That was a very long day for the Americans against a very good and very deep Czech Republic side. I was only able to follow the game by text updates on my mobile phone, and I have yet to watch the game (I just returned from Orlando 10 minutes ago), but it seemed that Koller and Rosicky were turning the US defense inside out. And the early goal by Koller ripped up any game plans that the US might have had.
The Czech Republic is considered to be one of the top contenders for a reason, and there's no shame in losing to a team of this caliber. However, there's another opponent looming that is just as good, and the US will sooner rather than later have to figure out how to beat a top European side.
I'll have more commentary after I watch the game on disc. Any other comments on the match and the USA's chances are welcome.
I'll look forward to your thoughts after watching the game. This was not like the 4-1 loss in Germany. The shocking piece for me was the lack of passion and leadership. Claudio did his best but was alone out there trying to right the ship. I can't recall another game where the team played square and backwards so much and used that 'possession' to such little effect. They looked shell-shocked from the start. I guess I thought the team had matured past the point of that happening.
Posted by: mosler | June 13, 2006 at 10:19 AM