The lack of quality in the final third particularly the ineffective forwards contributed hugely to the US defeat by Ghana 2-1 AET. The US conceded goals early in both the opening half and the first period of extra time (3^rd minute) to lose as the forwards continued to squander chances. An interesting twist in Ghana's match winning goal was that Asamoah Gyan is a teammate at Rennes in France of the man he beat to the ball; Carlos Bocanegra.

 

That habit the US has been struggling with for over a year did them in again when Ricardo Clark was stripped of the ball just inside the halfway line and Kevin Prince Boateng banged a low hard shot past Howard to his near side in just the 5^th minute. Ask Howard and he'd tell you he was not positioned well on that one and was beaten too easily. Just last week I questioned Howard's ability to make that big save to cover for the errors in front of him and here we got the answer to that question.

 

The US had a horrid opening half, recovered to level on a Donovan penalty (62) but did not put a single shot on frame after the 76^th minute including the 30 minutes of extra time. It matters little if you create the chances (which they did a better job of in the second half) if you don't finish them. And with forwards that can't score, you don't win. The lack of quality finishing causes the US to expend huge amounts of energy as they have to generate so many opportunities to actually make one count. You can go to that well only so often before you pay the bill.

 

If you don't get a single goal from your forwards, the strikers, in 4 games the likelihood of actually winning a big match against quality opposition is slim. All five US goals came from the midfield. The US forwards were uniquely unproductive in the tournament squandering chances created with all that hard work. In the match with Ghana they did generate 20 shots but only 6 of them were on frame. The Wigan backup keeper Kingson was stellar in goal for Ghana, Tim Howard was not for the USA. The match winner was a bullet driven directly over the head of Howard just three minutes into extra time.

 

The huge effort the US required to defeat Algeria also took its toll with the short 2 days off between the games. The lack of a predatory striker with the attitude of “give me the ball and I'll score” just doesn't seem to be a part of this team, and hasn't been for some time. The last goal scored by a US forward at the World Cup was Brian McBride in 2002. Despite the continued lack of quality finishing we saw very little of Buddle or Gomez in this World Cup which was disappointing and illustrated the fatal flaw.

 

Bradley will be questioned in the near term about his dedication to the largely inefficient and ineffective Altidore and the failure to use Buddle or the man some see as the more skillful and dynamic Gomez. Frankly speaking the suspicion is that in Bradley's mind the “investment” in the young man will pay dividends down the road. The result is fans of US soccer are being asked yet again to put their faith in the future rewards from that investment. Altidore certainly has the speed and size. What he lacks is the clinical finishing and it seems at this point that his time at Villareal and Hull City haven't really changed that much. It must be said that Altidore's failure to deliver the goods was a big part of why Hull were relegated this season (he scored only one (1) league goal this past season).

 

It is also interesting to note that in the warmups just ahead of the World Cup itself the majority of goals came from Buddle and Gomez, yet both of them were used only sparingly in the cup itself. And part of the reason why is worth remembering: Altidore did not play many minutes of the last two 'warmup' matches and did not train for much of the final week-and-a-half before the World Cup opened. Can you say match fitness? Does that help explain the missed chances? One thing is certain, the result of the forwards failing to score is the US goes home a bit sooner than they probably should have.

 

Uruguay showed none of those tendencies and a Luis Suarez brace takes them to the quarterfinal round with a 2-1 victory over the hard working and skillful South Korea side.

 

Ghana will now face Uruguay in the quarterfinal round.

 

Germany's 4-1 victory handed England its worst ever defeat at the World Cup and sends Germany to the quarterfinal round for a record 15^th consecutive World Cup. In parts of the world it will be forever remembered for a very different reason however.

 

Germany came out the gate ready to play while England seemed unsettled and a bit off the pace right from the start and quickly found themselves down 2-0 on goals from Klose (20) and Podolski (32). Klose's goal, where he battled through Terry and Upson to get to the long clearance, became only the second goal assisted by a keeper in World Cup history. 

 

Germany continued to put pressure on England and Podolski put a low hard shot off David James into the net in the 32^nd and the threat of a rout was on. The Three Lions finally seemed ready to roar and Matt Upson headed home a corner (37) setting up what will forever be remembered as the pivotal moment of the match. Yes, yet another horrendous official error in this World Cup.

 

Just one minute after Upson's goal Frank Lampard lifted a delightful ball over the head of the German keeper which hit off the crossbar and deflected down landing at least two feet beyond the goal line. The incredulous happened and the goal that leveled the match at 2 was disallowed. FIFA strikes again!

 

In this World Cup we've seen all manner of errors that have determined the outcome of games in many cases. FIFA says some of these are judgement calls or subjective. This one was not. The officials in charge of the match simply did not see it at all. No living human being could see it and not award the goal. Yet FIFA says they won't comment. The arrogant blowhards at FIFA are playing with fire when these things happen. The game is becoming a joke especially when they essentially refuse to deal with it and that does not mean “technology” as far too many suggest. Calling this one no goal was simply another travesty in a World Cup that has seen far too many of them already.

 

At any rate the goal that would have tied the match at 2 was denied and Germany went on to get two more from Mueller (67 & 70) in the second half for the 4-1 final score.

 

Credit to Germany for their performance but their dominant win over England did something else too. It provides FIFA with “cover” since they can credibly say the proper call would have made little difference. That can never be known of course, but they'll use the result and Germany's superiority in the end to say, look, getting it right wouldn't have changed things at all, despite knowing it would have changed the game completely, for both sides. It truly is unfortunate that this World Cup is becoming a bit of a farce with the pivotal moment in so many games being 'created' by the match officials and their clear mistakes.

 

In this case however that posture is just plain and simply off the mark. Several of the other bad calls at this competition have been in the category that gives them more cover too; the judgement call or subjective such as USA's denied goals. This goal was not of that same sort. And 'technology' as we hear so often wouldn't be needed to sort it out either. A well placed additional pair of eyes and a means of signalling the match officials would go a long way to assuring this goal would count. Would it be perfect? Of course not, but it would go a long way toward preventing this kind of absurd outcome where an obvious and clear goal is denied.

 

Instead of FIFA being determined to 'get it right' (and that doesn't necessarily mean technology) the result of so many matches is being decided by clear errors. Yes of course, these guys are human, but FIFA's failure to do anything to try to ensure the results are accurate is turning this World Cup into a farce and undermining the game instead of protecting it. What is truly maddening is that they haven't made much of an effort. The posture of FIFA tells you they just don't give a damn about getting it right and they're not even going to try. Childish and arrogant comes to mind when you think of FIFA and Sepp Blatter.

 

Now, to provide further 'cover' for the egregious errors and their obstinate refusal to make a meaningful effort to minimize them FIFA has decided they will establish full control over the in-stadium screens to prevent the replay of their mistakes for all to see. They will hide their errors from view instead of making a substantive effort to correct them. The truth cannot be allowed to be seen. You, the fans that make the sport what it has become must not know the truth of the failures of FIFA. This is truly disgraceful.

 

The Argentina-Mexico tilt would also be impacted by yet another horrendous official error when a Carlos Tevez goal from a clear offside position was allowed to stand (26). You couldn't imagine this but it happened. Tevez standing 2-3 yards offside when Messi chipped the ball over a defender and yet the goal is allowed.

 

To that point in time Mexico seemed to have the upper hand in the match and threatened goal several times with one that would have been the opening goal denied by the bar. Then a poor pass from Osorio was pounced on by Higuain and he rounded the keeper for the second and Argentina was on their way. The goal was Higuain's 4^th of the tournament. In the 52^nd Tevez got his second of the match on a laser from about 25 yards for the 3-1 final score and another South American side goes on.

 

The showpiece of world soccer which should be a celebration especially for the host nation South Africa, has become a monument to the tyrants of FIFA, their arrogance and their abject failure to adequately address the issues that plague the game. And they are like a plague.

 

This must end or they will kill the game itself. The criminality and corruption which dominates many of the leagues around the world, the deceit and cheating (simulation) which often determines the outcome of a match is a sickness that FIFA only turns into a raging epidemic by their refusal to make a meaningful effort to correct it. For many would be fans the absurdity of the play acting, these 'bad calls' that spoil the contest and now the world's governing body's obstinate refusal to try to correct these failures make it unacceptable, and for many laughable as a sporting event. We can only hope that the remainder of this World Cup is free of these errors but what we have seen so far makes that very unlikely indeed.

 

Can Slovakia continue in their giant-killer role?

The Netherlands still haven't produced the dominant performance expected of them but goals from Robben (18) and Sneijder (84) were enough for the 2-1 win over Slovakia. Robert Vittek's stoppage time penalty got the consolation goal, his 4^th goal of the tournament.

 

Chile-Brazil

The loser here will become the first South American side to be eliminated from World Cup 2010. That South American sides end up eliminating one another is a testament to the strength of that confederation. Brazil was terrific, not yet brilliant, in their 3-0 victory over Chile. First half goals from Juan (34) on a powerful header from a corner and Luis Fabiano (38) put them in firm control. Robinho put the result beyond doubt in the 59^th sending Brazil to a quarterfinal meeting with the Netherlands. Might be a round too soon for these two teams.

 

The good news was that FIFA didn't manage to screw up either one of these matches. They did manage to express their arrogance and focus the light for why there has not been a concerted effort to deal with the issues by simply rejecting any discussion. The tyrants of FIFA in all their arrogance on display.

 

The spokesman simply said that the in-stadium replays of these events “should not happen” NOT that they were interested at all in doing anything to try to prevent them in the first place. FIFA keeps saying that it would be too expensive and essentially that position really means that since they couldn't force the same effort to eliminate the mistakes that turn a match on ALL games in every corner of the world, to every neighborhood pitch in existence that they won't make the effort to fix the games on the world's biggest stage. The blinders the tyrants wear means there will be no effort whatsoever to 'fix' the issues.

 

Paraguay-Japan

Can Paraguay eliminate the last Asian side and put the 4^th nation from South America in the final 8? Actually it would be a big surprise if they didn't do just that. The match turned out to be the most dour and unwatchable of any so far. The result was a 0-0 draw after extra time and Paraguay earned advancement 5-3 in the penalty round. South America puts 4 teams into the final 8.

 

Spain-Portugal

In the match that would generate more interest around the world Portugal faces off against their highly regarded neighbor, Spain. Expect, and celebrate if you're so inclined, Spain's dominance of the super ego of Cristiano Ronaldo who seems to think he is the team. Frankly, I hope Spain blows them (and him) away. Would it teach him a lesson and perhaps a little humility? Not likely, but it would bring a smile to many faces around the world to see him confronted with reality and thoroughly defeated.

 

It didn't quite happen that way as Portugal played well and kept a compact defensive posture. A piece of excellence by David Villa broke the spell for the games only goal (63). His initial shot with his left was well saved and when the rebound fell favorably for him he poked it over the keeper with his right. Spain was the better side on the day but didn't produce the game many were hoping to see.

 

So Spain-Paraguay, Netherlands-Brazil, Germany-Argentina and Ghana-Uruguay are on the bill for the quarterfinal round. Two of those contests being in the category of the hoped for final for this first ever World Cup held on African soil and no, I don't mean the Ghana-Uruguay match.