Posted by Creaven on April 5, 2010 under USMNT, Uncategorized, United States, World Cup | 
In just over two months, Bob Bradley will coach the most important game of his life. Love him or hate him, June 11 marks the pinnacle of an extraordinary journey that started as the 22-year-old head coach at the University of Ohio. I think everyone would understand if Bradley took a moment before kickoff against England, gazed around the stadium, and muttered, “Wow.”
But the question United States fans want to know is if Bradley, who four years ago was considered a journeyman MLS coach, can beat Fabio Capello and one of the top five soccer nations in the world. Of course, the U.S. could win — just like Keanu Reeves could win an Oscar — but is it realistic?
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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 14, 2009 under World |
This should be ugly. I’m going to say 3-0 and that’s probably the best case scenario for New Zealand. John Harkes just said, “Anything is possible in soccer, but this isn’t possible.” Also of note before the onslaught starts, the stadium looks 20 percent full — not a good sign when the best team in the world is playing.
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Posted by Creaven on June 13, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World |
Politics and sports don’t mix; at least not anymore.
It’s been a generation since Mohammed Ali refused to go to Vietnam and the United States hockey team upset the Russians at Lake Placid. Since then, sports and politics have generally existed in two separate universes. Players have agents and public relations experts telling them being controversial isn’t economically smart and Al-Qaeda doesn’t have a sports governing body.
But once in a while the sports gods treat us with a matchup in which it’s impossible to ignore the political implications and with a little (OK, a lot) of luck we might get just such a matchup in a couple weeks.
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