First Group E game
Welcome to the DW-WORLD.DE 2006 World Cup coverage of the first Group E game.
USA, the FIFA world ranking No. 5, meet the Czechs, the world No. 2, in a group where Italy will do their best to make sure one of these two teams won't reach the last 16.

Line-ups
United States: 18-Kasey Keller; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 23-Eddie Pope, 7-Eddie Lewis; 21-Landon Donovan, 10-Claudio Reyna (c), 15-Bobby Convey, 4-Pablo Mastroeni, 17-Da Marcus Beasley; 20-Brian McBride Coach: Bruce Arena Czech Republic: 1-Petr Cech; 2-Zdenek Grygera, 22-David Rozehnal, 21-Tomas Ujfalusi, 6-Marek Jankulovski; 8-Karel Poborsky, 4-Tomas Galasek (c), 10-Tomas Rosicky, 20-Jaroslav Plasil, 11-Pavel Nedved; 9-Jan Koller Coach: Karel Bruckner Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay) Stadium: Gelsenkirchen

Players move in
The teams are waiting in the tunnel.

The crowds roar
as the two teams go on the pitch.

The anthems are played to a sea of red, white and blue
as the fans share colors.

1. min.
The Czechs kick off this game with a 48,000 crowd


2. min.
Free-kick for the Czechs


2. min.
Grygera shoots the ball high


3. min.
Cherundolo crosses
and the ball lands on top of the Czech goal.

Nedved is fouled


4. min.
Onyewu trips Nedved to see yellow


5. min.
GOAL KOLLER


5. min.
Koller heads in a perfect cross from Grygera
who ran down the right side to serve the Czech attacker.

7. min.
Koller puts pressure on the Americans who have trouble keeping up with the Czech combinations

9. min.
The Americans are trying to get control of their game by passing the ball short within the team.

10. min.
Nedved offside.


10. min.
Convey crossses
and Cech has to do his first save

11. min.
American corner
shot short and then into the box where it is headed wide.

12. min.
Beasley finds Reyna who runs into the box
but he doesn't manage the finish.

14. min.
The Americans try to keep the ball on the Czech side


15. min.
Beasley tries to run down the right
but is stopped by Rosicky.

16. min.
Rozehnal sees yellow
after bringing down Lewis who were on his way to the goal at a fast pace.

18. min.
Nedved gets the ball
and the Czech crowd roars in anticipation.

20. min.
Lewis crosses a balloon ball to Beasley but it's too far to reach.


21. min.
After a stint of high tempo by the Americans the game stays more in the middle, with the Czechs backing home waiting for the counterattack.

23. min.
Free-kick Nedved
almost reaches a Czech foot.

24. min.
Nedved wins the ball at the goal-line
and crosses in towards the goal where the ball is headed wide.

26. min.
The Czechs have increased the tempo again
and the Americans produce too many mistakes in their attempts.

27. min.
Counterattack by the Americans. Reyna hits the goal post


28. min.
Beasley tries his luck from 40 meters
but the shot goes well wide.

30. min.
The Czechs keep the ball bouncing between their defenders.

32. min.
Short corner-kick by Nedved
leads to nothing.

33. min.
Koller is offside
as Rosicky flicks him the ball.

34. min.
Ball out to Donovan on the right of the box but the Czechs win it back.

35. min.
GOAL
Rosicky scores

35. min.
Nedved tried a cross which was headed straight out to Rosicky who hits the ball with uncanny force from 30 meters. Keller has no chance to stop the ball from going past him into the right side of the goal.

39. min.
The Czechs are putting pressure on the Americans high up on the field.

41. min.
Donovan tries to slice the ball through the Czech defense


42. min.
Koller injured
The Czech goal scorer hits the grass and is carried out on a stretcher.

43. min.
Lewis tries a cross that is picked up by Cech without a problem


44. min.
Lokvenc goes on the pitch for injured Koller.


45+1. min.
A long throw-in by the Americans is the last action of the first half


45+1. min.
The whistle goes.


The Czechs have showed a strong performance and are leading two to nil thanks to great goals from Koller and Rosicky, the former injured just before the first half whistle. The Americans have not been able to find a way through the tactically successful Czechs, although a couple of attempts showed it might be possible.

46. min.
Mastroeni and Cherundolo are substituted for O'Brien and Johnson
at the start of the second half

49. min.
A slow start to the second half
The Americans need to find their new positions.

50. min.
Ujfalusi heads a meter wide
after a free-kick from Poborsky.

52. min.
Nedved is offside and down after a tackle by Reyna


54. min.
Struggling Americans
Still no real balls for the two American forwards, who are not in camera a whole lot.

56. min.
The Americans kick the ball back to Keller
and the crowd whistles.

58. min.
Free-kick for America on their own half.


59. min.
Reyna attacks Plasil from behind and is booked


60. min.
Lokvenc is suddenly alone with Keller after Nedved's free-kick
but the surprised Czech delivers a mediocre finish.

61. min.
A cross finds Rosicky
on the far right of the box but his shot is wide and high.

64. min.
Nedved finds Jankulovski in the box with a cross


66. min.
The Czechs completely control the game.
They keep the ball within the team and take their time to build up chances. The Americans have hardly been at the Czech 16-meter line in the last 10 minutes.

67. min.
Rosicky almost scores a second from 30 meters
as he strikes a ball that makes the crossbar swing.

70. min.
Johnson fires away outside the box
and the shot almost finds its way into the far post.

73. min.
The Americans try to combine
but as most times this evening the last ball doesn't find the right address.

74. min.
Convey crosses from the left to Johnson
who again is not far away from scoring.

76. min.
GOAL for the Czechs


76. min.
Rosicky scores his second to make it three for the Czechs
as he gets the ball just outside the circle on offensive half and storms down to coolly place the ball behind Keller.

82. min.
Poborsky leaves the pitch for Polak.


85. min.
Rosicky takes a hero's leave and leaves room for Stajner.


90+2. min.
The game is over.
The Czechs have played a nearly perfect game and did not give the Americans a chance. Apart from Johnson's two attempts on the goal the Americans didn't spend much time inside the Czech box.