World Cup: The Next Game for the US

I won't pretend to know much of anything about the team the US will face on Friday (9:30 am EST, ESPN): Slovenia. The New York Times sees a squad very similar to the US: a physical, well-organized, defensive team that depends on the counterattack to score.

All I can tell you is that the US should expect to tie and probably even win. And the players know the importance of getting a result out of this match. "In all likelihood, if we lose, we're out of the tournament. That's the reality of the situation," explained Landon Donovan.

Tim Howard is apparently fine and is expected to play on Friday, although in interviews he has been pretty cagey about revealing the extent of his injuries. I just hope he's healthy enough to play and play well.

There is the possibility that the US will field a more attack-minded lineup against Slovenia. Ricardo Clark might make way for Benny Feilhaber or Jose Torres, both of whom are less defensive players, more comfortable on the ball and better passers than Clark. Any other changes to the US starting 11 would be a bit of a surprise, although Stuart Holden might get a start as well.

England and Algeria play later on Friday, so the US can really put pressure on England by securing a win. England, it should be said, have an easier opponent in Algeria, who lost to Slovenia on Sunday. In fact, should England win, Algeria would be all-but-eliminated and might phone in their game against the US next week. But it 2002, the US only needed a tie against Poland, who had been effectively eliminated before their last game. The US ended up needing (and getting) a surprise win by S. Korea against Portgual to advance to the knock out stages.

I should also note there has been a shift in the coverage of England in the press and I think it reflects the pressure the English players are under. Before the tournament, most of the chatter in England was about how far the team could go in the tournament. But since last week's tie, the focus has been on what England will have to do to get out of the group. Each team should still expect to advance, but each will have to keep its nerve on Friday.


Finally, the World Cup has been the topic of much conversation in the Ferris home and the games are frequently on TV. Yesterday morning, while Meg and I were getting ready for work in the bathroom, John was lying on our bed in his pajamas watching the early game. Every few minutes he would announce the score to keep me and Meg in the loop. "It's still zero to zero. No goals yet!" Unfortunately we all missed the thrilling end to that game (when New Zealand equalized in the dying seconds of the match) but I'm sure John will be watching more games with us as the tournament continues.