Fixture #1

RECAP 

I had a feeling coming into this World Cup (WC) that this would be the one where everything went right for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and after 30 seconds my inkling was completely reinforced.  30 seconds into the match Clint Dempsey scored off a nice one-touch pass from Jermaine Jones.  As Taylor Twellman said during the broadcast it was “the absolute perfect start.”  Clint’s goal was the fifth fastest in WC history and made him the first American (and 1 of 23 players all time) to score in three WC’s.  The only problem was that things went downhill from there.  

It started with Jozy Altidore pulling up lame with a strained hamstring in the 21^st minute.  The ironic thing about that play was that I jumped off my couch when Michael Bradley played the long ball to him thinking Jozy was about to make something happen.  Then he went down in a heap and just like that the WC where everything went right for the USMNT was over.  Aron “Iceman” Johannsson came on for Altidore but he was not able to replicate anything close to what Jozy brings to the table.  

It didn’t stop there though as Dempsey got a shin to the face that broke his nose in the 33^rd minute from John Boye.  Boye, probably not so coincidentally, was the same guy that Clint burned for the first goal.  How that high boot was not a yellow card I’ll never know.  Matt Besler also had to be subbed out at halftime for “precautionary reason” with hamstring tightness.  Then in the 77^th minute Alejandro Bedoya was subbed out due to an old hip pointer flaring up.  If you’re keeping score that’s all three of our subs used on injuries in the first match.  Not a good sign. 

Anyway, immediately following the first goal Bradley moved from the tip of the diamond back into a holding midfield role and from there the USMNT struggled to maintain any semblance of possession.  It didn’t help us that Bradley (our best player) played the worst match that I have seen him play in eons.  Without him dominating the midfield like he usually does Ghana had the edge in possession (59%-41%), shots (21-8) and shots on goal (8-7).  Watching the match live you had the feeling the Black Stars were going to equalize and in the 82^nd minute Andre Ayew slotted home a back-heel from Asamoah Gyan.  It was a very professional pass and finish but my man Fabian Johnson did get caught ball watching for just a second and that’s all Ayew needed.  

Just as I was trying to rationalize how a draw was a good result in my head Iceman earned us a corner kick.  Graham Zusi (who came on for Bedoya) played a perfect corner into the box and 21-year old John Brooks’ (who came on for Besler) header found the back of the net in the 86^th minute.  Yes, that would be our three subs that made the winning goal happen.  It was Brooks’ first goal with the USMNT in only his fifth cap and it made him the first substitute ever to score for the USMNT at the WC.  After the match Brooks, who is now permanently cap-tied to the USMNT, told the media he had a dream two nights earlier that he scored the winning goal against Ghana in the 88^th minute.  Pfft...his dream was off by two minutes!  We managed to hang on during what seemed like an exceedingly long spell of injury time to get the vital three points. 

HISTORY 

How vital were those three point exactly?  As I said in my preview the USMNT has advanced out of the group stage in all four of the WC’s where they have earned points in their first match.  The good news doesn’t stop there though.  Under this current WC format 85% of the teams that have won their opener have advanced to the knockout round (39 of 46).  Nate Silver’s Soccer Power Index chances of the USMNT advancing jumped from 36.8% prior to the WC to 67.9% as of Friday morning.  Speaking of Nate he breaks down the nine remaining permutations for the USMNT here. 

LINEUP 

Unfortunately Altidore has been ruled out of the Portugal match on 6/22 (3 PM Pacific on ESPN) but the good news in that Manager Jürgen Klinsmann is “full of hope that he comes back still in this tournament.”  My interpretation of that is if we make it out of the group stage Jozy might be back for the knockout round.  The problem with Altidore not being ready to go is that there is no like-for-like guy on the bench behind him.  Meaning we have no other target-man that can play as a lone striker and hold up the ball so his teammates can join the attack.  

This is where Jürgen deserves some criticism.  I can understand not calling Eddie Johnson into the 30 because he was in poor form at DC United.  That same excuse doesn’t work for leaving Terrence Boyd off the 23 though.  Boyd was on fire for Rapid Vienna at the end of their season scoring six times in his last four matches (he had 20 goals overall).  Terrence is actually an inch taller than Jozy at 6’2 and would have been a like-for-like sub.  Whatever, it’s too late now. 

The way I see it Klinsy has two options against A Selecção.  Option one is he can stay with the diamond 4-4-2 and put Johannsson or Chris Wondolowski in Altidore’s spot to keep things similar.  I’ve been a big supporter of the Iceman but he kinda sorta looked not ready for the big stage against Ghana.  I’d probably lean toward giving him another chance over Wondo but I’d bet both see the pitch against Portugal at some point anyway. 

Option two is to go back to the old reliable 4-2-3-1 with Clint taking Jozy’s spot up top as the lone striker.  This isn’t the ideal role for Dempsey but it’s one that he can play in a pinch.  Plus we have no one else hence he’s our best option.  The back line would stay the same with Jones and Kyle Beckerman in front of them.  Bedoya would move to the left with Bradley in the middle and Zusi on the right.  If this is the way he goes I think my boy Mix Diskerud is the first sub in. 

The second option is undoubtedly the safer play but I don’t think that matters to Jürgen one bit.  Both of these lineups also assume that Bedoya and Besler are fit enough to play (fingers crossed).  No matter what he chooses to do, and to be fair he does have a bit of a magic touch when it comes to lineups, we won’t know until the pregame show starts.  

PREDICTION 

The other area where Klinsmann warrants some heat is that we had three muscle injuries in our first match.  How can that happen with this supposedly grueling training regimen we’ve been on for over a month now?  Well the answer is that Klinsy might have overcooked them a little bit to the point where their bodies weren’t able to recover like they normally should.  The reason behind all the insane training is that we have to play in the rainforest city of Manaus on Sunday where the humidity is expected to be around 90%.  So we shall see if all the hard work was worth it or not soon enough but at least we get to wear our white kits. 

The Portuguese could be down as many as FIVE starters of their own on Sunday and that’s not including Cristiano Ronaldo who won’t be 100% fit (tendinosis left knee) no matter what spin comes from their camp.  From what I read Pepe (red card) is their best defender and his partner in central defense Bruno Alves missed training on Friday with an adductor problem.  Fábio Coentrão is their left back and second best player overall.  He’s the guy that links with Ronaldo on the left side and springs Cristiano for the dangerous counterattacks he is known for.  Goalkeepr Rui Patrício may also be out so that means 4/5 of their original defense might miss the match!  Hugo Almeida is their center forward so both sides could be missing their target men.    

Now I assume that A Selecção has better depth than us but let me tell you I watched their match with Germany and this is a side in disarray.  Ronaldo demands the ball every time they have it and if he doesn’t get it he pouts and stops playing.  If he gets it and passes to someone who messes up he pouts and stops playing.  This spreads like a cancer and the whole team was following Ronaldo’s lead by about mid-way through the second half.  Not to mention that another one of their “stars” Nani played like garbage and apparently has been well off his normal form for quite a while now. 

I don't love that Néstor Pitana from Argentina was named referee but I just have a feeling that if we score the first goal Portugal will eventually quit.  The pressure, humidity, choppy pitch and bad chemistry will combine to just wear them down mentally.  Of course that assumes we are able to maintain possession MUCH better than we did against the Black Stars.  That means Bradley has to return to his normal form as our best player, which I think he will.  This might be the Philadelphian in me sneaking out but the USMNT always tends to find the banana peel when things are setup perfectly for them.  Which would be a crying shame since the entire country is WC crazy right now and advancing to the knockout round would ratchet interest up to another level entirely.  This should be another exciting and excruciatingly pressure packed match to watch but I’m going USA 2-1.

From Wikipedia…