Wow!!! Where to Start?

Wednesday, June 23rd, had been on the U.S. Soccer calendar since the World Cup draw in December.

 The last match of Group Stage competition in any World Cup always brings special significance, and following the previous match's injustice, our side was up against the wall in a 'win or go home', scenario.

The history was not in our favor, as the U.S. had never won a previous third game of the Group Stage. In 2006, the last African team with a chance to advance to the knockout round, Ghana, was escorted by generous officiating, to a 2-1 win over the U.S., also then in a must-win situation.

The U.S. team this time around, however, is one with an established track record of being very strong mentally, time and time again, solving the toughest of problems when the stakes are highest. This 'must-win' mentality takes the field as a 12th teammate, every time this group hits the pitch.

The match had high stakes for both teams, Algeria as well, but with a real chance to take first in the group, the true prize was there for the U.S. Forget the horrendous decision against Slovenia, win at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, and next stop, the Round of 16. Coach Bob Bradley once again adjusted the lineup, starting Jonathan Bornstein at left back, sliding captain Carlos Bocanegra into the middle, Maurice Edu in the defensive midfield slot, and Herculez Gomez at forward for Robbie Findley, sitting due to a second (questionable) yellow card.

Those changes gave the U.S. side more offensive options, while also spreading World Cup experience across virtually the entire bench. Early on, the addition of Gomez looked to make the offense more versatile. In the 20th minute of the first half, it seemed that change, in particular, was to pay dividends, as a second effort shot, then cross, by Gomez, found Clint Dempsey on the back post. Dempsey slotted the ball home for seemingly an early lead, but the offsides flag was wrongly raised.

The World Cup of Refereeing this is not.....

Another great opportunity came in the 35th minute on a Dempsey break-through off a great passing combination from Altidore, then Landon Donovan, but the Algerian defense arrived at the very last instant, preventing a sure goal.

Tim Howard was solid in goal, with only one truly challenging Algerian effort early in the match finding the crossbar. The match was otherwise the Americans on the attack, and Algeria doing everything in their power to destroy the flow of the match, legally or otherwise. Dempsey and Jozy Altidore wore bulls-eyes all day long, and were constantly being ankle whacked, and in this case, elbowed in the mouth, with yellow cards being very slow to appear.

The one benefit of the constant fouling by Algeria (21 to our 11), and time-wasting through 'cramps' and other 'injuries' was the referees did decide to add four minutes of stoppage time as the 90 minutes drew near a close. In the second minute of that add-on time, Algeria made an offensive effort towards the U.S. goal, which was quickly gathered up by Howard. His long distribution throw targeted a Donovan run near midfield.....

.... an out, then in, dribble through the middle third by Donovan .....

..... found a curling right flank run by Altidore, who drew the defense enough to open space for a cross in search of Dempsey .....

.... from there, the melee' ensued, the ball bouncing out of the target area inside the six-yard box, into the path of Donovan, who had glided along behind the play in search of just such a rebound. My view was blocked. Landon's was not. A lightning strike .....
Pandemonium!

Landon Donovan is not a big man.
But make NO mistake, Landon Donovan is THE man.
He has time and time again put this team on his back, carrying them to places the rest of the world does not believe U.S. Soccer should be. Nothing is given this team, they work, they scrap, they persevere, they find a way.

When the final whistle blew, I was perhaps the closest person in the stadium to Landon.

The emotion that flooded out of him, hit me like a physical force, and with the wall of sound from the ecstatic U.S. crowd behind me, sheer joy was a palpable thing. Completely spontaneously, his grip on the game ball became the reflex to share, and some lucky person got the souvenir of a lifetime.

Donovan does not do what he does alone. He is a team guy, energized by highly-charged situations, and truly appreciates the extraordinary efforts it takes for supporters of this team to be there for these occasions. There is a sincerity and humility when he acknowledges the crowd at the end of such a match.

In the post-match press conference, emotion took hold of Donovan. After a moment to collect himself, he said:

“I’ve been through a lot in the last four years, and I’m so glad it culminated this way. It makes me believe in good in the world, and when you try to do things the right way it’s good to see them get rewarded.”

Wednesday, June 23rd, was just such a reward.
 To share it, makes so many of us, yes, Landon, believe.

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

This One Today Needs to be A Quick Post

We got home late from Ellis Park and the Spain-Honduras match, then were up early to head out to Rustenburg for Mexico-Uruguay, which should determine the winner in Group A. Since I'm already due on the field for that match, I'm going to post some photos for now, and will hopefully fill in the gaps later.

As you can see, it was once again a chilly night in Johannesburg...

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

One Day Off -- Now Back to Work

With the end of the U.S. - Slovenia being what it was, and all the aftermath, since, it turned out well I took Saturday off to rest. Got a real night's sleep, and wasn't due back in action until Sunday night at Soccer City for Brazil - Ivory Coast (Cote' de Iviore). This was a match I'd really been looking forward to shooting since it featured Chelsea's Didier Drogba against Brazil's all stars.

Drogba was also very much on Brazil's minds as well, as indicated by the close attention given him by defender Lucio, here, and the rest of the Brazilian defense all night.

Brazil went up 1-0, then 2-0, on goals by Luis Fabiano, the second of which was arguably aided by his hand to settle the ball for the finish. The third Brazil goal was scored by midfielder Elano, who scored for his second straight match, but soon after, was knocked from the match by a hard tackle, illustrating the quick changes of fortune in football.

Drogba had one look at goal, with an opportunity to bring it back to 2-1, just before Elano's goal, but his header was high and wide of the far corner. It was the kind of chance the high-powered goal scorer makes weekly fare of finishing in the English Premier League.

The introduction of speedy Gervinho into the Ivory Coast line up brought the change of pace necessary, and from that point on, the match was more end-to-end. It was in fact, on the clearance of a Brazil chance in the Ivory Coast penalty area, where Gervinho raced the length of the field, through the middle of the slow to recover Brazilian defense, where Drogba was finally able to get one back for his side. The tackle below on Gervinho spun the ball out to the left flank, where it was gathered in by the trailing attackers, who found Drogba lurking on the back post awaiting the crisply-delivered cross, which he surgically finished past a helpless Julio Cesar in goal.

Despite the result firmly in hand for Brazil in the closing minutes, it was much less so firmly in hand from a decorum standpoint and in the final minutes, a strong challenge by Kaka, the key cog in Brazil's midfield, earned him a second yellow, and the subsequent red card. Kaka will miss the final group stage match in the critical Brazil - Portugal showdown.

This evening, am in Jo'burg, again, this time at Ellis Park, for the Spain - Honduras match, a critical outing for both teams in Group H, as they chase group leaders Chile and Switzerland.

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

This Is Not the Way It Should Be

The spirits of the pro-U.S. crowd at Johannesburg's Ellis Park were running high before the match and the red, white, and blue were very evident throughout the stadium. The match with Slovenia was coming at a critical juncture in the tournament, especially with the opposition leading the group, following their first match win. Both the crowd, and our team, had a pregame unity of purpose.

The match began with the U.S. being a bit too tentative, and that uncertainty would cost them as Slovenia's Vater Birsa found a pocket of space between the midfield and defense in the 13th minute, unleashing a shot from nearly 30 yards out. The defense didn't step to contest the shot, and Tim Howard was caught too far off his line, beating him over the top to his left.

With that extra incentive, the U.S. pressed the attack and after a couple of other promising attacks, a Francisco Torres free kick had to be punched out by the Slovenian goalkeeper to prevent a potential equalizer.

Just before halftime, Slovenia was able to beat a U.S. offside trap, and Zlatan Ljubijankic broke in off the left flank, slotting the ball under the arm of Howard as he closed the angle on the dive. Down 2-0 at half  the challenge for American side was a steep climb. As is so often the case, the leader of that climb ended up being Landon Donovan. Only three minutes into the second half, defender Steve Cherundolo sent a pass down the right flank for Donovan, who skated to the endline, then sent a world-class finish into the roof of the net over the head of the Slovenian 'keeper.

The U.S. pressure continued on the attack and in the 72nd minute, Jozy Altidore was brought down from behind by the last defender, which resulted in only a yellow card for Slovenia's Marko Suler, not the customary red card for such a foul. Ten minutes later, Donovan served a high ball into the box, which Altidore went up and won for the knock-down header. The ball went right into the path of an on-rushing Michael Bradley, who leveled the score with a brilliant half-volley finish. The score had the stadium at a fever pitch, with momentum swung completely in the Americans' favor.

Three minutes later, the U.S. would ride that tide of emotion to the  apparent winning goal. Maurice Edu would get on the end of another perfect free-kick delivery by Donovan, sending it into the roof of the net. It would have been the first time in World Cup history a team had ever rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a win. It was not to be, however, as referee Koman Coulibaly would whistle a phantom foul on the play, negating the goal. Television replays did indeed show three, perhaps even four, fouls, all, though, committed by Slovenian defenders.

It was far from the only questionable decision by the Mali referee, so obviously out of his depth in this match. Forward Robbie Findley was issued a yellow card in the first half for a phantom 'hand ball' when a corner kick glanced off his upper chest. Being his second of the tournament, Findley now misses the next match. And a couple more images show there was, shall we say, disagreement over the officials' decisions.....

And Landon's eyes at the end of the match say so much.

The press reports from the world's journalists are this morning saying the U.S. - Slovenia match has been the best of the tournament to date, but oh, what should have been. They should be writing about the greatest comeback ever in a World Cup match. Instead, the U.S., for the third World Cup in a row, has been on the short end of the referee stick, and I, for one, am getting very tired of it.

All of that said and done, our team's fate is now squarely in their own hands. A win over Algeria at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday, June 23rd, puts them through into the knockout stage of the tournament.

Algeria's scoreless draw with England last night gives them some hope as well. For England, it was their 10th scoreless draw in 57 World Cup matches, and puts them in a precarious position against Slovenia, where they must win to have a realistic chance of advancing. With only one goal scored in two matches, Wayne Rooney needs to show up in South Africa.

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

Let's Get Yesterday Out of the Way

In the first of the alternating four days between Jo'burg's Soccer City and Ellis Park, Thursday found me at the first, shooting Argentina-South Korea in a big match in Group B. With both teams having won their first match, the stakes were high, as a winner would likely win the group.

South Korea found themselves chasing the match early, as a 17th-minute shot by Argentina deflected in for an own goal. The lead would extended to 2-0 in the 33rd minute, as forward Gonzalo Hinguain would score the first of his eventual hat trick on the day.

In the waning minutes of the first half, in stoppage time, South Korean midfielder Chung Yong Lee poached a loose ball and broke through the Argentinian defense, eluding the oncharging goalkeeper, and getting his team back in the match, 2-1, at half.

As the second half got underway, the early pressure was all on Argentina, and it really looked like South Korea would rally to equalize. One shot at a virtually open net was pushed wide, and the pressure continued until the 76th minute, when Lionel Messi broke the the left flank and the ball found its way across the face of the goal by virtue of a goalkeeper save, and ball off the post, ultimately finding Higuain on the backside, who slotted the ball into the open net.

Since this was the only match I'll be able to see Argentina in the Group Stage, the real prioritry was to get good action images of both Messi, and Manchester City's Carlos Tevez. A couple more samples of those.....

Also snagged some other good action images and I particularly like the following, as well.

I also have to take just a minute to address another of Will's random questions, this one, as those questions often are, are about where we're eating. In the SMC at Soccer City is a McCafe, since McDonald's is a worldwide World Cup sponsor. Not exactly a regular McDonald's, though edible (and pricey).

But now, it is time to put yesterday away, because today the U.S. hits the pitch in their second match in Group C play. The Slovenia team the U.S. faces is very solid defensively, allowing only four goals in 10 qualifying matches. The U.S. must win this match to have a realistic opportunity to advance out of group, and into the knockout rounds. Summing it all up: U! S! A!

I'm sitting nearest midfield on the left side as the television views the field. One of the best seats in the house. Hope it's a great show!

P.S. Quick update from field at Ellis Park. This is the view from my seat for US-Slovenia.....

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