Post-game

Now…unfortunately, is when I get to say “I told you so.” Except that that’s not why I told you – the reverse psychology failed. Or did it? See, with Italy up the US went on the attack and Beasley, who needs to run, finally ran and then made an exceptional cross for Dempsey to finish and I jumped for joy and then made the mistake of starting to believe! And as soon as I did that, the referee came in and reminded me that I was a bad fan and should never have belief, because belief, as opposed to hope, is a bad thing that needs to be punished and driven from my mind. I needed to be reminded that soccer is not that oh so American game of steady incremental forward growth …it’s a game of unexpected and brilliant leaps forward tempered with disastrous steps backwards – like when France win in ‘98 after failing to qualify in ‘94, only to crash out of the ’02. Our time will come, I have hope, but not in the progressive success we believe is our right.

A few specifics: We did not deserve to win. Bad penalties, flopping Ghanaians (Oscar worthy!), and missing players aside…we still did not play well enough to deserve to win. I can’t put it all on Bruce Arena when the players looked so tentative, but he did not give them their best chance to win, as a coach is supposed to. Beasley has no ability to dictate possession in midfield. He can run and he can obviously create opportunities at the front, but he looked lost in the middle with the ball at his feet, standing still, not knowing who to pass to. Donovan seemed un able to get himself involved save for a few minutes after Reyna subbed out and it looked like he and Beasley might take up the responsibility. We could do nothing useful on set pieces – where’s Wynalda when we need him? Heck, put Mia out there to take free kicks! Everyone’s first and last touches were suspect. Keller should never have stopped charging after the steal from Reyna; watch carefully and you see he gives Draman time to circle around the ball and set up the shot with his right foot – charge, slide, and make him shoot lefty or attempt a toe poke.

Al least Italy finally looked like a decent side…they always seem to warm up at the right time, so watch out for them in the next round. Wow, an Italy/Australia match-up would be fun. Talk about your physical games!