Match 50 (R16) - United States v Ghana - Post-Match Thread [R]

Discussion in 'World Cup 2010: Knockout Rounds' started by Caesar, Jun 26, 2010.

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  1. M.O.T Member

    Member Since:
    May 9, 2008
    From a Ghana fan, U.S.A leave this tournament with their heads held up high. Kwame, their team just lost. Heartbreakingly. Consider their emotions....no need to rub it in.
          
  2. Aduesque Member

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2010
    Location:
    Georgia
    Club:
    Bahia Salvador
    Country:
    United States
    Ayew is not much of anything. He's talented but his lack of polish is as noticeable as Jozy's.
  3. lamrof New Member

    Member Since:
    Apr 8, 2005
    Ghana again. They are a battling team. They have heart. I saw they way they beat Brazil in the under 21 final. They were outplayed but pulled off a win. Most of those players are from that team. Today heart and fighting spirit was matched between the two teams. In the end Ghana stifled the US advances. At this level when you get chances you take them. Lalas on tv talks about the gaols scored, he should talk about the goals missed.
  4. puyol Member

    Member Since:
    Dec 24, 2009
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Yeah and they loaned him to Granada ( spain ) , sorry my bad . :)
  5. ImaPuppy Member+

    Member Since:
    Aug 10, 2009
    Location:
    16,000 posts...0 contribution.
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Country:
    American Samoa
    Thank you M.O.T, you are a classy poster and your team deserved the win. We were inefficient and our tactics/line-up were simply abysmal. We made mistakes, Ghana used their talent to capitalize on them.

    Back to the drawing board.
  6. el americano Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 9, 2006
    Location:
    San Francisco
    I think most of us were realistic. Sorry if it didn't sound that way. This was 50-50 according to the experts. After seeing the dominating possession on your part and our hapless forwards, I don't think it was that close.

    Well done.
  7. GoalUSA New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 24, 2010
    He walked off pretty fine and that's important. His leg was slashed a little by another Ghana player. He should be fine.
  8. Andy Zilis Member

    Member Since:
    Mar 9, 2005
    Location:
    Rochelle, IL
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Country:
    United States
    What US fan in their right mind was doing that? I didn't see much if any of that here. Ghana's a good team, and I think most of us knew it.

    That said, I'm probably never going to be able to support Ghana as a neutral again (they join Portugal and the Netherlands on my blacklist). I don't think I've ever seen timewasting as bad as that, and I've seen it from the very best: El Salvador, Guatemala, etc. The fact that they were able to waste away those 28 or so minutes after scoring the 2nd goal without picking up a single yellow card in the process makes an already disappointing loss absolutely infuriating.

    EDIT: And I'll just add that that's the last comment I'll make here about the timewasting . . . don't need to say any more on the subject than I already have.
  9. dundermifflininc Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 19, 2010
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Country:
    United States
    I hated how Ghana wasted time by just taking a rest on the ground should have been taken off of the field for that. I saw a lot of dirty tackles by Ghana especially near the goal area. They did it about 4 times prior to the Donovan pk.
  10. bigtw64 Member

    Member Since:
    Aug 16, 2003
    Location:
    florida
    Club:
    Birmingham City FC
    Country:
    England
    Well played Black Stars - finally some African pride! The big difference in the game - a striker able to finish(Gyan) I just wish England had one:)
  11. navijacica Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 15, 2010
    Than you haven't seen my personal favorite in this department- Spain.
  12. zombiepilot New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 12, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    What is with that long ball crap we do every single time we get the ball in the back. Its all we did for the whole of extra time and its what we did the first half of the slovenia game. It gets us no where! I just dont understand why we could not have atleast tried to work the ball up the field instead of just booting it! and Findley is useless
  13. REALFOREVER Member

    Member Since:
    Dec 22, 2003
    He provides an option out wide. I am not sure what other wide players Ghana have but I don't think they have many. From a tactical perspective, not having any width against Uruguay is not a good thing.
  14. Martininho Member

    Member Since:
    Feb 13, 2007
    Location:
    Chicago
    Club:
    --other--
    Country:
    United States
    Anyone who saw the quality in that team wouldn't say that they DON'T score from open play, merely that they hadn't until today.

    Everyone knew that Ghana would create chances. Most thought it would be through the midfield's passing and opening holes in the defense. Oddly enough, that wasn't the story on either goal today, each of which was well finished.
  15. ratdog Member+

    Member Since:
    Mar 22, 2004
    Location:
    In the doghouse
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Country:
    United States
    And yet, if WE did that, everyone wold be saying how well we "managed the game" and "finally know how to kill off a game".

    We didn't advance as far as we could have due to many factors. Of the ones Bob Bradley could not control are:

    1. Charlie Davies took himself out of the WC. The WC is about depth as much as sheer talent and we're as deep as a petri dish and this is true no more so than at forward. Altidore has potential but he's not close to a Jedi yet. Gomez and Buddle are a step behind Jozy and Findley stunk up the entire continent of Africa.

    2. The refs. Twice, we had to get results not only against the other teams in our group but also against the refs. That takes a toll on an already thin squad.

    3. We have almost no depth anywhere, let alone at forward. The drop-off in quality is dramatic with us. We're improving to the point where our starting 11 is pretty damn good but we can't ride those same guys in every single game.

    4. Let's not forget that Ghana, Algeria and Slovenia all showed tremendous heart. Kudos to them. "There are no easy games" may not QUITE be true any more but it's increasing becoming that way. The USA itself is proof of that.

    Here's why Bradley can be blamed for us not getting further:

    1. What the hell was up with some of his starting line-ups? Findley? Torres? Clark? What's really disappointing is that by the end of the Slovenia game it was blatantly obvious 4-5-1 (which I normally hate) with either Edu or Benny partnering M. Bradley as our most effective formation, with Jozy up top and Donovan and Dempsey as additional scoring options from the wings. I know that it's nice to rest our important players but by bringing in the guys who really should not have been there anyway, Bob put WAY too much pressure on us and it eventually wore us down.

    2. In the last two years, Bob never corrected our obvious habit of starting off games in sleepwalk mode. How many times did we give up STUPID goals in qualifying and have to come back? I know it happens but it happened to us far too many times to be accidental. There is something wrong with Bradley's pregame preparations and it's leaving us in a hole which, combined with not having our best 11 on the field for reasons known only to Bob, basically cost us the quarterfinals.
  16. GoalUSA New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 24, 2010
    I know. I kinda hated my fellow USA supporters for making this argument, because it happens sometimes in this sport (just like we should be proud the US got a penalty kick). Ghana likes to attack, only Brazil and Argentina (I think) have taken more shots. They're going to get theirs sooner or later and with how slow US always starts, I knew if Ghana went up early it would put too much pressure on the USA again for a dramatic comeback. That's not going to happen all of the time.
  17. vancity eagle New Member

    Member Since:
    Apr 6, 2006
    I did call this game would be 1-1 at full time, I really however thought that would favor the Americans, as they finish games well, and in general African sides do not. Great fight back from the Americans, and hard luck, deserved victory for Ghana, great finish from Gyan. Uruguay will not be as fit as the US so I think Ghana has a great chance as long as they play their possesion game. Hopefully KPB is not hurt, he has been one of the best players in this WC, Ayew will be a major loss, but Ghana is a much better bench side than in 2006.
  18. thepremierleague Member

    Member Since:
    Mar 14, 2001
    Location:
    London
    Country:
    England
    The "Easy" Path isn't always easy

    Ghana have a great chance for the Semi finals
  19. kwame_tdot Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 15, 2009
    Location:
    Old Trafford
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Country:
    Ghana
    tre. I am just responding to the guys bashing Ghana. I would prefer to discuss the tactics etc, but these guys are just bashing.

    Anyway, it's cool.

    It was a good game.
  20. GoalUSA New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 24, 2010
    Most teams are going to waste time in a similar position.
  21. Ombak Moderator

    Member Since:
    Apr 19, 1999
    Location:
    Irvine, CA
    On the other hand the stat that both previous African quarter-finalists had won their games in OT had me worried.

    The USA could've won it in the second half, the post-game analysis on ESPN has been pretty good (Roberto Martinez in particular but even Lalas) the 90 min whistle and break before OT helped Ghana more than the US.
  22. GoalUSA New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 24, 2010
    Everyone was saying it in the pre-game thread and on TV. That Ghana can't finish and their only scores came from PKs. Which may be true, but today they finished very well.
  23. vhatever Red Card

    Member Since:
    Jun 16, 2010
    Location:
    USA
    Uhh, I don't think anyone said it was an easy path, but it was/is the easiest.
  24. Andy Zilis Member

    Member Since:
    Mar 9, 2005
    Location:
    Rochelle, IL
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Country:
    United States
    I don't think so. I'm not talking about good possession play to kill off a game (there was a lot of that in the first half and that's perfectly fine). What I'm mad about is what suddenly started happening in overtime after Ghana's goal.

    As you said, there were a lot of reasons we didn't advance, much of it out of our control. And with our defensive problems, we did well to get as far as we did.

    Exactly. I think all 4 teams in this semifinal bracket rightly saw this as their best chance in a long, long time to get to the semifinals. That's not disrespecting the other 3 teams . . . it's just being realistic.
  25. raviept Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 11, 2010
    Location:
    Braga
    Club:
    Sporting Braga
    Country:
    Portugal
    How can you call this an easy path? Uruguay may be the third or fourth best team in the tournament, until now. They are anything but easy.
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