Like most of American soccer fans, I wrote off this game as hopeless and little more than an opportunity to practice (and fail) defensively for 90 minutes against some of the most prolific attacking players in the world. And like most fans I had to rub my eyes in disbelief when I saw the referee point to the spot after Eddie Johnson first stumbled over the ball for a few seconds before gratefully taking a foul and putting the US up 1-0.
At halftime I thought we could get out of this at 1-1. If anyone on the American side had stayed after practice for some free kicks they would have had a crack at taking the game as their own. Instead, with the tremendous defensive effort beginning to take a toll, Bob Bradley took a peek at his notecards and decided on Eddie Gaven to change the game.
Most readers are now ready for my lambasting of his laziness and overall ineptitude on the international level. Well, that's as far as I'm going to take it. But I should add one other thing. I feel bad for Gaven that he was placed on the field at that critical moment. It was truly embarrassing and I'm sure he wanted to go stick his head in a hole on the right side of the field the moment he saw Lionel Messi target his dribbling at Gaven's trembling feet.
Now the game was not lost by poor Eddie G. Team USA ran out of gas after a monumental display of defensive, and at times skillful offensive, pressure. While the postgame press conference has the Argentinian coach lauded his team for their offensive patience and persistence, it was evident they were flustered by a youthful American team unwilling to sit back and get shit on. Unsurprisingly the man leading the charge was DC United's Hercules, Benny Olsen, and it was a pleasure to watch. If only his legs could be five years fresher, he would be a joy to have around in the years to come and help the youth along in this program. Kudos to Team USA for 60 minutes of wonderful soccer, and the same to Argentina for showing their class in producing four goals of the highest level.
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