US Has Little Time to Celebrate, Recover as Ghana Beckons

IRENE, South Africa -- The U.S. national team's dramatic, Group C-clinching victory over Algeria on Wednesday produced the kind of glory you'd want to bask in, the kind of history you'd want to reflect on and some pretty significant knocks, cuts and bruises from which you'd appreciate some time to recover.

All take time, and that's not even considering the need to prepare for the round-of-16 match against Ghana.

The U.S. has less than three days. And befitting a team that hasn't been phased by anything during the World Cup, they're just fine with that.

"I'm actually not even thinking about it much anymore," Jozy Altidore said Thursday afternoon about the victory over Algeria, fewer than 24 hours after the game ended. "Because [Friday's] the day before the game already, and then we've got Ghana coming up [on Saturday night]. So really, no rest for the weary. You've got to get up, dust yourself off and get ready for the next one."

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• World Cup ScheduleDuring the three-game group stage, the U.S. had more than five full days between the England and Slovenia matches and more than four before the Algeria game. Reducing the time between games as the wear and tear on the body increases would seem to present a challenge. But it's one the U.S. was ready for, one they've faced before, and one that Ghana also is confronting (they played Wednesday night).

"We're not worried about the quick turnaround," Landon Donovan told FanHouse on Thursday. "Last year [in the Confederations Cup] the games happened so fast, and this time it was almost like a little relaxing to have so much time. I think we're well-prepared for this. A lot of our guys have played Saturday or Sunday games in Europe and traveled across the ocean to play in [World Cup] qualifiers two or three days after. From that standpoint, there are absolutely no issues."

In the Confederations Cup, the three group matches took place over the course of just seven days, with the semifinal against Spain three days after the end of the first round.

Strength and conditioning coach Pierre Barrieu concurred, saying that the players have developed such an excellent fitness base that they'll be more than ready to play again Saturday.

"We know we have put a lot of stress on the physical side, so I think it's going to work to our advantage," he said.

Be sure to stay with FanHouse for complete coverage from South Africa, as columnist Kevin Blackistone and soccer editor Brian Straus will be on location for the duration of the tournament.

World Cup Coverage "A lot of the work is done prior to the tournament. We focused on making it through the first round, and usually once you peak physically, there is a good 10-13 day window there where you're going to stay at that level. ... We'll still be in the window by the time the Ghana game comes around."

That fitness has been key -- it's likely not an accident that the U.S. has been so effective late in games. They're simply not as fatigued as their opponents in the final moments. "You can see other teams cramping up and stuff like that, and we've yet to have that happen," Altidore said.

"Do I deserve some credit? Yes. But it's also a lot of credit to the players," Barrieu said. "It's a lot of credit to their mental strength, to their heart, to their ability to actually get the job done and get the work done, because the workload that I had these guys do during the [pre-World Cup] camp, I always say I'm not sure I could put other teams through this much work because there would be a rebellion from the players. Our guys do it. They do it because they know it's part of the job and they do it because it pays dividends. They've done it in the past, they've seen the results, so it's a much easier sell."

Much has been made of the commitment and fortitude shown by the American players during this tournament, and it seems clear now that those qualities were as important in May as they were in the second half against Slovenia and Algeria. On the scouting front, work has been done in advance as well.

"Our staff's done an incredible job," coach Bob Bradley said. "We've had people at games. We've been going through stuff. We had an idea of the crossover possibilities [against the teams in Group D]. We've seen these teams play so it's a credit to the work and the preparation that all these guys have done."

While the time to expose the players to video of Ghana is short, the coaches do possess one advantage that they didn't have while working with the team on their first-round opponents -- they've seen the Black Stars play their three group matches and can study a team that played a few days ago, rather than last fall.

So everything will be condensed. Recovery (those who participated in the Algeria game were scheduled for a pool workout on Thursday), injury treatment, scouting and travel, all within the two full days between the games. The game is in Rustenburg, the site of the opener against England, about 2.5 hours northwest of Johannesburg.

Barrieu said getting the intensity of the Algeria game is the only factor that might be troublesome during the abbreviated preparation period. "We put everything we had into yesterday's game, for sure," he said. "But I feel good about the guys and where the team is right now."

Altidore, who took a pretty significant beating on Wednesday, said his "legs were still there, they were still turning" toward the end of the game. "There's always going to be lingering effects," from the fouling and physical play, he told FanHouse. "But there's not time for that. You've got to look forward to the next game."

And the possibility of a mental letdown following the dramatic escape just a couple of days before?

"I think [Wednesday] we got it out of our system, and a little bit at breakfast this morning," captain Carlos Bocanegra said. "We were talking about the celebrations we had on the field after the goal, just laughing at the dogpile, stupid things like that. We enjoyed it last night and this morning and this afternoon we get back out there."

Donovan, the man who scored the goal that made the Ghana game possible, admitted that on a personal level, he would have feared such a lapse in concentration in the past. But as he's said so many times before and during this tournament, he is not the player or man he once was.

"I live in the moment now," he said. "And that means forgetting about the bad moments, but also forgetting about the good moments so you can continue to be in the moment. And I will enjoy this one longer than I enjoy most goals, but I've already got my head wrapped around Saturday, and the reality of what that is and the opportunity that it presents."