The U.S. advances to the round of 16 against Mexico, due to the Koreans beating Portugal 1-0.

From the beginning the U.S. had trouble keeping up with Poland, as Poland's tight team formation kept the U.S. in check throughout the entire game. Poland's speed was comparable to that of the U.S. Poland also threw the U.S. off-guard mentally by scoring two goals within the 1st 5 minutes of gameplay.

During the 1st half of the game, Jeff Agoos said he was hit by an object from the stands and sidelined for the entire game (from what I saw it looked like a soccer ball hit him in the knee). In comes Beasely. This helped out the U.S. as it gave them more speed.

During the second half, the U.S. was more mentally prepared. However, Poland had the edge as they went into the second half leading 2-0.


Friedel had some excellent saves, one of them a sliding tackle kick, the second a ball that riccochet off of him and deflected off of the post. As the commentator put it "The U.S. dodged a cannonball". Friedel was also able to deflect a penalty kick, the second during this tournament.

During the 83rd minute, Landon Donovan scored the U.S. only goal. Poland still won 3-1.

In the end, although not being able to advance (W-L record was 0-2 coming in; U.S. was 1-0-1), Poland played a great game, keeping the U.S. in check with their tight team formation, good speed, and good maneuverablity.

The U.S. physically is well-balanced, but will have to make it up mentally to stand a chance in the round of 16 against Mexico. The road ahead will be a tough one for the U.S.

Good luck to the USA in the second round:thumb:

Next up, Mexico. They'll have to play much better if they want to have a chance against the brutes from south of the border. Let's go USA :flag:

I didn't watch this match, so thanks for the recap there Boggle :thumb:

It seems the US is going to shape up for the 1/8 finals, or Friedel has got to have another great day, if they are to advance even further. But I still believe in them - so GO US!!!! :D

Another day of missing matches due to work :mad: Work should be prohibited during the WC ;)

Congratulations to our american xchangers, and congrats to US football, hopefully this will help promote this game over there :thumb:

BTW we have a slot open for 3rd place, this would make the rankings look like this after the finals #1; Denmark #2; Ireland #3; USA :D

YOu guys over seas from the US, you DO realise that Soccer *cough* football *cough* is the most widely played sport in the USA, dont you? It is mainly amongst youngsters, which is why the adults dont get into it as much.

I find it amazing in a country with 250,000,000 people, and we cant find a few dozen who can play football/soccer as good as the rest of the world!

Originally posted by Jasper
I find it amazing in a country with 250,000,000 people, and we cant find a few dozen who can play football/soccer as good as the rest of the world!

Patience Jasper...it takes time to build the next superteam...

Originally posted by Jasper
YOu guys over seas from the US, you DO realise that Soccer *cough* football *cough* is the most widely played sport in the USA, dont you? It is mainly amongst youngsters, which is why the adults dont get into it as much.

So is this interest in FOOTBALL a new thing ??? Can we expect a USA wildly interested in FOOTBALL in ... say 10 years time ???

Or do the youngsters loose interest as they get older ???

Could be interesting to see where the USA would be in a few years time if the young generation can keep an interest in the beautiful game :)

Alot of kids play soccer/football and then transfer over to American Football when they are in high school.

blame it on the media coverage....soccer gets so little air time over there, no wonder so few people are interested

in a way, the media tells us which sports we should be interested in, fuelled by people who can make a buck out of it

It's pretty interesting to see that a few of the US Boys made their way overseas to play in foreign football teams, e.g. Steve Cherundolo who is playing for Hannover 96 (they have just returned to the first league, setting a new profi league record with 22-9-3 and 75 goals).

Maybe they won't see the quarter finals, but anyway - I'm sure that the days when only a few teams were in the favourite role are over now.

Welcome to the WC Rgritti, and thanx for replying :thumb:

Do you have any interest in football ??

Originally posted by Jasper

I find it amazing in a country with 250,000,000 people, and we cant find a few dozen who can play football/soccer as good as the rest of the world!

you could say the same thing about china, with 1 billion people, they were still hopeless, and india who don't even get close to making the finals

Well Smurf, I have interest in both types of football. I played both types when I was younger but only played American Football when I got to high school. My youngest brother plays football now. I got into an argument with another guy about which sport was more boring. He tried telling me that a low scoring football game is more boring than a low scoring baseball game. I disagreed because of how much action there is in football even if they do not score a goal.

RG; So you don't even go to a park with some friends to play the beautiful game ?? That's a shame .... Football is definitely great when played as 4-5 a side and with jerseys as goals :thumb:

Spacey; Not sure, but I don't think China even has a league, only a national team ... Just like Nepal, who coach is danish ;)

Hey Smurf, I can not find enough friends to go play football. They all want to go play bowling, billiards or just smoke pot. I have played a friendly game of football with my youngest brother and some of the other guys that are on his team. I do like the shoulder to shoulder contact.