I know less than squat about soccer, being a little old for its entry into American sports consciousness with AYSO and having no kids to drag to practice. However, my latent nationalism has cropped up today, so go U.S.A.!
Here's a fairly realistic assessment of the state of play as the game begins:
Group E is a bit of a mess now after Ghana shocked the Czechs 3-0 [actually 2-0] earlier in the day. Italy, Ghana, and the Czech Republic all have 3 points and the USA has none. If the Americans pull off the upset, everybody would [be] tied going to the last match.Posted by Linkmeister at June 17, 2006 10:12 AM | TrackBackBut most likely, at the end of the day, Italy will have 6 points and a goal difference of at least +3. The Czechs are at 3 points and +1 and Ghana is at 3 points and 0. Ghana would be able to advance if they could pull off a tie and the Czechs lose by 2 or more to Italy.
If the USA wins, they would still need to beat Ghana in their last match to have a good shot of advancing.
At the end of the US v. Italy game, Scott and I both screamed to the US coach to go over and punch the ref in the face.
It was like a Greek chorus (well, OK, maybe not).
Posted by: shelley at June 17, 2006 01:43 PMApparently FIFA rates the ref's performances during games; it's to be hoped they don't allow him to continue officiating. That red card for the (slightly-late) tackle was unwarranted.
Posted by: Linkmeister at June 17, 2006 01:51 PMNo kidding. (I put it much more colorfully on my blog.)
Posted by: shelley at June 17, 2006 08:00 PM