USA vs Ghana Preview

USA vs Ghana Preview

Friday, when Landon Donovan knocked a low, driven shot into the back of the net in the 91st minute in Pretoria, South Africa, American soccer took a huge step forward. As most people know by now, the Americans, needing a win against Algeria to advance to the Round of 16 and their World Cup lives hanging by a thread dug deep and snatched a victory from the jaws of the defeat in the most dramatic of fashions.

But what does this all mean? The mainstream media has told you that this could be the turning point for the sport in this country. Now, we've heard that before (see: 1999 Women's World Cup and the infamous Brandi Chastain penalty kick) but I do think the win yesterday averted a disastrous situation for how soccer is viewed in the States. If Donovan DOES NOT score that goal yesterday we'd be spending the next week talking about a.)how the refs screwed us (2 potentially gamewinning goals were incorrectedly disallowed), b.) how Landon Donovan, yet again, didn show up in a big game, and c.) how USA soccer will never, ever, be a force on the world stage. So I think for the shortterm the crisis has been averted but there is still more soccer to play and still more games to win.

I never was a believer in moral victories. If the US goes out and gets smoked by Ghana on Saturday, Donovan lategame heroics mean very little to me. We were EXPECTED to get out of our group this year. By all accounts, we had more talent than Algeria and Slovenia and were supposed to take care of business against teams like that. When you consider that the winner of UraguaySouth Korea is waiting for us should we get past Ghana you have to be reasonably confident that the US could be looking at a chance to make the final four.

However, this game will not be easy. The Black Stars are a strong, powerful squad that has been very tough to break down. They are 1 of the few African sides that has proved capable of grinding out wins led by a very stingy defense that allowed only 2 goals in group play.