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12 August 2008

Young Americans deliver hope against the Netherlands

Ahh, the magic that is the internet. Although the U23 US Men played Sunday morning, the Olympic video widget has been a godsend for those of us caught up in match conflicts.

By now, you know the US men gave up a heartbreaking equalizer in the 92nd minute to the Dutch Under 21 European Champions but I think that may be beside the point.

The fact that the Netherlands were on their heels for the majority of the second half against a surging and confident US team is the real story here.

This was a US men’s team that gave me some hope.

They were creative and flowing – not simply relying on the old, physical style of forcing the ball through the middle, but actually stringing quick, omni-directional passes together, penetrating the offensive third from both sides, and testing for and finding weaknesses in Netherlands’ defense.

Let us hope this performance was not a fluke, but will serve as a harbinger for what we can expect out of our National performances in the future!

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