USA Matches at World Cup 2010

USA World Cup Profile

From England in the United Kingdom, LiveSoccerTV.com takes you to the USA in North America. It’s not going to be for a trip around the country’s 50 states; instead, it will be about knowing the United States of America in general and from a football perspective.

United States – the country, the football

Referred to as either the USA, the United States, or the US, this federal constitutional republic has a federal district and 50 different states which all have their star on the nation’s blue, white, and red flag. It is among the top 5 largest country in the world in terms of total area. It is also ranked third among the most populated countries with over 300 million inhabitants.

Like most countries around the world, the United States of America have a very long history. However theirs is long in terms of episodes, not in terms of the number of generations that have come and passed away in time.

The territory was formerly owned and inhabited by Native Americans – people that are believed to be of Asian descent. But when Europeans (mostly British) travelled massively from Europe to what is currently known as the United States, things changed for Native Americans. Their freedom was suddenly taken away and their numbers quickly grew lesser as they were hit by warfare and great diseases that were created by the Europeans’ presence on their land.

After reducing Native Americans to ‘strangers’ and to a minority, the new inhabitants (Europeans) of the North American country would find power and greatness to become an important nation on the planet through certain things. Those included the hard work, the intelligence, and the torture of imported African people who were transformed from free men and women to ill-treated slaves during the period of the Black Slavery.

Nowadays, no one could think about the United States of America without hinting on two things: the country’s intense external political influence and the country’s adored culture over the planet which exists thanks to ethnical diversities (African Americans especially, as well as Hispanics and Chinese among others).

Pop and Hip Hop Music, Pepsi and Coca Cola, McDonald, or the War in Iraq are great characteristics of the United States of America to name a few…

In football however, the United States cannot boast of too much influence and pedigree. Pejoratively called ‘The Yanks’, the United States’ national football team is still looking to win its first major trophy outside the CONCACAF zone.

The USA were 90 minutes away from doing so in the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa but their 2-0 lead was suddenly brushed aside by Brazil's stunning comeback. Participating in the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa and finishing second with silver medals certainly offered a lot of experience to the United States of America.

Going one better in the 2010 World Cup competition will not only see the USA take the world by surprise, but it will also help them to achieve their greatest dream; that is, to rule for at least four years over the kingdom of football which is the biggest sports realm in the world.

United States – the road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

The United States of America never really struggled throughout the qualifying stages for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions imposed themselves most of the time – losing only twice in as much as 18 games.

Second Round

Like Mexico, the United States qualified from Round 2 with a 9-0 aggregate win over their opponents. Thanks to a trouncing 8-0 victory at home to Barbados on June 15, the Americans were under no pressure to perform in the second leg of this tie which took place a week later. The United States clinched a 1-0 win in Barbados to seal their passage into the Third Round.

Third Round

In the next stage, the United States were drawn into Group 1 with Guatemala, political rivals Cuba, and 2006 World Cup participants Trinadad & Tobago. The 2007 Gold Cup champions were the section’s favorites and their results didn’t go against the fans’ predictions.

Narrow 1-0 wins away to Guatemala and Cuba respectively ensured the United States with maximum points after match-day two. On September 11 – a date that will always be remembered in the country’s history because of the downfall of the Twin Tours in 2001 – the USA celebrated a great 3-0 win on home soil against Trinidad and Tobago.

The United States then kicked off the second part of the Third Round of qualifiers with an overwhelming 6-1 win against Cuba which came much to delight of Americans. However, their winning mentality was finally tested by Trinidad & Tobago who surprisingly pulled out a 2-1 victory over the United States on October 16, 2008.

To finish the Third Round of the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign on a good note, the United States of America secured a 2-0 win at home to Guatemala a month later. After managing six clean sheets out of the eight matches that they played from the first game of the Second Round to the last game of the Third Round, the United States were definitely poised to reach the finals of the World Cup in South Africa ahead of the Fourth Round.

Fourth Round

In accordance with CONCACAF’s World Cup qualification format, the Fourth Round comprised six teams all vying for a top three finish which would give automatic tickets for South Africa 2010. Meanwhile, the fourth-placed team at the end of match-day ten would enter into a play-off with the fifth-placed team from the CONMEBOL zone.

In the first three games of the competition, the United States experienced no defeats but mixed emotions of joy, relief, and maybe some kind of disappointment. Their first match at home to Mexico gave American fans something to cheer about; a 2-0 win against El Tri – much to the furry and disgust of Mexicans.

The second match against El Salvador was less amusing from an American point of view but still full of drama. The USA were about to be beating by the hosts on that day. However, a late goal from Hejduk saved the United States from losing 2-1 away. The USA bounced back with revenge against Trinidad & Tobago as they beat them 3-0 as they put their qualification campaign on pause in April.

In June though, the Americans were shocked; Costa Rica defeated them 3-1 at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa. But they responded quickly with a hard-fought 2-1 win at home to rivals Honduras. After that, the team flew all the way down to South Africa to represent the CONCACAF region at the 2009 Confederations Cup tournament, having won the 2007 Gold Cup.

The US returned home from that tournament as silver medalists but their achievement apparently didn’t frighten Mexico who humiliated them with a 5-0 defeat in the final of the 2009 Gold Cup competition before beating them again 2-1 in the qualifiers. The United States grabbed a reverse of this score line away to El Salvador in an important game. This result was followed by wins against Trinidad & Tobago and Honduras.

In the final match-day of the campaign, the United States (who were then 2010 World Cup ticket holders) spoiled Costa Rica’s chances of grabbing automatic tickets to reach the finals of the 2010 World Cup; Bob Bradley's men scored twice in a 2-2 draw.

United States – 2010 FIFA World Cup group stages

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the United States will be playing their first three matches in Group C against England, Slovenia, and Algeria respectively.

Match-day One: England vs USA

In the fifth match of the tournament, the United States will come up against rivals England in Rustenburg at exactly 18:30 GMT. The 2009 Confederations Cup runners-up will be put to the test against Fabio Capello’s Three Lions in a fascinating clash where most people will expect England to win at the end of the 90 minutes.

But with the recent experiences that the Americans have acquired, they may not be seen as underdogs for this match. The USA kicked off their 2006 World Cup tournament with a heavy 3-0 loss against the Czech Republic which was the source of their first round exit.

In 2010, the United States will hope to surprise the world just as they did in the semi-finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup when they defeated European champions Spain.This game will mean more than just knocking the ball around and trying to put it at the back of the net. The downfall of one team will surely offer luck to the other. The USA will want to be the gifted ones at the end of the day.

Match-day Two: Slovenia vs USA

This game is perhaps not very balanced. The United States surely have the upper hand in terms of nation size and history. Slovenia have a population of around 2 million people compared to the USA’s 300 million people. Also, the Scandinavians wiil only be featuring in their third major international competition.

But the United States should not solely rely on their superiority above Slovenia. The national football team of this European country shocked Russia in the play-off to secure tickets for South Africa 2010. The USA’s coach, Bob Bradley, might not need to be repeated of Slovenia’s achievement twice before preparing his boys for this clash.

Match-day Three: United States v Algeria

Like in Germany 2006, the USA will face an African team on the last match-day of the group stages. This time, the Americans will not face Ghana but Algeria. Four years ago, there were rumors that the United States’ national team of football had underestimated their African counterparts ahead of the encounter. At the end of proceedings, it was the Ghanaians who were celebrating with excitement as they had reached the Round of 16 at their expense.

Whatever led to the USA’s loss on that day might remain debatable as some fans rather preferred to blame the referee who was thought to be ‘bias’ against the 1994 World Cup hosts.

Either way, one lesson that skipper Landon Donovan and the rest of his teammates learned after that painful defeat was this: to carry a great amount of winning mentality ahead of any clash, regardless of the opponents’ strength and the importance of the game.

On June 23, the United States will come up against Algeria at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. They’ll hope to overcome the country that disqualified the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations champions and 2009 Confederations Cup participants, Egypt.

United States – 2010 FIFA World Cup squad

Goalkeepers:

Marcus Hahnemann; Tim Howard; Brad Guzan

Defenders:

Jonathan Spector; Oguchi Onyewu; Clarence Goodson; Jay DeMerit; Steve Cherundolo; Jonathan Bornstein; Carlos Bocanegra

Midfielders:

Jose Torres; Stuart Holden; Benny Feilhaber; Maurice Edu; Landon Donovan Clint Dempsey; Ricardo Clark; Michael Bradley; DaMarcus Beasley

Forwards:

Hercule Gomez; Robbie Findley; Edson Buddle; Jozy Altidore (note that the striker's participation is hugely in doubt after the player sustained an injury during the first week of June)

United States – Expectations from the country and its top stars

The pressure on the United States will not be to absolutely win the 2010 World Cup trophy, but to at least perform at their best match by match. Fans back home will certainly accept any result that the country’s national football team will pick during the tournament, knowing how hard-working, united, and determined Bob Bradley's men are as a team.

Of course, crashing out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the group stages is not going to be an option – especially because Group C is not deemed as the ‘group of death’. Now if you look at the United States’ squad, it is easy to select Landon Donovan as the team’s key player. However, Coach Bob Bradley will also look to players like Clint Dempsey to play the trick on the United States’ opponents.

At the 2009 Confederations Cup, the duo was influential in attack for the USA and a repeat of their performances will definitely favor the USA a lot.

Landon Donovan

The captain can be quick on the ball and always at the right place to make the right pass to the rest of his mates.

Landon Donovan is the star of the United States of America’s national team of football. The 27-year-old grew in the junior teams of the USA as a promising player – scoring 35 goals in 41 matches in the U-17.

Donovan also has 42 goals in his name in the senior national team and he will be keen to extend his record at the top of the United States’ all-time top scorers chart.

Clint Dempsey

Clint Dempsey will remember his first ever appearance in a major tournament staged on African soil on a sour note. The striker was part of the United States’ 2009 Confederations Cup squad and he even was the player who opened the scoring sheet after a quarter of an hour in the final against Brazil before Donovan doubled the USA’s lead.

But somehow, the United States lost 3-2 in the end and Clint Dempsey was left in tears and anguish throughout the awards ceremony at the close of the tournament. The Fulham striker will try and give his best with the prospect of being defeated coming as a motivation to win for the United States.

United States - Relevant quote

Bob Bradley, United States coach: “It will make for a good World Cup”

“I think that England and ourselves [the USA] are favorites to qualify from the group, even though Algeria and Slovenia both came through great situations to get to the World Cup. […]

“The [2009 FIFA] Confederations Cup has given us a real feel for the venues, and the weather that we’ll experience in South Africa…

“So it will make for a good World Cup. I’m sure about that.”

United States – FIFA World Cup record

The United States will be participating for the eighth time in the finals of the World Cup. Here is a quick list of the team’s records:

2010: Qualified

2006, 1998, 1990, 1950: Round 1

2002: Quarter-finals

1994: Second Round

1930: Third place

LiveSoccerTV.com will keep you informed on the progress of the United States of America’s national football team. Therefore, keep in touch with this site throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa which will take place between June 11 and July 11!

 

USA World Cup Videos

• Jun/26/2010 USA vs Ghana (1 - 2)