The USA! USA! of Blogs

The Dutch walked away with a cheap win today after a bunch of sorry acting, whining and luck. That's why Americans find it hard to watch soccer. Late in the first half, some light contact between crying Dutchman Robben and an American defender sent Robben flying to the ground and apparently ailing like he had just been mowed down by a bus. So, naturally, this being soccer, the Dutch get a penalty kick, essentailly a free goal for Robben's Oscar worthy performance. Kuyt nailed it home for the 1-0 lead. There were some other similar plays where acting earned the Dutch a little prize.

The second Dutch goal was luck. Bornstein deflected it and it went opposite the goalie, Howard, for the 2-0 score. So in my eyes, a little referee lube and some luck and the thespians athletes of the Netherlands National Football team are on to victory. The referee seemed to be teaching the US how to play with his calls. Often smiling when he made calls against the US.

To contrast the sad little goals of the puny Dutch, our boys put some fire on the Dutch goalie late in the game, including a manly score from Carlos Bocanegra that should have let the Dutch know their goals sucked. But they were too busy celebrating their lucky little win. In my opinion, there was only one real goal scored today.

"Certainly it was a good test for us, and I think overall the team played well,” Bradley said. “The collective effort was pretty solid. There were moments where it needed to be sharper, quicker and better and we still need to raise the bar. Late in the game it was nice to see a good push. We had the ability to move the ball forward get people running off it and we created some good opportunities. We take a lot from the game.”