USA Out

The USA lost today to Ghana and thus ended their World Cup for 2006. It is not too much of a surprise really as they seemed outmatched in each of their games. The Ghana team was much faster to the ball and seemed to be able to play with it in the US end for most of the match. The USA had some chances, but not enough to win. I think it will be awhile before the US can really challenge the rest of the world in this sport.

USA gets tie with Italy

The USA squad played has still not scored a goal in the world cup, but they did manage a tie with Italy today. The Italian team accidentally kicked the ball into their own goal, after scoring on the USA in the first half and that was how it ended. I was surprised that the USA was able to keep it away from the Italians long enough to get a draw, given how well they had played in their earlier win. I figured the USA would lose by 2 or 3 goals, but instead they played better and with more energy and that allowed them (along with a lot of luck) to have a chance to move on.

The USA really has no real chance to do much damage in the world cup, but it is still interesting to see how they fair and what is said and written about the team. I have no real soccer knowledge beyond watching this year's cup - but to me this team seems tentative and unable to put together many scoring opportunities. They can seem to hold onto possession of the ball for longer than their opponents, but not do much with their possessions and then fall victim to the counter attack. They will have to do better to win their final match with Ghana.

USA Gets Outplayed!

I watched as the USA Soccer team got outplayed today in the World Cup and lost to CZE 3-0. While the USA seemed to have more possessions, they did little with it. They seemed tentative and slow compared to the Czechs, who made the most of all their opportunities and scored at whenever they had the ball in our end. If they don't play with more urgency they won't score in their future games, as the rest of the group seems much quicker!

You want a piece of me?

This squirrel saw giving me the eye as he/she was sitting on our light in the backyard. There are a number of squirrels that live in our trees and they usually are not as bold as this one is. It was funny to see this one sitting where it was and the fact that it didn't move when I came outside to take this picture.

New Cal Shakes Season

This evening Kristin and I went to the opening night of Merry Wives of Windsor, the first show of the new season at Cal Shakes. It was a very good show and featured puppets for many of the characters. The only negative was that it was hard to hear from where we were sitting, but then again we are not use to being in the back row. I guess now that Kristin is an ex-employee we don't have quite the pull we use to have with the box office. :D

Anyway, the show is definitely worth seeing as Ron Campbell is the lead and does a good job as Falstaff.