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O.K., next match.

Czech 4
USA 1
..but if the same ref from the Japan-Australia game shows up (trying to get in that time & a half overtime pay)

Czech 2
USA 1

I am going to have to agree with the 2:1 Czech prediction.

Czech Republic 3
USA 1

Probably a good line-up from Arena…stuff the midfield to frustrate Czech play development, then counter quickly. Same strategy as with Mexico in ‘02. We’ll see…

GO USA!

USA 3 – 2 Czech. USA game winner in the final minutes.

2:1 Czechs though I really hope the US gets a point out of this.

I am so excited…

I wish the US had some quality fight songs for our team…some lyrics to go along with a Bon Jovi song or something…

GO USA!

Even if we lose all three games, I will continue to love US soccer!

Mi corazon sangra rojo, blanco y azul!!

Daryl – Thank you for blogging so the rest of us can follow at work.

Yes, American TV can not do televised sports events without doing the cheesy “up close and personal” life stories of the athletes. I’m crying just reading your post.

You can do better than Bon Jovi ;-)

I just don’t see the US beating these guys, but they might squeeze out a 1 -1 tie.

Better than Bon Jovi?

Mikey, if you ever come visit the states, never EVER visit New Jersey and utter such blasphemy!

Have you seen “On The Waterfront” with Marlon Brando? That’s why :)

Any suggestions? Rolling Stones maybe? We Americans have no clue how to even begin to do this sort of thing (we are normally too drunk and cursing profanities to sing at matches)

In thinking Springsteen. He’ll help me out in New Jersey too!

one by one by the foo fighters would be a nice song, cos that’s what USA needs to do, win games one by one.

Um…The Rolling Stones are from the UK.

Bruce Springsteen would be a good choice.

i just hope the espn announcers drop these awful basketball-soccer references.

im gonna say its a 1-1 draw

man, i wish our pathetic president would stay out of this…

I’m probably the only US fan with zero confidence in Kasey Keller. I’ve seen him vanish in big matches. Hopefully, not today, but at least the US goalie stable is loaded for 2010.

I want to say 1:1, but this could easily be a Czech blowout.

4-5-1. Oy. No Eddie Johnson, no Josh Wolff. Wolff doesn’t usually play the full 90 minutes, so maybe he will be brought in later on if more firepower is needed.

Is it possible that Iran play the U.S? Id like to see Bush’s prematch address for that one! Give ‘em hell indeed!

I hope they drop the US Footbal- Soccer references too. “Ecudor is the Denver Broncos of Soccer.”? Better yet, why not just play a English commentary play by play over the feed.

If Wynalda actually said that on-air, he’s an idiot.

If old W’ was coaching, the US would score a goal in the first minute and then take half the players of the field for the rest of the game.

Czech Republic 2 (Nedved, Koller) USA 1 (Mcbride)

I just don’t see the boring and disciplined play of the US team beat the aggresive play of the Czechs.

Guys, I recommend to watch Univision. They do a much better job at analyzing the games than ESPN2.

ESPN2 – please take the bottom scoreboard out of there.. I don’t want to see if the mets won or not.

I just hope our team and fans show a little class. Let’s win clean guys!

And at half-time, Georgie would announce that we’ve won the world cup.

“if this is going to be a war, he (Bush) is the right guy to have on the phone, he knows what he’s doing with those kind of things.”

Was this said sarcastically? Wynalda’s probably not up on current events.

Bush: I don’t like strange names like “Pavel Nedved.” The Czech Republic is now part of the Axis of Evil.

USA! USA! USA! Goalllllllllll

Whenever I see Balboa and Wynalda I cringe.

Then, when I realize these guys are US Soccer’s “legacy” as of right now, I cringe again.

Why isn’t Kobi Jones announcing? Everytime I’ve seen him do a public event he’s been confident and composed…in contrast to Wynalda, who announces like he was in front of the net during his playing days: “impatient and imprecise”

sorry for wynalda shot number 201, but i cant resist at times….

Anyone know where we can get an audio feed in the USA? I am at work

Wynalda’s comment is out of line!! This is soccer! the beautiful game! NO politics plz, Wynalda!

spence, I am laughing so hard at work right now that a co worker noticed….great comment!

CZE 3-1 USA
yesterday I was pretty accurate!

Anthem time. The boys look focused.

HALT THE GAME! I have work to do, and I must do it now. Can’t them just postpone the games for like one week?

As stromg as the american team appears, this is not the North American game they will be use too. My money is on Cech and the Czech national team who are much stronger on the world stage. This will be a good opening game for both squad’s.

Ohhh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light…

Keyser: everyone was accurate yesterday because there were no major upsets. Wow. Let’s start a lottery for “will the sun rise tomorrow” and see how well you do :)

I’m cheering for the States, but I think it’ll be 2-2. Hope I’m wrong.

Wynalda should keep his mouth shut, there’s no terrorists on the field. At least I hope not.

WHERE CAN WE LISTEN TO THE GAME ONLINE IN THE USA???

ze!! that work can wait 90 minutes

where can you watch this one on the net?
Go CZECH REPUBIC
GO POBORSKY

WHERE CAN WE LISTEN TO THE GAME ONLINE IN THE USA??? ANYONE HAVE A URL????

yeesh, the ESPN feed here in the US is just horrible, they made a big deal that they were showing the national anthems for the first time (usually they cut straight to the game), and they did show all the U.S. anthem, and THEN CUT TO ADVERTS! how rude is that.

I cliicked straight back to the spanish channel, I was going to give ESPN a try for just one game, but after that? meh.

yay Univision!

Arena looks like, “Oh God, here we go again.”

I would tell you James but you are rooting for the wrong team :)

USA dominates this blog! :)

I haven’t been able to find anything we can watch or listen to online here in the US. I’ve been looking all morning and I’m so freaking mad that my whole family is at home watching and I’m here at work!!!

Please, please, PLEASE!! Win!! USA!!!!

I’m going to wear out my refresh button. On top of that, I have to do the quick “minimize” thing as my screen is highly visible to everyone in the office.

go czech republic! whooooooo

I got 1 result, and the other 2 matches I missed only for one goal each. Cosidering my perfomance on saturday (only got ARG -CIV)i feel like i have reasons to be opmistic :o)

I think there are few chances for USA v.s a team with history, with Names and great players. any way they must fight and do theire game.

good luck USA.

but in the stands they are shouting czechy czechy …

fair enough on the yellow card

OMFG BIASED REF!!!!!! ;-)

What happened?

and czechs score !!

Very quick and very precise attack by the Czech.

I bet you picked Portugal to Crush Angola and the Netherlands to beat Serbia by 2.

wow, a European overestimating other European teams? Shocker. Absolutely shocking. :)

For the Mexico game I predicted 2-0 (at least I got the goal difference right) :)

jan Koller! why can’t crouch be that effective?

the massacre begins 1-0!

Great header by the czechs. Goalie couldn’t do anything about that.

Beautiful header …one of the nicest goals so far in this cup !

Eric: Someone set up US the goal.

I am desperatly afraid US is going to get blown out.

well this is off to a horrible start, a yellow card and a goal against in the under 5 minutes

Czechs will be up by 2 at the half, but then tire and we will come back for a draw with key substitutions and some fresh legs.

The candle that burns brightest burns shortest….

I pray you are right ETucker

Keep in mind the Czechs are awesome. They’ve been chewing up the opposition leading to this cup.

I can’t hear bob singing any more :’(

Tuc, I’m in europe but no european. I said nl 1-0, Mex 2-1 and port 2-0.
BTW, I don’t know how the referee is going to behave, but I’ve seen some terrible performnaces by him in south america. be warned. he’s quite terrible.

This is what happens when you have a left mid playing left back, and Bobby Convey on the pitch (Mr. Maradona minus the talent)

but there’s still hope…just only one more goal before the half

Unfortunately, ETucker while the Czechs may lose a lot of energy scoring so many goals, the US will not be able to come back.

GO CZECHS!

Oh my God….we look disorganized and just awful, the defense is a mess. Unless get it together we are going to just get murdered out there. Why can’t we hold the ball for God’s sake? Our possession is total crap.

Has anyone else noticed how bad the commentary has been on ESPN during the World Cup?

US picking it up now. Corner coming.

CZE 3-1 USA

It depends on Landon performance, by the way did you see Australia-Japan? I can’t believe it yet.

USA be back, they are a little bit nervous now, but they get their tempo back.

Keyser- just some friendly joking around :)

And I also had some predictions go awry thanks to poor finishing by Cristiano Ronald AND Zlatan Ibrahimovic…

RWillis – watch Univision if you can ESPN commentary is a horrible joke.

Someone wake up Daryl!

The ESPN commentators care for only one thing..ENGLAND!

oh, oh It’s the begining

Pssst…Daryl…your score needs to be updated.

The Czechs are really running a lot. I feel another team getting burnt for the second half.

why W did not demand ABC to broadcast live for free???
unpatriotic on W and ABC

Czechs relaxed, USA nervous !

LOL Tuc, me too

Daryl is still in shock…as am I

Pitch is slippery today. Did it rain recently?

The Czechs keep pressing, dominating possession (70-30), attacking, looking spry and sure of themselves, unlike the Americans, who are reduced to shooting from across the French border. The US commentators are full of it: age does matter in a sport reliant on speed and instinct.
more, uncensored TOTAL FOOTBALL at http://www.pierretristam.com

US starting to get some control… why didn’t o’brien start? they need better service to the forwards.

Its just as I feard, the quick counter and the other team scores. Czech defense looks very solid so far, little or no chances for us.

Yeah, the Australia-Japan game was one of the best matches of the tournament so far. Us Aussies have never enjoyed this taste of World Cup victory before. Well, hope the U.S. can keep up with the Czech…

diving season begins?

Czechs sitting back? I don’t see Nedved and Rosicky playing defense and holding up that long…

look how easily Beasley is intimidated into giving up possession after Reyna’s free kick! This is as bad as I’ve seen the guys in a while.

The USA seem to be getting dispossesed a lot in the last 1/3. This will need to be improved if they are to improve supply to their forwards.

Wow, Univision is better. Thats sad. I barely understand what they’re saying and it’s far better than ESPN.

Up 2-0 at the half? It doesn’t take much energy to play defense if all 10 of your folks are on your side of the field. 2-0’s a much easier cushion to be sitting back on than 1-0. Catching up would tire out the USA a lot quicker than the Czech’s hitting long balls into the USA end.

Hope Team USA’s got boxes of Snickers lying around.

after thhis WC, instead of Where’s Wally, we should publish ‘Where’s Franz’

Beckenbauer sighting!

Bruce has been way TOO loyal to Beasley.

I would be surprised to see him play in the second half. I predict John O’Brien will come as a sub

The USA need to work the ball around the pitch more, instead of taking the route 1 option and handing back possesion to the Czechs.

where is the shadow? are they playing under lights?

All we need is one before the half.

I dont’ like this free kick at all…

Good call Steve… 1 v 1 only works if your soccer nickname ends in “inho”

The roof of the stadium will be blocking the sun.
Here’s a picture: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/photos/stadium/gel.html?i=7&d=1

…its overcast

czech out that dive!

USA had the ball 64% of the time…i don’t believe this!

USA can’t defend against these guys. They’re slipping all over the place.

Way too many air balls to nowhere especially against a fast and tall Czech team.

standing around in the box like a bunch of meerkats, watching the cross come in…

Man the line judges have been so slow to this tourney. This is the second game today they’re like that.

CZE must be group leader.

If Beasley isn’t playing well offensively, the least he can do is drape himself on Nedved….

bruce arena is the man, everytime i see him on the sideline he looks so goofy. did you guys see him during the national anthem?

Match is a bad 1990 flashback…

Peter, with a group like Italy, I don’t know. The group looks pretty strong, there’ll be upsets no matter what.

It’s clear that the Czechs have another gear they can step-up to if required with fast passing and slick moves. I don’t feel that the USA has got this at the moment.

Just look at the way the two teams play defense. There are almost no spaces when the Czechs get back but the US has massive green patches to give up.

unlucky.

Close call, uhm. USA is starting to believe.

Damn that pole!

hit the post!!!!! noooo

damnnnnnnnn!

USA to the post! they’re alive!

One chance, maybe the only realy shot we’ll get….Claudio no less

aaaand back to normal from beasley, f*ck’s sake!

Chinga! Damnit. That was our only chance of the game…

Is it just me, or is Reyna the only player who has shown up this game?

We desperately need John O’Brien on the pitch….

Ninj,
“meerkats”.
LOL. Attentive AND Immobile.

USA playing much better now.

That Australia – Japan match brought some life back into the world cup. I’m so glad. I’m so happy. I think I’m gonna cry! *sniff sniff*

Anyways, GO CZECH REPUBLIC!!!

4 – 1 win by Czech Republic would be really nice. :D

I see a lotta Americans saying their team probably wont make it, or might settle for a draw. No matter how bad you think your team is, cheer for ‘em boys! Where is your patriotism? :)

Salam.

I like the way the US play, fair and skillful, I haven’t seen many professional fouls from them over the years. I’ve also always liked the Japanese way of playing socker with speed and bravery/audacity (they play rugby the same way). My own team, the Australians, I have always liked how they rarely dive and get on with the game rather than protesting to the ref. Its harder to spot the different national characteristics of the european teams, more of a pan european style.

NOOOOOOOO! IT’S THE US-IRAN GAME OF 1998 ALL OVER AGAIN: Great construction by the US, wonderful shot, only to hit the goal post. There were THREE such goalpost shots in the US-Iran game eight years ago. Not again! No, not again! Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

ugh… USA fans, I love em, but they have the lamest chants!

What’s up with players slipping on the grass? I’ve seen that on all games, way above average.

Get Beasley out of there, for the love of god.

If he wants to be a winger, he needs to learn how to cross. There’s a reason he got benched at PSV…

Czechs playing a 4 – 5 -1 now.

We better score now or at least at the beginning of the 2nd half or the Czechs will pack it in and we’re just done. Oh…and we can’t let them get another on one of their tricky counters.

We need to get Shaq out on the pitch and used to using his feet so we can cover Koller in 2010

Great defense by Eddie Pope on Nedved, if he didn’t get back it would have been 2-0

Jan Koller is a scary, scary man.

I’m go slad I’m not watching the US broadcast…

except to see Wynalda eat his arrogant words (US goes 3-0 in teh group phase ha)

McBride playing too far from the net. He’s been nowhere.

Reyna is working is butt off.

OMG, what a goal.

What a shot.

where can i whatch the match on the net or commentary .
somebody help

2nd goal for Czechs

ETucker’s prediction is looking better and better

Koller, what a giant, what a presence: he is the Roger Clemens of football in this game. He’s everywhere. And the Americans? They’re too damn self-satisfied with the fact that they pulled off one solid attack, and too damn dejected at having hit the post. Get over it guys. AND another goal for Czech…Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Gollllasso…

IT’S OVER! We are totally outclassed.

That’s USA down and out.

Jesus. that shot was unbelievable. C’mon Yanks! Get back in it!

Czechoslovakia is playing fantastic football here !

Damn, I lost the goal because of my work. C’mon, TV, gimme another replay.

what a shot. just when it was starting to look like the us was back in it

usa is shitting the bed! i almost want to turn the game off

It looks like convey was a mistake. He looks very much in over his head and with Mcbride looking lonely when he gets the ball it would’ve been a better option to have Johnson/Donovan up with him full time.

Glad we are one of the top 5 teams in the world.

chin up, littleguy – lot of game to go yet.

A goal for us before the half would go far to rebuilding our confidence. But that goal was unstoppable.

My heart goes out to the Czechs!!

GOOOOOO CZECH REPUBLIC!!!

Salam.

cue another 4 years of US media whining about ‘Americans support winners’ *sigh*

Get obrien out there right f*cking now!

is this the site where you count on the hight of the player tp win ?

looks like beasley and convey have switched wings

“Glad we are one of the top 5 teams in the world” That’s not strictly true now, is it?

Question: Can our guys even control the ball at their own feet? I mean they are giving it up faster than a drunken cheerleader after a football game.

Nedved’s haircut alone could beat us.

McBride looks like he has cement in his shoes. Czechs dictating now.

the armagedon it’s here for USA. what a great shot. my anounce its becoming true

Is CZE the best team we have seen so far this world cup? any responses ?

i think that if usa wnats to make it through the group stage, they need to at least draw with czech.

Hamstring injury for Koller.

Those muscle cramps are painful.

Koller….drama queen

what happened? couldn’t even tell on the replay

koller looks pretty bad

He’s done his hamstring in, probably be out for the next group game as well.

looks bad for Koller

The Czechs look very solid. Very solid indeed. They would give any of the winners I’ve seen so far trouble, and plenty of it.

I guess that injury was worse than I suspected. What a pity.

end of the world cup for Koller? that’s sad !

I’m with Mohan, plenty of sides out there which can get plenty possession no one who looks as dangerous and purposeful as teh CZE do coming forward.

OUCH!! That must have hurt!!

Sad.

Salam.

Will Baros play in the next match?

I wonder if EA sports had the Czechs losing Koller this early in the tournament?

Koller had his Junior Griffey moment. Those hamstring injuries will hound your career for years.

maybe I’ll switch to ESPN for the 2nd half , just to hear balboa being sad.

Halftime = poker time

USA outclassed in first half by a vastly superior team

Why does the USA team believe in winning air balls in Czech’s goal area? They have phenomenal kicks – use them!

The Czechs are good. Love the game!

Well that was a pretty miserable first half for USA. Time to get some energy, guys.

USA a little unlucky not to be down 2 -1 but the score is a fair one, I would say. Let’s hope the boys can pull it together and make a game of it in the second half.

I think USA is nervous!

They were starting to play confidently until that second goal took all the wind out of their sails.

and what do ESPN do at half time? talk NFL breaking news. You couldn’t make it up.

Of the teams we’ve seen, certainly CR is awesome. I still think Argentina is total and complete though.

Solid, briefly elegant play on the Czechs’ part, enough to clamp down on what appeared to be a frothing overflow of American arrogance in the run-up to kick-off, and no return heroics on the Yanks’ part, who seemed content to live up to their age: slow-going, myopic with passes that went nowhere, and made to feel like illegal aliens in the Czech penalty box. They haven’t been playing football. They’ve been playing dodge-ball. Pierre Uncensored, http://www.pierretristam.com

bring on o’brien !

I’ve learned more Spanish this past 4 days thanks to ESPN’s unbearable coverage….

US is showing none of the pace that carried them in ‘02. Gotta step-up in the 2nd half, or start packing their bags. Too bad Reyna’s shot did slip in, would have been a valuable boost for them. No freebies guys, gotta go earn it.

Czechs, we love you guys. Go and win this game man.

Who do USA fans want to see come off the bench?

If Czechs stay on top of the group they will be spared from the fury of Selecao!

For the sake of the sport popularity here in US, I hope US does good! It’s a tragedy to be stuck with ESPN coverage and having to put up with NFL news during half time.

Anyone else from US watching Univision instead ESPN despite the language issue?

What is the glimmer of hope we have of maybe getting 2 and drawing this? Eddie Johnson, JOB, tactical changes or should we just try and leave the goal differential -2 and get the hell out of there?

Czechs are good. This really is a loaded Group for the US to try and advance from this year.

The diwner part is that frome here, they will need to score twice and keept the Czechs from scoring just to get a single point. Tough.

Eddie Johnson is In! Finally!

I’m only watching Univision for now on. ESPN is dead to me. I’d rather have scantily clad women than misguided political commentary anyday.

I would bring in Eddie Johnson, get some youthful legs out there.

The Czechs look like the title contender people

Coach agrees with me.

Amen, Laura.

o’brien & johnson. you want it you get it

Does ESPN have to give stupid statistics all the time. W played Y minutes with Z before ABC. What the hell.

agree with hoa..CZE is title material

EJ and OBrien better step this game up. The Czech defense is holding solid so far.

@PF: I had to switch to watching on Univision – the commentary on ESPN was too inane. Problem is, ESPN’s got HD.

USA still has most of the posession – gotta convert this to goals. Whenever Czech attacks its a potent threat. USA attacks just fizzle out despite all the possession.

ESPN commentators are total morons, giving out all kinds of advice “…US has to do this…US has to do that…”. Aren’t they watching the match? The US can’t really do anything. The Czechs look like they think they’ve won it already. The are steady and discplined on “D”. It’s going to tough getting in the net at all.

Rosicky goal is the best in this cup so far

Five minutes, five fouls, turn-overs, inability to probe beyond the obvious: the Czechs have an answer at every turn. The US is controlling the ball now, 60-40, but the only result is less entertainment: at least when the Czechs have it, the ball swirls and the game swirls with it. Pierre Uncensored… http://www.pierretristam.com

DMB’s first touch has the finiesse of 6-lb sledge…

Walking wounded OBrien collides with Nedved comes out on top! Are fortunes changing…??

Reyna very lucky not to be carded there.

Reyna looking old as he clatters into nedved

mohan, what about the 3rd goal for Mexico yesterday?

Wow, is that true, do they mute the stadium sound on the broadcasting? I can’t watch a game like that.

when’s macbride gonna start playing? they’re better than this!

Intelligent “dumb line” by USA.

What is Beasley doing out there? It’s like he’s on an island. Does he know this is the World Cup?

Oh no, Johnson looks hurt.

one of these times, the czech player isn’t going to be off. it’d be nice to see the us put something together up top.

Oh shit – thank god for the off-side. That couldve easily been 3-0.

Who says Nedved is ‘old’. I did, and I take it right back.

They need to give Donovon the ball, he’s the only one playing today.

Whew, looks like EJ’s okay.

USA lookin better, pulling things together

oh for gods sake Reyna got the ball. That was NOT a yellow.

Yellow card. I’m not surprised. Reyna was on the radar after that last encounter with the ref.

Reyna should have got that yellow long back

yellow 4 reyna? er… ok….

Ze, why Juninho is not on the starting 11 of the verdeamarelha?

another one bites the dust

As a rule losing teams should not get a yellow.

Off goes Donovan. It’s been a good World Cup! America will see you in 2010!

USA real lucky not to be down 3 nil right now.

Any time the MLS all-stars want to turn it on…..

Oops. Why can’t the Czechs play in orange so I can tell the difference?

USA has 3 shots on goal vs 6 for Czech. Where the hell is the attack?!

They need to sit Beasley, he’s going to cost them a goal.

Short of the fact that this is “Our” team, that the game has that national anxiety about it, the game, or at least this half, ranks as one of the dullest of the tournament. Not a good show, not a good show at all. Not to mention the stupid fouls generating yellow cards the US can’t afford so early. Where are the Americans? What, they need full body-armored Humvees to venture out anywhere in enemy territory?
Pierre Uncensored… http://www.pierretristam.com

almost 3-0

beasley earns his air fare, finally

Keyser: that’s a good question. Basically it’s because Parreira already has the main squad trained with the current 11 guys. However, along with Robinho, he’s considered the “12th guy”, as he could easily play on the main squad. He’s the best free kick striker on the team btw. Easily outclassed Ronaldinho on a recent training shootout.

We’ll have to wait for Brazil’s games to actually start so we can see what’s up, but if Ronaldo or Adriano continue to have problems, I can easily see some rearrangement where Robinho or Juninho get used instead, even before Fred I’d say.

There’s McBride….I didn’t even know that he was out there

yeah Beasley finally shows up … if only he’d do the same in the Czech half of the field.

crappy 2nd half

This is just a sad, sad performance. US has no answer to the Czech defense.

I was hopeing for a regrouping but all we’re getting is more old-school 1990 stuff.

Hell right now I’d even be willing to bring on Ching right now.

oooooooooh what a shot!!

almost 3!

crossbar saves USA !

oooooooooh keller beaten again. almost golasso #2

When are they going to put in Dempsey? Arena is a joke and his team is reflecting his own level of interest in pressing for at least ONE goal.

Rossicky with another laser off the bar-look at the space we are giving he Czechs in front of the box. Look how bad our touches are, we won’t win a single match (or score a goal) with this kind of play.

Rosicky is showing why he’ll be great wearing the Arsenal kit. The US has no answer for this team. No rhythm at all.

f*cccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

Arena’s expression on the bech says it all. He looked like an hypothyroid cow. The match is over for him.

uh! that was close for the US!

Come on, Yanks!! You can do this!! We have to eliminate as many europeans we can before the second round!! Normally you’re our worst enemies (lol just in soccer) but I support all the American squads, Come on!!

It’s not that the US has no answer for the Czechs; it has nothing to do with the Czechs. The US with the weakest performance of the tournament by far; even worse than Poland. Literally every team that has played so far would beat them today.

USA finally showing signs of life. C’mon guys, wake up!

at least eddie johnson looks like he cares. we’re playing like the game is already over.

jaysus, Arena looks so flippant

Get the Viagra for these Yanks. (Except for Johnson, who just took a wonderful shot to give the Czech goal-post a Gilette-quality shave). Pierre Uncensored…

Yeah Johnson seems like hes the only guy interested in the Czech goal.

Well, the US has underperformed, but the Czech defense has been pretty much mistake free.

Let’s be honest, Czech are a good team and would fully expect to stuff the USA. FIFA rankings mean nothing, welcome to the real world

Raybron.

Being Polish, I think US is doing much better!! ;)

At least they attack!!!

Now, I think Paraguay didn’t show their potential at all!

So it looks like USA vs Italy will be quite the decisive match!

I’m getting a bad feeling now. So many injuries. And such terrible ones. :o

Salam.

At least this WC will clearly be the beginning of more people realizing that Arena is terrible. Bring on Klinsmann. This team has not looked like they cared about winning from the opening whistle.

USA is actually playing better in 2nd half

Man, McBride is just lost out there today. Did you see that pass?

I think they’ll remain sleeping Roland.

any Way there are 2 more games.

be that as it may, if the us wants to be taken seriously, we have to perform better than this against quality sides. there’s a world of difference between beating latvia 1-0 and getting dominated by a czech side that clearly came to play.

Now that’s more like it. Give Donovon the ball dammit!

Ohhhhhhhhh that was close!?! First real attack. Damn …. EJ was a fraction of a second late.

Atleast an attempt was made.

3-0 :(

Oh well.

The US looks disgusting, Im american and Ive never really followed soccer but Ive been trying to get into. Unfortunately, It looks like the CR is just far too much for our team. All Ive been hearing is that the US has to attack the CR but they just sit back passing the ball around. Unfortunately though I think even if they tried attacking it wouldnt work out. 3-0 goal CR

Ugh, the back-breaker. It’s over.

how easily they score..#3 for CZE

GET IN!!!!!!!!!!

Andy.. I couldnt agree more!!

Salam.

that. was. beautiful. *cry*

Back to work for me! Come on home fellas, the MSL misses you!

Keller looks awful, let’s try Howard for the Italy match shall we?

another example of ‘linha burra’?
3-0 y a dormir

Let’s hope that they won’t go down with 4-0 or 5-0….

……well, at least italy is playing a bit later.

Now he takes out McBride. Too little, too late.

can’t watch the game. what’s wrong? bad coaching? bad preparation? bad game plan? players’ heads not in the game? or are the Czechs just at another level?

too bad the US squad is embarassing themselves today. can it be 1998 all over again?

There are some Americans on the pitch. They think it’s all over… it is now.

And the Americans are asking, “It’s over? Did it start already? OH.”

You dont want to give up that many goals. The differential can get to you later. Sigh.

Guess Im resigned to rooting for England or the Aussies

our players don’t look like they’re letting a measly soccer game get in the way of their vacation. hopefully we’ll show more backbone against italy.

Uh-oh…..well, you’ll do great against Italy and Ghana, don’t worry, keep your heads up!!

Grant Wahl was right.

Put it in perspective, Czech are one of the favorites for the tournament, this result was fully expected, US can still qualify if they don’t let the result get tho them and put on a better performance against the Italians

and the ESPN commentator is giving credit to ARSENAL for that Rosicky goal ….what audacity !!

I cant sit still anymore. This is more than exciting.

I wish the US would make 1 score at least!

Salam.

dw I lol’d

omg, what is wrong with our team! I feel like we’re missing players (we havn’t gotten any red cards yet right?) because whenever the ball gets near the net (of both teams) there is a dearth of US players in its close proximity.

i think usa can kiss their chances of escaping group e goodbe.

“Let’s be honest, Czech are a good team and would fully expect to stuff the USA. FIFA rankings mean nothing, welcome to the real world”

Um, I don’t think anyone in this entire board or comments has even alluded to the FIFA rankings. Unless you’re paying attention to the announcers, which I strongly recommend against with this crew. Even if they meant anything Czechs are ranked higher anyway.

pf-

You may be right. Czechs at least are an excellent side. But I would say the US and Poland performances are similar.

I was really hoping the US could perform b/c I’ve lived here for most of my life even though I’m French (thank good, WC-wise), but it was just a prayer for a LOT of luck b/c Arena is awful and US football has not made near the progress the media have pretended. This is 1990 all over again. Seeing the team’s form and mentality, US will be very lucky to score a goal against anyone and lucky to keep Italy even within 3.

This game will haunt the US and probably eliminate them from the tourney.

The Czechs are every bit as good as they’re billed. They’ll give Argentina all they can handle.

ohhh — this is pathetic. I hope this doesn’t ruin U.S. morale for the rest of the tournament. How did we get ranked 5th in the world?

fubar -

looks like a little of everything. the czechs have been very good, nedved and rosicky are killing us in the midfield. and the us, with a few exceptions, hasn’t looked like they were ready to play today.

for those watching univsion: did chilavert predict ghana to beat italy just now?

Johnson is the player of the match for the USA unfortunately one man cant do it all

at least you know that this kid Johnson should be a starter the next game

Czechs are VERY good today. The Looks like the 1998 team for the USA. Weak passing, no ideas, bad defense.

Donovan was the player of the match. Why they didn’t feed him the ball more i have no clue. He was the only one creating opportunitites out there.

EJ is the only player I think is doing good on the field.

USA is sufferring the same fate as Angola. Just like Angola there was no concentration in the first 10 minutes and they paid for it for the rest of the match.

i would have been pretty surprised if the usa had come out and beaten the czechs…. but i expected a better performance than this.

hopefully this will motivate the us to take it to italy and ghana.

I havent the least idea how USA got ranked 5th. I guess its not just your performance that counts. Sadly!

Salam.

Should have gone with an 8-1-1…

Here is a good one! USA adds up its 7 straight lose in world cups celebrated in Europe.

That’s 7 loses in a row. Not a good soil to play soccer for the stripes.

I miss chilavert’s pre match comments. as a player he was the greatest pre-match trash-talker I’ve ever heard. He really knew how to prepare the atmosphere.
You hated him, but you wished he was on your team at the same time.

I still think US has great chances to advance. ITA-USA is the game to watch. Czechs always were the favorites (yeah, can’t hide that), so this is not a surprise (at least to me). Now the real problem would be if US advanced to meet Brazil, so in a sense, one way or the other this is quite the desisive game.

Applause for great 90 minutes of non-stop action (for both teams)!!

We aren’t even close to world class. If you are realistic, we are probably not better than 20th in the world.

“Maybe this is the result to make FIFA rethink their world ranking system.”

I would certainly hope so!

our midfielders need to be more assertive, o’brien and donovan have shown flashes, but haven’t been consistently involved. and ej definitly should start against italy.

Change the score. Its 0-3 not 0-2. Like it even matters.

1. Czechoslovakia
2. Argentina
3. Netherlands
……so far

As I wrote in this game’s preview: the mistake was made by Arena before the game began: He left out Eddie Johnson and other younger legs in a false deal for experience. Not smart, not an experienced choice. The Americans were made to pay. Their defense frayed, their offense never gelled. What we have now is a failure to coagulate.
Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

“Here is a good one! USA adds up its 7 straight lose in world cups celebrated in Europe.”

Worse than that, the US has beaten one European side in Europe in the last 10 years. One.

I think we should skip the next European-based WC if we can’t beat ‘em in Europe.

When the US is in the box with the ball, the Czechs don’t even worry, they know we can’t even finish a sentence!

Mohan, and we still need to see Italy and Brazil.

The problem is not the Czechs playing well or beating the US; any sensible US fan expected this barring a good deal of fortune; the problem is the US playing with no enthusiasm, no creativity, and, for the most part, no ability. These are things that will carry over no matter if you are playing Czechs, Italy, or Ghana. If the US would just surrender one more goal this would be worse than the 5-1 loss in 1990 vs. the Czechs, which was considered the biggest embarassment in US WC history; the only thing that atones it is the fact that they were all very green with little international experience. So how far have we come in 16 years? We are hoping to perform as well as the embarassment 16 years ago.

That is pathetic.

Hey, cheer up, you can still advance to the next round, come on!! Czech Republic is #2 in Fifa’s Rankings, so, don’t be too hard on yourselves, move on and start thinking in the next game!!

Un chilango con los gringos, vamos!!

1998 all over again? that means 2010 USA should win the cup.

oh, ouch. the hype was really just hype. well, we can always hope to be 2E!!!! i’m american and i want the us to do well (so that world cup gets more coverage) but hey baby i’m ENGLAND all the way!!! get keller out of there next match yes?

Looks like Arsenal is the winner in all this. They signed Rosicky before the world cup and Wenger keeps confirming his eye for talent. That guy will fill in for Pires admirably and probably do better.

Meawhile, I never expected the US to win this match but I thought they’d concede less goals.

TWO MINUTES stoppage time? Can’t we just blow it and leave?

What a disgrace…all of this hype…and high expectations…and what more than disappointment!!! From the coaching right down to the players…it doesn’t even look like that team deserves to be in GERMANY!! I think someone else wrote it…I hope they’re enjoying their vacation!!

The horror…the horror…

The USA won’t win another match. No way they’re gonna beat Italy, and after that, I wonder if they can hold off Ghana.

congrats to the czechs, they played one of the better games in the tournament to date. good luck to the us who, regardless of whether they were expected to win or not, have squandered a chance to show they belong with the big boys.

Brian Ching and Bocanegra should have played

In the words of Strongbad, “IT’S OVER!”

it was not USA’s cup of tea

Disastrous. No positives at all.

Looked the worst of any team in the WC so far.

@Ninj: lol. Yeah … 2010 … here we come!!

Czech deserved it all the way. They were better at all levels. Their performance puts them in the same league as Argentina, Brazil and Netherlands.

this is the end for the USA, lets remain hope.

are u staying up to watch Italy Keyser?

I may have been premature when I earlier said I though the US was another 20-30 years away from being a a truly world-class national side worthy of a 5th place ranking.

Maybe we’ll see Howard or Hahnemann against Italy. Bobby Convey we may not see again this Cup. DMB needs to have some sense knocked into him.

And that’s that. a sad, inexcusable display of dullard football, a terrible portend for the US’s remaining, and now bridge-too-far-like, road in Germany. Too bad. But a deserved win for the Czechs, a deserved loss for the flat-footed, somewhat big-mouthed Americans. Humble pie has never hurt anyone. There are still two big games ahead, including one against the dull, loss-deserving Italians.
Pierre Uncensored at TOTAL FOOTBALL http://www.pierretristam.com

-Get Keller out.
-Get Johnson, Dempsey in.

I don’t care how it’s done. Even if the US lose they should at least look like they care and have some excitement to their game.

Arena’s focus on “experience” was completely misplaced, as expected. Truly a farce.

i think the best case scenario was for the US to draw with the Czechs or lose by only a single goal. they’ll need 4 points to advance. i didn’t expect the US to beat Italy. now, they desperately need a draw! however, with a -3 goal differential, they’ll not only have to beat Ghana, but will have to do so resoundingly. if not, they’re done. if so, they meet Brazil, and they’re done anyway. so either way… they’re done. too bad.

Excellent performance by Czech!!

Awesome!

And I like the theory of 2010 being all about USA winning the cup! Goodluck at that!

And I dont believe USA has any chance of winning against Italy. Their aim should be at least to reduce the margin. But against Ghana they have a chance, if they spice it up in a day or two!

Salam

CR deserved the win completely. The US will have to do some serious soul searching if they hope to advance.

ps — cut the political digs. This is a sporting event only!

Embarrasment all the way around, we didn’t even make a showing. And my “genius” of a coach Arena’s tactics were totally stupid. Wrong guys, no motivation, bad direction, lifeless play, poor touches, no finishing, really, really bad goal keeping….did I miss anything?

3-1 would be a better score, but tough luck USA. This is also a death group, so it’ll be pretty hard for USA to get out of that now.

Kudos for the Czechs for not lowering the tempo after the initial advantage like most other teams up until now.

US is done… FIFA should definitely re-think the ranking system, AND re-organize their confederations so the US doesn’t have such an easy time qualifying and then crashing out. I’d much rather see CONCACAF combined with CONMEBOL and see Chile or Uruguay give the Czecvhs a close game vs today’s pathetic performance.

Disastrous. How does a side recover from so horrendous an outing. Nothing worked. Convey and Beasley were atrocious, both technically and in their every decision. Except for three decent tries by Eddie Johnson, the US side looked, in the final thirty minutes, like a helpless youth team, launching silly, speculative passes into the Czech box, to defenders eager to collect the ball and launch controlled counterattacks through the porous US midfield. To give Nedved and Company their due, they had EVERYTHING to do with the US performance: it was as pitting men against boys. For all the vaunted experience of the US side, they had nothing to counter the marvellous “separation technique” of canny Czechs like Jan Koller, who gave himself a meter with a gentle wrong-foot push that created a pretty goal. To quote Sam Kennison: “Augh. Augh! AUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!”

And once again the US broadcast team of O’Brien and Balboa was excruciatingly insipid, as periodic checks back from Univision continually confirmed. And ABC’s penchant for putting up large black squares of graphics that covered almost a quarter of the screen created a further incentive to defect to the Spanish-language broadcast.

Italy next? “Augh. Augh! AUUUUUGGGGGHHH!”

Well looks like my wish didn’t come true – this team has definitely set US soccer back 8 years.

I don’t think the USA’s too blame, they did okey. The Czechs were just extra good though. I’d surprised if they don’t get #1 on their group, really.

Looks like Steve Sampson and the 1998 squad….sickening……

Oh, and Foobar – don’t worry. Politics has been kept to a very minimum here, thankfully.

this was the benining of the end for the USA, they have a long way to walk in soccer road to get extra class and defeat great teams such as Italy and CZE Republic. They loose the only chance they had, so let’s wait 2010

Augh. Augh! AUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH! AUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH!

What’s the word on Koller? Serious injury?

8 years? Nah. I think we thought that it was dead after ‘98, but then 2002 happened. In four years Adu will be mature, Convey might grow up, and Hahnemann and Howard will be top-division goalies.

This year is already lost, but 2010 isn’t yet. And I still believe I will see the US raise the World Cup in my lifetime, and I expect to see 10 more of these.

I think that if Reyna’s shot went in and get the game on 1-1 the US would have had the chance to get a win … but when it was 2-0 the game was closed.

Everybody expected the czechs to win — but a 3:0 margin is pretty bad. I mean even the weakest teams have lost to middle powers by lesser margins. Look at the Angola portugal margin — or even IC v. Argentina margin, and Iran Mexico margin. Even the Germany v. costa rica margin is better than ours.

Sure portugal isn’t the Czech republic, but Angola isn; the U.S. either. BAsed on the hype and ranking, the margin of loss should not have been less than one point. I’m dissapointed. Hope we can recover.

Excellent point,I agree if Reynas shot had went in it would have been a different game, after the second goal by the CR the USA gave up, which is a shame to show such flat footedness and acceptance of defeat on such a grand stage… devastating for an American like myself to watch

I waited 4 years for this? Disappointing is an under-statement. Hopeful for an Italy-Ghana tie and 6 points in our last two group pool matches.

SORRY US, BUT I STILL THINK YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE SECOND ROUND. AN ITALY DRAW AND GHANA WIN IS STILL POSIBLE, ALLTHOUGH HARD. IF US FOOTBALL IS REALLY HERE TO STAY, THEY WILL HAVE TO SHOW SOME BALLS!
CR IS ONE OF THE FAVORITES NOW TO WIN THE CUP? I AM NOT SO SURE. I THINK THIS WAS THE BEST MATCH THEY PLAYED IN A LONG TIME. THEY WILL LOOSE OR DRAW AGAINST ITALY, SO THE GAMES AGAINST GHANA WILL BE CRUCIAL.

I just think we let in too many goals. An italy win or draw is unlikely. I think a Ghana win is possible (so long as we haven’t let this loss defeat our confidence). it’s crucial that we score early against Ghana, otherwise we might give up again and let Ghana walk away with a win.

Wow..just wow.

The Czech Republic played a very attractive game. Americans were to straight-forward, and too predictable.

Where the fuck is Clint Dempsey? That is the only player with inventiveness in the squad, and yet he is benched. I can’t understand this. Unless he is played, the Americans will lose the next two games also.

Bruce Arena made some very, very poor decisions. He is just as much to blame as the lack luster players.

Let’s not go overboard on the Czechs here. As well as they played today they aren’t the second best team in the world. They are very good, but are on the same level as Holland, Portugal, England, and the other top Euro teams that aren’t on Brazil’s level consistently. I know everyone wants to say that the U.S. lost to an absolutely fantastic team, but the Czech’s were barely the second best team in their WCQ group ahead of Romania. Very good, but there are other teams in this Cup just as good.

Let’s be real. The U.S. was just slaughtered by a team they thought they were supposed to be on par with. The Czechs aren’t Brazil. This game can’t be chalked up as just a loss to a brilliant team. The Czechs are beatable, just not by this U.S. team.

I think humble pie references are correct. Maybe those friendly results were more realistic than we thought and weren’t a “wake up call”.

Where is US the energy?
Where is US the enthusiasm?

This loss is really unfortunate because the US has a much better team this year and they know they can play better. Today they came out there and just forgot that they are in the game. They did not have any energy nor any enthusiasm. Any team could have beaten them today.

They stood around and waited for the ball. Trinidad played with more energy and enthusiasm than we did.

I am worried that we will even lose to Ghana. Ghana is going to come out extremely enthusiastic and energetic and they just run for fun…I am worried if we play like today, we will lose to them.

No surpise to me, the US mens team failed like I knew they would, hey the morroco friendly game showed how bad they really are. all the hoopla and bs, but remember, they are not any match for any world class team like the Czech Republic, they looked liked a group of high school kids, no one, no one played good for team USA, they will fail and come back an embarrassment to this country, no biggie to me, i bet my money elsewhere, hehehehehehehehe, in ending fire the coach, and forgewt about wasting time and money on soccer here in the USA, there really isn’t an interest outside of foreigners that are naturilized American citizens

Czechs are way overrated, today we could have lost even to Trinidad, the way we played. No excitement, no energy, no enthusiasm, no leadership!!!!!!!

US just not to be in a group w/ Poland, Angola, and Iran. They might be able to get 1-2 points out of that one.

I also agree with you Trent completely about not overhyping the Czechs for a solid win over an awful US team (or at least a mediocre US side that put out an awful performance), but I wouldn’t say that even before this that the US would be on the same level as the top Euro teams. Best US can strive for right now is to be the best in North America, and that is definitely not the case, then maybe they can occasionally compete against the top Euro sides with some consistency.

That seems awfully far off right now though but we’ll see if they are even awake for the next game and if Arena puts them in a position to win. Somehow I doubt either of those will happen, realistically speaking.

James, speak for yourself about no interest for soccer in the US.

The US players play for some of the best clubs in Europe. We kill Mexico 90% of the time we play them, and in Mexico, soccer is GOD. Considering the fact that we entered the world cup for the first time in 1990 with a bunch of College, and the fact that we have been able to rapidly develop to become one of the top 15 teams in the world, in less than 16 years!!!!
No interest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speak for yourself, and not the hundreds of thousands kids playing soccer 4 times a week, and parents dedicating their lives to their kids’ soccer development.

ONCE AGAIN THE MIGHTY BULLSH.. HAS BEEN DETHRONE BY A QUALITY TEAM. HAVEN’T YOU NOTICE ABOUT SPORTS IN THE U.S.A? THE DECLINE IN ALL EVENTS IN THE WORLD THAT U.S.A. COMPETES. I DO NOT CONSIDERED THE U.S TEAM TO BE GOOD ENOUGH TEAM TO CLEAR THE FIRST ROUND OF THE WORLD CUP WITH ALL THE HOOPLA THAT HAS BEEN SAID JUST LIKE THE HIPROCRECY THAT WE LIVE DAY TO DAY HERE IN U.S. STOP BELIEVING THAT WE ARE # 1 IN EVERYTHING WE DO . WE SHOULD LEARN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THAT UNITED THEY TRIUMPH,DEVISIVE THE ONLY THING THAT WE OBTAIN IT’S WAR.A GAME THAT BRINGS HARMONY AND PASSION AND BRINGS TOGETHERNESS SOMEHOW THIS GAME IT’S NOT WELCOME AND ACCEPTED HERE. BECAUSE THE ARROGANCY AND IGNORANCE THAT EXISTS IN THE U.S.A. LET’S GET OFF THE HORSE FOR ONCE, MAYBE WALKING WITH HIM AS A COUNTRY AS A TEAM WE CAN GET FURTHER. LET’S LEARN FROM THE WORLD BECAUSE IT’S OBVIOUS THAT WE CAN NOT TEACH TO THE WORLD HOW TO BE UNITED.

The US players play for some of the best clubs in Europe.

Not really, no — with the exception of Beasley. And even he’s not playing for Madrid, Juventus, or Chelsea. He’s playing for maybe a tier 1a club in the European sense, and the rest are playing for second tier clubs. (Not second national tier, just second tier of Europe.)

We kill Mexico 90% of the time we play them, and in Mexico, soccer is GOD.

No, we don’t kill Mex every time we play them — although we’ve gained the ascendency in that rivalry. Mex is a modest national side in world terms, dominant in CONCACAF for decades but only hob-nobbing with the world’s elite when playing the WC at home. The US has reached a similar level. That’s tremendous progress compared to 1990, let alone 1954-86 — but that’s all. We’re not a world-class NT. We’re a good CONCACAF team, able to get points off napping and inferior WC opponents but behind good European and South American opponents.

The small sample of 2002 deceived many (and in the end, it was only 2 wins, a draw, and 2 losses), just as the small sample of 1998 made many think the US was worse than it was.

Phillip,

First I was responding to James saying that USA has no chance in soccer so we might as well give it up.

Now regarding players in Europe:

Reyna plays for Manchester City in the EPL.

McBride plays for the EPL for Fulham and he got player of the year there. Player of the year for a team in the EPL is a big deal.

Beasley – about Beasley, he plays for one of the best teams in Holland PSV, which is a legendary Holland squad.

Do you want me to keep going????? I can give you some more names.

We are the best team in North America today, anyway you look at it. Maybe we did not win the CONCACAF cup.

If more fans supported the USA nad not just automatically talked them down, maybe our players would have more motivation.

We have the best athletes in the world. We send our best soccer players to the world cup, not our best athletes, while the rest of the world’s best athletes are likely to be soccer players. But it’s just a matter of time.

The FIFA match report is classic…makes it actually sound like it was a contest.

We were clearly not ready for the Czechs today. They played well, we did not. I don’t think we showed what we’re capable of, which is a shame because this is the one place you want to shine.

I look forward to the Italy match, how they respond through play will say alot about our current crop of national team members and coaches.

It’s a long shot, but 2 wins could see us through.

How in the world did FIFA come up with a #5 ranking for the US…….They looked horrendous. …couldn’t string more than 2 passes together….Landon Donovan and and Eddie Johnson need some talent around them…Unfortunately this will be 3 out for the US…..bottom of the group

Are you serious?

“If more fans supported the USA nad not just automatically talked them down, maybe our players would have more motivation.”

This will probably be one of the most interesting explanations for that game that you’ll see.

That’s right…it was the USA soccer fans’ fault. Maybe once the USA team realizes that it wasn’t THEIR fault they lost like they did, they’ll play better. That’s what true athletes do…blame getting beat on the fans.

It was definately the players fault.

They had no excitement, no energy, no enthusiasm, no leadership!!!!!!!

Czechs are way overrated, today we could have lost even to Trinidad, the way we played. No excitement, no energy, no enthusiasm, no leadership!!!!!!!

michaeko,

I need to get some sleep so I’ll leave this off here (although I’d love to continue, feel free to comment on my blog if you want to continue later.

First I was responding to James saying that USA has no chance in soccer so we might as well give it up.

That’s an exaggeration in one direction, and saying our players play for the best clubs in Europe is an exaggeration in the other direction. The truth lies in between.

Reyna plays for Manchester City in the EPL.

15th place; a club that’s been in the EPL for a few years but is totally overshadowed by its local rivals, not to mention the other big-money EPL clubs.

MCFC is a decent mid-table English side, not one of “the best clubs in Europe.”

McBride plays for the EPL for Fulham and he got player of the year there. Player of the year for a team in the EPL is a big deal.

Big deal, sure. But Fulham finished 12th — not one of “the best clubs in Europe”.

Beasley – about Beasley, he plays for one of the best teams in Holland PSV, which is a legendary Holland squad.

Netherlands is a weaker league that PSV dominates with two other clubs. More to the point, PSV has accomplished much in Europe, finishing in the last 16 this season and the semis the previous season. PSV is widely regarded as one of “the best clubs in Europe.”

Beasley is the one exception I cited in my first response to your comment.

Do you want me to keep going????? I can give you some more names.

I’d be delighted if you could give me more names. But I’m aware of where the entire 2006 squad plays, and sadly beyond Beasley it doesn’t get much better than modest EPL and Bundesliga clubs.

We are the best team in North America today, anyway you look at it.

No dispute.

Maybe we did not win the CONCACAF cup.

Maybe we did.

If more fans supported the USA nad not just automatically talked them down, maybe our players would have more motivation.

Well, I don’t know why you see me as unduly negative. Much progress has been made since 1986. With the up-and-down four year cycle of the WC, you have to look at other measures like clubs. The US has made great progress, no dispute.

But now let’s look at the Czech Republic. Rosický will be playing for Arsenal, one of the top teams in England. Čech plays for Chelsea, at present THE club in England. Nedvěd plays for Juventus, and Jankulovski for Milan, two of the top teams in Serie A.

If you know where to pull out names of US players on those clubs, or similar clubs (Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Liverpool….) then I’m sure US Soccer would be delighted to hear about them.

We have the best athletes in the world. We send our best soccer players to the world cup, not our best athletes, while the rest of the world’s best athletes are likely to be soccer players.

True.

But it’s just a matter of time.

I generally agree with this, too. But that shouldn’t deceive us into thinking that we’re there yet, and saying, “The US players play for some of the best clubs in Europe,” sounds like self-deception.

Philip, you are correct, I might have exaggerated a bit. Today’s game lacked more energy and enthusiasm, than the talent aspect.

Incidentally the club situation’s better when you move beyond the first team. For example, Howard is owned by Man Utd. but on loan to Everton. Freddy Adu will command all kinds of attention from top Euro clubs if he develops as expected. I read an article the other day about a kid on a military base that Bayern (I think) was interested in — someone can help me out with the name. So there’s plenty of future. Let’s just not kid ourselves to think that we have top players in the present.

And sometimes you get lucky and beat a collection of club stars, like Portugal 2002. Clearly this Czech team isn’t Portugal.

Fair enough, i didn’t mean to make that as long as it turned out. :)

THE WORST PREFORMANCE BY THE USA team — IT WAS TOUGH TO WATCH–I WAS AMBARASSED

How can the general US public ever become a fan of the beautiful game when their national team puts on a display of boring , unimaginitive , and half hearted football..Such a shame…….took the day off work to watch them

Good job Daryl.

Thank you USA!
Poland isn’t the worst team in tournament now :)

The U.S. will never win a World Cup championship until they stop getting college players to represent us. They aren’t the best players the U.S. has to offer. The really good players are the ones that are playing for the many league’s in the U.S.. It’s time to realize that and start looking for the best players, not just the one’s out of college.

Can someone inform the U.S. Team that they are the “Blue” team?

I just have one thing to say, after years of experience in the soccer world… heart is everything. If our troops fought like the USA World Cup Team played today, they would all be DEAD!!!. Skill, talent and coaching mean nothing without the pride of your nation and the heart of each player pushing the limits of desire to win a game, or at least show you want to win.

OPKO wrote:

“US is done…FIFA should definitely re-think the ranking system, AND re-organize their confederations.. I’d much rather see CONCACAF combined with CONMEBOL and see Chile or Uruguay give the Czecvhs a close game vs today’s pathetic performance.”
Posted from Canada

From Canda…hmmm…First of all, Chile is at the bottom of the southern hemisphere. With your plan, a country next to the N.Pole (Canada) would be in the same confederation. Second, there is NO reason that a rational person would expect Uruguay (Argentina Lite) or Chile (huh?) to outshine the US. Did either of those team excede the US in the last complete World Cup? I’m not sure what happened today but Arena’s a competent mgr. and they’ll get back on track.

WHO GIVES A SHIT?!

I still blame Arena, he is just not a world class coach.To try and play a slow defensive game is absurd.
I really believe that this US team is a decent team, they are just being badly coached.

I cheer for 3 teams in the world cup: Iran, US and Brazil! I expected much more from Iran and the US but they both sanked!

The US needs help with its fundamentals….did you ever see such sloppy ball control in your life? If you can’t collect a ball or pass cleanly how can mount any sigficant attact? What attack?

Oh dang. I missed this game? Blah! Darn summer classes!

It was very disappointing to se US play today,they were sooooo not ready.Why do they pick college players when we have so many experianced good soocer players:( And everyone says the US players were in the best shape,what did go wrong?

The big mistake for the US Team was having Bush provide his best wishes. That sucked the heart out the team!

i am haitian my favorite team is Argentina the only thing i would like to say all the fans dont worry Argentina gonna win with the best playerthis year.

love you chanpionship
“WILGUERRE”
HAITI PEACE

Who’s the idiot that said soccer was a world craze. It never was and never will be a craze in the US. Just go to a soccer game and you’ll find all of 4000 people present if you’re lucky. Football, baseball, hockey and basketball, but not soccer. Leave soccer to the fanatical maniacs that would prefer to kill each other.

Paul,
Why are you even here posting stuff to worldcupblog if you do not care ? You are not helping by posting this stuff.

Speak for yourself, and not the hundreds of thousands kids playing soccer 4 times a week, and parents dedicating their lives to their kids’ soccer development.

Look at our progresss since 1990…read my post above, I am tired of repeating this stuff. This is a stereotypical opinion that we don’t give a crap about soccer.

Its seems to me that some US supporters were a little naïve in their expectations of the team. For a start, we all know that the FIFA ranking means absolutely nothing, as it does not take into account the quality of the opposition. For example, based on their performances, I believe Argentina, despite being ranked a full 4 places lower at 9th in the world, would comfortably beat the USA. I think, at least for the moment, US fans should be content with the team that it has got, as for at least 4 more years, things are not going to get better. The problem is that America is a big country having great traditions in some sports, and the best players in sports like basketball and baseball. This is simply not the case in football, and I certainly do not believe that the US will repeat their QF finish in 2002.

A huge embarrassment after the buildup. Humiliating. This team SUCKS. Arena, Donovan, Beasley, Convey, Reyna, Pope, Onyewu, Keller, all must go. MLS football is hurting the team by accustomizing players to inferior competition and play. They also need to acquire SKILLS — they cannot collect a pass to save their lives — and FITNESS — they run like old men. We will not score a single goal in this tournament.

Hah! Argentina? If the USA played Argentina ten times in a row we would win one game, draw one, lose eight of them. Against Italy we would lose six if we got lucky. We’re the worst team in the tournament, until the Saudis play at least.

The Czech played a great game. I’m pissed off because someone provided them with a Staples easy button.Italy watch out!

Now, if we could only play OURSELVES, then we might shine with this lineup.

The US were treaded on.

Maybe you should change your slogan to “don’t tread on me too hard, it hurts”

[...] USA vs Czech Republic | LiveBlog [...]

Africa involved into results of World Cup 2006.
According to unexpected results of the football matches, african magicians are working hard in their magic area.
See the results on http://www.voodoo4football.com
Is it possible in our modern life?

The US team needs a foreign coach. Look at Korea in 1992 and Australia this year. Get rid of Arena before he does anymore damage to the US National team.

definetly bon jovi, livin on a prayer or its my life, that wud be sick in the stands.