On the Ball with Mark Wheat: World Cup - USA v Ghana
by Mark Wheat
June 16, 2014
On the Ball with Mark Wheat is a Monday feature on The Current that celebrates the connections between music and soccer. Listen on Monday, June 16, between 5 and 7 p.m., as Mark checks in with Mary Lucia and Mac Wilson during the USA v Ghana match. Mark will be watching the game from the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis.
What a wonderful start to the World Cup: The most goals ever scored in the early matches; some good refereeing; a couple of upsets and a dramatic victory for Switzerland yesterday with literally 10 seconds to go — that goal was actually made possible by the ref playing the advantage as Ecuador tried to foul the breaking Swiss!
Last week in OTB, Pablo, our friend from Uruguay, was very worried about their game with Costa Rica — and his fear was justified with a stunning upset victory for Costa Rica that makes the group even more likely to be described as the Group of Death in retrospect. Could Costa Rica shock the world by going through, and will it give England a better chance of advancing?!
I was encouraged by the start that the Three Lions team made: It was an attacking lineup with Welbeck, Sturridge and Sterling playing around Rooney, who set up their goal really well. But he also seemed subdued and missed the best chance they got. They gave "Super" Mario Balotelli one good chance that he took for the winner, and England didn't really press for an equalizer as hard as I thought they should late in the game, but perhaps that was the effect of the Amazonian heat and humidity. Overall they should be feeling more confident this week than they were last.
Today, USA get underway against their arch-rivals Ghana, who have knocked them out of the last two competitions. During the match, I'll be at The Nomad World Pub and checking in on the air with Looch and with Mac, who's filling in for me tonight.
The story from the American camp seems to center on Jozy Altidore being the main focus of their strategy. He's performed well in the warm-up games, but followers of the EPL might find this a strange situation after watching him struggle to make an impact at Sunderland late last season. Altidore did play a small part in their immaculate revival which saved them from relegation, and perhaps that inner belief and team spirit has stood him in good stead to be the lynchpin of the USA attack. If he can take the chances he will inevitably get during the game, we might be in good shape. It is, as they say, a "must-win situation." Were we to lose this game, our hopes of going through would be minuscule, whatever happens today in the first game of the group between Portugal and Germany. Already the Cup has seen two of the pre-competition superstars, Neymar for Brazil and Messi yesterday for Argentina, carry their teams to victory. Will Jozy be able to do the same for USA?! Or is there another hero waiting in the wings? It will be a fascinating week of footie!
I still don't know who's going to win; do you?
If you are trying to get into watching the Cup and still are a little rusty on the rules, our friends at MN United FC have done a great job of explaining the basics in a short video:
I did another radio interview about World Cup last week, this time with WNYC's Soundcheck program. We talked about the various songs that have been linked with the festival of footie; do you have a fave that we missed?!?
Meanwhile, the USA team are being musically mentored by their Musical Director, rapper Lupe Fiasco. Apparently he'll be performing an unusual act right before the game today in his hometown of Chicago, and he's made a video for a song he hopes will inspire the team to success (note: The song features a powerful anti-cancer message that includes strong language).