An Unhealthy Obsession with the Beautiful Game
YOU BETTER!!!! THAT WAS THE BEST 90 MINS OF US SOCCER I HAVE SEEN IN FOREVER!!! WE JUST SHOCKED THE WORLD!!!!
Our defense was perfect. We seemed poised with the ball. We showed heart and spirit from the first whistle. It was a match that I know I will never forget as long as I live. I never lost faith in my team. Win or loose Sunday, we made noise today!
“I don’t think I’ve eaten my words yet so I’ll do so now - the US boys have made me look very silly”.–ESPN GAMECAST
Recent results in world cup qualifying have brought a swift sense of reality to my vision of the U.S. National Team’s potential. We were trounced in Costa Rica and won at home in less than convincing fashion against a Honduras team that jumped out to an early lead. Now the Nats head to South Africa to take part in the warm up to the 2010 World Cup tournament. In a tough group with Brazil, Italy, and Egypt, little may be expected of the U.S. squad. A glance at the roster does not improve my prognosis.
It seems to me a compounding problem lies with Bob Bradley’s player selection. Since 2006 Bradley has made some attempt to try out new players, yet his reliance on some individuals is baffling. In a recent Associated Press article, Bradley complains of the lack of form of some players as a result of their penchant for riding the pine. Bob, here is a simple solution my friend: Stop calling them into camp.
It should be obvious around whom this discussion revolves. Culprit number one is DaBease, whose shocking performances of late should come as no surprise considering the rarity of his appearances for Rangers. Cases like this leave followers such as myself asking ourselves just what the value of squad continuity is. Where is the greater risk: Including players who are experienced, but well past their prime, or choosing unproven up-and-comers not burdened by old legs and a debilitating fear of injury?
In a country of more than 300 million people, an ever increasing percentage of whom are taking up the beautiful game as their own, I find it hard to believe that there are not better options at left mid, forward, and, for the love of all that is decent, someone who can play outside back. Maybe someone should look in the USL or something since MLS seems to offer little in the way of fearless young talent.
In closing: Benny Feilhaber is alive?
WHO YOU LIKE TOMORROW? I SAY BARCA!!!!!!! MESSI WITH THE GAME WINNER!
HA, Man U! In the words of Eric Cartman, “tears of unfathomable sadness…”
After today’s shootout loss Manchester United will have to settle for at best four trophies this season. Congrats to Everton, especially Tim Howard, who made the US look good.
Report: Manchester United vs. Everton - English FA Cup - ESPN Soccernet
OK, so for those who don’t know me (including other writers on this blog that I don’t actually know or haven’t met in person) I’m Campo, and I’m Sons of Soccer’s resident Seattle Sounders FC fan. To be honest I haven’t been a huge MLS fan through the league’s lifetime, but this season the stars have aligned and I have an excellent reason to be a crazy MLS fan.
This season, as we all know the Sounders have started they’re first season. The stars aligning part is that I am soon moving to Seattle to start work full-time. Thanks to some awesome friends in Seattle, I was able to score amazing season tickets at Qwest Field, but due to the vacation to Ecuador I’m currently finishing up, I have yet to be to a Sounders game myself.
Lucky for me the first game of the MLS season, Sounders FC vs… NY Red Bulls, was broadcast on tape delay in the middle of the night here in Ecuador, and I got to watch all ninety glorious minutes of my Sounders thumping Red Bulls (sorry Benny, but not really).
In the coming weeks the Sounders rolled to a league best 3-0 record, leaving me with one terrifying thought: the Sounders could lose their first game, when I finally arrive at Qwest to attend my first game in person, making me the “Bad Luck Guy” just like that guy everybody hates in Celtic Pride.
Then arrived the Wiz, the dream crushing, glory robbing Wizards from Kansas City, giving the Sounders their first loss, and on their home field no less. To be honest it was a bittersweet feeling, I was disappointed at the loss, but a small part of me smiled to know I wasn’t going to be the bad luck guy.
Then I check today’s score to find out Seattle dropped their second consecutive game, this time to Chivas USA, and now I’m just pissed. It’s not cute anymore Seattle, score some goals, and win some more games.
I’m going to see Deportivo Cuenca play Boca Juniors on Thursday night, and the next day I begin a 24+ hour trip on four planes from Cuenca, Ecuador to Seattle. My flight lands at 6:36 pm and I’m headed straight to the Qwest field to see the Sounders play San Jose. Tell me I’m not hardcore and that I don’t have a right to be upset if Seattle doesn’t win. I dare you.
After a LONG and HUNGOVER day of travel, I have decided to make a list of my favorite things from the past 24 hrs rather than do a formal write up. So, here it goes.
10. McFaddens Pub in Nashville TN - The temporary headquarters for Sam’s Army. It is where we started and where we ended (some of us). American soccer pride was bleeding from that place and you could hear it for blocks
9. Landon Donovan - The man who is the face of US Soccer proved that he still has it. 3 assists on the night! For him, another day at the office.
8. Seeing Gooch at the airport. Dude is HUGE!
7. Timmy Howard and being within arms reach of his bald head - The man is a wall. To be that close, awesome!
6. Front row behind the goal - Saw 2 of Jozy’s 3 goals. Got on ESPN . So close we could almost touch the grass. What can I say? I did good.
5. The hangover on Thurs - sucked to have such a headache. Truth told, EVERYTHING about the night before made it worth it! You couldn’t see our battle wounds. They were there though, trust me.
4. Brian Ching not showing up to play - I hate the dude. So, really, his lack of play really made me happy. Slap him on the bench and tell him to shut up.
3. Watching my best boys WITH my best boys - Weather was awesome. Beer was awesome. Watching my favorite thing in the world with my best friends. What more could a dude ask for?
2. The win in general - It was one step closer to the World Cup. 2010 is going to be our time. I can feel it! We are going to show the world that we are ready to be recognized as a soccer powerhouse. US soccer has come a long way. We deserve to be considered and respected in the soccer community.
1. Jozy - What more is there to say? I have said a million times that he needs to start. He did and he proved why he needs to start. The man played harder than anybody on that field. He put himself in the right place at the right time. The scoreboard showed it. He set out on a mission and he exceeded his goal by leaps and bounds. I’ve been a fan of his since he was in the MLS and I could feel nothing but pride as he ran towards us after his third goal. He is the future of my country’s team. I cannot express how amped I am to watch him grow as a player. He is just getting started folks. Look at number 17 and commit his face to memory. You are going to be seeing a lot of him.
So, there it is. I would really write more. Truthfully though, Andrew and I survived tornados and hangovers. More, we sat in an airport sans MacBooks for an entire day. I am spent. Please leave comments!
AMERICA! AMERICA! AMERICA!
SEE YOU IN CHI TOWN ON JUNE 6th!!!!
Throughout today I will be updating everyone on Benny (@killakam), Officer Cleverdon and myself’s day down in Nashville for the World Cup Qualifier between the US and Trinidad an Tobago.
11:30am CT Just landed in Nashville. I’m going to stick around the airport until Benny gets in, maybe a beer is in order?
2:30pm CT Mark is in, a few beers have been consumed and now were on to the hotel. Everyone talks funny down here but is extremely nice.
4:00pm CT Its time to march to the stadium with Sam’s Army. (pic)
6:30pm CT So Benny did good work and we are in the first row behind the goal without the “Dont Tread On Me” flag on it. Pics to come.
Update We were front row at the game last which was awesome, Jozy celebrated his 2 second half goals right in front of us and later we saw ourselves on ESPN. It was sweet. But enough about us, my thoughts on the game… I thought everyone showed up last night with the exception of Brian Ching who was non-exsistant. Frankie and DeMarcus played well and added a new dynamic to our attack. Also Beasley on the left was the only one who could keep up with Trinidad’s right midfielder. That dude was quick! Torres played well once again when he came off the bench, he shows a great deal of composure for being so young.
As for Nashville. What a town. Great fans came down here for this and tons of great conversations were had. I think a drunken promise to go to Chicago may also have been made too, who knows.
For now the three of us wait in the airport nursing our massive hangovers. It was a fantasic 24 hours or so. I’ll put up more pics tonight or tomorrow.
Short version: The U.S. comes back from the dead to tie El Salvador 2-2 in a hostile environment in San Salvador.
So, the ‘Nats somehow scrape out a point from a tough encounter with an inferior, but highly motivated opponent. Not a bad result, right?
Well, actually this wasn’t a bad result. You would have to think that the Yanks are more than capable of 3 points on the road against El Salvador, but there is always the ‘hostile environment’ excuse to fall back on. That the U.S. needed to go down 2-0 to wake themselves up…not good. That the boys in red, white, and blue were able to fight back (despite the outrageous antics of the flopping Salvadorean players) is definitely commendable.
What went wrong? Despite strong possession, the U.S. looked uncomfortable on the ball. Passing was not creative, and we need players like Donovan to take opposing players on. Klejstan’s stock had been rising after a couple goals in the national team shirt, but the young player looked lost here. Sacha was static, his passing borderline awful. Damarcus Beasley must also be singled out for another poor performance. DaBease simply appears to be missing something these days. Many of the U.S. players seemed hesitant to go into the tackle, but Beasley’s avoidance of any physical contact is becoming a problem. I won’t harp on the back line too much, but Califf’s endless lobs into the attacking third were not quality.
And then there was Altidore…
Exactly how is it that Jozy is getting no time with loan outfit Xerez? The youngster changed the face of the U.S. attack and his size and movement caused serious problems for the opposition. Jose Francisco Torres also had a very positive impact off the bench. The little known midfielder showed a deft touch and smart passing. When he did lose the ball he made important efforts to track back and make amends. This author is pleased to see a different style of player in the fold, a player in contrast to the typical ‘athleticism over football savvy’ doctrine that is so ingrained in the U.S. system.
I’m not going to name Torres as the new creative midfield hope, because we all saw what happened to Feilhaber. But let’s see what happens and hope that players like Torres keep getting the call while the EJs of the player pool keep getting axed.
In a Northeast derby, the Rev’s will head down to New York city tomorrow to gear up for Saturdays matchup. Many of you may already be aware of this but I thought I would publicly remind everyone… Saturday is also a big day on the International stage. A whole mess of World Cup Qualifying games and a handful of friendlies take place on Saturday. Obviously in this situation the world’s biggest stage takes precedence over one’s club team. This only adds to this weekends drama at Giant’s Stadium.
How does NY prepare for the coming season? Simple. They bombard the streets of NYC. As of late, NYRB interns and staff members have been hitting the streets making sure that EVERYBODY knows that the season is coming. Sure, we got off to a rough start against Seattle. However, I am fully confident in my squad and their ability to not only make it to the finals again this year, but win it too. VIVA NEW YORK! VIVA RED BULL!!!!