No. 13--USA vs. South Africa (RSA)—Not a Good Soccer Game for the Americans Despite a Win

by Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

The game date was Nov. 17, 2007 played in Johannesburg for the Nelson Mandella Challenge Cup SA. In my opinion, the USA team does not have what it takes to be competitive at the 2010 world cup unless they make many improvements with team play, short accurate passing, trapping and far fewer long kicks from the goalkeeper up field. This contest was what I often describe as North American style soccer utilizing long upfield kicks; but at least, it did not contain the roughness sometimes associated with this style of play.

Much of the time the Americans played high school type soccer despite the 1 to 0 win over South Africa. Their play for the most part, was purposeless and in the second half there was essentially had no offensive play. Many times players bunched up in a localized area instead of spreading out across the field to be in open spaces for passes. Maybe their play could be blamed upon the altitude of nearly 6000 feet, but I am not so sure. In addition, the ball went over the touchline continually indicating lack of control by both teams. This happened too often and presented itself as a poor game for spectators, however, it was a relatively clean game with very few fouls. And fortunately, the American defense was decent most of the time, yet it can still improve.

The American goal scored by Steve Cherundolo was with a great run and he is commended for this; however, RSA defensemen were chasing him--being typical of their weak defense in the first half. In the second half, however their defense was hardly challenged, as the American team had almost no scoring opportunities. It seems that the American team, while having very little offense (and little endurance) had a good defense—which can be a credit to their win.

Subusiso Zuma the African showed great soccer skills and worth mentioning. The South Africans played an excellent second half looking like a top South American team at times, but could not put the ball in the net, despite several good attempts. One of the South African problems is that did too little challenging to the American defenders while these defenders passed the ball around on their defensive side of the half line.

If the Americans wish to be a contender for the 2010 world cup, they need to watch more top class soccer and make improvements in the next two years. Here are some problems with the USA team as I see them:
1. They depended upon long balls and breakaways for scoring
2. There are to many long kicks from the goalkeeper instead of short passes to defenders
3. There is very little constructive passing and trapping
4. Many throw-ins were sent to crowded areas (usually up the line) instead of to open players
5. Players were not moving into open areas on the playing field
6. A few times the defense was out of position.

Finally, in addition to improvements mentioned above, rigorous conditioning is a must if the Americans wish to be a contender in the next World Cup.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.