World Cup Day 5: USA Slays Some Demons

The highlight of day five was clearly John Brooks's 86th minute header that won the match for the USA against Ghana. The goal came mere minutes after the Black Stars equalized when Andre Ayew received a pass at the top of the box and slotted a shot passed Tim Howard. The USA had been hanging on in full defensive mode ever since Clint Dempsey scored the fasted goal in US World Cup history when he found the inside of the far post 29 seconds in.

The atmosphere at Thomas Magee's with the American Outlaws- Detroit Chapter was electric right from the get go. Chants were being belted out well before kickoff.

Thomas Magee's shortly before kickoff.

There is nothing like watching a World Cup match in a bar packed full of fans. Thankfully, we were all allowed to go home happy after Brooks's late headed threw the entire establishment into bedlam.

The USA were far from perfect despite the 3 points. They allowed Ghana far too much possession for me to feel comfortable heading into a match against a more skilled Portugal team. If they allow Portugal that much of the ball, they will break down the American defense plenty faster than Ghana did. And the USA might not get as many counter attacking chances either.

One argument for why Ghana had so much possession was how the first minute goal changed the complexion of the game. That goal allowed the United States to play more defensively and not take as many chances up the pitch. This is true, to a certain extent, but with so much time to play, I don't think the USA should have played so defensively. In this World Cup, teams that have played with the intent of not conceding goals have gone on to lose games. Just ask the Japan. They scored early, and the more skilled Ivory Coast team eventually broke down their conservative play. The USA will have to be careful not to be overly defensive against Portugal.

While the midfield played well behind the ball, they have some work to do if they want to get a result against Portugal. Michael Bradley, in particular was hardly present at all last night. Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman, despite man of the match level defensive performances, both hardly did anything to facilitate US possession. The only midfielder who played well the whole match was Clint Dempsey, someone who is rarely asked to play defense.

The USA also have injury woes to deal with all of a sudden. Jozy Altidore had the look of a man who's World Cup was over when he was stretchered off with a hamstring injury just after the 20 minute mark. Matt Besler also had some hamstring issues causing him to be subbed out for the previously mentioned John Brooks at halftime. Clint Dempsey suffered an incidental kick to the face that broke his nose, but finished the game strong and should play full minutes against Portugal.

Speaking of the Portuguese, they will be desperate for some points after they got slaughtered by Germany 4-0. The Germans played their game the whole way through and took advantage of some very dumb mistakes by their opponents. Portuguese defender Pepe was sent off in the first half for a silly headbutt on Thomas Muller. He will miss the USA match. Other center back Fabio Contrao will likely miss that one as well with a muscle injury that forced him to be stretchered off early in the second half.

The lack of strength in the Portuguese defense should allow the USA more chances to score, assuming they can wrestle the ball away from Ronaldo and Portugal's strong attacking threat.

Ronaldo was pretty much a non-factor in the match against Germany. That shouldn't make any Americans comfortable. You can't expect the second best player in the world to be non-existent for two consecutive matches.

The other match of the day was the first draw of the tournament as Nigeria and Iran both failed to score a goal. Not much to really say about this relative dud, but Nigeria did have more chances. The main point to come out of this one was that it looks like Bosnia-Herzegovina should have no problem taking on these two sides on route to a second place finish in Group F.

Today's matches see the conclusion of the first round of group stage games and the return of the favored host nation of Brazil.

Starting at noon, Belgium starts their World Cup quest against Algeria. The Desert Foxes from North Africa haven't scored a World Cup goal since 1986, and likely won't find one against group favorites Belgium. I am calling for a 2-0 Belgian win. At 4pm Brazil returns to action against Mexico. In what figures to be the toughest test for the tournament favorites, I expect them to hang on, barely, with a 2-1 win. Finally, at 7pm, the first round of play concludes with Russia taking on South Korea. For a game that won't get much hype, this one should be fairly entertaining. Two teams that have very few familiar players can often play great football. Russia won 2-1 in a friendly back in November, but I think Korea gets a result this time around. The teams share the points with a 1-1 draw.

While nothing can beat the excitement of last night for the home fans, today should still be a ton of fun. So enjoy the games and I'll be back here tomorrow.