usa v. slovenia - my thoughts (or, maurice edu was robbed)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 10:30PM on the eve of the final group game against algeria, i thought it was time to give my thoughts on the usa/slovenia match.
the yanks fell prey to a problem that has plagued them for some time. the early goal. the team looked lackluster in the first half and the eager slovenians took advantage of it by potting two first half goals. the jose francisco-torres experiment seemed to not work as i, and i suppose bob bradley expected it to. a 2-0 deficit at the half was worrisome to say the least.
the changes made by bradley at the half were exactly what the team needed. dempsey moved to a more forward role where frankly he should have started.
the second half is a different story. when down by two at the half anyone who knows anything about the sport will tell you that an early goal in the second half greatly improves your chances of making a comback. not only did the usa get an early goal, it got a brilliant early goal from landon donovan. along with maicon from brazil, landon has the top goal of the tournament. the usa fed off of that goal and controlled most of the play for the second half yet it took untill less than 10 minutes left for them to find the equalizer through the coaches kid, micahel bradley. bradley's sliding finish to tie the game would have been just fine with me. a win would have been nice, but a tie was sufficient.
now let's talk about that win.
it should have been a win. moments after bradley tied it the usa won a free kick on the right hand side. donovan did what donovan does and served in a beautiful ball that maurice edu snuck in and tapped home for the win. oh, but wait. there was an offside call. or was it a foul by dempsey? or was it a foul by bocanegra? i don't have a problem with the fact the goal was disallowed. it happens. i get that. what i don't get is the referee and fifa refusing to discuss it or say what the call was. the only fouls i saw were the bear hugs from two slovenia players on bocanegra and dempsey.
moving on. the usa face algeria tomorrow in their final group game and it's quite simple. win and you move on to the round of 16. here's what i'd like to see. i want to see edu start alongside bradley in the midfield. i want to see dempsey starting up front with altidore. clint is better and more effective when he plays in a more forward position. replacing clint on the right wing has to be stuart holden. he has proved himself as more than a worthy replacement for dempsey on the wing.
final prediction. usa 2 algeria 0. goals from altidore and dempsey.
mark my word. micael bradley will be playing his club football in the english premier league sooner rather than later.
peace
~scott
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