UEFA hubris

During the first week of the tournament, I felt that the referees were being unfairly criticised. Their calls were technically correct, and actually allowed flow to the game. Commentators were mostly wrong about the nature of the calls the referee were making, but a worrying trend regarding cautions started to creep into view. And as World Cup 2006 continues, it's become quite clear that the story of THIS Cup is the officiating.

There have been missed calls, disallowed goals, erroneous penalties, way too many send offs, and a very definite lack of dealing with players except through cards. Worse, and this one I cannot prove, there is at least the perception of a bias against the non-traditional powers. The stats show less fouls for the Englands, Brazils and Argentinas than for the Togos, Japans, et al.

There is, however, a delicious bit of irony in all this. During and after the 2002 Japorea tournament, there was an enormous hue and cry about substandard referees being allowed to officiate games beyond their abilities. Referees from CAF, AFC and CONCACAF, they argued, are not accustomed to working such pivotal matches.

Who are "they"? Officials from UEFA federations, for the most part. The snobbery inherent in these arguments was disgusting. After all, American referees had particularly distinguished themselves in three of the previous four tournaments. The hubris was, well, hubristic.

Where was the referee from that for the first time allowed a player to be cautioned three times? England. And the referee that issued a staggering 16 cautions, a World Cup record four send-offs and only 25 total fouls? Russia. How about the referee that incorrectly sent off an Italian player while whistling a game-deadening forty-three fouls (or nearly one ever other minute)? Yup, UEFA ref, from Spain.

And on and on and on. Records have already been set for total number of cautions and send-offs, and we still have 10 games left! There has been little man-management in evidence. The body language of most of these officials is very confrontational, dictatorial even. Cards are presented by thrusting them into players' faces, rather than calmly being presented. These are basic mechanics that are taught to entry-level referees.

It is in summation better a guide for how not to officiate a game rather than a showcase demonstrating the best ways to manage a game.

Obviously it's not just European referees at fault -- it was an American 4th official, after all, who also allowed a player to stay on with two cautions. But since UEFA referees are being given the lion's share of the pivotal matches, they are expected to set the standard. Net result? They haven't proven themselves to be any better than referees from other confederations. Having watched many a match in many of the major European leagues, and qualifiers for the Euro championship and this World Cup, I can say I'm not in the least surprised.

It's the man that makes the referee....

It was only ever a dream

The Group of Death finished properly, with one favorite knocked out. I suppose it's a measure of some improvement that we go home as "disappointments," signifying that we were meant to have accomplished more. One of these tournaments we'll win Game 3 and decide our own fates.

We were not as bad as the Czech game, as we demonstrated in the next two matches. Ghana are a quality side, and should not be considered a surprise to be facing Brazil. Any knowledgeable soccer watcher knew that the Ghanians had some quality players to showcase. But they were beatable today, if we only knew how to throw a knockout punch. We should have won this game or the one against the Italians, and been on our way to Round the Second.

Let's have some fun and play the Blame Game. Why not, as it's all we have left (he says, bitterly and dryly). First and foremost, Landon, the poster child of US Soccer. No more need be said than his 89th minute play. With the ball at the right side of the box, he drove into the middle rather than taking a clear -- if angled -- shot on goal.

I'm so angry with Landon, because we MNT fans have all bemoaned his decision to leave the Bundesliga. How would he have played if he had been toughened up in Germany for the past three years? We'll never know, but look at Convey for a hint....

Bruce Arena. Well, we've already said he's got to go, but this is another example of why. If you're going to play 4-5-1, then your "1" has to be a true striker, not a poacher like McBride. Macca is an excellent player, but he can't create goals; since no one was servicing him all tournament, it was time to use someone else up front.

Kasey Keller, who had no chance on any of the 6 goals he let in, and yet he had to do better. A keeper's job is more than simply stopping shots. Today, we needed possession football, yet Keller punted every single time he had the ball. Every single time. Not once did he restart from the back, bring the ball up, use his wingers....nothing. Just long-balls that were lost a full 100% of the time -- we didn't win a single 50-50 ball off his punts.

We've all seen Keller make unbelieveable saves, which was one of the reasons we thought we should do better than we did. Stressing here (again) that none of the goals were his fault, but also needing to realize that neither did he come up big in this tournament. Ever. We needed the 1998 Gold Cup Keller, that Romario called the greatest keeper he had ever played against. It's really not fair to criticize him for it, but imagine for a second if he had somehow saved the Draman goal....enough said.

This one I get to savor -- Claudio Reyna. He was meant to be Tab Ramos' replacement since 1998, and never once has he ever remotely resembled Tab. He is too weak against physical play, unsure about distribution, and barely considers taking shots. For a distributing midfielder meant to hold and pass the ball, he did neither. If only we could get the Reyna that plays for Man City. On the MNT, however, Reyna is a bust and always has been.

The most disappointing player, however, was Beasely. The Beezer had improved so much, done so well at PSV, played against some of Europe's toughest clubs in the Champions League. His performance was so unexpectedly bad, and for no reason. Maybe Hiddink was right to bench Beez for the last weeks of the season.

For the good? Well, I fully expect 2006 to be Dempsey's last season in MLS. He needs to go play against tough defenders so that he can learn a little more about attacking play. He doesn't have far to go -- Dempsey has the potential to be the player that Donovan never became. It'll be a smart European coach that comes a'courtin', and hopefully it's a Champions League club.

Bobby Convey learned a ton at Reading, and it showed. With a little more midfield complement, he could have done more. And Bocanegra played, well, he played like an English defender. Even better, he didn't commit any of the stupid fouls that he has become infamous for making. We can expect more from him, and hopefully he'll continue to learn at Fulham.

That's about it. Everyone else has already been slated or did nothing. Sadly we never got to see what Eddie Johnson might have been to do with a full 90 minute appearance. That'll be the next dream, I guess.....

Auf wiedersehen, Arena

Thanks for the memories, Bruce, you done well. And now - good-bye.

No question -- the most successful MNT coach ever. But then again, it wasn't a very high bar to jump over, was it? And the plain truth is that when it comes to tactics, Bruce is sorely lacking. He has also shown time and again that he's willing to play too conservatively when aggression is needed.

The Italy match on Saturday was a prime example. When Lippi took off Totti, it was an Italian side being forced to adjust strategically to an American team. It was our game to win; no one can convince me otherwise and a fair observer would agree. An organized American defence blunted all Italian attacks, and our own counterattacks inspired thoughts of victory.

This was the time to bring our own attacking edge...yet Arena blinked. He said later that he saw no reason to replace McBride with Eddie Johnson. And that, in a nutshell, is classic Arena thinking -- he just doesn't see opportunities when they are there for the taking. Johnson offered fresh legs, an attacker's instinct and speed against a tired Italian defence, yet Bruce couldn't see any reason to substitute a tired, ineffective McBride.

Arena is too loyal to his veterans and sometimes a coach just needs to shake things up. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to hear him criticize Donovan's woeful performance after the Czech game. It was necessary, and effective -- Landon played like a true international against Italy.

There is also the problem of team naivete. Too many times it is clearly obvious that the MNT is not prepared for the tactics or a player they face. I heard it again after the Czech game, someone saying they weren't ready for the Czech. This happens way to often, and is inexcusable.

Arena's been great, and all hail to that. But it says here that he won't be able to do more than what he's already accomplished. There's nowhere for him to go but down, and he's going to drag the National team with him.

The MNT is a mature side with quality talent, many of whom will be around in 2010 and even 2014. Yet Arena has not been able to lift the performance of this squad to the point that we are a legitimate threat on the world stage. We are still too lightly regarded, and games like last Monday's are the reason.

It's time for a more tactically-oriented coach to take the reins. Sadly, it'll probably have to be a non-American, but that's the worldwide trend anyway. We need to get rid of the British tactics that we still use, and find someone who has attacking tactics ingrained into his psyche. A Dutch coach would be brilliant.

So long as it's not Sigi Schmid...

Defending the third team - referees not so bad

I've read several comments criticizing the referees. When a person with the prestige of a Franz Beckenbauer says that the referees have been too influential in the games, it sounds like a truism.

Having watched all but two matches so far, I can say that with a few exceptions Herr Beckenbauer couldn't be more wrong.

There haven't been any boring games that I've seen so far. No dour, defensive games. Instead, something like one-third of all goals have been scored in the final 15 minutes of a match. This is something that can only be accomplished if players are afraid to foul.

When players get tired, they get careless. It's simply human nature, no matter the physical conditioning of the player. And when players get careless, fouls have a way of happening.
If the referee has established the criteria of what constitutes a foul early in the game, players know what they can get away with. Clearly, most players do not feel that they are going to get away with crap.

Proof? The fact that so many goals have been scored late in the game. If a defender is afraid to concede a foul because the referee has demonstrated that he will make the necessary calls, then defenders have to actually play rather than cynically foul an attacker. This will then increase the chances an attacker has to score.

OR -- the tired defender does concede the cynical foul. The referees have demonstrated that they are going to make the calls, and those free kicks have resulted in opportunities from within scoring range. Either way, the fact that the referees have not permitted cynical, defensive play to flourish is completely in line with FIFA's desire to see more positive play.

From an attacking viewpoint, the 2006 World Cup has so far been one of the best tournaments ever. So keep it up, referees.

And shut up, Franz.

The Battle of Kaiserslautern

It was the sort of match that can echo in the archives. Forever onward, there will be the concept of "after Kaiserslautern." The game of June 17, 2006 set the benchmark for how the MNT can play this beautiful game, and established the bar from which future American squads will have to compare.

The killer draw that put us in the Group of Death (surely there's no question of that designation now, as Group C fell far short of expectations) made getting out of the group an ambitious one. It wasn't a ridiculous one, to be sure, but those that dismissed the Czechs and Ghana had clearly drunk too much of the Kool Aid from the quarterfinals squad of 2002. I had said before the tournament that a successful tournament for the MNT would be to play well, to look like we belong, to have others change their game to adjust to ours for a change.

The Czech game was a travesty, but as low as that performance was, it was nowhere near as low as the high of the Italy game. A drunken high that had the nasty hangover effect of not actually winning the game. But this was the game we needed from our boys.

For long stretches of the game, we dominated an experienced, talent-laden Italian squad. There was never a hint of panic when we defended, and we controlled the midfield against a team that has made midfield control a hallmark of its tactics.

This was also Landon's coming-out party. While others may point to the Japorea matches for his debut on the world stage, I will say that he never took over a match the way he did against the Italians. It was Landon's slashing runs from middle to wing and back again that kept the experienced Italian defenders on their back heels. Bouncing off defenders, he played like the man that all American soccer fans have long wanted him to be. This match, for the first time, he clearly put the team on his slight shoulders and almost carried us through to victory. That he fell just short of it was merely a sign that he still needs to develop. But oh what a glorious half it was to watch him play, the whole of the second half!

When Totti was substituted for by Gattuso in the 35th minute, it was a clear sign that coach Marcello Lippi has conceded to adjust to the American waves of attack. This was a defensive change, after all; by taking Totti out, Lippi conceded that his man-down squad couldn't handle the Americans without more defensive help.

THIS is the US team that we all believe it to be. Do the same against Ghana, boys, and we'll be toasting a third second-round appearance in four successive tournaments. There aren't many teams that can claim that legacy.

On a day when many thought to write off the American team, it instead established itself as a team for the future instead. For sheer bravery, aggressiveness, audacity and heart-stopping moments, there has never been a better match played by an American soccer side.

2010 can't get here soon enough....

Stopped Czechs

Ghana are still beating the Czechs, nearly 15 minutes into the second half. After losing to the Italians, you might expect the Black Stars to come out flat. Quite the contrary -- they came out with a loose, attacking style that has so far stymied the Czechs.

Watching the first 60 minutes of this game, I keep going back to the MNT. So few players that have soul -- one of the few is Dempsey. Johnny O'Brien is another, yet is too fragile to be a factor. More's the pity, because JOB is a product of the Ajax youth system and its renowned attacking mentality.

We face Italy in a potentially watershed game in less than 2 hours. Win, and the future is secured, regardless of how we win. Lose, but play well, stylishly and hard, and score a couple of goals, and it won't be so bad.

So here's hoping that we make some more World Cup history, and win our first game on European soil. Crazier things have happened....

GO GHANA!!

Hope dies hard

It's hard to decide whether the US or Ukraine are the bigger flops so far. While there can be no question that neither showed up on their respective game days, it is the former that came in with grand expectations.

It's almost a little embarassing to think that we actually made it to the quarterfinals in Korea. Until and unless we put on a convincing performance versus Italy on Saturday, the run in 2002 will lie alongside our 1950 victory over England in Brazil as a one-off accomplishments, never to be duplicated.

While the Men's National Team was never as good as some were projecting, we haven't been as bad as June 10th 2006 since the last time there was a World Cup in Europe and had to play another Central European squad....

Yet at least our squad cannot boast any true world-class players (spare me your Landon Donovans -- he never was nor will be a top international). Not so the Ukrainians, whose Andriy Shevchenko is one of the top five strikers in the world -- his career goal-scoring rate for club(s) and country is well above a goal-every-other-game, an enviable record in any league. Okay, so one player in 23 does not a talent-laden roster make (even if Sheva's former Kyiv partner, Rebrov, appears to have resurrected his career now that he's back with Dynamo).

On the other hand, a small fuss was made over the fact that Shevchenko would not suffer the fate of players such as George Best or Ryan Giggs -- top players who never got a chance to play in a World Cup final. This was Sheva's chance to shine. Instead, the whole squad went bust, Andriy along with them. Still, considering that group dates v Tunisia and Saudi suggest that Ukraine could still advance. (Oh to have a weak group!)

It is, of course, our fate that we have Italy to look forward to instead of some first-time qualifier. The soccer gods rarely - if ever - smile on us. After Monday's abortive display, a reprisal of 1990 appears to be in the making. (Oy, I'm sick just thinking about it.)

Ahh, but here's a shocker:

We actually have a better chance to beat Italy than we ever did against the Czechs.

Right, that's a fact, Jack. And no, that's not some Pravda-esque statement fit for repetition on ESPN2, as Eric Wynalda seems cluelessly prone to making. But this is a prime example of a conventional wisdom that can be burst.

The Czech style of play is what happens when you meld Dutch technical precision with Germany technical physicality. The US national team is simply too small to play against such physical prowess (ominously, Luca Toni becomes a major headache for us on Saturday). Always has been, which is especially strange when you consider that we grow 6'4" 240-lb linebackers who can run the 40 in freakishly fast times. I had always predicted that we would do well to get a draw in this game. Any team that makes the Dutch nervous is one to be taken seriously.

Now, please note that I'm not saying we will beat Italy. I am, however, saying that we are better able to face them than we were the Czechs. Why? Because we have faced Italian-style football before, with gamesmanship, counterattacks and skill on the ball. It's called "Mexico." The Italian game is one that we are more accustomed to, more finesse than brawn.

Italy are not Mexico, of course, but the Latin style and temperment is one we know well. And that's not to say that the Italians aren't physical. But neither is it the focus of their tactics. By rights, the Italians will not be able to push us around, get us off the ball as easily, especially if Dempsey and Johnson are playing. We can use our speed and strong middle defence to advantage here. If Mastroeni can slow down attacks, it's a good chance that Pope and Gooch can slug it out with the smaller Italian forwards (um, except for 6'4" Toni, the aforementioned headache).

Ghana are nowhere near as good as we can be (have to be careful how to phrase MNT capabilities after The Debacle), yet they had more of the ball than the Italians in their match and took more shots than the Azzuri. What did them in was that only one-third of their shots were on goal; if our boys can improve on that....suddenly not so crazy, is it?

Hopefully Arena will look to actually use wingers this time (although he did put them in the Czech game, they just didn't, er, wing...), and partnering Eddie Johnson's strength with Macca's aerial skills could open up some chances. It would also mean that Landon would have to drop back; historically, Landon plays better when he has more room to move forward and maneuver. And that goes double for Reyna, yet another player who needs more space in order to be effective. So let's move Landon and Reyna further back in the field.

They key to the US squad, though, is Clint Dempsey. Whaaaaaa??? Yup, ol' Nagadoches Clint and his hip-hop, take-a-knock-and-get-back-up fiestiness is exactly what the MNT needs. The kid can score, and he can set up goals. Put him on the wing to feed balls to Macca, and to slot passes back to Landon, or clean up any rebounds from EJ. He'd be the perfect link between Reyna and the forwards.

But most of all, it's Dempsey's heart that I want to see in the lineup. He has that indefineable will to never give up that makes him so critical, especially in a game like this. Landon doesn't have it, nor Reyna. This team is so essentially passive, as a whole. Dempsey is the one player good enough and cocky enough to make things better.

Then again, once the groups were set last year, I always said that we'd be lucky to get more than three points in the group. What mattered more was playing well. If you lose to ever-dangerous Italy and the second-best team in the world, well them's the breaks. Play well, and you get sympathy and respect.

A repeat of our performance against the Czechs in the Italy game, however, and the MNT will have lost all the hard-won respect from 2002. It'll undo all the work of the past eight years. That's just too much to handle, boys!

So come on Bruce, be a little daring, spread the field and go wide and deep. And let's go boys, have a little pride. After all, it's not just you 23 out there, you know. It's us fans that have to live with the legacy of your performances for the rest of our lives.

World Cup 2006 recap, so far

Now that the first teams have qualified for the second round, there can be no question that Ecuador are the surprise of the tournament. Then again, maybe it shouldn't have been such a shocker: they did qualify third in CONMEBOL. They trailed only Brazil and Argentina, and beat both of them during WC Qualifiers. (Okay, in Quito, at nearly 10,000-ft elevation, with both Brazilians and Argentines literally gasping for air.) The Ecuadorians are playing pretty, attacking football, and have not been scared to take their opportunities at goal. Good for them to get to the second round, and are serious threats to go deep into the tournament.

TnT provided a nice little spark in their game v Sweden -- brave play being a man down, sparky little squad. But reality strikes, eh? Tthose two last-minute goals by England meant that the Soca Warriors get to go home early. And so far, except for Ecuador, it's mostly business as usual for everyone else.

It was surprising and unexpected to see Spain win so convincingly, but then again, getting to the second round is sort of a birthright for the Spaniards anyway. It's after they get there that things start going pear-shaped for them. Besides, they are in such a weak group that they qualified as soon as the balls were drawn. Fernando Torres did look good though...Manchester United could do worse than go after him during the off-season....

Still not convinced by either Ingerlund or Germany, and Holland look vulnerable for the later stages. It's amazing to see the Dutch reverting to form off the pitch -- stay tuned whether Van Persie's (not unfounded) digs at Robben will affect the side and split the squad. It says here it won't, but it will bear paying attention to nonetheless. Argentina looked splotchy but effective, and I wouldn't count on their closing up shop so early vs either Holland or Croatia.

Even though Brazil's front line of Ronaldo and Adriano did not look effective at all -- count on Robinho replacing one of the two -- Kaka more than made up for it. And Ronaldinho was just f. u. n. to watch! The Brazilians just have too many weapons on their squad. Besides, the Pentacampeones face Australia on Sunday. Count another three points for Brazil, and make them a lock to advance.

Italy -- my pre-tournament favorites -- did indeed look strong. Not just football-strong, but physically strong. And their attack. Good-ness. Who do you stop when you have Totti, Inzaghi, Gilardino, del Piero, Toni and Iaquinta on the squad? Add a typically stout defence coupled with Ghanian inability to shoot straight, and you get "shutout."

But can they beat the US? Should be an easy three for the Azzuri, yeah? Hmmm....