Next in the ring to face the United States: Merry Old England. Or is it the other way around? (Next in the ring to face England: those darn Yankees.)
In a World Cup where, save for Thailand, the favored U.S. has taken the hard road to reach the semifinals, it will need to face the best team left standing to defend its title. The English are as balanced as the Americans. They can score just as well as the Americans. They can defend perhaps better than the Americans. (Since their respective World Cup openers, the English have scored nine goals and conceded none; the Americans have scored nine goals and conceded two.