Somebody had a partly accurate bit about what Americans don't understand about football. Extra time, check. Nobody knows exactly when it will end, really? Really? Players writhing around from having their hair touched. Check, and you have no idea how loathsome we find this. Diving? No check. American sports may have invented diving and play acting of all kinds to draw fouls. Our so-called national pastime has a regular and accepted facet called "stealing." NFL punters and NBA players have flopped for decades. We don't mind cheating. We just can't stand or even understand players pretending to be hurt. In US sports they all pretend not to be hurt.
Belgium is a country 1/25th the size of the US (in population), and no one from the US team would get into the Belgium squad. But Belgium's weaknesses are slow fullbacks and a seeming lack of team unity and coherence. Both are good ones for the US, whose strengths are team unity and speed on the counter. The US has really overachieved from qualification on. They are a very mediocre group in terms of talent. They'll have to overachieve even more today.
Cameron, what a t**t! The US football player isn't so great either.
Vertonghen leads a break which would have scored save for a crap finish. Zuzi, who gave him the ball, heaves a sigh of relief.
If there was a place for a defender who both doesn't have to defend and is slow, Jan would have it sewn up. His ability to read passes and lead counters is as good as any defender's.
And Vertonghen very nearly scores. Who on earth is supposed to be on the right for the US?
"He loves to spring forward from left back, Vertonghen..."
..when he's not bitching and moaning about playing left back, which is usually...
Oofah: four passes, only one, by Dempsey, remotely competent.
So far Dempsey, Beasley, Howard and Bradley look like they belong in the world cup--or at a NCAA game, at least. Nobody else can pass to an open player.
Bedoya is furious at the ref because he committed an idiotic foul.
We've got Cameron and Yeltsin (Yetlin) on now. We should bring in Papa Doc Duvalier at the break.
Chris Rock would star in "The Demarcus Beasley Story" if there is one. (Don't hold your breath.) I thought I was looking at a bald Chris Rock for a moment there.