USA Soccer Advances in the Most Dramatic Fashion

If you wanted to increase fan interest in US Soccer, you couldn’t have drawn up a more perfect group stage round. The nation is now captivated. Most soccer people assumed the US would advance out of their group, however every game for the US has been drama, controversy and more drama. Since they’ve scored one more group goal then England, they’re luckily paired with, Uruguay, Korea, and Ghana, instead of Argentina, Mexico and Germany. The US will play Ghana next, and I actually know a lot about Ghana since most of their players have Serie A connections. I’ll tell you, they have more talent than the US. However this US team has everything going their way at the moment and their path to the semifinals has couldn’t be better.

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photo: babasteve

USA vs. Algeria, who will Advance?

It will be a wild day at the World Cup. Heading into the final group stage game, all four members of the USA’s group have a chance to advance. The USA vs. Algeria game will be played at the same time as England vs. Slovenia. The USA will advance with a win, but will only advance on a tie if England ties or loses. I fully expect England to win, so the US will have to win too. However Algeria needs a win to have a chance to advance, therefore they’ll be playing all out, which could help the USA’s counter attack. With a win the US could win the group, but really all that matters is making it to the round of 16. I don’t think Algeria should be taken lightly they play a style very similar to the US, and it could be a back and forth game.

USA Soccer has a Golden Opportunity

For the time in history, the USA will have more talent then two of their World Cup Group opponents. Their opportunity is now, starting today at 10:00 against Slovenia, and again on the 23rd against Algeria. If they can win both of these games, they’ll get an unprecedented amount of fanfare. Of course a win is not a given. The USA still lacks the midfield and defensive players, capable of holding possession and setting up attacks. They depend too much on the counter attack for their offense. This makes them both dangerous against the top teams and susceptible against weaker teams. With that said, if they finish their group with 2 wins, and tie vs. England, fan interest will be through the roof. The England game meant nothing, the key since the schedule came out was today’s game.

USA happy with tie vs. England

The US are happy with a 1-1 tie against England, however, everything still rests on them defeating Slovenia this Friday. It certainly wasn’t a good showcase game for the World Cup. The USA played an above average game but England played poorly and used the wrong tactics against the US. It was to the USA’s advantage they played England in opening game and not the third game. The English is theory would have been a little more crisp. I think the organization for the US was good and they were disruptive enough on defense. The offense is still a question mark and I hope they consider swapping a forward for a midfielder these next two games. With five midfielders I think they would be able to control the game better against a weaker opponent. People will tell you that the USA plays down to lesser opponents. This is because the USA are a north/south team. When they have to posses the ball in holding, they're not nearly as fluid as most nations. However based on what I saw this weekend the US should advance past the group stage. Now everyone is just waiting for Friday.

Hope & Despair

Has American's women atheltics seen day like this before???

photo: AP

Hope Solo leads the US Women's National Team to a gold medal, by beating Brazil. Capping off her incredible storyline. While the US Softball team losses a heart-breaker to Japan, in softball's final Olympic game.

photo: reuters

Hope Solo leads US into World Cup Semifinals

Wake-up early with Hope Solo & the US Women's Soccer Team

The US Women's World Cup soccer team is one win a way from the finals. They play Brazil, tomorrow in the semi-finals, and you should get up early to watch the game if only because #18 Hope Solo is playing in it.

Hope could be the big star, or at least the center of attention if the women win it all this weekend.
The US has a ton of talented ladies, and are looking to bring back the Cup. They now stand 2 wins a way from making it ours.

GO USA!!!

***UPDATE*** Shockingly US head coach Greg Ryan (soon to fired, lets hope) decieded not to start Solo after 3 striaght shutouts, the USA lost today 4-0.