That is not exactly correct, Turkey showed that you can't have a guy on the left who does not grasp his responsibilities and is too slow against fresh legs to cover those responsibilities even if he grasped them. It would have helped tremendously if he dropped back by about three or four yards and let the fullback push out, instead of having to fill the hole between him and the CB, especially when they are all matched up to a man. The dropping back and pushing out tightens up that huge window of space and it pushes the successful pass a little farther out giving everybody to reset and allows for no angle to shoot unless the pass is on a dime perfect. This part is not addressed to the quotee, but people always say JJ is undisciplined and we do not know what his pre-game instructions were, so we cannot automatically assume he has gotten it wrong all along and is still JK's guy! That might just mean he is playing like the coach wants him to play!!!! I mean the guy was a champions league midfielder for a top four team in top four league and played for the German national team, players usually don't reach that level in their career if they cannot mind their position responsibly. As to CD not tracking back, I agree with the other posters who have already pointed out that he and Jozy shared that responsibility with Jozy actually deep at times and Clint up front. That Nigeria set-up really was the flux formation.
Your Dream can still come true... when the US and Germany meet up for the second time in the Semi Finals.
Why would they dance to New York Puerto Rican music? Now, samba on the other hand, might be a better option, especially b/c there's very little that pisses off a musically rich country like Brazil than confusing Spanish-American music genres w/ Brazil. I'm sure it's an honest mistake, so I'm sorry to give you a hard time. But I will say this, that I would expect Ghanians to feel a special affinity w/ the Nordeste b/c the massive presence of Yorubans (Nigeria/Niger Delta) in Brazil's slave era. Many, many instruments and even beats thrive intact and the entire history of this recognized by musicians. Ghanians aren't Yorubans, but as neighbors I'm sure they'll appreciate cultural overlap. Which brings me to a point nobody's talking about: Brazilians are probably going to go nuts for/over Ghana, then maybe Portugal (but w/ quite a bit of resentment), then the US, then Germany. If we were playing in the south, different story. It would be the exact reverse!
1 is ok, 2 is not. Which is why I always worried about Dempsey and Jozy starting together. It seems that Jozy is being used defensively more than in the past. Hwvr, I was not at the games and it is tough to gauge definitively from television viewing.
You got me! I tried to edit it last night, but it was past the 30 minute editing deadline. I figured someone would correct me.
Kwarasey needs to play! Just think of all the women shouting in ecstasy, swooning over and causing a riot should someone dare score on him!!! Especially if he plays shirtless (damn you FIFA and your yellow card rules!)! p.s. Photo taken from Ghana's premier soccer site under the title: "2014 World Cup: Watch goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey's SEXY training pictures"
The area with the most African influence is Salvadore and that coastal area which includes Natal. The large cities like Rio and SP are more of melting pots with a strong Italian and even Japanese influence. Despite speaking Portugeuese and being the site of the Portuguese government for a time the Brazilians I know make the Portugeuse the butt of their jokes.
That's why Appiah is talking about playing Dauda. Cause he feels threatened by his goaltender's sexiness.
Apparently Brazil does it too. (and I'm a Brazil fan. Oscar's goal was a carbon copy, practically, but not as well done. )
Just watched extended highlights of the last two Ghana games (I'd never done this before, though I'd seen both--in person at Nurnberg in 2006 and on TV in 2010). I was struck by a few things: 1. The flow of the games was remarkably similar. Ghana started stronger, bossed the midfield, created more dangerous chances early on, and we only managed to get composed in the second half. But when we did, we were much better--thanks to subbing out both d-mids responsible for the early Ghanaian goals (Reyna, Clark). 2. The number of chances created by each team was about even--we may even have had the advantage. The difference seemed to be that Ghana was just better at finishing. I'm not sure how they've changed on that front since 2010, but I know we've improved a lot from forward lines that were pretty weak in the last two WCs. 3. In 2010, their goalie Kingson straight up outplayed Howard. I never thought Timmy was 100% after the knock he took against England, and it showed in that game. Kingson, by contrast, stopped like three 1v1 chances and was the difference in the game. If he doesn't make all of those saves, we win in regular time. 4. Ghana is obviously an excellent team, and their wins were both deserved. But they didn't dominate either game, and in fact I think either game could have gone either way with a little more luck (we hit the post in each game). And since Tim is full strength and we've improved up front, I think a good result v Ghana much more likely than it was in either of the last two matches.
cool analysis of the previous world cup games between the 2 nations ..... 1 thing i will add is that only a few teams are ever dominated in the world cup ..... u saw today's game ..... brazil did not dominate croatia ....... the only team that may come close to dominating another in the world cup is perhaps spain because of their mastery of the tiki taka possession football but even that is not that much often at the WORLD CUP ..... anybody that expects ghana to dominate usa or vice versa doesnt know or understand world cup competitive games.
The key to defeating Ghana is to lull them into a false sense of security... Allow them to possess the ball. In no shape or form should we attempt to attack them by trying to pass through their midfield. Their counter is deadly and they finish all their chances for all intents and purposes. They have a world class PRECISE striker in Gyan. Our best bet is to lie dormant and conservative, and spring a counter.
Let them think they are dominating the game, they will be off guard when we spring our deadly counter.
ceding most of the possession. They are inept when trying to build up plays. They score on the counter more frequently.