world cup USA in safe hands

After the dust had settled on the second matchday at the FIFAU-17 World Cup Korea 2007, the USA had already been written off bymany so-called experts, as coach John Hackworth's teamlanguished at the foot of Group E following defeats to unfanciedTajikistan and Tunisia. But there are few genuine certainties inthis life, and especially not in football.

The Americans defeated Belgium 2-0 in their final match, avictory which unexpectedly proved enough for second place in thesection and a spot in the last sixteen. A major contributor to thevital win was Josh Lambo. The goalkeeper and his defenders kept aclean sheet, thereby ending an unwanted streak which had seen theUSA concede at least one goal in their previous 16 FIFA U-17 WorldCup fixtures.

"It means a lot to me, but equal credit to myteam-mates. Our defence was phenomenal and blockedeverything," the athletic shot-stopper commented inconversation with FIFA.com. Lambo not only shut out the Belgians, hecame within an ace of scoring himself: a combination of agargantuan punt and a nasty bounce had opposite number Jo Coppensscrambling to tip the ball over the bar. La Galaxy Donovan Jersey

"I just booted the ball downfield. It went over adefender and then over the goalkeeper, and nearly landed in thenet. I only realised what had happened when he turned it over thebar and it was a corner for us," Lambo recalled, laughing atthe memory of the unusual incident. Clint Dempsey Usa Soccer Jersey His name was not destined toappear on the scoresheet, but his team-mates bagged the goals whichsent the USA through to the next stage.

The Americans now meet form team Germany, the second-highestscorers in the group stage after Brazil. "They're verystrong up front, but I have faith in my defence. We kept a cleansheet against Belgium, and that's a confidence booster,"the US keeper declared. "Obviously it'll be a specialoccasion, a match in the last sixteen at a World Cup. I'mreally looking forward to the game."

The teams met in a friendly around a month ago, the USArunning up a 3-1 victory. Was that a psychological advantage?"It could be a disadvantage, as they'll definitely be benton revenge," Lambo muses. "But we know we're capableof beating them, and that will do wonders for our USA Bocanegra Home White Centennial Soccer Jersey 2013/2014 belief. We playedway below our potential in the first two matches, and our attitudewasn't right on the day. It was all or nothing against Belgium,and we played our best football so far. In fact, I've not seenthis team play much better."

If the USA can maintain their new-found impetus, victory overGermany is unquestionably within the realms of the possible. Lambohas set his sights even higher than that: "If we can carry onwhere we left off against Belgium, and if we have a bit of luck, wecould go a very long way, further than any US team has ever gone atthis World Cup. Nothing's impossible for us."

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