Thanks to the boys in red and white and their 1 – 0 tossing of Portugal, the American team will go through to the Round of 16 even after a terrible 1-3 result against Poland. The thing is, this match was almost as bad as Italy-Croatia in terms of the referee, who disallowed a Landon Donovan goal in the fourth minute that would have tied things 1-1. Donovan allegedly fouled the defender just before his shot and this was just a complete load of hooey, there is no way that was a legitimate call. Not only did the crap call leave Poland ahead, they were able to counterattack while the Americans were still fuzzy and put a second ball in the net. The third Polish goal, much later in the game in the 65th minute, who knows about that. But 1-1 instead of 2-0 after five minutes, that’s a completely different game to play in.
I can’t blame American goalie Brad Friedel, though, as only the third goal can be marked against him and he made several other brilliant saves. No, the big black mark has to go against defender Jeff Agoos for the first two goals. Agoos went off on an ankle injury in the the 35th minute but coach Bruce Arena stuck with the man who had delivered so much for him (four NCAA titles together at the University of Virginia, then two MLS championships with DC United) far too long and we were reduced to nail-biting until the results came in from the South Korean match when there was about two and a half minutes of stoppage time left in our game. Thankfully the Portugese did themselves in with a red card and then a second player sent off with two yellows in the game.
Next up for the US: the undefeated Mexicans in three days. We have a good past history against the southern neighbors but minus defender Frankie Hejduk, who will be unable to play after picking up his second yellow card of the round, I am not at all confident. Will Arena hide behind the Hejduk absence to stick with Agoos? What the hell:
Go USA!!!
BillSaysThis 