It was a day of terrible injustices, one committed against Germany by their referee, another committed against the US by their referee, and a final one committed by the English national team against their fans. It’s a real shame because if not for these mistakes this could have had an argument for being the best day of games so far in the tournament.
Germany 0 – 1 Serbia
I don’t have a lot to add to what Jan says about this match. I was actually very impressed by Germany. Despite going down to 10 men, they bossed the game, drew a penalty (that they might have scored had Podolski not taken it), and were constantly threatening a very good Serbia team. And while they didn’t manage to fight back for a draw, they kept their goal difference strong, which may end up being crucial.
We’ll have to see what happens tomorrow, but this is shaping up to be a very interesting group. If Ghana can’t win, then Germany will simply be playing them for a spot. Even if Ghana wins, Germany could still pass them by beating them on the final day. And if Serbia were to also win, they could still pass Ghana, too. My ideal world would be for Australia to win tomorrow, giving us a group with four teams on 3 points. That would be awesome to watch.
I picked Serbia to win this group, and it’s still a small possibility. But realistically, even with this victory they’re still in somewhat rough shape to qualify, needing a win against Australia, and potentially having even that be insufficient.
Slovenia 2 – 2 USA
Where to start? The US were pretty terrible in the first half, very exposed defensively, and unable to get a good rhythm in the midfield. In spite of that, they put together a few very good attacking chances and might well have scored if not for some fine defensive work from Slovenia. The other major problem was Findley who looked completely out of his depth, unwilling to take a shot when he had a great chance, and incapable of using his pace to much effect.
The first Slovenia goal was a nice strike, but was made possible by a defense that made no apparent effort to close him down, and wasn’t helped by Tim Howard remaining rooted to the spot watching it sail into the net. The second goal was, again, just rotten defending–a textbook example of how not to defend against a counter or how to run an offside trap.
All of this changed in the second half. The back line was much more solid, bringing in Edu really helped to solidify the problems in front of the defenders. The link-up play was also better as Bradley and Donovan in particular held things together.
The US really needed a big lift after the terrible first half and Donovan provided it for the first goal. In a similar situation to Findley’s terrible effort from the first half, he chose to simply go for goal and smashed it in. The keeper seemed almost scared of it and probably should have done better. But it was still a great piece of work from Donovan. No he’s not a world class player, but he is really, really good.
The second goal was just a great team effort. A nice ball in to Altidore, a beautiful knock-down to Bradley, and a clinical bit of finishing.
The real controversy, of course, came just a few minutes later when Maurice Edu put the ball in the back of the net and put the US in position to get a brilliant win. But that did not factor in Mr. Koman Coulibaly, the referee. He called the goal off for…I still honestly have no idea what. It can’t have been offside because Edu was miles onside. It can’t have been a foul because, if anything, there were two fouls in the box, both being committed by Slovenians. It was an unbelievable decision and absolute agony. Particularly with the result that happened later in the day, the US would be in excellent position had they won–leading the group with 2nd and 3rd playing each other. Advancement would have been virtually certain and winning the group would have been likely.
Instead, we’re in good, but not great, shape: needing a win against Algeria to put us through. A draw would make advancement possible (in a world where Slovenia wins or has a low-scoring draw with England), but really we just need to win to be sure.
Man of the match was Donovan, who was immense. In a broader sense, I think there’s a good case for this being the most exciting game of the cup so far. Not the ‘best’ game since there was a lot of poor play here and there. But the most riveting, the most engaged, the one with the most energy and passion. And controversy.
Looking forward, Torres was mediocre and Edu really helped to balance the team–I think there’s a good case for bringing him back for the 3rd game. Findley is out because of yellow cards (which reminds me to point out that Coulibaly was terrible all night, not just with that last decision. Findley was given a yellow for getting hit in the face by the ball and having it bounce down off his shoulder. Yes, really. And Slovenia was rewarded for overreacting to niggly fouls all night), but I’m not sure that’s a terrible loss since he’s been very unimpressive all tournament. A Charlie Davies style player is a perfect fit for the US system, but Findley simply doesn’t have that kind of class, so he’s not helping much. I’m curious to see whether Bradley goes with a traditional striker to pair with Altidore (Gomez or Buddle), plays Dempsey with him in a normal 4-4-2, or perhaps has Dempsey play behind in a 4-4-1-1.
EDIT: As usual, Joe Posnanski says what I was thinking far better than I could articulate it myself. Read his whole post here. An excerpt:
Only the winning goal was disallowed by Koman Coulibaly. And nobody knew why. Nobody. They showed the replay on television again and again … there was clearly no offside on the play. There was no foul — and if there was any foul it had to be on Slovenia. There was nothing to call. There was nothing but a brilliant goal. But the brilliant goal was disallowed anyway. Donovan would say after the game that the players asked Coulibaly for the simplest thing: Just tell them the call. Just tell they WHY he had disallowed the goal. Donovan would say that Coulibaly refused.
When you are watching a sport you don’t often watch, things happen that you don’t quite understand. Why didn’t that play count? Oh, the offensive lineman was holding. Why was that basket disallowed? Oh, that guy was standing in the lane for three seconds. Why was that home run taken away? Oh, the umpire said it went foul. This happens in every sport.
But what made Coulibali’s Call-of-Folly so maddening is that even soccer experts could not tell us why it happened. Even an honest bad call — even Jim Joyce’s imperfect game call, for instance — is something digestible. He thought the guy was safe. OK. But this … what did he see? What mistake was made? Can a referee simply disallow a goal for fuzzy reasons only he seems to know?
England 0 – 0 Algeria
The only people who had a worse day than Coulibaly are probably the English team. They looked atrocious. I honestly think if they had been given another full 90 minutes they still wouldn’t have scored. These guys are top-class professionals from the best teams in Europe and seemed to have forgotten the most basic and simple things, like how to control the ball or how to pass it to your teammate.
I don’t have a lot to add to that, actually. I was watching at a bar so didn’t really get a chance to make tactical notations to myself, though it seemed like Gerrard had no clue where he was playing, and it seemed like Rooney played terribly, grew frustrated with it, and kept tracking further and further back–a vicious cycle that made him then even less dangerous.
Also, WTF is Capello’s fascination with Wright-Phillips? You’ve got Joe Cole on your squad. He’s actually good at football. Give him a chance to demonstrate it.
My prediction of England in the semifinals is looking pretty terrible right now. The only thing I’ll say in their defense is that Slovenia looked equally terrible against Algeria, which makes me wonder if there’s something about their style of play that produces this sort of result? The team that played the US today looked MILES better than the one that got a lucky win against Algeria a few days prior. So maybe England can recover and give Slovenia the spanking they deserve. And if so, the only thing that will matter is that they advanced–not how they did it.
Predictions for tomorrow:
- Netherlands 3 – 0 Japan
- Ghana 2 – 2 Australia
- Cameroon 1 – 1 Denmark
No good justification for any of these picks. I think Japan’s Cinderalla clock is going to strike midnight and the Dutch are going to put on their scoring boots. I think Ghana is going to go all out for a win and let in some poor goals. And I think the final game will be a rough and tumble, high energy, poor quality draw.