George Murphy of Yanks Abroad.com writes about showing resolve and not jumping off 'the Bob Bradley bandwagon'.
I purposely waited until the end of the United States' three Confederations Cup group-stage games before voicing an opinion about their performance, mainly because 1) I didn't want to jump to conclusions and join the "Fire Bob Bradley because he can't win big games" bandwagon prematurely, and 2) I thought it would be fair to give the players until the end of the tournament before judging their individual performances.
So, the United States just advanced out of a group that may have been tougher than the one they were in for the 2006 World Cup, where they were grouped with Italy, Ghana, and Czech Republic.
I purposely waited until the end of the United States' three Confederations Cup group-stage games before voicing an opinion about their performance, mainly because 1) I didn't want to jump to conclusions and join the "Fire Bob Bradley because he can't win big games" bandwagon prematurely, and 2) I thought it would be fair to give the players until the end of the tournament before judging their individual performances.
So, the United States just advanced out of a group that may have been tougher than the one they were in for the 2006 World Cup, where they were grouped with Italy, Ghana, and Czech Republic.
No team that has ever won a World Cup, Champions League final, or any other major tournament, did not have some sort of turn of events work out in their favor.
In looking back, in all honesty, the only game in the tournament that the United States was outplayed in was their loss to Brazil.
I thought that, against Italy, the team looked confident, composed, and focused. Ricardo Clark's sending off obviously took quite a bit of wind out of their sails, and look at the goals they conceded in the second half: Rossi's wonder-shot which wouldn't have been saved by any goalkeeper in this world, DeRossi's shot which Howard had a hard time tracking, and Rossi's third goal which was pretty much a product of fatigue for the United States back line after Pirlo turned them inside out.
But overall, were they outclassed by the Azzurri? I don't think so. In fact, before Clark's red card, I thought that they looked like the better team.
For those of you who jumped off, there are still a couple of seats left to hop back on the Bob Bradley Bandwagon...
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