Day 4
06.12.2006Technorati tags: soccer World Cup
Today was a day of welcome surprises & gut-wrenching heartbreaks.
Team USA lost a shocking 3-0 to the Czech Republic. Yes, the Czechs are ranked second in the world, so they were expected to win. But there were good hopes for the US to play well — perhaps even win it (the boys in blue are ranked 5th, after all). Now they're at the bottom of Group E, and have a tough uphill battle to qualify into the Second Round (where games are win-or-go-home).
It was the "group of death", w/ the highly ranked Czech, Italy, and US teams — and a Ghana that could easily play spoiler. Now the US must beat Italy on Saturday or prepare to go home. It's that simple; it's that difficult.
What went wrong? Everything. Just everything. Players didn't play well, and the Czechs just dominated. It was sad. Not because the US isn't a "soccer country" — but because since 1990 the US has become a major contender in international soccer. To piss it all away like that in the opening game?
But I still believe. I still believe.
The other matches today were better. Australia beat Japan. And if you think that was a joke of a match, you've not paid attention to world soccer lately. It's not just Europe & Brazil anymore. And talk about emotion & never letting up. The Aussies (aka the "Socceroos") were down 1-0 to the reigning Asian champs as Japan just dominated the whole game. Just dominated. But the Aussies kept coming, kept scrambling. And scored 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the game to win it 3-1. Talk about perseverance!
The Italy v. Ghana match was a mix of excitement & tragedy. Italy played well & won a good match. But Ghana also played well, and showed that a little African country debuting in their first ever World Cup could stand toe to toe against a soccer powerhouse. They didn't deserve to lose. Certainly not 2-0.
Posted by Miguel at 11:13 PM
Comments
I took a long lunch and watched the USA game... NUTS. They got owned by the entire game.
The other two games I watched on EPSNs gamecast on my computer. Not as exciting as watching the real game... but much easier to watch that and work at the same time.
Posted by: sam at June 13, 2006 01:05 AM
ou're having the time of your life, don't you? And obviously not the only one. I can't even call my cousins until July 9, lol. Enjoy, N.
Posted by: Nenad at June 13, 2006 09:49 AM