GHANA 2 UNITED STATES 1


The first real day of meaningful games in final first-round matches brought some of the best games of an already magnificent tournament, but unfortunately not the result U.S. fans were looking for. The look of despair on the faces of 11 beaten Americans following their elimination match against the upstart Ghanaians told of unmet expectations and a day's performance that was too little, too late. After only their uniforms seemed to show up to play the Czech Republic, the U.S. put on a spirited performance against Italy in which they left everything on the field against a side who outmatches them by a mile on paper.

Witnessing the startling variation in form from one game to the next by many teams in the tournament, it was fair to wonder which U.S. side would show up needing at least a win for themselves against Ghana, in addition to some help from Italy in their match to advance into the second round. In the end, the team who showed up was second best on the field to the Ghanaian Black Stars, who will advance to the second round to face Brazil in their first ever World Cup.

Though their energy level was higher than that of the Czech match, it was obvious from the starting whistle that the Americans were playing with the weight of the world on their shoulders. The problem was, only four of them were up to the task today, and four just couldn't sustain the heavy lifting needed against a determined side who was faster, more determined and had far superior touch on the ball than the Americans. Captain America Claudio Reyna dug a deeper hole for his side when he had the ball stolen only 30 yards out by Haminu Draman, who sprinted toward goal and beat Kasey Keller with a well-taken shot to the far post.

The U.S. produced no serious response, not even having the cojones to take on their opponents individually until the 43rd minute, when Beasley intercepted a short pass, sprinted toward goal on a breakaway and picked out an onrushing Clint Dempsey, just ahead of his marker himself with a perfect pass that Dempsey absolutely pounded back into the net with a conviction and technique suggesting he was one of only a few U.S. players up for this match. But just before half, in a play that will no doubt be the scapegoat masking the team's true problems, Oguchi Onyewu was called for bringing down Razak Pimpong in the box and captain Stephen Appiah gave the lead back to Ghana on the subsequent penalty kick.

Once again, the U.S. now found themselves in a situation inconsistent with their game plan: instead of defending and scoring on the counterattack as is their typical strategy, they now faced a side determined to play defense, in which the U.S. has to play the agressor. Unfortunately, this U.S. team has been a side for some time that does not instill belief that they can ever come back from a deficit. This game proved it once again, as a combination of near misses, Ghanaian time-wasting and a glaring lack of a go-to guy sealed the fate of the U.S. Media darling Landycakes Donovan was nowhere to be seen this World Cup. He truly has gone soft living in southern California and playing in the MLS, where even there his stature has declined. His true self was exposed for the world to see and I doubt his agent will be getting any more calls from Europe. As shocking as it sounds, it's not unfair to suggest that Donovan is finished as an impact player. Beasley followed up a below-par season at PSV Eindhoven with a similar below-par performance in the World Cup. Both now-former stars serve as cautionary tales to athletes who start believing their own hype. I don't worry much about McBride, who will return to England playing in a system under which he flourishes. Eddie Lewis looked surprisingly sharp down the sides today, while Bobby Convey, who will be in the Premiership next year, was one of the only players to take on opponents this World Cup (in contrast to Beasley). Clint Dempsey proved deserving of a European contract and Oguchi Onyewu must be tired from carrying his team.

Finally, Bruce Arena was exposed a bit for his tactical shortcomings this World Cup. Playing a 4-5-1 in a must-win game at the World Cup, while risky, can pay off with the right strategy. But the benefits it provides in retaining the ball and dominating the midfield are only worthwhile if the team itself is intent on going forward. Only several players showed any interest in that today, creating a situation doomed to fail. Finally, leaving out Eddie Johnson for most of the World Cup had everyone wondering why, although I believe his impact in the Czech game was a bit overrated, owing mostly to the contrast between his and the team's performance that day.

So where do we go from here? While it is true that many of the European-based players failed to show for this World Cup, on the other hand only Dempsey and Johnson among the MLS representatives looked good. Still, U.S. Soccer should encourage their best to play overseas - look what it did for Ghana. We will likely have a coaching vacancy as well. Chase after Jurgen Klinsmann, who has transformed the Germans from an outdated panzer division into a fleet of Porsches and is currently captivating an entire nation - the hosts - this summer (he even resides in Orange County - it's a perfect gig for him). But most glaring in my mind is that U.S. Soccer suffers from isolationism. Disregarding tournaments like the Confederations Cup last year have come back to bite them in the ass. Similarly, the urge to shy away from playing teams who might actually beat the Americans has got to stop. Sure it might upset little Timmy and his soccer mom when the family pays tickets to see the U.S. lose to a footballing superpower in a friendly. But how can we live up to our own hype when we never play quality sides? The England friendly last year, along with the Germany friendly of several months ago were more abberation than routine. The simple fact, made abundantly clear one more time at this World Cup, is that beating up on CONCACAF teams will never prepare the U.S. to play with the best every four years. U.S. Soccer needs to get over its fear of failure, fear of upsetting soccer moms and dads and start going toe-to-toe with the rest of the world. Beating Honduras does not a champion make. Until then, the rest of the world will continue to see us as more intersted in playing our own football than theirs.


ITALY 2 CZECH REPUBLIC 0

For what it's worth, Italy held up their end of the bargain with the U.S., finishing first and earning a date with the Ozzies in round two. I was glued to the U.S. game and subsequently missed a match I really wanted to see. Amazing that Materazzi, of all people, nailed home the first. With that one under his belt, I can only imagine how much bloodier than normal he left the field today. Congratulations to Italy for getting it done. I'm personally sorry to see the 'Czech Republicans,' as one British announcer reportedly called them, going home this early. Pavel Nedved was an absolute joy to watch, as was a world-class keeper in Petr Cech. While Cech will likely be around for years, this is certainly the last we'll see of Nedved on the world stage, along with Karel Poborsky, Jan Koller and Tomas Galasek - it was fun while it lasted but over too soon for a team with great potential but limited by so many injuries. But I look forward to seeing Tomas Rosicky at Ashburton Grove in an Arsenal shirt 38 times later this year.


BRAZIL 4 JAPAN 1

With Brazil just leveling the scoreline at halftime and a blistering Australia v. Croatia match being played simultaneously, imagine my dismay when the Editor-in-chief called and asked me to come back from lunch early to the Daily Planet to train an intern on her first day. But since this blog isn't paying the bills, I didn't have much choice. Therefore my match analysis will be limited. I understand Japan gave Brazil a great match until they tired in the end. Japan's goal was as superb as their keeper has been in three matches. While he might have fallen short on one occasion today (so I understand), he's a great candidate for 'best keeper not to survive the first round.' But Brazil, even with a retooled starting XI, was too much to handle for the Japanese and their Brazilian manager, Zico. However, it was great to see Juninho get in on the action, as well as Arsenal man Gilberto Silva. My Sao Paolo-based Brazilian correspondent Rui says the Brazilian press is mystified as to why Mr. Parreira continues to his 'magic quartet' in the positions he does, and the popular suggestion is to take out either Ronaldo or Adriano (preferably Ronaldo, though dare I wonder whether his performance today suggests a return to form? I only saw one half of it), who are the same style of player and move Ronadinho up front. Then Juninho can take Ronny's position in the center as playmaker. However, he went on to remark that this is highly unlikely. But Brazil v. Ghana will prove to be a great match next Tuesday. Don't you dare miss it.


AUSTRALIA 2 CROATIA 2

Arrrrrgghhh, why did I have to miss this one? So many elements suggested that this match had classic written all over it before it began. (1) Rabid fans for both teams (2) several Croatians on Australia's team and some Croatian players who were born in Australia (3) a must-win situation for Croatia and must-win-or-draw for Australia to advance (4) both sides looked surprisingly sharp against Brazil, who still beat them both (5) new keeper for Australia tending the net. If anyone has a recording of this match, please oh please let me know. I saw Darijo Srna take one of the best free kicks in the tournament so far in the third minute and Australia convert a penalty late in the half and a great 40 minutes in between, but that is about it. Apparently Australia finished the match with 10 men and Croatia nine. In the end, Australia advances to play Italy, which should make for another exceptional second round matchup (again - what an incredible World Cup this is!) while Croatia will be left to ponder missed opportunities against Japan on Sunday which helped to seal their fate.