The U.S. advancing into the 'knockout' round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, was an interesting journey. Three times, the American side fought back level, after allowing early goals. The trait had been an unsettling characteristic of the team since qualifying, and for many experts, this defensive liability was the main component holding the team back from a deep run into this World Cup. Sadly, for on two of the three occasions, the same culprit could be singled out, and as much as I try to support the hometown kids, unfortunately, St. Pius' Ricardo Clark must bear the burden.
When handed the starting lineups for the Ghana match, a little more than an hour before kickoff, it was quite unsettling to see 'Rico' in there. He had not played since the England match, and it was his lapse that allowed Steven Gerrard to give England a lead four minutes in during that encounter. Ghana must have been licking their collective chops, because it only took them one more minute, to expose the same crease off a turnover by Clark, to take a fifth-minute lead.
It was a mistake coach Bob Bradley would allow to play out for 30 minutes, before pulling Clark for Maurice Edu, who in most opinions, should have been the starter all along in that critical midfield spot. One hopes Rico can recover from what has been a personally disastrous tournament, and at 26 years old, he has time to bounce back, both at his club Eintracht Frankfurt, and with the national team.
Playing Ghana is always an encounter fraught with physicality, and they dish it out a lot better than they take it. Their histrionics on every foul, and dramatic proclamations of innocence, on even the most obvious fouls, is an embarrassment to the game. They try every trick in the book, and not only have no shame in their cheating, but an air of arrogant entitlement. For Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai to have only issued two bookings in this match was bordering on gross negligence.
Ultimately, such play could not be allowed to stand and the opportunity to draw level for the U.S. came from the penalty spot when Clint Dempsey was hauled down in the 62nd minute. One of the two yellows was issued then to Ghana, but not on this red-card offense pictured above.
Landon Donovan drew the match with his usual efficiency on the spot kick, and the goal made him America's all-time leading World Cup scorer in his third such tournament, as he also set a new record for World Cup appearances by an American player.
The U.S. pressure continued for the duration of regulation time, and only a couple of near misses kept our side from taking the lead. Through it all though, one could tell the team was low on battery power, as the quick turnaround from group play, and the emotional roller coaster that incompetent officiating forced, began to show its toll. Realistically, this match should have been played Sunday, not Saturday, and the Group A-B showdown with Argentina and Mexico, should have been played in this time slot, not the Sunday night slot. Those teams' group play had concluded the day before the U.S., and this was a mistake on FIFA's part.
As regulation time expired, Ghana looked the beat team, however, and there could be some argument the intermission before the start of extra time came at a perfect time for them. Again, as at the beginning of the match, Ghana came out very aggressively, and in the third minute, a long ball flighted out of their back found teammates from the French club, Rennes, contesting this long service. Asamoah Gyan would best Carlos Bocanegra in settling this service, and Jay DeMerit would arrive to help one stride too late, as Gyan put away the chance for a 2-1 lead.
Through the four matches played by the U.S. in South Africa, there is a strong argument our team put forth one of the best efforts, from beginning to end, during their four matches.
For the first time in our World Cup history, America does not leave the tournament with more losses than wins. For the first time in our World Cup history, our team won its group, despite lamentable officiating taking its toll in the end. And most importantly, our team can head home with their heads held high, unlike England, who may go straight to holiday, not even venturing home to what awaits.
A couple days before the U.S. match, a front-page article in the Pretoria newspaper was following up the U.S.-Algeria match, calling Landon Donovan "arguably the biggest name in America's short history in the sport". More African arrogance. Landon's individual and team resume' far exceeds any player this continent has ever brought to the tournament. Ghana has been gifted advancement two World Cups in a row (their only group stage goals were two spot kicks), America has been gifted to have Landon Donovan for three tournaments, and hopefully, for another one or two more.
The U.S. played in the second-ever World Cup match in history, July 13, 1930. A U.S. player scored the first hat trick in World Cup history. The U.S. pulled off one of the greatest upsets in 1950, defeating England, 1-0, at Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Not sounding like a 'short' history to me. And only the most elite teams here, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, have played in more consecutive World Cup Finals tournaments, and lasted as long at this edition, as the U.S. did. Italy went home in shame. France went home in shame. England, well, despite the controversial goal, which should have stood, also went home in shame.
The Nike commercial during the World Cup themed "Write the Future" wasn't, in the end, brought to life by their poster boys, Wayne Rooney, or Christiano Ronaldo, but by one of their sponsored teams, which played as a team, with heart, determination, for each other, and for their country. Our team wrote a proud prelude to their future, our future, this time around at the World Cup, and with one of the youngest rosters at this edition of FIFA's tournament, the promise is there for more to come in 2014.
Copyright 2010. Contents of this blog, written and photographic, are protected from unauthorized use and reproduction by any means, with All Right Reserved by Perry McIntyre, Atlanta, GA
Good job, Perry!
ReplyDeleteGreat reporting, Perry. Fun to see Dev and Elliott at the event.
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