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Clint Dempsey: USA will copy Fulham's style against England at World Cup 2010
Americans enjoy being underdogs...
9 Jun 2010 10:28:00
By Zack Wilson
United States forward Clint Dempsey is optimistic that his side can cause an upset against England in their opening group game of the World Cup on Saturday.
The Fulham star wants to see the Americans copy something of the attitude and organisation of his club side, who reached the final of the Europa League last season as well as recording some fine wins over some of the Premier League's biggest sides.
"Fulham beat Manchester United by staying compact defensively, with two solid banks of four and choosing our moments to get forward," he told reporters.
"The USA play in a similar style to Fulham and we'll try and do the same thing.
"We're used to being the underdog and it suits us, because we just stick to what we're good at. We're very strong defensively, like Fulham, and try to pick our moments when we go forward.
"We both play 4-4-2, our outside midfield players tuck in rather than being wingers, and we keep two solid banks of four. We try to frustrate our opponents and make life difficult for them."
Dempsey also hinted that the Americans see right-back as one of England's potential weak spots.
"Glen Johnson is a good player, effective going forward, but when he gets forward we have a chance to hit them on the counter and give them something to worry about," he added.
"There will be holes in that pocket he leaves open, so we have to make sure people are aware of that. Both their full-backs like to get forward and will leave holes."
The Cottagers' forward is also hoping to call on the positive memories of last summer's Confederations Cup, when the Americans reached the final only to lose narrowly to Brazil.
"No one thought we'd get to the final of the Confederations Cup, but we did that," he asserted.
"No one thought Fulham would get to the final of the Europa League, but we did that. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks of us, it only matters what people inside the group think of themselves.
"If you have belief, then it's contagious. You can't live life in fear."
Meanwhile, the USA team have this week been enjoying motivational talks from the likes of war veterans and basketball coaches.
US Army helicopter pilot Dan Jollota, one of the participants in the battle which inspired the film 'Blackhawk Down', has spoken to the players, as has Bill Russell, the former Boston Celtics player and coach who won the NBA's most valuable player award five times.
"The speakers helped us with team bonding," Dempsey explained.
"They brought into reality from their experiences about coming together for one team's goal and putting personal glory aside. It is about the team. To do the best that is what you need – everyone on the same page."
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The Fulham star wants to see the Americans copy something of the attitude and organisation of his club side, who reached the final of the Europa League last season as well as recording some fine wins over some of the Premier League's biggest sides.
"Fulham beat Manchester United by staying compact defensively, with two solid banks of four and choosing our moments to get forward," he told reporters.
"The USA play in a similar style to Fulham and we'll try and do the same thing.
"We're used to being the underdog and it suits us, because we just stick to what we're good at. We're very strong defensively, like Fulham, and try to pick our moments when we go forward.
"We both play 4-4-2, our outside midfield players tuck in rather than being wingers, and we keep two solid banks of four. We try to frustrate our opponents and make life difficult for them."
Dempsey also hinted that the Americans see right-back as one of England's potential weak spots.
"Glen Johnson is a good player, effective going forward, but when he gets forward we have a chance to hit them on the counter and give them something to worry about," he added.
"There will be holes in that pocket he leaves open, so we have to make sure people are aware of that. Both their full-backs like to get forward and will leave holes."
The Cottagers' forward is also hoping to call on the positive memories of last summer's Confederations Cup, when the Americans reached the final only to lose narrowly to Brazil.
"No one thought we'd get to the final of the Confederations Cup, but we did that," he asserted.
"No one thought Fulham would get to the final of the Europa League, but we did that. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks of us, it only matters what people inside the group think of themselves.
"If you have belief, then it's contagious. You can't live life in fear."
Meanwhile, the USA team have this week been enjoying motivational talks from the likes of war veterans and basketball coaches.
US Army helicopter pilot Dan Jollota, one of the participants in the battle which inspired the film 'Blackhawk Down', has spoken to the players, as has Bill Russell, the former Boston Celtics player and coach who won the NBA's most valuable player award five times.
"The speakers helped us with team bonding," Dempsey explained.
"They brought into reality from their experiences about coming together for one team's goal and putting personal glory aside. It is about the team. To do the best that is what you need – everyone on the same page."
No trip to South Africa is complete without a visit to its most beautiful and sunniest city. Durban offers much more than sandy beaches, safaris, casinos and the World Cup, for information on what to do and see, please click here.
Become a fan of Goal.com UK's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
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