Welcome to the "Frog," my little piece of cyberspace to talk about my passion - le foot (or soccer for my North American friends) especially anything around French football. Of course I will have some guest contributors that might want to discuss other aspects of footy!
I support Les Bleus, Arsenal and PSG but really just love watching, analyzing and following the beautiful game.
"You have to trust your teammates, always. If not we are lost."
As my friend and fellow pod-caster Sam told me, "the US always has a good game, a mediocre game and terrible game during the group stages of the World Cup." Clearly this latest match was a little bit of everything! One paper this seemed like a mismatch, in the favor of the United States not something you always see in the world of real football (aka soccer). Especially when it is the US paired with an European opponent. After a much anticipated match against their former mother country - England - the United States had a point in the pocket and had equaled the nation that was clearly their biggest rival in this group, so facing Slovenia a nation with the population about equal to the greater Boston area, you would think the US would fancy their chances for the full 3 points. Oh and Alexi Lalas confidently predicted a 2-0 United States victory, we should have all known that was the kiss of death!
The United States seemed to come out partially believing this, and seemed a little lackadaisical and somewhat surprised when Slovenia took it to the United States. Many might have expected the Europeans to sit back and try to defend for a draw and hope for a counter to get a goal. Instead they came out and looked to play for the win from the first minute. Slovenia found themselves up 2-0 at the half on two goals that clearly seemed to come out Onyewu and the American defense being too passive. The first the American central defender did not close down Birsa allowing him to strike a beautiful left footed shot into Howard's upper 90 (the ball certainly did not take off on that shot). The second goal saw Onyewu stuck like a statue allowing Ljubijankic to stroll in for a clinical finish. On both scores the American defenders looked flat footed and hesitated, both of which are cardinal sins at this level. So that was the "ugly" half. Which lead to the "good" half.
The Americans came out after the break with a renewed lease on life due to...gulp...Landycakes who took his chance and put in a Ronaldoesc goal -
I have to admit it was a big goal for the US....and it came from yes Landycakes...I cannot imagine that I am singing his praises again. But I am...ugh. He also went on to play very well the remainder of the half it was his well weighed pass into the box that Altidore was able to head down for Bradley to complete the come back. Finally Landycakes put in a fantastic set piece to get what should have been the winner, watching the replay it is difficult to see where a foul was committed unless you give a PK to the United States since at least 2 of their players suffered assault and battery...ok I need to take a breath because this much praise from me for Landycakes means I am not well!
The Slovenias did continue to push up the pitch themselves and had a good chance late only to see the header from Novakovic that was well placed but lacked the pace to really trouble Howard. The US must feel bitter sweet about this game, they dug themselves a huge hole but were able to rally and get the draw (and almost win). However they cannot be satisfied with the first half, they let in 2 goals where their lack of action allowed Slovenia to take their chances and made the US pay. If the United States think they will just stroll out onto the pitch and defeat Algeria all they need to do is watch today's first half to learn that they cannot afford to take any team for granted, unless they were playing France next in which case it would be a guaranteed 3 points.
So if I take an audit of the United States based on Sam's statement I would say they had a mediocre game versus England and had 1 terrible half against Slovenia and 1 great half. Meaning our balance sheet still has 1 of each...I will hope for my US friends that the better half against Algeria out weighs the poor one! The US gets the point, although they really fancied the full 3.
So I have given my thoughts on Group A...obviously that is where France finds themselves. But there are 7 other groups!!! Okay Okay, here are my thoughts and predictions for the rest of the groups.
I have already discussed Group A in a prior post. So let us look at the other groups. We will tackle Group B & C in this post:
Group B - Clearly the favorites are Argentina to emerge from this group. Even with the Ablicelestes struggling to qualify out of South America they have too much talent, depth and Messi not to get out of the groups. Maradona has 6 months to figure out how he wants to approach the tournament, while he is under tremendous pressure from his home nation, much like Domenech, unlike his French counterpart I think he has the support of his players. He is also stubborn like Domenech in who he calls up...Higuain? Zanetti? If Maradona finds his senses I think he will look to put Heinze and Zanetti as his defensive cornerstones in the back with Gago and Mascherano as the midfield holders and figure out how to get the most out of Messi, maybe go with a three pronged attack of Messi, Aguero and Higuain. That would be frightening. Again too much raw talent and depth for this squad not get through.
The battle will be for second place in the group. Greece had to play the Ukraine to get through. They will once again look to their manager "King Otto" to manage this club through to the knock out stages. While they are still seen as a strong defensive side, well organized and also boring...they did have the top scorer in the European qualifiers - Theofanis Gekas - with 10 goals to his count. They will be pushed by Nigeria who is getting the least amount of press of the African nations in the tournament. The Super Eagles are usually the team seen as Africa's best chance to see a team reach the semi finals or further, this title has passed to the likes of Ivory Coast and Ghana...but no one should overlook this talented side. With the likes of Martins and Mikel they have some talented players that grace the pitches in Europe on weekends. While many would argue they have underachieved during qualifiers, I would see them as a sleeper in this tournament. Finally South Korea finds themselves in this challenging group. Not playing the Cup on home soil has brought this nation back to where they belong, a nice team that has some good players but 3rd tier power at best. Without the genius of Hiddink, which coupled with home cooking carried the South Korean's to an improbable 4 place in the 2002 World Cup, I am not sure that they have enough to cause too many problems to the other 3 nations in this group. Park Ji-Sung will be asked to shoulder the load, unfortunately he does not have the Rooneys, Giggs, Vidics, Van de Saars he can rely on with his club! Prediction - Argentina, Nigeria, Greece, South Korea finish Player to watch - Higuain the Argentine striker is overshadowed by Messi, but the Real Madrid man scores goals and I think he will demonstrate this goal scoring in South Africa.
Group C - This group will get a lot of hype between now and the tournament...especially due to the first match between the US and England. The book makers have already placed England as the second favorite behind Spain...wow...talk about irrational exuberance! Speaking of England they should go through to the knock out stage. However I think the hype that will surround the Three Lions will grow exponetially before the tournament...yet I am not sure that they have solved the problems that plagued them in the last World Cup - a shaky defense. Do you really have faith in Calamity James in goal? Cashley Cole is a good left back, but not as good as he is hyped up to be. Terry and Ferdinand, a strong pairing but have been injury prone as of late. The real issue - who is the holding midfielder? Barry? Gerrard? We all know Lampard will not track back unless it is to celebrate his own goal. Much will be expected of Rooney, especially considering how he exited the last tournament...
and what about the wingers? Will Walcott be healthy? Will the "greatest footballer ever" Beckham showcase on the wing? I think this team remains too similar to the one that failed to get to the Euros, while the presence of Capello is encouraging, the weight of irrational expectations will be too much for the 3 Lions, they will go far but not far enough. Much the same will saddle their former colony, The United States. I am already seeing the press and the statements of an easy draw and "we are through to the next round." When the talking heads like Alexi Lalas start saying this is an easy group and the US will go through, you need to take a step back and take a deep breath. I think the US will go as far as Altidore can shoulder offensively and without Charlie Davies this will become more difficult the young American striker. Much will also be asked of Deuce - Clint Dempsey. I think his time spent at Fulham has helped him grow as a player and leader. And of course we have Landycakes, the question will be - will he finally show up in a major tournament? Or will he revert back to Landycakes and disappear. What the US do have is a strong and experienced keeper in Howard and have some confidence from the last Confederation Cup, but that tournament is very different from the World Cup! I think the neither nation should overlook Slovenia. They came out of a tough group with Slovakia, Czech Rep and Poland - then they had to defeat the Russians to get through. Least we forget this team from a land of 2million residences is not afraid to punch well above its weight class. Surprising many at the Euro 2000 and qualifying for 2 World Cups. They play a counterattacking style which may frustrate the favorites in the group. Finally everyone is writing off the Algerians something I am not sure is wise. The North Africans are making only their third appearance in the biggest sporting event on the planet, they did more than hold their own the first time! With players such as Ziani and having gone through a difficult qualifying campaign Les Fennecs will be looking to play spoiler in this group. I do not think they have enough to go through, but cannot nor should not be overlooked. Prediction: England, USA, Slovenia, Algeria Player to Watch: Rooney will have a lot of expectations on his shoulders, he will need to have his goal scoring boots on and he must keep his cool on the global stage. The other player to watch is Altidore for the US, he too will be expected to be the offensive threat for the US.
