Enttäuscht

Today's soccer action was kicked off Kaiserslautern, Germany as the Aussies took on the Beast from the East, Japan. After an early lead by the Japanese, the Australians, managed to find their barrings, and came back from what was an apparent loss, to win their first ever World Cup game 3-1.Next, the Yanks made their highly anticipated debut, in what ultimately became a highly disappointing match. The USA took on the European powerhouse that is the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and it was apparent, almost right away, that we were heavily outmatched. The USA played very sloppy, and even Head Coach Bruce Arena had trouble watching the game at times. Although this is not the end, it still means that we're starting off in a hole we desperately need to climb out of if we want to have any hope to advance to the next round. Final score board, a gut-wrenching 3-0. Next we head on over to Hannover, Germany where Italy faced off against the African nation of Ghana. At this point we were rooting for the Africans to at least make a showing against the Italians (who are also heavily favored), and keep them at bay since the USA faces up against them next. But all our hopes were in vain. The Italians came to play, and play they did. It was mostly due to luck, and calls by the officials, that the final score was ONLY 2-1. Italy played an awesome game, and I'm afraid of what they will do with the Americans. We'll just have to wait and see. So, as of today Group E looks like this:

1. Czech Republic (3 pts.)
2. Italy (3 pts.)
3. Ghana (0 pts.)
4. USA (0 pts.) [sigh]

Tomorrow: Korea vs. Togo, France vs. Switzerland, and the defending champions Brazil vs. Croatia