Ok fellas I was there at the game yesterday so I gonna just give a lil rundown on my thoughts of the game.
I reach about 3 mins before kickoff, stadium pack up and the atmosphere electric. I was surprised by the amount of Argentina fans in attendance, was about 35%-40% Argentina strips in the crowd. US fans shouting dey U-S-A chant, Argentina fans countering with their AR-GEN-TINA chant. I real excited. For most of the 1st half it was Argentina enjoying the majority of the possession and chances. I hadda say, Messi have some serious vision and passing ability boy. I find that's an aspect of his game that is somewhat overlooked, as his dribbling and goalscoring prowess is well known. He was regularly threading some immaculate balls through to the wingers and his fellow forwards. Julio Cruz alone throw way 3 1v1's with the keeper. To his credit tho, Howard did make some good saves.
USA's strategy in the first half seemed to be very organized in defence, make it hard for Argentina to break through, then hit back on the counter. They had some nice attacking moves going forward, one play in particular i remember was some nice one touch with the left back (cah remember his name), Johnson, Bradley and Dempsey, ending with the left back forcing a save from the Arg keeper after making a nice overlapping run that completely fool the Argentina defence. On that play in particular they looked like an elite team. At halftime tho, Arg should have probably been about 2 goals ahead.
Second half, Arg sub Messi, and immediately Arg look like a different side in the attacking third. They no longer seemed to have a consistent answer to unlocking the US defence, and USA no doubt gained in confidence. The second half was a much more competitive affair, with USA arguably having the better of the half. Good one-touch passing, excellent runs off the ball, very good organization. They really impressed me with their play yesterday, and I am one of the biggest USA critics. The US no doubt would feel very good after their performance.
Some additional observations:
Landon Donovan real fast. I never rated him as a player, but he a lot better than i anticipated. He still overrated by the US fans, but he's not as much of a goat as i thought.
Sergio Aguero is a boss. He didn't have his greatest game yesterday, but his technique, ball control and touch was evident. Him and Messi up front was a terror for the USA in the first half. They have the makings of being a deadly strike partnership for years to come.
Freddy Adu like he feel he's a gangsta or sumtin. De man oppose Javier Zanetti after Mascherano get sent off, push he hand up in Zanetti face and ting. Men had to hold Zanetti back after dat, it was like "who dis lil boy feel he is??" He lucky cuz Zanetti look like he was gladly gonna take a red card to knock him out.
T&T in real trouble if they think they ready to take on the USA right now. We have RHEEELLLLLL work to do