More from the YWC

Brazil vs. Nigeria - shouldn't there have been SOMEONE in this game that was impressive, sadly, not the case. I'll withhold my opinion on the theory that both of these teams might be good enough to cancel out exceptional talent but this was miserable watching.

SPOILER ALERT...
Upon a second viewing, the US team played another excellent team, this time one who was playing 20 km from home soil. They looked excellent in the first half, not so much in the second half. Here are a few player-specific comments:

1) Bandwagon Watch - Marvelle Wynne wasn't AS impressive in this match but he was still one of the better players on the pitch - he seemed to wear down somewhat towards the end of the game creating some openings for the Germans on the right side of the defense when he didn't get back from a run. His few crosses were better than in the Argentina game. Still amazing to watch him

2) The Missing Link - usually, this is a compliment to a player who has filled in a gap, in this case, it refers to Eddie Gaven who is supposed to be linking midfield and attack and, um, hasn't for two games against good competition. He seems to SEE the right pass but consistently fail to deliver it - in one 2nd half sequence he kicked the ball into the same defenders shins twice trying to thread the needle - didn't look promising.

3) Freddie - not his greatest game ever, he didn't play badly but he didn't really have any moments of brilliance either.

4) Wheelhouse - I'm not ready to put together a bandwagon yet, but I have enjoyed watching Benny Feilhaber play in the center of the US midfield. He is stalwart in defense and generally in position to act as a first line of defense. He also makes some good opportunistic runs into the offensive half. He doesn't have as obvious a position as either Makelele (defensive central midfield) or Lampard (offensive central midfield) - he's more like a (very) poor man's Steven Gerrard. Worth keeping an eye on - I'm betting he makes some appearances with the full MNT and makes some noise in a few more years.

Hopefully, there wasn't anything above that might spoil the game for anyone heading home to watch on TiVo :-)