Los Angeles Times
How The Los Angeles Times Reported the U.S.A v Italy game
Team Regains Respect With a Gritty Effort
June 18, 2006
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — For a team that still hasn't achieved any of the primary World Cup objectives — you know, like scoring goals and winning games — the United States had plenty of reasons to be proud Saturday night.The Americans could take pride in the stitches on forward Brian McBride's left cheek, the gauze sticking out of defenseman Jimmy Conrad's right nostril, the sweat on Coach Bruce Arena's forehead. They all reflected the effort and sacrifice that went into a 1-1 tie with Italy, a group-play point gained despite playing at a man disadvantage for most of the second half.
That the U.S. still has a chance to advance to the knockout round of competition is almost secondary. It's an added bonus, a gift courtesy of Ghana's surprising victory over the Czech Republic that reshaped Group E and put everyone in play. (There are a couple of scenarios that work out for the Americans, but the simplest is to beat Ghana and for Italy to beat the Czechs.)
The real U.S. achievement would have been the same regardless of the outcome of this game. They had a chance to redeem themselves after that dismal, 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the opener. They had a chance to show everyone that American soccer can compete with Europeans, even in Europe.
"You earn respect," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "And we earned it today, no question about it."
But this wasn't just about proving something to the rest of the world or giving validity to the commercials and magazine covers. That was the original agenda of Team USA, but that got lost somewhere between the second and third goals scored by the Czech Republic. Suddenly, they had inner doubts that needed to be addressed.
Those questions have been answered."We can look each other in the eyes and say we gave it everything that we had," Conrad said. "I think that was something that was missing in the Czech game."
Footnote: This report is the third item on the sports headlines page and it isn't even mentioned anywhere on the front page headlines.
Team Regains Respect With a Gritty Effort
June 18, 2006
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — For a team that still hasn't achieved any of the primary World Cup objectives — you know, like scoring goals and winning games — the United States had plenty of reasons to be proud Saturday night.The Americans could take pride in the stitches on forward Brian McBride's left cheek, the gauze sticking out of defenseman Jimmy Conrad's right nostril, the sweat on Coach Bruce Arena's forehead. They all reflected the effort and sacrifice that went into a 1-1 tie with Italy, a group-play point gained despite playing at a man disadvantage for most of the second half.
That the U.S. still has a chance to advance to the knockout round of competition is almost secondary. It's an added bonus, a gift courtesy of Ghana's surprising victory over the Czech Republic that reshaped Group E and put everyone in play. (There are a couple of scenarios that work out for the Americans, but the simplest is to beat Ghana and for Italy to beat the Czechs.)
The real U.S. achievement would have been the same regardless of the outcome of this game. They had a chance to redeem themselves after that dismal, 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the opener. They had a chance to show everyone that American soccer can compete with Europeans, even in Europe.
"You earn respect," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "And we earned it today, no question about it."
But this wasn't just about proving something to the rest of the world or giving validity to the commercials and magazine covers. That was the original agenda of Team USA, but that got lost somewhere between the second and third goals scored by the Czech Republic. Suddenly, they had inner doubts that needed to be addressed.
Those questions have been answered."We can look each other in the eyes and say we gave it everything that we had," Conrad said. "I think that was something that was missing in the Czech game."
Footnote: This report is the third item on the sports headlines page and it isn't even mentioned anywhere on the front page headlines.
posted by Paul at
9:41 am
2 Comments:
I read an LA Times editorial in this week's edition of 'The Week' that stated the worst thing that could happen to world football would be for the US to win it. It argued that because they have been unable to get anyone else interested in their own home grown sports they have had to make up their own world championships and sometimes allow the Canadians to play, but outside this when they do export their games they normaly get whipped. Think Japan and Baseball. And when they encounter a truly global sport they largely ignore it. Read 1 in 5 of the global population watched WC final 2002 as opposed to in 75 Americans.
They finished saying the last thing the world wants in the US to take a cup home to a nation that basically couldn't give a sht.
By
Crispin Heath, at 4:54 pm
Hi Six, I read that in 'The Week' as well - there was also a t.v poll in Nashville that found 75% of those asked didn't know what the World Cup was - let alone who was taking part!
By
Paul, at 10:59 am
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