then get rid of refs and decide it with telephone polling like American Idol

Jeezus.

Oddly enough, an American fan saw our fail coming and said so and tells he said so.  What are the odds of that?

"Last night, in previewing the U.S./Ghana match, I suggested that the U.S. could overcome its shaky back four and defeat Ghana if goal-keeper Tim Howard came up big and "coach Bradley get[s] his central midfield pairing right before halftime, for a change." Unfortunately, Howard did not come up particularly big and, more importantly, it again took Bradley until half time to get his midfield right. Consequently, Ghana defeated the U.S. in overtime.

Since our match against Slovenia, I've been touting midfielder Benny Feilhaber and advocating a line-up in which he, Maurice Edu and Michael Bradley play centrally, with Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey out wide. The grounds for employing this approach were simple -- the U.S. has played by far its best soccer using it. Surely, Bob Bradley would recognize this in time for our match with Ghana, a team capable of controlling midfield and converting that control into goals.

In fact, however, Bradley not only failed to start Feilhaber in a three man central midfield, he benched Edu in favor of Ricardo Clark. Clark had played so poorly against England that I was sure we wouldn't see him again. In fact, I did not include Clark on the "cheat sheet" I prepare before a match listing the players likely to appear and their numbers.

Yet there was Clark, giving away the ball on a play that led to a Ghana goal in the first five minutes (Howard could have saved the day, but failed to stop a shot he normally would reach). Shortly thereafter, Clark, who plainly was chasing the game, was yellow-carded. By the half hour mark, Bradley had seen enough and replaced Clark with Edu.

Down 1-0 at the half, Bradley brought on Feilhaber. The team now consisted of exactly the line-up I have been touting. Suddenly, the Ghana midfield didn't have time and the ball, and looked quite ordinary. We went on to tie the score and dominate the second half. Unfortunately, we seemed to tire in the overtime (using two of our three allowed subs before the start of half didn't help), and Ghana seized back control for a deserved victory.

We can't be sure that the outcome would have been different had Bradley gotten his formation and personnel right from the start. But we do know that, during the period when my preferred midfielders were playing, we outscored Ghana 1-0 and nearly played them off the pitch. We also know that the pattern was similar in the previous two matches.

I've always thought highly of Bob Bradley and he deserves credit for many of the good things the U.S. did during a mildly successful World Cup run. But I cannot fathom how Bradley could have though he could protect an obviously suspect back four with a two man central midfield anchored by Ricardo Clark."

> avogadro wrote:

> the US was cheated thrice.... dempsey was punched in the mouth in the algeria game, inside the penalty box, should of been a pk and easy goal...

yes because he called him 'terrorist' 

can ntherlands take the slovaks?

Reactivate Peter Shilton

Long live the Mannschaft. It's true that England was robbed of a goal, but England couldn't match Germany. The English defence was too poor..

if they add camera's to see if balls cross the goal line, they  should also have camera's for offsides.... because more legit goals have been stopped and more illegit goals have been allowed by bad offsides calls then bad calls on whether the ball crossed the line. and both should be black and white...

"mannschaft" is masked profanity

The entire Fifa organisation needs to be culled, that's for sure.

"can ntherlands take the slovaks?"

On paper? Yes, we have some of the best players in the world. But we should never underestimate our opponent.

if Robben is playing then the Dutch win for sure, if not? then it could be close..... the Slovaks have played their final to get here imho and I dont think they will foot it for too long with the more fit and agile Dutch, an early goal by the Slovaks could G them up a bit though.... might be a Grandstand finish. But I guess the smart money is on the Netherlanders.

Rvp

Siri! How long till Cookies ready?