A more profound Match day 4 review

After the US game I went and had a nice multi-hour sulk. Consequently, I missed the Italian victory over Ghana. As revenge for this transgression, the demigod who looks out for Italian interests made sure that the pasta I ate gave me a righteous stomach ache in the evening. A more prosaic explanation is that it was not a good idea to eat so soon after my stomach was in knots.

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First off, credit to Australia for their last minute victory over Japan. It was a cracking game, played at a nice tempo and it really could have gone either way. I disagree with fourth-string commentators Davis and Messing about the "obvious" foul on Schwarzer for the Japan goal; it seemed like Schwarzer made a right mess of it, advancing when he shouldn't have and running into the Japanese attacker. In any case, the Australians were absolutely gutsy when it counted most, especially Tim Cahill, who was half-crocked. I really don't think they will get out of this group, but they will go down fighting.

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So were the Czechs that good or the US that bad? The truth is always somewhere in between; I would put it at 25% the former 75 % the latter. Certainly, the US were the worst team I've seen play so far. The Koller goal was a breakdown on every portion of the pitch. I don't think Onyewu was really to blame for the brilliance of Rosicky on the second. But throughout the match, Mastroeni and Reyna were overrun by Koller and Rosicky.

Offensively, we looked half-hearted and hesitant. Everyone was useless and there was a general lack of creativity. The Czech defense were rarely bothered by the one-on-one talents of Donovan, Beasley or Convey.

Simply put, we played terribly and were therefore dominated. Easily the worst performance since the Iran game in 1998, and perhaps worse than that, since in that match we could somewhat legitimately claimed bad luck. Reyna's shot could have gone in, but it would have been a patently undeserved equalizer, and one suspects it wouldn't have changed the end result.

Arena publicly ripped into his players after the game, which I'm never a big fan of coaches doing, but I can't help but agree with him this time. (A curiously scrubbed post-match chat sheet is on the USSF website.) Steve Goff catches Beasley ripping back. So much for our pre-Cup amity.

I'm guessing Arena will ring in a few changes for the Italy game, but I'll save the speculation for a new post tomorrow.