For those of you who woke up early today like myself, you were greeted with a very disappointing way to start your day. A mere 3 minutes into the United States critical match against Nigeria, Michael Orozco was sent off with a straight red card for an suspect elbow to a Nigerian player. It was a bit physical, but Orozco's extremely light elbow, normally unworthy of mention, was deemed to be a flagrant offense for the US left back. Thanks to some great acting by Solomon Okoronkwo, the Nigerian that dropped like he took a 12 gauge round to the chest, the US was forced to play a man short for the final 86+ minutes.
It looked like all was lost, but the American's put up a valiant effort for their part, with Rogers slid back to a left back roll (amazing for someone who lacks defensive skill even as a midfielder) and Jozy Altidore sliding back to left mid. Until late in the first half the US weathered the storm, but fell behind when Michael Parkhurst was beaten endline, allowing a ball played in to Promise for the easy finish. After some bizarre substitutions by coach Peter Nowak including Feilhaber for Altidore at the half, Szetela, who I loved, coming off for Dax McCarty (as opposed to Kljestan, the walking turnover who is a Nowak favorite coming off), and a good, but possibly exhausted Stuart Holden coming off, the US would fall behind by two. On a ball laid off to the left side of the box, a nice individual effort saw Parkhurst slip and fall while the Nigerian player finished well far post.
Charlie Davies (despite commentator Marcelo Balboa's insistance that he is Charlie Davis...) looked fabulous as a late game sub. I have seen him several times previously and thought of him as a fast player that will never succeed, as he goes to ground far too easily. Davies' response? Let's see what you've got Mr. Essig! Davies came on and made immediate impact, torching a the Nigerian defense and offering a dangerous cross, then setting up a penalty kick converted by Kljestan. He had his chance to place his name among US soccer heroes when in stoppage time he rose majestically for a header that fatefully found the crossbar instead of the back of the net.
Following 4 points in 2 games the US were not expected to have, and an unfortunate finish to tie the Dutch, this will certainly be seen as a huge disappointment and a blown opportunity for a US team that could have been dangerous in the knockout round. I had been down all day about the event and waited to write about it until now. In a more relaxed state, I will say that Orozco should not have been red carded, but also should have known better than to throw an elbow no matter how lighly in the opening minutes of a game. He left his fate for the ref to decide. After his departure the US team put forth an unbelievable effort and came oh so close to an improbably draw playing a man down for a full game.
Now we are left to wonder what could have been with Adu and Bradley playing and Orozco avoiding the red card. With a need to draw since the Netherlands would surely beat Japan (which they finally did in a game they were dominated and earned a very shake penalty kick late in the game to win 1-0 and seal the USA's fate) the US would have their olympic dreams ended. As a minority in the United States, we soccer fans cannot even mourn properly. When asked why I seemed sour today, I replied that I thought the most talented US olympic team ever blew their chance today. The response I received? "Oh, well did you see Michael Phelps last night?" Hopefully these young players will learn from this experience and make soccer more relevant to the masses in our country. For now, there's always the women's team to pull for!
It looked like all was lost, but the American's put up a valiant effort for their part, with Rogers slid back to a left back roll (amazing for someone who lacks defensive skill even as a midfielder) and Jozy Altidore sliding back to left mid. Until late in the first half the US weathered the storm, but fell behind when Michael Parkhurst was beaten endline, allowing a ball played in to Promise for the easy finish. After some bizarre substitutions by coach Peter Nowak including Feilhaber for Altidore at the half, Szetela, who I loved, coming off for Dax McCarty (as opposed to Kljestan, the walking turnover who is a Nowak favorite coming off), and a good, but possibly exhausted Stuart Holden coming off, the US would fall behind by two. On a ball laid off to the left side of the box, a nice individual effort saw Parkhurst slip and fall while the Nigerian player finished well far post.
Charlie Davies (despite commentator Marcelo Balboa's insistance that he is Charlie Davis...) looked fabulous as a late game sub. I have seen him several times previously and thought of him as a fast player that will never succeed, as he goes to ground far too easily. Davies' response? Let's see what you've got Mr. Essig! Davies came on and made immediate impact, torching a the Nigerian defense and offering a dangerous cross, then setting up a penalty kick converted by Kljestan. He had his chance to place his name among US soccer heroes when in stoppage time he rose majestically for a header that fatefully found the crossbar instead of the back of the net.
Following 4 points in 2 games the US were not expected to have, and an unfortunate finish to tie the Dutch, this will certainly be seen as a huge disappointment and a blown opportunity for a US team that could have been dangerous in the knockout round. I had been down all day about the event and waited to write about it until now. In a more relaxed state, I will say that Orozco should not have been red carded, but also should have known better than to throw an elbow no matter how lighly in the opening minutes of a game. He left his fate for the ref to decide. After his departure the US team put forth an unbelievable effort and came oh so close to an improbably draw playing a man down for a full game.
Now we are left to wonder what could have been with Adu and Bradley playing and Orozco avoiding the red card. With a need to draw since the Netherlands would surely beat Japan (which they finally did in a game they were dominated and earned a very shake penalty kick late in the game to win 1-0 and seal the USA's fate) the US would have their olympic dreams ended. As a minority in the United States, we soccer fans cannot even mourn properly. When asked why I seemed sour today, I replied that I thought the most talented US olympic team ever blew their chance today. The response I received? "Oh, well did you see Michael Phelps last night?" Hopefully these young players will learn from this experience and make soccer more relevant to the masses in our country. For now, there's always the women's team to pull for!
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