Does D.C. United assistant coach Ben Olsen remember the tactics and strategy from last time the U.S. faced Ghana, losing 2-1, in the 2006 World Cup?
“Not really,” Olsen said after United practice today.
Okay, he had a bit more to say than that.
“The Ghanaian teams traditionally are very impressive,” said Olsen. “Fast, strong, and they’re usually a pretty good team, and they do a good job of fighting for each other. They have some weapons. We have some weapons. Soccer right now, to me, is in turmoil with these games, you know what I mean? The more I watch this World Cup, the more I realize I know nothing about the game. It really is. On the day, it’s about who makes the play, and if we make a play, fantastic. We’ll move on, and if they make more plays than we do, they’ll move on. It’s crazy. You look at the last game we had, two inches from them scoring early and then packing it in all game. All these little chances. The game is still about who makes the big plays.”
So, there is an element of revenge, right?
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Olsen. “You talk about tough calls. That one still doesn’t sit well with a lot of the American soccer public. It was a bad call. You hope it doesn’t continue. But this team has enough character. What this tournament has shown is you either need to be very talented and a team, or a team. The constant there is the team.”
