World Cup - USA vs. Ghana

In 2006, we were in the World Cup and needed a win in our 3rd Group Stage game to qualify for the knock-out phase. Instead, we were beaten by Ghana and went home in humiliation. Four years later, we need to get past the same team to go where we want.

Ghana have a very strong midfield and they are a very disciplined team. They have strength, skills and can hold their formation well. Their weakness is that they do not have a lethal striker and they can't score. 4 years ago, they beat us on a penalty kick. Since then, the only goals they scored in the World Cup were penalty kicks.

Their backline is very disciplined. I've watched quite a bit of their right-back Pantsil because he plays for the same club as Clint Dempsey and I was never that impressed with him. Since we don't have someone who is a natural left-sided attacker (please, no Beasley), I would play Altidore slightly to the left and exploit that area. Which means we need another striker more to the center and I hope Coach Bradley will give Buddle another chance. I understand Coach always wanted a Charlie Davies-like player in Findley, but there's a big gap between the two and it's time to shelve that experiment.

Ghana usually play a 4-2-3-1 and midfield is their strength. We can counter them by playing a 3-3-2-2 with Cherundolo, DeMerit and Bocanegra in the back; Bradley, Edu and Clark in front of the backline; Donovan and Dempsey supporting the attack; plus Buddle and Altidore up front. This may seem a little too defensive-minded but when we attack, we can have 7 with Dolo, Bradley and Edu going forward.

What I like about the approach is flexibility in defense. DeMerit will be marking Gyan. Bocanegra, Edu and Clark will be covering each other on the left side, usually against Tagoe. Our 3 defensive midfielders can minimize the creativity and long shots from their 3 attacking midfielders. If they get pass them, we still have Bocanegra and Cherundolo covering.

In attack, I prefer not to have our best player, Donovan, always playing on the right. He and Dempsey should be given free rein behind the strikers. With Dolo (and sometimes Landon) going deep right and Altidore sliding slightly left, there will be plenty of chances for Donovan, Bradley, Buddle, Dempsey and Edu.

My worry is if Coach plays too conservatively. That will suit Ghana better than us. We should be aggressive minded and set a target of scoring 3 goals.

Go USA!