U.S. gets a day off; mental makeover ahead

JOHANNESBURG –The United States had Monday off, a day to take in the World Cup. Obviously, the 23 players and staff are here for a reason – to stand tall in group play and hang around from there for as long as possible. But they are also soccer geeks at heart, so they’ll appreciate a day to simply soak up the wonder of it all, just like the rest of us.

Besides, I really like the timing of the break. It provided everyone with one day (Sunday) to review the England match in their head, followed by a day not to think about anything.

It created a clear dividing line. Everything before the "break" was about England, now everything must point ahead to Slovenia. Yes, I know that the functional preparation all along has been about three games, not just a single historic one. But these are human beings, fallen and imperfect, and no one could blame the American players for placing all their mental eggs in one Union Jack wrapped basket before last Saturday’s contest.

Now they can lean into Friday’s contest at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, and in many ways it’s a match that doesn’t set up well for the United States. Mostly, it’s going to take a major mental adjustment as the Americans switch over to favored status. Read more about that in my piece at MLSSoccer.com.

Meanwhile, every tournament develops its own unique characteristics. Is this the tournament of blunder and dunder? Read more about that on my piece for SB Nation’s bustling World Cup page.