No Controversy Here…The Czechs Dominated from Start to Finish

The only the impact that Paraguayan official Carlos Amarilla had in this match was to set the tone early that he would not allow either team to ruin this game. In only the 4th minute, Oguchi Onyewu sliced down former European Footballer of the Year, Pavel Nedved, earning the first of six cautions in the match. It was at that moment that I first believed my pre-game prediction of a 3 - 1 Czech victory was on its way to fruition.

And only a minute later the Czechs went on to score the first of their three goals en route to a 3 - nil rout of an overmatched, outplayed, and at times listless U.S. team. 6′7″ striker Jan Koller slammed a header past a helpless Kasey Keller from only three yards in front of the goal from a pinpoint cross with defender Eddie Pope out of position.

There were far more fouls in the first half as the referee did a good job clamping down early. The only other caution of the half went to Rozenhal who stuck out a leg to stop Landon Donovan’s surge up the middle of the park in the 16th minute.

And in the 36th the match already seemed out of reach when recent Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky ripped one from 30+ yards into the upper right corner. No goalie in the world would’ve stopped that one, but where was the defense to clamp down? I’m sure the Gunners are looking forward to adding him to their attack alongside Thierry Henry.

As a fan of the game I was sad to see Koller stretchered off towards the end of the first half, but I’m sure the Italians and Ghanaians won’t be losing any slip over what seems to be an early end to his World Cup aspirations. Still, he did score the game-winner as the only other tally came in the 76th minute when Rosicky latched onto a nice through-ball after sprinting behind the hapless U.S. defense, ultimately slipping the ball deftly past the hard-charging Keller.

Lokvenc (59th), Reyna (60th), Rosicky (81st), and Grygera (88th) were the four second-half bookings for a senseless push, a late challenge, stupidly kicking the ball away, and a reckless foul respectively. Carlos Amarilla was clearly up to the challenge on this day; the U.S. was not. Let’s hope they put up more of a fight against Italy on Saturday.