From: Hildegaard Beauregard [ljlife@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 2:28 AM
Subject: U.S. escapes again, but not with a win

The U.S. and Korea had one of those 1-1 draws that
axiomatically makes the sport not worth an American's
attention.

The U.S. scored a beautiful goal in the first half,
O'Brien passing nearly half the field to Clint Mathis,
who brought the ball down with his right foot, then
cooly switched to his left to slash the ball into the
side of the net. Mathis, back from injury and sporting
a Mohawk (the third player in the tournament with one,
after a German and a Turk) -- fucking Travis Bickle on
a soccer pitch -- was paired with Brian McBride up
front and Landon Donovan was put in midfield with the
absence of Ernie Stewart to injury. The U.S. used a
hold and long pass strategy to keep the ball away from
the fast Koreans, and they worked it well in the first
half.

A South Korean defender shoved DeMarcus Beasley down
in the Korean box, what should have been a clear
penalty kick for the U.S., and right after at the
other end, Korea was given a controversial penalty
away from the ball as U.S. keeper Brad Friedel made a
save. But Freidel saved the penalty kick! It was the
first penalty kick of the tournament that was
unsuccessful. It was justice for the non-call and
call.

The Koreans got away with all sorts of stuff and U.S.
kept getting called. I watched the game in my local
pub on ESPN 2 and the American announcers kept saying
that it would be very difficult for the U.S. to get
close calls in their favor. Either they did not
explain the logic for this or I didn't hear why. But
such seemed to be the case in the first half. (I did
hear the stupid announcer say at one point that Korea
was more in need of the "3-point win." What he meant
was the 3 points for the win, not a 3-goal victory. He
was also presuming for us that Korea's next opponent,
Portugal, would be a tougher contest for them, and
that Poland would be easier for the U.S.)

In the second half, the U.S. fell into the same swampy
play they did against Portugal, and Korea completely
took charge. The U.S. could not hold the ball for more
than a few seconds at a time, and then it got worse as
they began to tire. Korea missed several great chances
for a goal, then finally got one on a very lucky
header off a long free kick. Later they had a shot on
an open goal, as Friedel had made the play towards Lee
Eul Yong who diverted the ball to Choi Yong Soo, but
the latter chipped the ball over the goal.

I thought that the way the U.S. played in the second
half of the Portugal game showed a weakness Korea
would exploit. Korea's pursuit, along with Sweden the
best in the tournament, against the U.S.'s poor
control of possessesion was a bad formula for the U.S.
This was especially so in the second half when the
U.S. fell back, and did not cover the whole field, and
then as they tired. The difference of course was that
here the U.S. could only get one goal against Korea,
and then could only hold on for a draw.

If the U.S. could learn how to pass better in the
field for possession and hold up their act for an
entire 90 minutes, they have some very talented
players and they could become more solid. They are
already dangerous. But South Korea is already a solid
contender. The entire team pursues very well (better
than Portugal, #5 in the FIFA world rankings), keeps
constant pressure on the opponent defensively, and
then transfers to the attack very well.

With a little bit more luck for the U.S., we'll see
them and South Korea both in the second stage.