If anyone's interested, I'll be up for the game, so I'll be in chat, if y'all want to drop by, and cheer the US on to victory.
A friendly joke by a German tabloid: "Today, Rudi (the German national coach) will send our friends home. (Only this one time, please!) Ami, go home!" And this is the team that will do it: Can't wait to see the game .
Yeah, but they gots to get by this guy! German studies Posted: Thursday June 20, 2002 11:47 AM SEOUL -- First, some perspective. As we await the kickoff of Friday's U.S.-Germany quarterfinal, keep this in mind: Since 1930, not one team outside of Europe or South America has reached the semifinal round of the World Cup. The last (and only) team outside of those continents to pull it off was, strangely enough, the United States in 1930. Now, 72 years later, the Yanks are one game from doing it again. If you're looking for comparisons, the U.S.'s astonishing quarterfinal run far exceeds the recent Elite Eight trips of Gonzaga and Kent State in the NCAA tournament. After all, until now the Americans haven't even been a mid-major on the international soccer scene. They've been more like, say, Coppin State, a tournament regular that almost never wins a game and isn't taken seriously by the big boys. So if you're having a hard time wrapping your mind around what the U.S. national team has accomplished here, think of it this way: Coppin State is on the verge of reaching the Final Four. And it's not Coppin State, America, but rather your own men in red, white and blue. If that doesn't cause you to tune in at 7:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, well, then you don't have a pulse. Enough for the uninitiated. If the Americans are going to beat Germany -- and I think it's entirely possible; Germany was the least impressive of the eight second-round winners -- they'll have to prevent the Germans from running roughshod over them in the midfield, which was exactly what happened during the U.S.'s 4-2 exhibition loss to Germany in March. The Germans are taller, stronger and heavier than the Americans, which is why I expect Bruce Arena will go with a 3-5-2 formation similar to the one he used against Mexico. Here's the lineup I expect to see for the U.S.: <b>Goalkeeper: Brad Friedel</b> Friedel might be the keeper of the tournament, having saved both penalties he has faced. (Of course, another top GK is Germany's Oliver Kahn, who has allowed but a single goal.) If this game is decided on penalties, Friedel and Kahn are both excellent at stopping them. <b>Defenders: Tony Sanneh, Eddie Pope, Gregg Berhalter </b> If the Yanks go with three defenders, the most pressure here is on Pope, who will have to organize the back line against Germany's aerial assault, which targets Miroslav Klose and Carsten Jancker. Given the referees' sudden emphasis on calling restart fouls in the box, the U.S. has to make sure it doesn't do anything stupid to draw a cheap penalty. <b>Midfielders: Claudio Reyna, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, DaMarcus Beasley (or Eddie Lewis)</b> If Beasley is healthy -- he's been fighting a deep knee bruise -- I expect him to play. Not only has he been dangerous on runs down the left side, but he has also been excellent at tracking back quickly on defense. Likewise, Reyna will have to perform much as he did against Mexico, devoting large chunks of time to defending the flanks and making it difficult for the Germans to send crosses into the box. As a result, this formation will oftentimes look as if it is using five defenders, not three. O'Brien has been solid throughout the tournament and I suspect we'll see Mastroeni once again. Not only is Mastro 2-0 in this tournament when he has been on the field, but if any German tries to bring down an American early (to send a message), Mastroeni will make him pay. <b>Attacking midfielder: Landon Donovan </b> As we saw against Mexico, Donovan is much more threatening when he's in the middle of the field, as opposed to the flanks (where he sometimes gets lost: see South Korea). Supremely fit, fast and hungry, Donovan could play the role of Ahn Jung-Hwan, the South Korean (and bench-warmer in the Italian league) who scored the game-winner against Italy. Privately, Donovan is extremely bitter about the way he was treated at Bayer Leverkusen, where he never got a chance with the first team, and he'd like nothing more than to hit Germany where it would hurt most. <b>Forwards: Clint Mathis, Brian McBride </b> As far as I can tell, McBride is a lock. Whenever he has been healthy, Arena has used him. Mathis is less certain, but his two-goal game against Germany in March and his big-game mentality make him the best candidate in my mind. Another possibility is Josh Wolff, who was solid in the Mexico game and seems to work better with McBride than Mathis does. Whatever you do, make sure you don't tune in late. The first 15 minutes will likely decide the game. If the U.S. can get a goal early, it has shown that it can hold leads (or get a result) against Portugal, South Korea and Mexico. Conversely, if the Yanks give up early goals (as they did against Poland), they're toast. "We basically spotted them two goals," Arena said of the Poland game. "We're not good enough to spot anybody two goals." Especially Germany. Any way you look at it, this is must-see TV. Enjoy.
I wonder if Germany can score outside of that obvious flop that got them the free kick... Please let us score so that's not the difference.
No fluke team gets into the final 8; they proved they belonged there. The US earned some world-wide respect today. PS- Germany better be thanking God that the refs didn't call that BLATANT handball on the save around goal
Congratulations to Germany and its fans. Even you, Jeremies. Even though he didn't score, Klose is the man -- it's refreshing to see a striker that tries to play through contact. Thanks to the US team for an unimaginable run, topped off by its best performance of the tournament. Again, we have no excuses, but I think we showed that me might actually deserve our FIFA ranking. Hopefully, we'll be able to build on our success at Germany 2006 -- I'd love to be there. . . .
wow! 1 to 0 Germany... First off congratulations to Germany,...kinda wishing U.S. would have had it, but I am not disappointed. This U.S. team showed a lot of heart when the world counted them out so long ago... way to go!
Great run by the USA. They controlled the game and I believe had the Germans on their heels. It is a shame that we get taken out by an obvious HANDBALL in the box. Yes, I know some of you will be saying it was unintentional, and I agree, but if it is clear that the unintentional handball stops the ball from going in the net, then it is a foul and a penalty kick should be awarded. The referee simply missed the call....DANG !!! Now, that being said, I think the USA should hold its head high, they clearly outplayed the stunned Germans and controlled about 70% of the match. Too bad that a few of Donavan's chances could not go in, or Reyna's lob, or even the late header that hit the side of the German net. Wow, what a match......good luck to Germany, I don't see how you can win the world cup without scoring with your feet, but you have gotten by that way so far...so ....who knows. I think Brazil wins it all though. DaDakota
It's over. Sigh. And why the hell does Brad Friedel have a British f'n accent?!!! He's been in England for 4 years and he's a redcoat all of a sudden?? Note to self: goto Australia for 4 years to get cool accent to get chicks. END MESSAGE.
The US played their hearts out - congrats to both teams. So close to scoring the equalizer, should have been a penalty shot, but we got the break vs Mexico so I guess it evens out...
Congrats to SJC and Jovi and Germany. It was a great match...the US just came up short. I think we proved by this performance that we will no longer be considered an "easy mark". Best of luck to Germany for the rest of the tournament.
I'm sorry, but i don't see how you could call this a "good match". Those Germans were just flopping all over the place. They're all twice as big as our players but i counted at least 5 obvious dives from them. ESPN would not replay the "foul" that got the germans the free kick, hmmmm, perhaps because it was a weak ass flop??? And then to compound the problem, the ref obviously owed us a call, and then he wouldn't call the freaking handball that saved a goal!??? At least give us a chance to play on even ground, you damn ref! And Germans, if you're so big and strong, why don't you play like MEN? I don't think our players could have knocked them down if they tried, each and every german player is over 6 feet tall, yet they hit the deck on the slightest contact. We outplayed them the beginning of the game and they get a gift goal from the ref. oh yeah, it was then a lot of fun to watch the germans turtle like a bunch of scared COWARDS, playing 11 men behind the ball for 60 minutes, using their superior size to just head everything away. Klose has got to be the most overrated player ever, he scored about 3 goals on uncontested headers on SAUDI ARABIA. He, nor any of the other germans have the ability to create anything off the dribble. This was a horrible match officiating wise. I'm proud of the US team, they played as well as they have all year, but were simply robbed.
The flopping is really a problem. These guys take dives like they were just shot and they roll around on the ground grabbing their legs or whatever, then 5 seconds later they're sprinting down field again. It's ridiculous. The Germans didn't look like the best team out there but all that counts is the score so congrats to them. I saw the Brazil game and damn they are not playing the same game that the other teams are. Their skill level is incredible and they really handed it to England.
Hats off to Germany, good luck in the rest of the tournament. Nothing to be ashamed of for the US, heads held high. We gave the Germans all they wanted and had some bad luck. Frings looked to clear the ball off of the line with his hand(or was it over the line?). No complaints, it happens. Friedel had been brilliant, but Kahn proved who's best. Was disappointed not to see Beasley, he could have caused the Germans problems. Our attack seemed to stall in the 70th minute. Lewis? Jones? How many times do they have to prove that they don't belong at this level? Reyna played very well today. The US has been the world power for awhile now, but now we've put ourselves on the world football map. Here's to a rematch in 2006!
