Yesterday's US game was a nail biter. Thank god for Dempsey's fast goal or I don't know how the US would have held on to their narrow victory. I have been smack talking with my Ghanaian friend Yasmine in the lead up to this game but I have to say that I can't really continue. Even though we won, Ghana played better than us. They were incredibly unlucky but they had a thousand chances to the US's three. The US were forced to defend the majority of the game and in their own half. The reason why the possession percentages were pretty even was the amount of defensive touches that they US made. That is sad.
The one bright spot in the game was Jermaine Jones. He covered the entire field and made many impressive defensive interceptions. He seemed to be the only US player motivated to get the ball back and hold on to their narrow lead. Uncharacteristically, Michael Bradley had a weak game. Usually known for his ability to spur the US attack and hold on to the ball, Bradley gave the ball away too many times for comfort. That was a characteristic of the majority of the team. There were many a time were the US had a chance to counter or to get the ball out of their half and they gave the ball away. It was incredibly frustrating to watch. It explains why I went crazy when Brooks made that late goal to win the game. I was expecting the US to narrowly hold on to a tie and the win was seriously out of left field.
The game proved that the US have a guardian angel somewhere looking out for them. However, it was kind of a bitter win over Ghana because I would prefer a team to be better and not just more lucky. If the Portugal vs Germany game is any indication, the US do have a chance of beating CR7 and co. Their game was just ugly much like the majority of the Portugal team and Pepe's head butt (ridiculous). The German's tore apart the Portuguese defense making it seem like they were playing against a high school soccer team. The Germans kind of scared me by just how easy it was for them to destroy the spirit of the country of Portugal. The Germans are a machine who will probably sail to an easy victory in Group G. The bright spot is that the US can join them. Without Pepe, and two other players out to injury, the US have a chance of beating Portugal. I'll keep on chanting "I believe that we will win" and pray that their guardian angel will see them through.
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