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Unlucky World Cup draw puts Team USA in precarious spot

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Jay Mwamba

United States

Group D

South Korea

Group D

For longtime followers of the game, the United States’ biggest claim to World Cup fame remains that stunning 1-0 victory over England, in Brazil, 52 years ago.

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It was the Americans’ only victory in the 1950 tournament, in which they eventually finished last in their group, but the result resonates more to this day than even their semifinal appearance at the inaugural finals in 1930.

Team USA can shock the soccer world again at Japan/Korea ’02 if they can find a way of upsetting Luis Figo’s highly touted Portugal in their opening Group D match in Suwon on June 5.

As in France ’98, where they faced, and lost to, Germany, the United States have found themselves drawn against a major European power in their opener. And as was the case four years ago, the outcome could ultimately determine how far they go in the finals.

Should they succumb to a side some experts tip to go all the way, and should Poland defeat Korea in the other group match, Bruce Arena’s men will have their backs pushed against the wall from the get-go, turning their second game against the hosts into a must-win situation.

Such is the challenge — thanks to an unfavorable schedule — that the U.S. faces on its seventh trip to the finals.

But the doom and gloom is hardly palpable in the U.S. camp. There is an increasing sense of optimism in and around the team in the wake of the CONCACAF Gold Cup triumph over Costa Rica in Pasadena, and the assuring performance in Sicily last month, despite a 1-0 loss to an Italian squad that is Portugal’s equal.

Scheduled friendlies against Germany, Ireland and Holland in the run-up to the finals can only boost the team’s chemistry and collective experience. The feeling is that Arena’s team, a blend of Major League Soccer and European-based players, is coming good at the right time.

The most successful coach in American soccer history with a bushel of college and MLS titles, Arena should be pleased at the return from injury of several players deemed essential to the U.S. cause in the Far East.

They include the Chicago Fire’s Josh Wolff, MetroStar Clint Mathis, forward Brian McBride of the Columbus Crew, and the increasingly fragile Claudio Reyna.

Wolff, who got a second-half run against Italy, is a nifty, explosive striker with a bit of Michael Owen in him. The hard-nosed Mathis is the Roy Keane of Team USA, while McBride, who had six goals in the last round of qualifying play, evokes memories of the old traditional British center forward with his strong ‘rial game and hard running.

It is in the 28-year-old Reyna, however, that Arena and his troops will seek guidance. Formerly with Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Glasgow Rangers, the New Jersey native recently joined struggling Sunderland in the English Premier League but has been hampered by injury.

When healthy, Reyna’s forte are his incisive passing, ball holding skills, and ice-cool nerves in midfield. The son of a former Argentinean professional, he has a vast amount of experience to boot as he approaches a century of caps and his third World Cup, albeit he sat out USA ’94 due to injury.

Two other players could give the States a big boost.

One is Ernie Stewart, he of the darting runs, who has the pace to trouble any defender. The Dutch-based attacker had a team-high eight goals in the qualifiers.

The other is Kasey Keller, who’s 32. A world-class goalie with amazing reflexes and agility when on song, Keller’s major handicap, though, may be a lack of match fitness as he continues to warm the bench for Glenn Hoddle’s Tottenham Hotspur in the EPL.

Going back to USA ’94 when Bora Mulitinovic took the hosts to the Round of 16 with a combination of tenacious defending and sharp counterattacking, the U.S. has traditionally been a strong defensive unit with goals hard to find in big matches.

It’s been a costly tradeoff, as the Americans’ one goal in three first-round matches in France ’98 showed.

Team USA, with just one World Cup victory (that fateful 2-1 decision over Colombia in 1994) since humbling the English 52 years ago, will simply have to learn how to score at that level to survive a very competitive Group D.

South Korea look

for first victory

Co-hosts Korea can claim the dubious distinction of appearing in an Asian record fifth straight World Cup when they kick off against Poland in Busan on June 4, but without ever having won a match in the finals.

To break the goose egg, the Korean FA broke protocol by hiring Guus Hiddink, who took Holland to the semifinals of France ’98, as the first non-Korean to coach the national side in the finals.

Spoiled for riches in the Dutch squad, Hiddink doesn’t have much to work with in terms of top-class talent. Matter of fact, he has a trio of players who should form the basis of a side that plays decently enough but has problems scoring.

The latter, though, is supposed to be the strong point of the player they call the “Lion King” on account of his flowing red mane of hair. Lee Dong-Soo was top scorer at the 2000 Asian Cup, a feat the hosts hope he will reprise this summer.

Lee is likely to be partnered by 23-year-old Anderlecht forward Seol Ki-Hyeon, who burnished his reputation as a hot young prospect with a hat trick in 12 minutes in the Belgian Super Cup against Westerlo last fall.

In defense, J’ Won Sim, another European-based footballer, is one of Hiddink’s standouts. J’, who’s 24, plies his trade with Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Second Division.

The rest of Hiddink’s squad comprises veterans of the last World Cup, among them the reliable Hong Myung-bo at the back, Yoo Sang-chul in the center of midfield, and Hwang Sun-Hong up front.

Ordinarily, the host nation is usually given a better than even chance of winning the World Cup. But neither Japan nor Korea are considered footballing powers, considerably reducing the odds of their success.

A more realistic challenge for Korea is to emulate the fairy-tale success of their estranged northern neighbors, North Korea, who reached the quarterfinals in 1966 after shocking Italy 1-0.

South Korea’s best chance of scoring a historic first win in the finals will probably come in their second game, against the United States, in D’gu on June 10.

The two teams have already met twice in the last three months, each posting 2-1 victories on home soil, which may not bode well for the United States.

Portugal could also offer a lifeline of sorts for the Koreans when the Group D schedule concludes on June 14. Should the Portuguese defeat both the U.S. and Poland in their first two matches, they’ll almost certainly rest their top players for the final game, giving Korea a chance to salvage at least a point, if not all three.

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