ON THE OTHER HAND...:

Hello, World Cup: Assessing Team USA's chances after a final tuneup for South Africa. (Alan Siegel, May 31, 2010, Slate)

In the second half of Saturday's tune-up—a 2-1 victory over the Turks—the United States played like a team that didn't need any more practice, with Landon Donovan zipping through the Turkish defense beautifully in setting up both goals. While Team USA is thin in many areas, Donovan is showing the kind of form the Americans will need from their best player to advance out of group play in South Africa. Goalkeeper Tim Howard (who didn't have to do much in the way of acrobatics on Saturday save one brilliant second-half save) and goal scorers Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey (who celebrated his game-winning strike with his version of injured striker Charlie Davies' stanky leg) also look primed to help Donovan's cause.

None of that is news, of course, even to the guy screaming, "Suck it, Turkey!" The pessimists, too, can look to an old problem: the national team's sievelike defense, which broke down repeatedly during the first 45 minutes. In the 27th minute, right back Jonathan Spector was beaten badly by Turkish winger Arda Turan, who finished a blazing run by drilling a shot past Howard. And, as the Turkish owner of a South Jersey diner told me Sunday morning, "We had three more chances in the first half, too."

Spector wasn't alone in looking bad. I agree with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, who wrote that, "Defense has to be played by the entire team, and nobody—not Donovan and not [midfielder Ricardo] Clark—did enough to cover the space left open by Spector's forward run." If the Americans want to stop England's lethal attack, they must do a better job of tracking back on defense. Otherwise, the Brits will probably be belting out chants after multiple Wayne Rooney goals. (I like this one the best: "I saw my mate the other day/ He said to me he'd seen the white Pelé/ So I asked who is he?/ He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney/ Wayne Rooney, Wayne Rooney.")

If you look past the defensive lapses, there were a few positive developments for the United States on Saturday. One was the play of Robbie Findley, viewed by many as a perplexing choice for the World Cup roster. (He didn't score his first goal of the season for Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake until May 13). Findley, whose perfectly floated pass in the 58th minute allowed Donovan to find Altidore for the tying goal, looked in flashes like the speedy striker the United States has been missing since Davies suffered severe injuries in an October car accident. Midfielder José Torres was also a revelation in the second half, helping the United States keep possession and creating chances for teammates.

Can Findley and Torres perform similar feats in South Africa? I'm not so sure. The fans in Philly, though, didn't seem to doubt the pair or America's chances in general. The pre-World Cup mood was mostly sweetness and light; as soon as I pulled my car into the stadium parking lot, I ran into dozens of teenagers kicking around soccer balls. This kind of thing doesn't happen in Manchester, Rome, or Madrid, where the only thing being kicked before matches are opposing supporters' teeth.

...not only are England's defenders unreliable--Ferdinand, Johnson, and Terry are each likely to pull a Spector--but their keeper--David James--is dire.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 1, 2010 12:00 AM