Colonial Clash

In case you haven't noticed, World Cup 2010 is underway in South Africa, and the opening game for Group C was a dream matchup between the England British of the United Kingdom and the good ol' USA. Now, if you ask me (Not that you would but let's pretend you did), I say that ESPN made a little arrangement with FIFA to ensure that this was the case. Just follow me here. ESPN has been trying to promote soccer in this country and trying create a market for it that can give them a new revenue stream, but of course no one is interested in the inferior MLS. They've noticed that since the World Cup was held in the U.S. in 1994, Americans have taken a little more interest in that particular event, especially after the Yanks' surprise quarterfinal run in the 2002 Cup. The U.S. team has some talent now and are have most of the pundits picking them to make it out of the group stage again, piquing the interest of more casual American sports fans. ESPN decided to capitalize on these circumstances by deciding to blow the hell out of promoting the World Cup all year, and what promotion could get more Americans interested than an opening match (on a weekend afternoon no less) against the Brits? There's nothing Americans love more than beating the British (see Revolutionary War, circa 1776). They knew that they could get big numbers for that particular game in that particular time slot, and then they'd have the casual fans for the duration of the month, grow the soccer market, and get more people to watch their MLS games, which of course means that they get paid. Just promise FIFA the American market and they're on board too. So that's my theory...now on to the match!

It was a great result for the Americans. The English side was strongly favored going in, and really the USA couldn't hope for better than a draw. Grabbing a point against their toughest group stage opponent was big, and should give them confidence going forward as well as alleviate some of the pressure in their upcoming matches. The game itself was hard-fought on both sides, and although the USA's goal was a bit of a fluke (Thank you Robert "Butterfingers" Green), but I thought they played very well. England started out great, striking quickly in the 4th or 5th minute and dominating the ball for the first third of the match. After Clint Dempsey's equalizer for the Americans later in the first half, however, it seemed to take the wind out of England's sails a bit while giving the USA a jolt. What was particularly reassuring was the American defense, the squad's biggest question mark coming in. They did a great job of shutting down England's fantastic striker, and one of the top 5 players in the world, in Wayne Rooney, who got very few chances and could not do anything with them. Not that Rooney played badly, he certainly played hard and tried to make something out of nothing numerous times,especially in the second half when he really picked up his energy level, but I think the Americans did really well not to give Rooney any easy scoring opportunities.

For the American side, their biggest star Landon Donovan was shut down as well, but to an even greater extent than Rooney. I didn't even really notice Donovan out there, and I don't remember his name being called even once the entire second half. Even after switching sides with Dempsey to get away from England's Ashley Cole, Donovan had zero impact on the game. The USA normally goes as Donovan goes, so they need him to really pick it up moving forward. Oguchi Onyewu played strong in the middle and was fit enough to go the full 90 minutes for the USA, something they're really going to need if they want to advance deep into this tournament. Forward Jozy Altidore, whom the Americans really need to be a scoring threat, played well and had a great chance to put the USA ahead on a nice run in the second half when his shot deflected off the keeper's fingertips and off the goalpost. But the man of the match was definitely USA goalkeeper Tim Howard. He made a handful of impressive and imperative stops in the second half, as well as coming out of net to make other crucial plays, including the one he got hurt on. He's recognized as one of the best keepers in the world and the USA really needs him to be healthy if they want to do damage in the World Cup.

After Slovenia's 1-0 victory today over Algeria, England and the USA are tied for second in Group C with 1 point apiece. England will be heavily favored against each of their remaining opponents so assuming they win both games that means the Americans have to at least win one to advance out of group play (Or draw both and put their faith in the tiebreaker, but soccer's tiebreaker rules are notoriously sketchy). After watching them go toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the tournament, I believe the USA is in great position to do just that. As long as they get Landon Donovan going, and sharpen up their attack to support their star keeper, the Americans should advance to at least the second round.