United States versus Slovakia

I went to a match between the US and Slovakian national soccer teams last weekend in Bratislava.  (To get you up to speed quickly, Slovakia is one half of the old Czechoslovakia and Bratislava the Slovakian capital.)  Both teams have qualified for next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.  The US qualification was expected: the North America group is soft and the US has a huge advantage by sheer force of a 300 million person pool of players.  Slovakia, on the other hand, qualified in the incredibly difficult European group.  I was interested to see how the two teams would fare.  Cut to finish:  Slovakia won 1-0 in a really boring match.

I can’t speak about the Slovakian side because I don’t know any of their players.  As for the US, they certainly didn’t come to win.  Key players were left off the roster including Tim Howard and Landon Donovan.  I understand this, of course.  Coach Bob Bradley was experimenting with players, but it doesn’t explain some basic problems with the US side.   Midway through the first half Slovakia scored on a penalty kick and fell into a defensive roll for the rest of the match.  Okay, Slovakia, I see what you’re doing.  It’s a reasonable strategy; it’s reasonable if your lone objective is to win the game.  But with the World Cup six months away I can’t help but wonder if that’s Slovakia’s ultimate game plan: hoping for an early goal and hanging on.  It’s a weakness of soccer in my opinion, because this strategy can work in a single match, but as far as tournament strategy, I can’t see this playing style getting you out of the first round. 

As for the US response to Slovakia’s defensive style: shame on America.  The US maintained possession for the better part of the entire game yet failed to produce any real chances.  It looked as if the US thought time of possession would win the game and not goals.  There were a few instances in which the US had the ball around Slovakia’s penalty area but when Slovakia put pressure on the US, the Americans back passed all the way to their own defensive third of the field!  Moreover, the US midfield overlooked the few opportunities they had to play dangerous balls to attacking players choosing instead to (you guessed it) back pass.  General field vision was abysmal on the US side.

Okay, so the playing style left a lot to be desired.  Part of the problem might have been the terrible condition of the field.  It looked as if the grass was torn up and more times than I can count I saw the ball take unpredictable hops.  That’s just unsatisfactory for such a high-level match.  And that shifts me to my next point.  The match was played in Slovakia’s national stadium.  Not only was the pitch in poor condition, but the stadium looked like it emerged from the cold war in shambles and has gotten worse since then.  Concrete was spalling.  Shrubs were growing in the cracks in the bleachers.  I was really surprised by it all.  Strangely, I took a liking to the stadium.  So many western stadiums are done up like Disney.  They’ve got massive TV screens, fireworks and flag-waving in the pre-game, and limitless cheeseball marketing schemes.  In Slovakia, it’s old school.  A crumbling stadium and a crappy pitch.  No chance for fans to get distracted by the sexy advertisements.  The stadium was the purist’s sort.  It was a place for people to sit and watch a game.  But for whatever reason, the fans seems detached from the game and I can’t explain it.  Maybe it was the fact that the stadium held 30,000 and there were only 7000 in attendance.  Maybe there were a lot of guys like me taking photos of all the crumbling walls and the rusty trash cans instead of cheering.   I can say this: for my 10 euros ($15) ticket price I’m happy.  I met some nice people.  I landed some good blog fodder.  And I ate a terrific pork and onion sandwich for only 2 bucks.  I would have given the experience 4 stars but the stadium ran out of beer in the second half.  So I’m giving US vs Slovakia 3 stars.

Yummy Sandwich.

Here's the display sign at the concession stand.

 

Next to the concession stand.

 

Check out the classic Tesla stadium speakers!

Comments

[mark from nrc]

Greg,

Who was on the field for the US?

[Greg]

I couldn't find a roster but here are some interesting game reports about some of the players.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1679/us-national-team/2009/11/14/1625261/winners-and-losers-us-vs-slovakia

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/290245-usa-vs-slovakia-post-game-reactions

Greg

[mark from nrc]

Sounds like it was, at least, some of the "A Team." You'll need to take a trip to see the us soccer hall of fame in Oneonta, NY some day. Its less famous neighbor in Cooperstown (just 20 miles away) is also nice.