USA Needs to Play a Full 90 Minutes of Soccer vs Panama

Well, it's the Gold Cup Semifinals, and the U.S.A. is exactly where they expected to be, kind of. 

They are in the semifinals, and with winning the Gold Cup their stated goal this summer, they are where they expected to be. How they got there and how they have played, however, has been a different story.

This American squad played so poorly in group play, I expected them to be out of it by now. But all of a sudden, on Sunday against Jamaica, they decided to show up the way we expected them to all summer.

Let's be honest, they were set up in a group that they should have won. And it should have been a cake walk. I'm just wondering now if they can actually play a full 90 minutes of soccer, which they have yet to do.

During group play, this U.S. team looked so asleep and out of it that it could have been my co-ed rec team out there, and we might have done as well. They played all their group games as if they were entitled children, turning it on only when they had to, but never truly playing a full game.

How do you score a goal in the ninth minute against Guadaloupe and not just bury them from there? There is no killer instinct. 

Then the Jamaica game came along, and the Yanks finally put together a good game. And when I say GOOD game, that's a bit of a stretch. They didn't finish well, but they dominated play in general. 

A 2-0 win in soccer is always nice, but legitimately that game should have been four or even five to nothing, considering the chances they had.

But it was finally a performance where they actually looked like a soccer team. They actually played a full 90 minutes, which hadn't happened yet in the Gold Cup. During group play, they had continually attempted to put forth 30 minutes of fury to win a game, and looked like they were just happy to be there the other 60 minutes of a game.

It did produce wins twice, but they weren't pretty and not really deserved.

So tonight, they really have to show up. I would love to see a full 90 minutes of good soccer from this team, and it will produce a win against Panama. 

I know this was more of a rant, written out of frustration, but it's the truth. This team needs to get it together and play soccer, not walk on the pitch and just expect things to happen.