World Cup Matches of the Day; [R]; 6/12/06

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

Lippi's teams have not lost in their last 19 matches.

If anyone can do it, Brian Ching can. Or maybe Jimmy Conrad.

:dots:

That smiley reminds me of Stinkoman 20X6. "I 20X6'ed you good!"

"Did we miss a challenge?"

"We had to take care of the USA by ourselves, but they weren't much of a challenge." --Czechs

[AreliusIV]

U.S. Is Routed by Czech Republic in World Cup

[AreliusIV]

Player quotes:

Steve CHERUNDOLO (USA)
It was not a good day for us. We need to get better now and keep our shape better in the next game with Italy. We didn't win enough of the second balls, but we absolutely still have a chance. We will overcome this loss and present ourselves in a better manner next time against Italy.

Josh WOLFF (USA)
To concede such an early goal is always going to put you in a tough spot. We did OK at points in the game, Reyna hit the post and we had our moments, but we will really need to improve ahead of our next game (against Italy).

Eddie LEWIS (USA)
That early goal really killed us. We had a game plan and an idea in our heads about how we should play, but after that goal it all went out the window. We had to push forward and that left us susceptible to the counterattack. Their shot-to-goal ratio was good, but they are world-class players and that’s what world-class players do: they take their chances.

Brian MCBRIDE (USA)
We just didn’t play well enough tonight and we came up against a really good team. We have to learn to play more composed at speed and have a little more confidence. Now we need to build on the few things we did right and get back on track.

John O'BRIEN (USA)
The early goal made things pretty hard on us. But I think we have positives we can build on. Captain Claudio played very well tonight. I'm just happy to be here after all my injury troubles and do whatever I can do to help the team.

Bobby CONVEY (USA)
We need to forget about this game as quickly as is humanly possible. If we come out and play like this against Italy we're going to lose again. We really need to learn from the mistakes we made tonight.

Landon DONOVAN (USA)
We played OK in the first half and we are still alive if we get a result in our next game. All is not lost and we will keep on fighting.

[AreliusIV]

Coach quotes:

Bruce ARENA (USA)
It was certainly a very poor start to the game, down a goal in the first five minutes of the game against a team like the Czech Republic, which actually defends very well and at that point were very comfortable in sitting back and absorbing any kind of pressure and countering us.
I'm very disappointed in our start. I'm very disappointed in the performance of a number of our players over 90 minutes. The better team won today. Give them credit. They punished us for every mistake we made. At 1-0 we had a chance, Claudio (Reyna) hits the post, they come back and get an absolutely great goal by (Tomas) Rosicky.
In the first half I though we played OK, but we go down two goals and we're chasing the game and to chase the game against a team of that quality is very difficult.

[AreliusIV]

Back to the Old US Soccer

[AreliusIV]

Dear Team USA:

Hey there. Looks like we both had a rough time around noon.

Me? I was supposed to meet some friends and root you guys on against the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, I overslept and wasn't able to get over there until after halftime.

"Poor team spirit," said one tsk-tsking friend. "No excuse."

Of course, I was well aware that you guys were off to a pretty difficult start yourselves. Sure, you were taking on arguably the hottest team in Europe, and one of the best in the world, but fans had begun to get the impression that U.S. soccer could play with anyone.

But no, you guys came out very flat. And the Czechs are the kind of team to never let you live down a mistake. Before you knew it, the game was pretty much out of reach -- 3-0. Ouch.

Let's face it -- you looked like I do in the morning. Zombies.

But the good news for both of us is that there's still a chance to recover. My road's a little easier -- I have to show up on time. You guys -- you gotta beat Italy. No easy feat that -- and it's not like Ghana's a pushover either.

Make you guys a deal. I'll make it to the next game with my spirits way up (even though I do have to work on Saturday, I'll at least see the first half) and you guys bring the kind of effort that got the U.S. into the top 10 in the first place.

Otherwise, let's both call in sick.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

And wear the white uniforms! The ones we wearing when we beat Mexico (several times) and Brazil back in 1998. We were wearing the white uniforms when we beat Portugal, right?

I think the last time we won a big game in blue uniforms was Colombia in 1994.

How many of you Old Timers remember those 1996 Baby Blue uniforms? I'd rather see those back than dark blue.

[AreliusIV]

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

I think the last time we won a big game in blue uniforms was Colombia in 1994.

Si senor...

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

Back to the Old US Soccer

I agree with this pretty much.

There are things worse than what happened yesterday. I was there in Torrance in 1985 when Costa Rica eliminated us from qualifying for Mexico '86.

The 1985 guys had heart; but they were college students and MISL players that just didn't have the skill. Now, we've gone full circle...........

[AreliusIV]

U.S. goes from high hopes to on the ropes
Czechs crush Americans, 3-0, putting Arena's guys in must-win spot Saturday against Italy
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
By FRANK GIASE
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany -- Forget about the No. 5 world ranking. And the idea that this could be the country's best team ever.

For the U.S. soccer team, the 2006 World Cup is down to this: Lose on Saturday against Italy and it's over.

Such is the Americans' fate after a 3-0 dismantling by the Czech Republic yesterday, The U.S. fell behind less than five minutes into the game and never really got its wheels on the ground.

It was as thorough a 3-0 beating as you will ever see.

Hours later, it got worse.

Because Italy defeated Ghana in the other match in Group E, a loss to the Italians on Saturday would end any chance of the United States advancing to the second round. A tie would keep American hopes alive, but just barely.

A win is needed, but let's not get ahead of ourselves: If you ask the players and the coach, a little effort is the starting point.

"We can look back and say whatever we want, but not enough guys came to play," Landon Donovan said. "That's what happened.

"For a lot of us, especially us MLS guys, since January this has been the date that's been circled, and it's disappointing."

Head coach Bruce Arena, never one to hold back, fired more shots than his team, which was held to just one in 90 minutes. Donovan was one of his targets.

"Landon showed no aggressiveness tonight," he said. "We got nothing out of (DaMarcus) Beasley on the night. Not enough players took the initiative and that's why we lost."

Arena and others were quick to point out that this loss was nothing like a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in 1990, when a group of college kids was happy just to be playing in the World Cup.

"This wasn't 1990," Arena said. "I don't think we looked like the team in 1990."

But if they don't pick it up, they'll look like the 1998 team -- one that also was thought to be talented but finished last in the tournament.

To avoid that, the players realize they must quickly turn their focus to Italy.

"You don't have a choice; we have to put it behind us," midfielder Bobby Convey said. "You can't dwell on losing 3-0. We'd be scared if we came out next game and said, 'Oh, we're playing Italy, we're going to lose.' We have to find what we do well and do it on Saturday."

Convey was one of the bright spots on the night, taking on players and moving into the attack, but he had little help.

"We have to look at ourselves and see what we can do better as a team and do better individually," he said. "(Arena) came in and said we're going to go and look at the video and be critical and see what we can change and see what we can do to step it up the next game. And that's what we need to do this week."

Arena praised Convey as well as midfielder Claudio Reyna and defender Oguchi Onyewu.

And he held firm in the belief that this team can turn it around.

"Knowing this group, they're not defeated," he said. "I think they'll respond well Saturday. We have to play better. We have to get better performances from a number of individuals, and that will be the challenge. It's a great challenge."

One that few have met.

Since the field expanded to 32 teams in 1998, only one team (Turkey in 2002) has lost its first game and advanced. Goalie Kasey Keller, who couldn't be faulted on any of the goals, believes that the U.S. can become the second.

"We're better than we played today and we'll show that in the next few games, that's for sure," he said. "This is just one game that didn't go our way and we've got two more to put it right."