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

Very good post.This very much sums it up for me.

 

Good luck going back to the land of the free and home of the brave early!!! lol

Good run but just not enough!

 

Ghana were the better side in the first half and that ended up being the deciding factor in this one. It kills me to see the USA work so hard and play such determined, possession oriented football in the second half, but not be up for it AT ALL in the first.

Good finish by Boateng, but weak defending and sad to say, some weak goalkeeping, allowed Ghana to score that first one. Ghana's energy and determination was there throughout the entire match, even when they were getting dominated in that second half.

Bradley, imo, failed to pick the best starting XI, just as he has this entire tournament. We've seen this team wake up every game now in the second half. If we could see even half of that in the first, we'd be talking about the USA in the quarter final but it wasn't meant to be. Some better finishing would do just fine as well....

It was a solid run, well done to Ghana (they're still toothless ), and hopefully this team can continue to develop the way it has been.

 

I wonder if this is due to the players' lack of intensity or pre-game warm-ups that aren't effective. Either way, it seems very consistent with this group regardless of which start.

custar

 

but then the US was awarded a penalty on a tackle that was clearly fair so the match should never have gone to extra time...you can't complain about another teams sportsmanship when your side didn't refuse a wrongly penalty....it's all part of the game

 

The bottom line is with technically average players you can get so far. Like some said the US played more than the sum of the members. Tactically they are better than Ghana, they play within a tactical blanket so that is good but without the tradition there is depth and so there is no technical perfection.

Time to consider if the US has hit the peak as to what can achieved. Time to consider raising the youth with technical depth as they come up.

at this level every aspect has to be in tip-top shape.

 

Goal #1

Near-posted. That's all one needs to say.

Now why/how?
I'm going to venture an educated guess here and say that he lost his bearings (position relative to the near post and ball) BECAUSE he was too far off his line THUS he did not have time to take a quick glance back and see where the near post was because the play happened so fast. That shot was savable and he may say so publicly.

Goal#2

Not HIS fault. Too much pace from too close.

 

Clearly fair? Maybe touching the ball is not grounds for clearing out the player...that was a foul all the way.

 

I've watched the replay three times from a good angle, the defender STILL hasn't touched the ball on that tackle. You can't have a clearer penalty than that.

 

Smells like troll. Pretty obvious PK.

 

I hope this is more of an over reaction to the tough loss.

I think "time wasting" of Ghana is being exaggerated. Some people are mentioning Diving? Honestly unless the meaning of a dive is changed, I don't recall any dives by either team. The actual amount of time spent grass rolling by Ghana players was more or less the same as injury time that was given. Goal keeper taking his time, and Ghana players LEGALLY wasting Time is not cheating.
This is not Basketball where every one tenth of the second must be accounted for. Nor is it Football (American), where every placement of the Ball is measured precisely with a yard stick. So complaining about at most few minutes in a 120 minutes game seem more sign of frustration than anything.

Over all I thought we had a good tourney. Now if we can only play better in Europe where our world cup record has been terrible... Thankfully next WC is not in Europe.

 

Altidore did a lulzy dive that would've made Gilardino proud.

 

I`m sorry that I didn`t post nothing here before, but you know, life is not only WC and things outside continue as every other day, after I watched this game, I had other family duties to take care of, but to my satisfaction, I took with me the memory of this game, which I found it highly amusing, where actions were very equal on both sides.

At first Ghana surprised everyone by taking over the game which was rewarded with their first goal, and to my opinion I`d say that they dominated throughout the first half, but after the rest time, once the second period started we were in a diferent game where the USA took command of the game, being rewarded with their respective goal giving fairness on what was happening in the field, to my point of view if the USA would have maybe put a little little more at that moment of the game, maybe they would have scored the wining goal, although Ghana also proved that they were fit for the circumstances. The overtime didn`t change nothing as the superb demonstration by both teams, and to me the goal that Ghana made although it decided the outcome of this match-up, it felt only as something unfair to both teams since this match should have ended with a draw, since both gave all their effort in acomplishing the same result. I hate shootouts, since in many times who ends up winning the game, isn`t the one who made all the maximum effort, sometimes even, the winning side played the whole game with only this shootouts in mind, so during the whole lapse of time of the game they bunker in the inzone and play to not play, which of course is not what happened in this game. A shootout ending maybe would have been unfair and since always a goal made in the field is worshiped as the most beautiful expression of this game, I thank God that one of the teams made it, in order to establish which team passes to the next round, but in my opinion, both should have and both deserve their place in this WC as well. With this match both proved it.

GREAT GAME !!!! USA - GHANA (both)

................................... .....................................

 

I suppose I'm on the outside on this one, but...

I like Bradley, and think that he should be retained. What would the side have looked like if only one of our injuries - Davies - not happened? As stated earlier, US played as a team better than the sum of its parts, and Bradley gets credit for that. We had a good run, wish it had been better, but Bradley should be at the helm for the next Cup.

 

Well technically the USA exits the tournament without a loss in 4 games and topped a group with England. Not a bad result, people should be proud of this team.

 

so are you telling me as far as fifa rankings are concerned you would get 0 points for an extra time loss, if so I think that is really retarded. Why should anybody get any less points for a draw in the first round or second round. To me it should not be considered a loss, but just a way to determine who goes through after a draw.

 

1) Why do you care about FIFA rankings?

2) It's considered a loss because USA lost.

This sentence in bold doesn't make any sense.

The game wasn't a draw. USA lost 1:2

In the event of a draw, we have PKs.

 

I don't think US fans should feel overly gutted. It was a respectable showing and you can't continually escape your fate at the end of a match. Looking ahead to a possible semifinal is not the proper way to reflect on this. If Slovenia would have held on another 8 minutes it all could have been over after only two matches.

 

Hello, I am a football fan from Wales, Uk I have to point this out as some of you may not realise Wales is not part of England ( I think we beat you 2-0 or 2-1 in a friendly 4 years ago).

Anyway just want to say well done and hope this world cup has converted many of your countrymen to the worlds #1 sport. I hope many of you experienced the intense thrills of being at rock bottem when you thought you weren't going through to when Donnovan scored that winner vs Algeria. As Wales well we're not shit but qualifying for the world cup in Europe is difficult but due to this I always pick out a couple of teams to support , in 1998 it was Croatia , 2002 Ireland this year it was the US because of the passion of the players.


Here is a video some of you might enjoy , Cardiff in the 3rd tier of the football league while Leeds were top of the premiership, this is what football is all about, this is the underdog taking their chance.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHWdL86yoMs"]YouTube- Cardiff City 2 - 1 Leeds United, FA Cup 3rd Round, 2002[/ame]

 

Just finally getting an opportunity to put some comments in about this match. Half of me is sad to see the US go, I'm a die-hard American as well as a Nigerian, I served in the Marines and I love this country and am happy to see the Stars and Stripes get to the point were a loss in the round of 16 is a bit of a disappointment rather than a relief.

But half of me is jubilant to see an African side still alive and kicking in this tournament. For one thing, I believe that the US eventually will win the World Cup in my lifetime. The level of football in this country has done nothing but improve from year to year and now we are in our 6th straight World Cup, three of them went to the knockout and once to the quarters. Africa, I can never be so certain of, and a semi-final appearance would ease the trials that this Cup has had in store for Africa.

From the outset I haven't given these Ghanaian youngsters a shot of making a run without their midfield anchors in Appiah and Essien. I thought that they would lose today bc, up til this point, they haven't seemed comfortable in thier formation, their defense was strong but they lacked creativity and possession which are the hallmarks to winning in football.

I am happy to see these, kids really, step up their games to the level that I felt would be necessary to compete in the knockouts. They've already won one for Africa in my book. That said, Uruguay is probably the easiest route to the semis that you could possible hope for with Germany, Brazil, England, Spain, and Argentina still lurking about. It will be far from easy, but if they can show this type of form, they have a shot. Still they struggle at times and showed their inexperience, but they did the deed and that's all that can be hoped for. Hopefully Prince Boateng can return in time for Uruguay bc they'll need him as he was one of the few bright points in the group stage for them.

I also have to commend the way Ghana has brought along thier youth system. It's, by far the most complete in Africa at the moment. But I have to wonder how much of it is the organization of the Ghanaian Federation and how much comes down to a sheer moment of time when alot of youngsters happen to be developing well. At any rate, it's a nice luxery to have when your two best players can't make it to the World Cup.

 

Ghana outplayed USA it's as simple as that. They were fitter, hungrier, and took advantages of opportunities better then USA did. USA need to redesign their defense, and get guys that can run for 120 minutes. There is only about half-dozen guys I would keep on the squad and get rid of the rest.

One big question is why Feilhaber didn't start and why Buddle didn't play? Also, why did Clark start?

 

As far as I know, the only time a win or loss doesn't count as such in FIFA rankings are in the event of PKs.