Agreed on all counts. The group set-up was a joke. The other group is Spain and yuck, designed to give the host the best possible opportunity to advance.
With Italy and Brazil in with the U.S. and Egypt, hopes were dim, but they had promise at halftime. I feel bad for Rico. He is not a dirty player. It was a bit of a reckless challenge, warranted a yellow but not a red. Sadly, there have been some trigger-happy refs in recent World Cups, so something like this could happen in 2010. It's a good learning experience for him and the team. The U.S. has some decent midfield depth though, so Rico might have a hard time getting selected when it counts next summer.
On an unrelated note, I kinda wish Bob would give Adu more minutes. I can see it being hard since he wants Dempsey out there and Donovan is better suited in the middle, but Adu has some ability, and I think he may be a better dead ball kicker than anyone in the current starting XI.
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