the USMNT before the World Cup with a new commercial for EA Sports.
Here is a rundown of all the stories featured on SBI today:
U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
Late Brooks header lifts USMNT to first World Cup win over Ghana
SBI World Cup Man of the Match: Jermaine Jones
World Cup: USA vs. Ghana (SBI Live Match Commentary)
USMNT confident of overcoming Ghana in World Cup opener despite bleak past
The SBI Show: Episode 147 (Previewing USA-Ghana, World Cup predictions and more)
Must-See Video: Ready for Ghana
Must-See Video: Landon Donovan EA Sports ad
Must-See Video: Stephen Colbert on the USMNT’s chances
WORLD CUP:
SBI World Cup Man of the Match: Thomas Muller
Scoreless Nigeria, Iran play to tournament’s first draw
SBI World Cup Man of the Match: Mehrdad Pooladi
World Cup Day 5: Your Running Commentary
NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE:
Love the Landon commercial.
Off topic. Why do they always say ‘USMNT’ and not USA when we play in a international tournament or friendlies. We refer to other countries simply by name, why not us. Just wondering.
Probably because someone had a gender issue.
By that, I mean that we’re the only country who seems to actually have some pride when discussing our women’s team.
To differentiate them from the World Cup and Olympic Champions, the USWNT.
It’s too bad you are not proud of them.
How come we don’t differentiate for other countries? In this case, why do we need to say ‘USMNT’ when we know we’re playing in the world cup? It should be implied that it’s the MNT, why not just say USA?
Two of our best players yesterday sported dreads. Hmm. need to start a trend on the team.
FabJo will not enjoy watching film of the Ghana goal. Awesome example of ball watching. ..
i think if JA’s injury came later in the match…we would have seen Wondo.
The line up for Portugal will be very interesting. Looks like all 20 field players will see some time.
Start Wondo along with Clint on Sunday against Portugal. Wondo would torture the Portuguese defense and sure to score a goal on them.
He couldn’t be any worse than AJ was. Wondo would at least make it dificult on the Portugal defense. However, I expect Dempsey as the lone forward in the next game.
32?
Can we sub in now? if Jozy is out, we need a target forward. That would be Boyd. I wish GAM was on the 32 list.
You clearly DO NOT know the rules.
Soooo, if Altidore is out for the rest of the World Cup then presumably Klinsmann will bring in an injury replacement.
Will we see Landon Donovan in Brazil after all? Or Terrence Boyd?
No, you cannot sub in after the tournament has started. I believe the rosters are frozen 24 hours before the first game starts in the tournament.
That’s a pretty tough loss for us then. Oy vey
On a second note, Donovan is not the one to bring in to replace altidore if we could sub. Donovan would replace dempsey and/or aron (based on the forward classification). More likely it would be terrence boyd. But unfortunately, you cannot make that sub now if he is done.
Altidore*
Dempsey*
Aron*
Terrence Boyd*
Donovan is best suited to play the same type of position as Dempsey. If he can’t play or play well because of his broken nose, a sub for Donovan would make sense. Insert sad face emoticon here.
I’m unclear on the rules here. Can a team call up a new player at this point to replace an injured one? I suspect the answer is no. Anyone?
No. We can’t make any changes after our first game
Klinnsman deserves more credit for winning that game than he is getting. He put out three defensive midfielders and mucked up the middle of the field. He gave Ghana the wings and almost encouraged them to get down the line and cross, at which point it was an aerisl battle between Cameron and Ayew. Checkmate.