1. Host Nations Momentum
So far, so good.
Mexico, USA, and Canada all played attacking football, albeit against weaker competition. Mexico and USA are rising to the occasion. It's only one game. Tougher opposition awaits, but momentum can carry a team beyond familiar expectations. South Korea made a lot of noise in 2002 by making the Semis. Mexico and USA should look to replicate that and continue to build momentum.
It should have been a hat trick of victories after the first games. Canada may come to regret only getting one point against a Bosnia team that really shouldn't be here. I don't know how Italy lost to this team in their playoff game in March. They couldn't string five passes together on Friday. If Canada had a more clinical striker it could've been 2-1. Thank God for Cyle Larin. He saved Canada.
Bosnia played uninspired football. And ditto for Czechia. They beat a great Denmark team to make the World Cup but that seemed to satisfy them because they were horrible against South Korea. South Korea dominated that game.
A theme that's developing is teams that play with speed and intensity will go far this tournament. The addition of the two extra breaks gives the runners the advantage. Big, bulky teams that just defend all game may need to revise their strategy. The attacking sides will be victorious.
2. The Flow of The Game
The two breaks that were added for commercial reasons have impacted the flow of the game negatively and probably unbalanced these players psychologically. They're used to playing 45 minutes non-stop. Introducing a 3-4 minute break in the middle of that regular game clock means that we're essentially getting 4 halves, and 4 games in one. It's a bigger change than what FIFA made it out to be.
I still think the better team will find a way to win but the viewing experience has changed for the worse. Football was different from other sports because it didn't have stupid commercials every ten minutes. You can just sit back and watch the game uninterrupted. Hopefully this change isn't permanent.
