Czech Mate

By Ridge Mahoney in Gelsenkirchen

Only with a strong, collective effort could the USA have beaten an excellent Czech Republic team. Instead, the disjointed, hesitant Americans were overpowered, 3-0.

The Czechs played with determination, strength and speed of thought. The USA had no answer to the brilliance of Pavel Nedved and Tomas Rosicky. Both sliced through the U.S. backwall. Aside from a couple of runs by Landon Donovan, the USA failed to unlock the Czech defense. It never looked capable of scoring. Eddie Johnson, a halftime substitute, took a couple of shots but failed to hit the net. On only a few occasions did the USA get good crosses into the 6-yard box.

The questions of Bruce ArenaÆs tactical and personnel decisions begin. DaMarcus Beasley, positioned on the right side of midfield, came into the game coming off a series of lackluster performances and played even worse in one of the biggest games of his career. Regardless of who played where, however, the sad fact was the Americans were dominated by the Czechs.

Look for more from Ridge Mahoney and Mike Woitalla from Gelsenkirchen later today.

SOCCER AMERICA REPORT CARD

(1=low; 5=average; 10=high)

RATING PLAYER (CLUB/CAPS)

STARTERS:

5 Kasey Keller (Borussia MÆGladbach/GER, 36/94)

4 Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96/GER, 27/ 36)

3 Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege/BEL, 24/15)

3 Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake, 32/81)

2 Eddie Lewis (Leeds/ENG, 32/71)

2 DaMarcus Beasley (PSV/NED, 24/59)

3 Bobby Convey (Reading/ENG, 23/40)

5 Claudio Reyna (Man. City/ENG, 32/111)

4 Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids, 29/49)

5 Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy, 24/82)

4 Brian McBride (Fulham/ENG, 33/93)

SUBS:

4 John O'Brien (Chivas USA, 28/32)

4 Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards, 22/19)

– Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards, 29/48

GAME REPORT

June 12 in Gelsenkirchen

Czech Rep. 3 USA 0. Goals: Koller 5, Rosicky 36, 76.

Czech Rep. — Cech, Grygera, Rozehnal, Ujfalusi, Jankulovski, Poborsky (Polak, 82), Galasek, Rosicky (Stajner, 86), Nedved, Plasil, Koller (Lokvenc, 45).

USA û Keller, Cherundolo (Johnson, 46), Onyewu, Pope, Lewis, Beasley, Reyna, Mastroeni (O'Brien, 46), Convey, Donovan, McBride (Wolff, 77)

Yellow cards: Czech Republic — Rozehnal 16, Lokvenc 58, Rosicky 81, Grygera 88; USA û Onyewu 4, Reyna 59.

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay).

Att.: 52,000.

STATISTICS

Shots: Czech Rep. 10, USA 6.

Fouls: Czech Rep. 19, USA 15.

Corner Kicks: Czech Rep. 5, USA 2.

Offsides: Czech Rep. 9, USA 0.