June 26th World Cup Picks incl. USA-Ghana and Knockout Picks

So the South Korea-Uruguay match will technically be first, but the game everyone is talking about is USA-Ghana.

2:30 PM- USA (1st in Group C) vs. Ghana (2nd in Group D)

He was huge in the Algeria game. Anyone else think he looks a little like Brett Favre?

The US will take the field tomorrow to take a big step toward respectability. Make no mistake about it, the US is a better team than Ghana, but winning this match is far from a sure thing. Let’s talk about a few things aside from the match.

The USA was fantastic when it came to creating chances against Algeria. For the first time all tournament, the USA was clearly the better team for 90 minutes, and it showed. They were constantly on the attack, creating chances like mad, and capped it all off with a goal that will go down in history as one of the most important goals to date.

That being said, the finishing has GOT to be better. Jozy missed a sitter, Dempsey hit the post, Buddle headed straight at the keeper, and so on. The chances they created were brilliant and the finishing was horrendous. This is extremely important if the USA wants to make any kind of run.

Perhaps it is looking a bit down the road, but the US also has a very favorable path to the Semifinals should they beat Ghana. There is no world power waiting for them in the quarters and they are highest ranked team in this quadrant. Good things, but far from helpful at this moment.

Also important was that the US defense looked extremely solid for most of the Algeria match. They did give up the one chance where the woodwork bailed them out, but they did not look nearly as shaky as they did in previous matches. A lot of credit goes to Jay DeMerit for a truly outstanding performance, but as always, Tim Howard was excellent as well. If the US is to beat Ghana, the defense will have to avoid shooting Howard in the foot by allowing Ghana open looks at the net. However, Ghana did very well in creating chances against Germany and it looks like they will be able to create some against the US too. The key will be limiting the good looks and contesting the rest of them. It is really not so different from basketball in that respect. Howard needs to be big for the US, but even more, the back 4 needs to be good so Howard doesn’t need to be otherworldly. I think that Ghana gets at least one goal, so it will be on the US to do get at least one.

The midfield trio will be huge if the US is to win.

Now, Ghana created a lot of chances against Germany, but they also gave up a lot of looks to Germany as well. This is not Algeria, who likes to sit way back and try to counter. Ghana will give up some chances and it is just up to the US to put it in the back of the net. That is why it will be so important for the USA to finish. There will be chances for both sides, but the US needs to finish theirs to pressure Ghana instead of the other way around.

Now, it is pick time. On the bright side, there is no Nadir Belhadj to occupy Landon Donovan this time so he should be more active throughout the game. In fact, there are no really star defenders, so the US will have quality chances if they play like they did against Algeria. Of course, that means Ghana will be attacking with the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Muntari and Appiah. They are by no means a team that should be taken lightly, and the US has its hands full.

I do not think 90 minutes is enough for these teams. I think we see our first extra time match of the tournament and the magic continues for the United States. But this time, it will not be Donovan with the goal. It is Clint Dempsey’s turn to play the hero off a Landon Donovan ball in extra time to give the US boatloads of momentum heading into the quarterfinals.

USA 3-2 Ghana in 120 minutes

10:00 AM- Uruguay (1st in Group A) vs South Korea (2nd in Group B)

I have been rolling with Uruguay since Day One and they have rewarded me with some great football. I am a little afraid of the fact that they have not been tested yet, but I love their defending mixed with Suarez and Forlan. We all thought they were tested against France, but about halfway through the match, France gave up and never came back so we have no way of knowing if they have been tested or not. Regardless, they did not concede a goal (one of two teams not to) and did so in a very attack-minded group, which is impressive.

However, South Korea has been impressive too. They have fought everyone with as much as they have and the only man they were unable to slow down was Lionel Messi, and few will blame them for that. They have battled and battled and really earned their spot in the final 16, and for that no one can write them off. I could see this headed toward penalties if South Korea decides to sit back and defend, but I have got to go with the team I have been picking to surprise since the beginning.

Uruguay 2-0 South Korea

MY KNOCKOUT PICKS

First, a commentary about the US side of the draw. Hallelujah. We have a very manageable path to the Semis and that is more than we could have imagined going into this World Cup. The other side of the draw, however, England has Spain, Germany, Argentina, Mexico and a whole lot of trouble for the overhyped English.

Uruguay over Mexico————~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~———————-Argentina over Mexico
———————————-|Uruguay over USA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Argentina over Germany——————
USA over Ghana——————~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~———————-Germany over England

Netherlands over Slovakia——~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~————————-Japan over Paraguay
———————————–|Brazil over Netherlands~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Spain over Japan—————————
Brazil over Chile—————–~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~————————Spain over Portugal

FINAL FOUR

Brazil over Uruguay
Argentina over Spain

Brazil over Argentina

I am not without concern about Brazil, but I think that ultimately they come through in an all-South American final.

USA-England Recap

A 1-1 draw is a very good result for the US. They played 80 minutes of high quality football (excluding the first 10 minutes), were able to fight back and get a little bit of luck to get a big point from England. I was right on two of my predictions, but was surprisingly incorrect on another. I was right about Steven Gerrard being a complete pain for the US and he was a terror on the ball all night for the US. I was also right about Clint Dempsey claiming the US goal, though plenty of credit goes to Rob Green for an early Christmas present. However, the prediction apart from the core that was surprisingly incorrect was about Wayne Rooney. The US defense did a tremendous job after the opening goal, pestering both Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey in the middle, and Aaron Lennon on the outside. The US defense earned them that point, and while Jozy Altidore nearly gave the US a big victory, a draw is about the right result.

Let’s talk about some of the more minute details of the match with some word association.

Selecting Emile Heskey at forward was ________.

STUPEFYING. I have no clue why England went with Heskey other than Rooney being a big fan of his. If you watched the game, you saw England swinging cross after cross into the box and no one being able to really get to them. That is what Peter Crouch was born to do but he did not get in until a late substitution. Martin O’Neill, Heskey’s manager at Aston Villa, did not play Heskey the final 8 or 9 games for a reason. That reason is because he is not good. Very odd choice Capello.

Rob Green’s goal was __________.

And the US sings: GOD SAVE ROB GREEN!

HILARIOUS. Everyone in England knows that keeper is not their strong suit, but few thought it would only take one half of soccer to realize just how insecure they are at keeper. That was one of the softest goals I have seen in a while, and as a US fan, it was gut-bustingly funny. It was really a gift to the US, and we cordially thank him for it. You know “God Save the Queen”? I bet you no one in England is singing “God Save Rob Green” right about now.

The Man of the Match for the US was ___________.

A TIE BETWEEN TIME HOWARD AND STEVE CHERUNDOLO. Howard really saved that game for the US, but that is hardly a new thing for the United States fans. He was every bit of outstanding he needed to be and really deserves the award. However, I want to give a lot of credit to Steve Cherundolo. Plenty of credit goes to Carlos Bocanegra, Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu as well for their superb defense on Rooney, Heskey, Gerrard, etc. but Cherundolo was outstanding. He not only did a great job defending Aaron Lennon, but he made England’s wingers defend when he would charge up the wing. I saw him lose the ball very few times, and force England into plenty of mistakes and fouls as he attacked. That was supposed to be reversed as England’s wing was expected to give the US problems, but it was really the opposite and a lot of credit goes to Cherundolo.

Robbie Findley was ___________ up front.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. We thought we lost a lot of pace when we lost Charlie Davies, and we did, but we replaced a lot of it with Findley. In the second half especially, he tormented Jamie Carragher and the English defense, and really made things exciting. Between Findley and Altidore, it actually seemed like the US had a chance at goals on most of their runs. That is something that cannot be said of the US most days, AND it meant fewer boring long balls since they were working the ball so well.

Landon Donovan was _________.

SOLID. He did not get on the scoresheet, but every ball he delivered was crisp, on target and nearly resulted in goals on many of his crosses. He was clearly targeted by England, and Ashley Cole did a good job, but Donovan was still able to contribute to the team even without scoring. The sign of a good player is when he can still help his team even when the other team has done everything they can to take him away as a threat.

A draw for the US is a __________ thing.

REASSURING. I had the US losing this game and facing an uphill battle to qualify against Slovenia and Algeria. This point steadies them a little with wins more than possible in their final two games, which would even give them a shot at qualifying first in the group, though they would need some help for that. More than anything, it reassures the players that they belong at the highest levels, which is a big confidence boost, and it reassures the fans that their team is going to do all it can to get results.