One more game, one last chance to make their reputation. When the Americans play Algeria at the World Cup on Wednesday they’ll either live up to all the hype and earn a spot among the final 16 teams ”” or fall painfully short of their long-stated goal and lose a watershed opportunity.
“We have a great chance tomorrow night to get a win and advance on to the second round,” captain Carlos Bocanegra said Tuesday. “It’s important for us because we had that disappointment in ’06. It’s not really extra motivation, but it’s just in the back of our minds. You work so hard and you train for so long for the World Cup, and it can be over so quickly if you don’t advance.”
A victory or possibly a tie would move the United States into the knockout rounds on a high that will set off midday celebrations back home. Replicate the loss to Ghana that knocked the U.S. out in 2006, and it will start a new round of soul-searching for that could cost coach Bob Bradley his job ”” not to mention dampening the burgeoning enthusiasm for soccer in America.
It’s looking pretty rough for us. England is up by 1 over Slovenia. Unless Slovenia can tie or we score against Algeria we are done. Time is fast running out.
GOAL!!!!!!!!
Apparently we win Group C, with England advancing in second place, correct? What a wild set of matches there have been.