ESPN Radio soccer commentator Tommy Smyth joined Dennis & Callahan Tuesday morning to discuss the World Cup and the U.S. men’s national team’s game against Germany on Thursday. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.
The United States takes on Germany on Thursday at noon its the final Group G match of the tournament. The U.S. can advance with a win or a tie, but Smyth doesn’t see the Americans as capable of beating the Germans at their best.
“I don’t think so,” Smyth said. “Germany are very slick, they’re very professional, they have a real scoring threat, they can control midfield, they have one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament.
“Of course, the United States also has one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament. But I think if you went man-for-man, 11-for-11, I think the Germans are a better side. Sometimes better sides don’t always win the game, but I don’t think that U.S. could beat Germany.”
With that being the case, Smyth said the United States’ best bet is to settle for a tie if given the opportunity.
“I think they have to stay at home … make sure the Germans don’t get any free runs at home,” he said. “And if the U.S. gets the occasional counter-attack just to keep the Germans honest, I think the U.S. settling for a nil-to-nil draw would be the best thing they could do.”
Smyth added: “Why would you risk losing yourself out of the World Cup? The problem is when you go on the attack in some of these games, you leave yourself open at the back and all of a sudden one long ball down across the middle and you can be out of the World Cup.
“It’s very noble to say you’ve got to play the 90 minutes in the name of sport and everything else, but a victory is getting to the next round of the World Cup in my opinion.”
From there, Smyth said there’s no telling how far the Americans can advance in the tournament.
“Once you get out of your group in the World Cup, there’s no defining how far you can go,” Smyth said. “OK, you may come up against a very good team like the Dutch or the French, but hey, they may be having a bad day.
“This American team, one thing they have is guts. They have real guts. They just don’t ever stop. You can’t tell them that they’re beaten.”
Smyth said the most notable thing he’s seen from this year’s World Cup has been the amount of goal-scoring, and how so much of it has come late in games.
“I’ve never seen so many late scores in games in any World Cup and I’ve never seen the excitement for the United States,” he said. “It’s almost like this country has been captured by soccer finally, at least for the World Cup.”
Smyth cited the playing conditions in Brazil as a likely reason for so much scoring so far. He used the Americans’ 2-2 tie against Portugal on Sunday as an example of that. Smyth said the U.S. defenders were tired both physically and mentally, which led to them “ball-watching” as they allowed the tying goal in the game’s final sequence.
“I listened to some of the Italian players, they said their energy was so sapped and they were hallucinating during the game,” he said. “And you can see it at the end of games, where players are getting tired.
“When you get tired physically, you get tired mentally as well and you don’t react as quick to situations as you should.”
