I did notice too but they didn't seem as bad as the Venezuelans. Below is an explanation about how our guys dragged in the second half of Latvia.
Tired after a tough training camp and three exhibition games in six days, the Americans had three days off this week before leaving. They have a closed scrimmage against Angola on Monday ahead of their World Cup opener against the second-ranked Czech Republic on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen.
Friday, June 2, 2006 7:03 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By RONALD BLUM
...
"Playing-wise, we still need a little more time," midfielder Landon Donovan said. "We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."