WC2006: Czech Your Head (Part 3)

ON A TRAIN TO BERLIN (continued) -- Game time. The U.S. lineup is what I expected given that nobody made a strong case for the second forward, with Landon Donovan moving up top and allowing the red-hot Bobby Convey into the lineup with Damarcus Beasley flipping over to the right.

Then, suddenly - and I don't recall in which order - center back Oguchi Onyewu has a yellow card and the Czechs have a goal. Eddie Lewis got caught up on a break, Pablo Mastroeni couldn't get back in time to cover the flank, and neither Gooch nor Eddie Pope could locate Czech giant Jan Koller when the cross came in.

This definitely took the wind out of the fans' sails. A couple of us tried to get things going again, with varied success. Cheering hard and loud when your side is down is tough, and our success at that particular thing in Chicago seems to be the exception and not the rule. There's an unmistakable feeling of dread, that we're overmatched. Then, a flash of hope. Claudio Reyna gets free, gets a shot off, and hits the post. We collectively seem surprised by the effort, which speaks volumes about where our heads are at.

Shortly after that, it all goes to hell, as the Czechs collect an American clearance and rifle a shot into the corner for a 2-0 lead. We faced an uphill battle as the underdog from the opening whistle. Erasing a two-goal deficit will take a miracle.

Could that miracle be second-half sub Eddie Johnson? The Kansas City Wizards striker had some good chances - probably more on his own than we did as a team in the first half - but nothing would find the back of the net. As we push forward, the Czechs catch us on a counter and ice the match with a third goal. I wasn't in France in 1998, but the ghosts of that tournament hang over our heads. I start to wonder if I can change my travel schedule and make it back to Chicago for the Toyota Park grand opening.

Was it really that bad? I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that it was. There were stretches, particularly once the U.S. had settled down after the early Czech goal, where the Americans were able to string together some possession, but while they were able to keep the ball, they weren't really able to do anything with it.

In particular, the U.S. seemed almost completely unable to run off the ball. The high vantage point made this really stand out, particularly in the second half. As the ball moved from side to side, Donovan and McBride would job to the left, then jog to the right. They might show for the ball, but almost always with their back to goal from almost a dead stop, with a defender close at hand, which forced them to rely too heavily on 1-v-1 skills. Johnson was able to use those skills and find some shots, but far too much seemed to rely on individual matchups - like Convey burning up the left wing - and not enough on coherent team play and team movement. The offense was simply too unimaginitive to make any plays, to catch anybody while they were actually moving. This is where you look back and see the value of a forward like Josh Wolff, who finds those seams and exploits them.

One other Fire-related hindsight moment I shared with another Fire fan was whether or not either of those first two goals would have happened had Chris Armas been in the game instead of Pablo Mastroeni. This is a dangerous line of reasoning for me, as I typically can't stand the endless litany of armchair second-guessing that comes after any soccer match. But I can't help thinking that Armas' tactical awareness would have had him covering the left side as soon as Eddie Lewis pushed forward. Mastroeni didn't, and had to give belated chase from the center. And would Armas have been more aware of where Rodicky was on Gooch's clearance attempt?

Speaking of Gooch, he appeared to have a strong game when watching it live, but seeing the highlights made me realize he played some part in each of the Czech goals. Not sure what to make of that, but maybe we see Carlos Bocanegra or Gregg Berhalter in the second match.