Posted by Creaven on March 4, 2010 under USMNT, United States | 
In six months, the United States-Holland friendly on March 3 in Amsterdam will be remembered by U.S. fans for one of two reasons:
1. People will vaguely remember Jonathan Bornstein throwing away any chance of a starting spot at the World Cup and the national team resurrection of DaMarcus Beasley.
Or.
2. People will vividly remember it as the match Stuart Holden’s 2010 World Cup ended before it began.
I really hope it’s No. 1. Not only do I like Holden, but I think he’s a critical player for the U.S. If it was up to me, he would be the starting right midfielder against England even if everyone is healthy. But that’s assuming Nigel de Jong didn’t snap his shin in half (see the previous blog post).
When it comes to the team’s performance, I thought it was a mostly positive 2-1 defeat. To the grades…
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Tags: Alejandro Bedoya, Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Bob Ley, Carlos Bocanegra, Charlie Davies, Clarence Goodson, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, ESPN, Heath Pearce, Holland, Jay DeMerit, John Harkes, Jonathan Spector, José Francisco Torres, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Nigel de Jong, Robbie Findley, Stuart Holden, Tim Howard, Wesley Sneijder
Posted by Creaven on January 15, 2010 under Major League Soccer |
Awwwww, Major League Soccer. If anyone should be an MLS fan it should be me. I grew up playing the sport; I love watching the sport; I’ve covered the sport at the high school, college and professional level; I have a blog called IntelligentSoccer.com. If MLS can’t win me over there’s something seriously wrong.
So why doesn’t MLS connect with me? First, the product is terrible compared to other leagues. Why would I want to watch the Kansas City Wizard play the Columbus Crew when, every week, I can watch matches from the English Premier League, La Liga, Seire A and Bundesliga? What is MLS’s solution to the product problem? Expansion, of course. Copying the NHL’s over expansion plan might no be a brilliant idea, just throwing it out there.
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Posted by Creaven on December 4, 2009 under England, USMNT, United States, World Cup |
This is how lucky the United States got Friday.
After the U.S. was drawn in Group C with England, if I could have handpicked a country from Pot 3 and Pot 4 I would have selected Algeria and Slovenia (if you don’t believe me, I worte it yesterday). For the U.S. to actually draw both those teams there was a 1/64 (1.5 percent) chance. It was the exact same odds a poker player has of hitting a runner-runner straight in Texas Holdem in an internet casino. In other words, the U.S. (and England too for that matter) hit the jackpot.
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Algeria, Bob Levy, Brazil, Efan Ekoku, England, Fabio Capello, Ivory Coast, John Harkes, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Martin Tyler, North Korea, Portugal, Slovenia, teve McManaman, United States, Wayne Rooney, World Cup
Posted by Creaven on December 3, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World Cup |
At about 12:o3 p.m. EST on Friday, someone on ESPN (probably Alexi Lalas or John Harkes) will give the following monologue:
“This is the day we’ve been waiting for. Trying to make predictions before the draw is foolish because no one knows who’s playing who. It’s all about matchups! Depending on the group, the U.S. could be a strong quarterfinal candidate or it might be a candidate to leave South Africa without a point. This is so exciting! Finally we’re going to know what the U.S. chances are at the 2010 World Cup.”
This, ladies and gentleman, is bullshit.
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Algeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Carlos Bocanegra, Charlie Davies, Chile, Denmark, Didier Drogba, France, Ghana, Greece, Ivory Coast, John Harkes, Maurice Edu, Oguchi Onyewu, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, United States, World Cup
Posted by Creaven on June 24, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World |
Outside of the World Cup, the United States’ 2-0 victory over Spain Wednesday was its most impressive victory ever.
Torres, Villa, Xavi, Fabergas, Puyol, Pique, Casillas — these aren’t very good players, they’re the best in the world. Even with the loss, the reigning European Champions and No. 1 team on the planet are still the clear-cut favorites to win the World Cup next year and are one of the best national teams ever. For Americans who might not be soccer fans, Spain aren’t the equivlant of the 2009 Lakers, they’re closer to the 1996 Bulls.
For the U.S., who seemed on the verge of crisis four days ago, to beat Spain, who hadn’t lost in 35 matches (and had won 15 straight), is almost beyond comprehension. As fantastic a victory as it is, this doesn’t make the U.S. World Cup contenders (or even favorites to get out of the group stage), but who cares. On a field on the Southern tip of Africa the U.S. scored more goals than the best team in the world. Unbelievable.
To the grades……
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Carlos Bocanegra, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, Confederations Cup, Conor Casey, ESPN, Jay DeMerit, John Harkes, Jonathan Bornstien, Jonathan Spector, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellcamera, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Ricardo Clark, Spain, Tim Howard, United States
Posted by Creaven on June 21, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World |
“I could explain the scenario to you, on how the United States could make into the semifinals, but we would be on television longer than Jerry Lewis on Labor Day.”
A pretty weak joke by ESPN’s Recce Davis before the U.S.’s Confederations Cup match against Egypt Sunday. In reality, it wasn’t too complicated. The U.S. and Brazil needed to win 3-0. But I get what Davis was saying: it was mathematically possible for the U.S. to get into the semifinals, but highly improbable.
Two hours later, what seemed not just improbable but impossible had happened. A team that hadn’t scored a goal in the run of play in four matches scored three as the U.S. shocked Egypt, 3-0. Brazil scored three times on what has historically been the best defensive team in the world, beating the Italians 3-0 (when was the last time Italy lost by three goals?).
The Confederations Cup: Where amazing beyond comprehension happens.
To the grades…
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Bob Bradley, Brad Guzan, Brazil, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, Confederations Cup, Egypt, ESPN, Italy, Jay DeMerit, John Harkes, Jonathan Bornstien, Jonathan Spector, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Recce Davis, Ricardo Clark, United States
Posted by Creaven on June 18, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World |
Brazil beating the United States 3-0 isn’t what made Thursday’s performance disgraceful. Brazil is one of the best teams in the world and, in short, the U.S. isn’t. But not showing up, playing scared, stupid mistakes, puzzling tactics and a lack of passion made the U.S.’s loss one of its most embarrassing in modern history. The match felt over after a couple minutes and was over after 20 minutes. To the grades….
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Brazil, Clint Dempsey, Conor Casey, DaMarcus Beasley, ESPN, Jay DeMerit, Jnathan Spector, John Harkes, Jonathan Bornstien, Jozy Altidore, Kaka, Landon Donovan, Lucio, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Reece Davis, Robinho, Sacha Kljestian, Tim Howard, United States
Posted by Creaven on June 15, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World |
Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press
“Yikes” is what I said when I saw Ricardo Clark throw his legs at Gennaro Guttuso.
“Awwwww,” is what I said when I saw the red card above Clark’s head.
I talked myself into the United States getting a draw against Italy (maybe even winning) but all my hope burst out of me when Clark was ejected in the 32nd minute. Donovan’s penalty did make me think,”well, you never know,” but it was impossible to ignore reality.
The top tactician in the world, up a man, with world-class players was going into halftime to figure out a strategy to break down a backline of Spector, DeMerit, Onyewu and Bornstien. There was no way the U.S. was going to hold on and they didn’t. In 45 minutes, 1-0 U.S. turned into 3-1 Italy. To the grades….
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, ESPN, Giuseppe Rossi, Italy, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Bornstien, Jonathan Spector, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Ricardo Clark, Sacha Kljestan, Tim Howard, United States
Posted by Creaven on June 14, 2009 under World |
I’m not watching the opening match of the Confederations Cup live. I taped it on DVR. It was on too early out here on the West Coast. I like to sleep in (it’s 1:13 p.m. right now). Anyway let’s kickoff the Confederations Cup baby!
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Posted by Creaven on June 7, 2009 under USMNT, United States |
Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune
The United States men’s soccer team is going to the World Cup. No, the States haven’t mathematically qualified, but it’s nearly impossible to envision a scenario in which the U.S. isn’t in South Africa. The 2-1 victory over visiting Honduras wasn’t very impressive and even a little lucky, but with their backs against the wall the U.S. responded with its most important victory in years. Though it was a victory for the players, it was another embarrassing performance by ESPN. To the grades…
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra, Carlos Costly, Clint Dempsey, Conor Casey, DaMarcus Beasley, El Salvador, ESPN, Frankie Hejduk, Honduras, Jay Demirt, John Harkes, Jonathan Bornstein, Jonathan Spector, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Kaka, Landon Donavan, Oguchi Onyewu, Pablo Mastoreni, Ricardo Clark, Steve Cherundolo, Tim Howard, United States, World Cup
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