Yankees That I Actually Like

Congratulations are in order for the U.S. national soccer team. After a 1-1 draw against Italy in which they left everything on the field, and with a major assist from Ghana's upset over the Czech Republic, the Yanks are in a surprisingly solid position to advance into the elimination round.

Say what you will about Coach Bruce Arena's public denouncement of his team's performance after their lackluster 3-0 loss to the Czechs last Monday, but it seemed to work. You could tell that the Americans left everything they had on the field against Italy, and as a result, they came away with a well-deserved tie. What concerns me though is that the scoring came off an Italian own goal, meaning that the Americans have yet to put a ball into the net off their own foot during this World Cup. I would also like to state, for the record, that the officiating during today's match was reprehensible. Pablo Mastroeni's foul that earned a red card deserved a yellow at best, since it came in from the side and not from behind. Eddie Pope's second yellow came off a clean play, since he made contact with the ball and only nicked his opponent on the follow-through. For the Americans to play down a man for almost the entire second half thanks to abominable officiating and yet still salvage a tie against one of the top sides in the world is truly admirable.

The Yanks play their last game of the first round on Thursday, against Ghana. It is a must-win game. With a tie or loss, the Americans are done. Seeing what the Ghanaians did against the Czechs who slaughtered the U.S., a victory will not come easy. If the U.S. wins and the Italians beat the Czechs, the the U.S. advances. If the Czechs win, then the U.S. must either blowout Ghana or hope that the Czechs blow out the Italians (the sum of the margins of victory must be at least five for the Americans to have a chance to advance). And finally, if the Czechs and Italians tie, then the U.S. must beat Ghana by five goals to advance, though they still have a chance with a four-goal margin depending on how many goals are allowed by all the teams. Only one match so far in the World Cup has been decided by more than three goals, so running up the score will be no easy feat. (For a more comprehensive and clear version of what I tried to explain, click here.)

In any case, the Americans are in a much better position than they were a mere twelve hours ago. All they can do is try to beat Ghana and score as much as possible, and hope everything else takes care of itself.