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.