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England vs. USA ... will be one of the best of the tournament

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jhf14 said:
After watching the send-off series, it is quite obvious that England will get at least 2 against the U.S. backline... pulling for a 2-2 results, but would love to see a 3-2 victory for USA... some may say I'm dreaming, but hey, the country was built on a dream right? :)
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One comment about this: Bradley and a number of players have commented that the focus while at Princeton has been very heavily on strength and conditioning, less on tactics/positioning. That will reverse when the team moves to South Africa for the 2 week run up to the Cup. This was done based on advice for the best approach for conditioning to compete at altitude. In other words, the intense tactical work, on defense or anywhere, hadn't been done yet. Short version: don't believe the hype. But that goes for everybody.
 

I predict some broken legs from this encounter. Lots of hacking and poor football from both sides.
 
NHRevs said:
One comment about this: Bradley and a number of players have commented that the focus while at Princeton has been very heavily on strength and conditioning, less on tactics/positioning. That will reverse when the team moves to South Africa for the 2 week run up to the Cup. This was done based on advice for the best approach for conditioning to compete at altitude. In other words, the intense tactical work, on defense or anywhere, hadn't been done yet. Short version: don't believe the hype. But that goes for everybody.
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I have no doubt that our focus is to be in shape... it always has been. We put a premium on conditioning (my college days we used to do fitness drills ALL the time)... this isn't all bad and will help in some capacity. My worry is that we will be in better shape but not technically cohesive. To say we will shut-out the likes of Rooney et al. seems like a stretch.

Perhaps we can pull what we did against portugal in 2002 (or Spain confederations cup) and get a shock lead. That is the only way we will win this match IMO (if we score first)... otherwise we will be clawing for a draw.

Let it be known though that we have the strength (Altidore/Bradley) and speed (Donovan/Findley) to blaze past England's back four if they are taken for granted. Plus, I believe it helps to have guys like Herculez Gomez on the squad as opponents don't know anything about him (and he is in serious form right now)
 
Altidore is down with a mild sprain to his ankle. The hits for the US just keep on coming. It is either going to be a great come back from injuries if we garner a tie or win. That would be a terrific effort from the US side. But, if England scores first and hangs tough, then the US could fold from the pressure, and a weak bench. What I hope is that it is a good game, and the US does us proud whether they win or lose. And then they go on to beat the crap out of the other two teams. Also hoping that there are no further injuries.............. Or it is 3 and out, which could set US soccer back a few years.
I hope we win or tie, or at least do well. I also hope we go through, but if we do not, I will be pulling for England, my mothers home, a couple of generations ago, my dad was Irish, so, I hate those Frogs, so won't be pulling for them.
 
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Loving the England vs. USA promo that ESPN is running including the Sun paper headline showing "EASY" on it.
 

... skated around the Great China (fire) Wall to view ESPN's excellent ads (except for the US flag inexplicably hung backwards, second 1-3 of the Glory ad; Donovan's copy machine yellow and red cards and Altidore's post-meeting jersey-ESPNer's Italian dress shirt exchange is well played). For Saturday morning's 2:30 am kickoff, psyched to join a few fellow Yanks and group of Englishmen here in Shanghai with 3 reserved tables at O'Malley's Pub.

Over there, over there ... may a few of the big Geordies and other English be disappointed by their Englishmen and the Yanks pull off an upset. Nil-nil draw works with both sides sending Slovenia and Algeria home. :D
 
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jhf14 said:
I am going to go ahead and go out on a limb on this one. I believe that England vs. USA will be one of the most exciting opening matches of the tournament - here is why:


1 Being the first game of group play, both squads will be at full health and going at full-speed... the talent on the field will be incredible, particuarly for England. But even the U.S. squad's starting lineup boasts an international pedigree, a good number playing in the beloved EPL. Point is, these players won't be as "awe-struck" at the event... it will be down to business for both sides.

2a England is stacked and they have EVERY right to get to the finals IMO. Best squad I've seen in years and very well managed. To most teams, beating England in the opening round is a down right "impossible" task. However, I strongly believe that the USA confederations cup run will play a huge part in their mentality going into the game. Hell, they upset an on-fire Spain squad. Why not an England squad?

2b England's expectations have proven to be a burden in the past, which could *potentially* bite them in the butt again. Another key ingredient is that USA is the underdog (the only time they will be during group play) and they have notoriously played better from such a position - more so than other teams. Americans in general love underdog stories, and often love being the underdog. There is something in being an underdog it that connects it to our past... and despite what the odds-makers say, the USA will always believe they have a legimate chance.

3 The USA has a bit of a chip on their shoulder when it comes to football. This is largely due to international reaction to American players. Make no mistake, the USA are going to use this stage to "prove" to the world that "they too" can play the world's game. At the same time, this could prove to be reckless on part of the Americans if they try to play outside their limits (something I've seen often in the past when playing teams of high talent). England will punish recklessness.


In the end, I see it like this. England will likely take the day if they play their quick tempo posession game. They are the deeper squad and are on a mission. USA would be better off playing the counter-attack like they did against Spain and Brazil in the confederations cup, and like they did throughout the entire 2002 world cup. They should save the possession game for the other teams in the group.

Key players on the pitch:

- Wayne Rooney (if fully healed and back in form, he will absolute get one against the US backline)
- Stephen Gerrard (what can I say here, the man hardly ever plays a poor game)
- Frank Lampard (I hate him, but this guy always seems to be in the right place at the right time)
- Landon Donovan (If he shows up, expect him to cause problems on the wing and counter... IF he shows up)
- Tim Howard (Not an easy keeper to beat and often keeps the USA in games they shouldn't be in)
- Clint Dempsey (If he leaves his "Donovan Complex" at the door, he will be huge... most creative player in the U.S. squad).


Here are what I think the most likely outcomes could be in this action packed game:

England 2 - USA 0

England 1 - USA 0

England 1 - USA 1


and of course, the American in me believes there is a chance for:

USA 1 - England 0 :D
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hey wadya know, I was right!
 
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