On Ted Lasso, the British made fun of Ted for thinking that soccer matches are divided into quarters like American football games. This World Cup, the hydration breaks that come midway through each half have effectively divided the matches into quarters. The Americanization of soccer continues apace. We have the skinny on USA’s magnificent opening win and many, many other doings.
Why was USA’s 4-1 win over Paraguay so eerie?
Because that’s not how our men’s team wins at the World Cup. We typically blitz opponents in World Cup qualifying when we’re facing CONCACAF minnows like El Salvador or Grenada. Now we’ve managed that in the big dance, with Christian Pulisic putting Paraguay right-back Juan José Cáceres in a blender and Folarin Balogun having his way with the South Americans’ center backs, who were supposed to be Paraguay’s strength. A victory like this is what Jürgen Klinsmann promised but never delivered when he was USA’s head coach. (To be fair, he never had the talent to do it.) Gio Reyna’s goal featured a slow, patient buildup of 26 passes, with every USA player touching the ball at some point. American soccer-heads have been dreaming of a goal like that on the world stage for decades.
Did that goal have any other significance?
It put USA’s goal differential at +3, ahead of Australia’s +2. (More on that later.) Reyna celebrated that goal by putting his hands to his ears, as if to say, “I don’t hear the chatter.” That was the reaction of a player who has received far more attention during this World Cup cycle for off-field drama than for anything he’s done on the pitch. He probably would have taken a tap-in goal, but his sumptuous strike earned him that celebration.
So, should we start planning a ticker-tape parade in New York for our soccer team?
Maybe hold off on that for now. It was one game against an opponent that was, let’s face it, pretty bad. (That same Paraguay team beat both Argentina and Brazil in the qualifying rounds. Hard to believe.) Regardless, USA delivered the sort of clinical performance that we expect from powerhouses like Germany or England when they face inferior opposition, and you’d better believe that the sport’s superpowers took notice of USA’s dominant win. Our guys were more impressive than Spain, Portugal, or Brazil in their opening draws. Savor that for a moment.
Vozinha!
Yes, the Blue Sharks’ 40-year-old goalkeeper came up huge against the mighty Spaniards, saving seven shots and picking up a clean sheet. Overnight, his Instagram following increased a hundredfold, and now the State Department will fly his mother in from the islands to see him play live in Sunday’s match against Uruguay in Miami. He made this the most exciting 0-0 game you’ve ever seen. Feel good for this nation of just under half a million and this goalkeeper with an unlikely moment in the spotlight.
Who else deserves credit for USA’s win?
Mauricio Pochettino. This is what we got him for. In the days leading up to the tournament, the press and fans carped plenty over the team’s losses in friendly matches against Belgium, Portugal, and Germany, as well as a chaotic win over Senegal. That’s why I don’t pay too much attention to results of warm-up games. When the opener kicked off in Inglewood, Calif., Pochettino had his charges focused and ready, and under the pressure of being a host nation, they came through.
Who’s next?
Australia comes in off a shock 2-0 upset of Türkiye. It was the sort of game we’re used to seeing from the USMNT: a nerve-frying, slow-burning exercise with the Socceroos spending 80 percent of their time staying in their defensive positions near their goal and the rest of the game taking advantage of the scoring chances that the favorites afforded them. The result was only their fifth ever win at the World Cup, and I’d rank it as their most impressive ever.
Should we be worried?
I am. I rated the Aussies as the least talented team in Group D coming into this tournament, and I still rate them that way, but the three points against the Turks have given them the belief that they can advance out of this group. The morale boost is going to make them dangerous. Coach Tony Popovic played some years at Crystal Palace, where he was regarded as a defender with zero subtlety or sophistication about his game. (He’s still best known there for an incredible own goal he scored for Portsmouth against his own team. And no, he’s not related to NBA Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich.) That lummox got his tactics exactly right against Türkiye, dropping regular starters Mat Ryan and Jackson Irvine to the bench. His players stayed on their defensive assignments and blocked an ungodly number of the Turks’ 28 shots, and goalkeeper Pat Beach (starting in place of Ryan) made some great saves on the ones that did get through. We can’t take them lightly.
How was the first game in North Texas?
Netherlands and Japan treated the fans in Arlington (not Dallas, as the Fox broadcasters keep saying) to a crackling second half that featured all four goals in a 2-2 draw. I spent much of the dying minutes wondering why the Japanese kept crossing the ball high into the box, where the tall Dutch central defenders were waiting to head those out of there. Evidently Coach Hajime Moriyasu knew something I didn’t, because one of those crosses from a corner kick got headed in by Daiichi Kamada for Japan’s late equalizer. The game gave plenty of ammunition to backers and skeptics of both teams. For the neutrals, it was just great entertainment.
What about the second one?
The same goes for England’s win over Croatia, in which FC Dallas’ Petar Musa not only started but scored a goal in front of his North Texas fans. What a moment for the Zagreb native, who tied up the game just before halftime, although England’s offensive firepower proved to be too much for the Croats in the second half. It was so bad that they chased Luka Modrić from the game, which I never thought I’d see. The 2018 version of Modrić would have stemmed the tide of England attacks. Oh, well.
What was the most disappointing part of the England-Croatia game?
Anthony Gordon’s hair. The Newcastle and future Barcelona winger previously sported a blond feathered style that you routinely saw on players in the 1980s, but for this tournament, he has cut his hair short and gone back to his natural brown. I’m reminded of former Italy playmaker Francesco Totti, who wore his blonde hair shoulder-length before World Cup 2006, when he cut it short. He and Italy won the whole thing, and he has kept it short ever since. Is that an omen?
What about our co-hosts?
Before this, Mexico had played in seven World Cup opening matches without winning any of them. They finally broke that hex this year with a 2-0 win over South Africa. Raúl Jiménez scored his first World Cup goal ever for El Tricolor, and the flood of tears that came over him showed you what it meant to him. South Africa midfielder Sphephelo Sithole was sent off, and soccer fans everywhere got to say, “Wow, what a Sithole!” (Also, Julián Quiñones scored the opener for Mexico, and you can believe that seeing a Black man play for their team and find the net means something to their fanbase.) As for Canada, they needed substitute Cyle Larin to score a great turnaround goal to salvage a draw against a Bosnia-Herzegovina team that looks like it will be tough to deal with. The good news for the Canucks is that Alphonso Davies is scheduled to return from injury against Qatar, and not a moment too soon.
What else happened?
South Korea came back in inspiring fashion to beat Czech Republic 2-1, with goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu making a couple of fantastic saves late to preserve the win. Lionel Messi scored a hat trick in Argentina’s win over Algeria, making him joint top all-time World Cup scorer, and his third goal made me say, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” That guy will always be a great player. Tunisia did themselves in with a number of defensive blunders in their 5-1 loss to Sweden that resulted in them firing Coach Sabri Lamouchi in the middle of the tournament.
Has that ever happened before?
Not only has it happened before, Tunisia were the ones who did it. At World Cup 1998, the Carthage Eagles sacked their Polish coach Henryk Kasperczak after group-stage losses to England and Colombia, and so newly promoted Francesco Scoglio managed the team’s draw in their final game against Romania. At that same tournament, South Korea did the same to Coach Cha Bum-kun after a heavy loss to Netherlands, leaving assistant Kim Pyung-seok to oversee a last-match draw against Belgium. In 1954, Scotland’s Andy Beattie became the only coach ever to resign during a World Cup, which happened due to personnel clashes with his bosses at the Scottish FA.
Since when have Black guys been playing for Sweden?
Would it surprise you to learn that it’s been decades? At World Cup 1994, striker Martin Dahlin was a key cog in Sweden’s surprising run to third place. Henrik Larsson, whose father was from Cape Verde, scored a bunch of Sweden’s goals through the 2000s. Now they have Isak, the sharply handsome Liverpool striker of Eritrean descent. Earlier, I mentioned that he and Viktor Gyökeres, whose family is Hungarian, are both big, strong forwards who are also fast. I didn’t mention that their playing styles are quite different: Gyökeres prefers to run straight ahead and power through defenders, while Isak is quicker and cleverer, moving intelligently in the penalty box to free himself up for shots. Their styles complement each other well, but they haven’t played together often due to injuries to both as well as Gyökeres being something of a late bloomer. This partnership could spell trouble for Sweden’s foes.
Anything else?
Portugal’s 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo made me look good on multiple fronts. I talked up the DRC in previous articles, and the Leopards went toe to toe with the Portuguese for a deserved point in the standings. Yoane Wissa scored his country’s first-ever World Cup goal, showing off the eye for goal that he displays at Newcastle. I also predicted Cristiano Ronaldo would slow down Portugal’s offense, and that’s exactly what he did. We’ve seen other time-defying athletes like Messi, LeBron James, and Tom Brady react to their advancing ages by adjusting their games, but Ronaldo doesn’t realize that he can’t play like it’s 2010 anymore. His missed shots weren’t particularly close to the target, and he kept blaming his teammates or appealing to the referee for nonexistent penalties. Bad as that is, he’s surrounded by players and coaches who have drunk the Kool-Aid and think he’s still a superstar. Basically, Portugal is the Trump White House. No wonder Trump and Ronaldo like each other.
When does USA vs. Australia kick off?
Friday afternoon in Seattle. Let’s hear those fans who make so much noise for the Super Bowl champion Seahawks do the same for Team USA.
