USA VERSUS CZECH REPUBLIC
WE'RE NOT THERE YET
CZECH REPUBLIC 3- UNITED STATES 0
The Lowdown: America entered this World Cup rightfully wary of their tough first-round opponents and eager to show the world that 2002's quartefinal finish was no fluke. The national team has come a long way since the embarrassment of France 98, but one fact couldn't be avoided today: The Czechs are a much better team.
Match Rating: 2 out of 5. A pretty one-sided affair. Doesn't help that I saw it in a bar full of quiet, dejected US fans. Rosicky's brilliant goals added a point to this rating.
Man of the Match: Dutch midfielder Rosicky made a mockery of the very talented Kasey Keller twice, once on a long-range shot scorcher that is undoubtedly the goal of the tournament so far, and the second on a breakaway in which he apparenlty held L1 and Square button for the beautiful chip-shot, Winning Eleven style. He joins Arjen Robben of Holland, Figo of Portugal, and Riquelme of Argentina as best showing of the tournament thus far.
Disappointment of the Match: It could not have been any worse for the United States. Now they have to face Italy. Forget Italy, they aren't likely to beat Ghana. Claudio Reyna's long-range shot beat Petr Cech but sadly hit the post.
The Fallout: ESPN announcer and former team USA player Marcelo Balboa tried to sound positive in the final moments, saying, "We need to forget about this result and go on to beat Italy." Dude, who are you kidding? The Czechs will give Italy a great game for first place in the group and have joined the list of potential champions with this dominating performance.
Extra: Do not try to watch any big games(by which I mean England and US matches) at Nevada Smith's. I showed up a few minutes late and not only were they turning people away, but there were several local televison crews as well. I recommend 11th Street Bar which is near Avenue A. When I exited the cab on 11th street I saw rapper/actor Ice-T on the block, probably doing some filming for Law and Order. He looked mad chill, though you know those motherfuckin cops were tryin to bust his shit up.
posted by Journo Blog at 4:42 PM
4 Comments:
You should have screamed: "I saw Leprechaun V and I want my money back!"
US was overrated to begin with. They were put in their place today. In chess parlay, I would call it a "check". If/when they lose to Italy (or Ghana), it will be "checkmate"
HAHA Jeetan
Whoa there Daniel son. Czech Republic looked really good today, but win the tournament?! I must admit, I wouldn't mind seeing that, but I don't think it is quite realistic.
That being said, Praha/Prague is one of my favorite cities in the World, so I too will root for the Czech.
Yes, it was a perfectly executed gameplan and I agree that the Czechs have a good shot at the title. Interestingly, second place in this group is a dreaded spot because it means a matchup with First Place Group F, aka Brazil. We could see an Italy-Brazil epic as early as the round of 16.
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