obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Cribtop Agreed on our passing. Bradley had one of his worst games in his US team history. However, IMHO Ghana put us under such pressure only to inexplicably flub in the final third. Wayward passes, shots and lack of creativity galore by the Black Stars in a game they should have won. In fairness to US, they were dealt a terrible blow with Altidore and his hold up play going down. We were forced to improvise and really failed to relieve the pressure as a result. Still, USA is never the best side, but always the gutsiest. Brooks "I am so overcome I can't get up" goal celebration was priceless, IMHO. A friend and I were watching, both Americans living in London, and we thought about what it is to be American. There was an American woman in the bar wearing a Ghana jersey and screaming at the TV relentlessly, berating anything the US did well, flipping off the refs, screaming often. I can't say I've ever had the experience of seeing anyone from another nation actively rooting against and flipping off their own countrymen (or women). This seems nearly uniquely American, and rooted in the ethos of freedom of speech and expression, but something more than that as well. She had a similar gutsy, plucky attitude as the US players there on the screen, rooting for 'her Back Stars' in a bar full of Americans. Very interesting. I agree Ghana blew a few sitters. Didn't finish the brilliant play that kept getting them forward again and again. It was also interesting that Dempsey's 1' goal was from virtually the same spot as one of Rooney's muffed chances from the England-Italy match. No matter what else you do, it's all about finishing chances.
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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