Preview Ramblings on USA-Ghana

Well, they are all World Cup finals from here on out.  Win, and we move on; lose, and we're done.

Just two days after knocking off Algeria, the US will be taking on another African opponent, the Black Stars of Ghana.  While Ghana definitely are a talented team capable of knocking of the US, it's hard not to look ahead and see that one of Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana, and the US will move on to the semifinals.  Why not us?  We wouldn't be clear underdogs against any of those opponents, and we're capable of beating any of them on our day (though, to be fair, the opposite applies as well).  If there was ever a bracket that set up for us to make a historic run, it's this one.  Let's just hope that Bob Bradley and company can take advantage of it, because chances like this don't come around too often.

But man oh man, let me reign myself in here because I am getting WAY too far ahead of myself (though I doubt that I'm the only one guilty of that).  The bottom line is that it doesn't matter how the bracket stacks up if we can't get past Ghana, which in and of itself is no easy task.

Ghana hasn't yet scored from the run of play in this tournament, getting both of their goals via the penalty spot, but that doesn't mean that they don't present a serious offensive threat.  They have plenty of speed options going forward, such as Asamoah Gyan, a teammate of Carlos Bocanegra at Stade Rennes who scored both of the aforementioned penalties.  Against Algeria, Bob Bradley opted to use Jonathan Bornstein on the wing rather than start Oguchi Onyewu, a move that ultimately culminated in the US' first clean sheet since the 1-0 qualifying win over Trinidad and Tobago back in September.

Against Ghana, speed on the wing will again be an asset, while a lack of it in the middle would be a liability, so I expect that we'll see the same back four tomorrow afternoon.  Gooch has been decent in his two starts, but his game is better suited for a team that plays lots of air balls, not so much for a more fleet of foot opponent.  Long story short, Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit played very well in the middle against Algeria, and Jonathan Bornstein was solid on the wing, managing to avoid any serious mistakes and making some good 1 v. 1 challenges.  Let's hope that they can all replicate that success in Rustenburg if that is indeed the group that gets the call.

At the offensive end, I'm expecting big things out of Landon Donovan.  Despite his breakout performance in 2002, Donovan was haunted by his big game failures in Germany, which apparently still weighed heavily on the minds of many fans and pundits, and even Donovan himself.  With that huge monkey off of his back after his now famous goal, could we see a looser, more confident Landon playing with the same type of swagger that we saw in his stint at Goodison Park?  Perhaps I'm overly confident, but I really think he'll build on that massive moment and turn in a strong performance in the midfield.

Further up the field, I wonder who we'll see paired with Jozy Altidore, who was yet again a handful against Algeria but botched his opportunities inside the box.  Herculez Gomez was not overly effective in his first international start, turning the ball over a little too often and putting a golden opportunity from 10 yards out straight to keeper.  Granted, he should have had an assist on the ensuing Dempsey no-goal, but that whole situation doesn't even happen if he simply finishes off that chance in the first place.  At the same time, however, Edson Buddle wasn't spectacular in his time on, mixing a couple of decent runs and efforts with a lack of poise inside the box.  Robbie Findley will be returning from suspension and could get the call to help stretch the Ghanian defense and open up the midfield.  Despite his underwhelming showing against Slovenia, I'm inclined to think that it will in fact be Findley in the starting XI at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, running off of
Jozy Altidore and helping to keep the opposing outside backs pinned back a little.

Beyond those lineup points, I'll be hoping that this isn't the third consecutive match where a refereeing decision takes a way a good, legitimate US goal.  And we can only hope that the man in the middle isn't card-happy to the point that he leaves a mark on the match that he really shouldn't be.

For the sake of millions of hearts across the country, it'd be nice if the US can earn a comfortable win, but we very well could see yet another dramatic finish from the cardiac kids.  Now that we're into the knockout stages, that could mean penalties, something that the US hasn't had to deal with since the 2005 Gold Cup final.  Landon Donovan will likely play a part in any penalty shootout, but his history of missing penalties in big games (the 2007 Superliga Final and last year's MLS Cup final) is a little worrying.  On the flip side, Landon has missed just once from the penalty spot at the international level, and any new found confidence in the wake of his goal against Algeria might exorcise those club level demons.

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Enough ramblings, let's just sit back and wait for tomorrow's match.  And let's hope that things turn out better than they did back in 2006.