Photo by ISIphotos.com
Tim Howard isn't a player who needs bulletin board material, least of all in a World Cup, but even he had to deliver some forceful words after hearing that Slovenian Andrej Komac's guarantee that Slovenia would beat the United States in their World Cup match on Friday.
“Talk is cheap," Howard said of the guarantee. "He’s got to stand toe-to-toe, and they’ve got to stand toe-to-toe with us for 90 minutes. If he’s still standing then I’ll tip my hat to him."
“A lot of boxers talk too, then they’re looking up at the lights and next thing you know they’re trying to figure out how they got there.”
As for whether the guarantee would motivate the Americans, Howard laughed it off.
“That means nothing to us,” Howard said. “We know they’re probably feeling confident after getting the three points, and rightfully so. As I said before, going into this group, everyone thought us and England would get out. I also said Algeria and Slovenia would probably think they have a heck of a chance."
Here are some other tidbits from U.S. camp:
When asked what would happen if an American made a guarantee like Komaj made, Oguchi Onyewu said an American player wouldn't make such a guarantee.
Onyewu admitted that playing well against England drew extra satisfaction because it helped silence critics who didn't believe he was ready to play.
To finally silence the naysayers it feels good to get them off my back, at least for one game.
On whether he could handle playing a full 90 minutes on Friday after playing his first 90 minutes in eight months on Saturday:
"I’ll go 90 as much as you want me to go 90. That’s not an issue. I consider myself a 90 minute player throughout my career."
Onyewu also said he was planning on keeping his beard for the whole tournament, though he didn't say why he was sporting it.
Landon Donovan had some high praise for young striker Jozy Altidore:
"Jozy has the ability at any time to pull off plays that not only guys on our team can't pull off, a lot of guys in the world can't pull off. Obviously the run by (Jamie) Carragher, and the shot, were an example of that."
What Jozy has improved at is being a force in other parts of the game when he’s not making a play like that. He did a pretty good job of that the other night."
Donovan also faced a tough question about feeling pressure after not having scored a goal in five World Cup matches:
“I don’t think about statistics, but it’s very clear to me as a leader that I have a responsibility to myself and to the club to be the leader and to do something to help the team. The young players shouldn’t have to lead, it should be the players with experience.”
Some other thoughts:
If Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley are set to go to the bench, they aren't showing signs of it. Both players look confident and both appear encouraged by their performances against England, though both were singled out by many (including myself) as having had the weakest performances for the United States.
While Komej is guaranteeing victory, Slovenian media don't sound as confident about a Slovenia victory. Every Slovenian journalist I've spoken to has said they think the United States will win.
Friday's match against Slovenia could be the first World Cup match since 1994 where the United States has more fans in the stadium than the opponent. The Americans will be hoping to use that home-field advantage to break another streak. From 1994 to now, the United States hasn't beaten a World Cup opponent who wasn't a group favorite heading into the tournament. Both of their group stage wins since 1994 have come against group favorites (Colombia in 1994, Portugal in 2002). During that time, the Americans are winless against all non-Group favorites.
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These are just some of the tidbits from camp recently. What did you think of Howard's comments? Surprised to see a Slovenian player step forward and make such a guarantee? See Altidore showing more flashes of the ability Donovan says he has?
Share your thoughts below.
This could be a REALLY boring match, unless you like chess matches which I do.
Slovenia will want to win because they don’t want to face England needing a result. But they will want to do what they do best so they will put on the clamps and hope to steal one on the counter.
The US can’t afford to lose so a cynical pragmatist would play exactly the same style against Slovenia that we did against England.
The result then could be a pretty numbing draw. Which would favor the US because with 2 points, if we beat Algeria we’ve got 5.
With 4 points Slovenia will have to at least tie England and England , if they beat Algeria will have 4 points as well and will be looking to beat Slovenia.
Basically everyone in our group need to win but we can afford a tie better than most.
Benny, here are facts:
–the team with the best defensive record in Euro WC qualifying was the Netherlands.
–the team with the second best defensive record in Euro WC qualifying was Slovenia. No-one else gave up fewer goals (other than the Netherlands).
My point is that the Netherlands gave up so few goals in part b/c they dominated opponents and possessed the ball and just killed the opposition. Slovenia, OTOH, played defense and sought to counter. I said they were arguably the best TEAM defensive in Euro WC qualifying. Not the most talented–heck–our defense has better talent than their’s. But their defense is better than our’s.
Actually, the USA benefits MUCH more from a tie than Slovenia does. I admit that it’s counterintuitive, but it’s almost impossible for the USA to tie this game, beat Algeria, and not qualify through. That would require a truly insane constellation of results, like the US beating Algeria by just one goal and Slovenia and England tying 2-2 or 3-3.
From the standpoint of getting out of the group, it’s much more important for the US to NOT LOSE this game than to actually win it.
Alex,
The problem with comparing the Swiss-Spain upset to Slovenia-USA is that there is no real example to follow.
Hitzfeld said he used Bradley’s example as a blueprint for how an underdog (which is just about anyone) can beat Spain. The team Switzerland beat was pretty much the same unit the US beat.
I can’t think of a similar upset of the US mostly because the US is almost always an underdog. Plus Bradley has used so many players that this unit is very different from any that have lost in the last few years.
Slovenia could beat us; I just don’t see it being a big upset per se.
Let me say that U.S.A will win. The match I am a real Us Men’s fan and have confidence we will win. Go U.S.A !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D
Good work GW. People ’round here know what to expect from Ari.
A little early to be worrying about Germany or Ghana. Get out of this group first.
I was going to ask about ’06. I seem to remember the US fans shouting down the Italians a few times. Playing right next to 2 of the biggest US bases in the world probably helped, too.
(SBI-There weren’t more American fans. it was close to even, but the American support got a big boost from the Germans (and others) who turned on Italy (and from Italy’s fans not really cheering).)
With Spain’s upset yesterday, here’s hoping for another one this Friday. Go Slovenia!
ThaDeuce! great to see u here! i remember i hated a lil on tha deuce back in confederations cup (cuz he did a bunny hop when we were down 3-0) but i vouch for him now so much – im convincing peers that he’s worth his salt, trust me, he’s come a loong way, trust me, he aint lazy, trust me… that kinda stuff. so ya. shout out to ya! hope he scores another friday!
ya germans hate italy! i was at a british pub watching paraguay-italy, and the germans roared when paraguay scored!
That would explain it. Thanks for the clarification.
LOVE this post, thanks Ives!
Saying that Slovenia is arguably the best defensive team in European qualifying is a bit too much; maybe they were in their own group.
Findley’s pass completion rate was 60% vs England. Among the best percentages amongst forwards in the first round of games. Jozy? 45% worst on the team. Findley is legit.
Thanks for saving me a response.
Who cares? It happened, the score and result aren’t going to change. Move on.
Who was it that just ran away from their team, and said it was because they didn’t like the weather? Was that Corrales?
like Iran (1998), Poland (2002), Ghana (2006)
US was or should have been the favorite against these… maybe not Ghana, but the other two for sure…
Speaking of obscure:
USMNT has played against an former Eastern Bloc country in every World Cup since 1990.
And has gotten whooped almost every time:
1990 Czech-US 5:1
1994 Romania-US 1:0
1998 Yugo-US 1:0
2002 Poland-US 3:1
2006 Czech-US 3:0
total of 5 losses, 2 goals for, 13 goals against… does it matter today, probably not, but it’s strange considering how well US has played vs Colombia, Portugal, Italy, England….
I actually think that our clearances were much better in the England game versus the Australia game. Furthermore, I know that Bocanegra and Cherundolo were clearly slower than the English wingers, but I just don’t see Slovenia or Algeria’s wingers having the kind of speed or skill to take on our defenders like that. I think that Slovenia may get a goal against us, but as long as we convert our chances we should realistically get one or two goals against them.
I am also worried about facing Germany, they looked very good. I haven’t seen Ghana or Serbia yet.
My main concern with the U.S. side is that our defense has become a liability, and that was certainly exposed in the England game. Gooch was hopelessly out of position on the Gerrard goal, caught ball-watching, looked like a poor high school player. We also got torn up on the wings by the likes of Lennon and Wright-Phillips, but were lucky when they were unlucky to capitalize on easy chances and great crossing opportunities. I’m also concerned about the U.S. central defense in the box when defending crosses. Both in the England game and even against the dismal Aussie side, our D has failed to clear out balls effectively, often doing so half-heartedly and unconvincingly. One botched clearance against Slovenia and were looking at an uphill battle. Gooch and Demerit need to get back on form for us to have a chance at making a run.
On the offensive side, we need one of our CMs to take charge. Someone that wants the ball and who can settle things down and jumpstart our attack. Clearly this won’t be Bradly or Clark, both more-defensive minded players, so we should insert Torres into the lineup. He’s shown he has the ability to play an almost Xavi-type role and create plays, as well as track back and defend, so there’s no reason why we should keep Clark in the game.
While we may come out victorious against Slovenia and Algeria doing what we’ve been doing, I’m not so confident we’d do so against a more skilled German or Ghanian side.
This is a good point. I just hope Bob encourages the team to think about the US’s underdog status, rather than focusing on the fact that Slovenia’s about a country with 1% of the population of the US and even less global power, which would make it seem unsporting to beat them.
I would MUCH prefer Torres to start against Slovenia. We need controlled and astute passing against them more than we need the added brawn. Bradley’s grown up quite a bit, and doesn’t give up the easy cards like he used to, but having a classy midfield partner would help us dissect a more defensive side.
I’ll take Timmy to bite on this over anyone else. Gooch’s response was decidedly noncommittal by contrast.
I don’t mind an enraged goalkeeper nearly as much as I do a field player… they tend to play better that way. Sharpens the nerves!
Great theory, if only he showed signs of being capable of it against England.
Countless times he was called offsides, lost the ball and make numerous questionable passes along with disappearing completely at times.
I understand the basic concept of utilizing speed but realistically, a player shouldn’t be on the pitch if that’s literally all he offers.