USA! No.1! England? No.2

Certainly no high class football in these two games but plenty of drama. For the longest time, an equalizer by Slovenia against a much improved English team would have sent the U.S. and Slovenia through (it almost happened, too). When England finally managed to secure victory, the U.S. suddenly had to score in stoppage time. And score they did. I will never think of Landon Donovan as a world class footballer but he has shown great heart and determination in the last two matches. More importantly, he scored two crucial goals when friends and foes all missed a boatload of great chances.

It is good thing that the U.S. reached the next round. They had two perfectly good goals disallowed and, I think it is fair to say, deserved it more than either Algeria or Slovenia. Moreover, it's a good thing for the future development of the game in America. The "comeback kids" defying adversity (i.e., foreign refs and rules) are a story that will certainly conquer the public imagination. Donovan and the obnoxious Alexei Lalas have already found parallels between the American team and the nation's putative "character," which will not necessarily gain the "U.S. boys" (as the German press calls them somewhat disparagingly) any further sympathies outside of their own country.

Now that the U.S. have won the group the question is who they, and England, will play in the round of 16. Ghana, Serbia, Germany, and --although highly unlikely-- Australia are all still in the mix. The possibility of a Germany v England classic looms large, of course. And while the U.S. have definitely played the more entertaining and engaging football I can't help but to prefer them as Germany's potential opponent over England.

Fabio's boys finally played some football today, and while they were far away from a stellar performance they should have found enough confidence for the later stages of the tournament (In fact, English commentators are already nearing the typical delusions of grandeur in their assessment of England's chances - it never takes much for them to see England as potential world champions). The reason why I'd rather see Germany play the U.S. is that England's defense is much more solid than the American, and Germany is de facto an attacking team these days with a shaky defense. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First of all, Germany needs to beat Ghana. And if they beat Ghana they are probably going to win the group (unless Serbia slaughters Australia) and thus will have to play England next.

The usual German confidence makes failure appear as an improbability. And, truth be told, they have the better team. But still, there are some lingering doubts if this young team can withhold the enormous pressure without alpha-male Michael Ballack as their leader. The player responsible for Ballack's absence will of course be part of Ghana's line-up, which could potentially make things a little testy on the pitch (given Germany's already impressive collection of yellow cards they have to be very careful, though). Cacau will probably start as striker for Miro Klose, which is not necessarily a disadvantage these days.

Less than two hours until kick-off. Bring it on. My feet are sweaty already.