Comments on: Spain 0: USA 2- ONE FOR THE AGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:47:42 +0000

Nice to hear Brits calling in last night to the World Football Phone-In Show to publicly comment on how impressed they were with the performance of the US team.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

By: eplnfl

eplnfl — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:51:00 +0000

Pies:
A word on the red cards, I was listening to the 5 Live World soccer show last night and it was suggested that the red cards we are seeing maybe intentional on the part of FIFA.

The theory seems to be that the cold weather gives an advantage to a team like the USA who will stay fresher in the cold weather and can play tighter defense for a full 90 minutes. The idea is that in warm weather they would get worn down and a team like Spain or Brazil would then slip in a goal or two and win by their normal 3 to 1. etc. . Stranger things have been suggested but I do believe the colder weather had an effect on Spain and Brazil and was a bonus for the US which had a cold night in Chicago before they left for SA.

By: Heading for the Pies

Heading for the Pies — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:22:39 +0000

The consensus on this site and others was that the USA was terrible against world champions Italy, but I don’t think that was the case. On a good day Howard saves both of the goals from outside the area, and the US was playing a man down. (That card was marginally acceptable; Bradley’s red card means that tackling is now forbidden.) USA was steamrolled by Brazil with the exact score that they steamrolled Italy–the difference was the USA hit the crossbar twice when down to ten men — better than Italy did with 11. Brazil was in a mood–no shame in that score.

The Egypt and Spain performances were magnificent–and with the addition of midfielders Maurice Edu, young and a starter for Rangers, and the veteran Bundesliga star Jermaine Jones, who got tired of waiting for Germany to pick him,–the US’s defensive depth is potentially excellent. Howard is strong.

If you are really tight at the back with an excellent keeper you can advance in international tournaments. You don’t have to be lovely like Spain. I was thrilled by Spain’s Euro history because they play the game the best way. But I’m not underestimating the potential for a disciplined and able defensive unit to beat expectations.

The worst part of the victory was that Bradley, coming from the front and winning the ball with studs down was shown a straight red card. I don’t have a clue about that call, but I’ve never seen it made against Spain or Brazil in an international tournament.

As an Englishman typically skeptical of the US team since moving here, I am very impressed with everything I see and finally have a major tournament final to watch one of my nations compete in!

By: LFC USA

LFC USA — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:36:35 +0000

US soccer is getting better, notwithstanding Derk’s strong opinions. It’s not because of population numbers, it’s the immigrants who do come from a soccer culture. Unfortunately Freddy Adu was over-hyped up because of his age. But, there are other examples of “immigrant” players and first generation US born players especially coming through that are providing the quality players the country needs. Examples of crrent internationals:

Benny Feilhaber (one of my favourite) born in Brazil; Austrian Jewish
Gooch Onyewu (first generationUS, Nigerian)
Jon Borstein (1st gen, Mexican, Jewish)
Charlie Davis (1st Gen, father is Gambian)
Sacha Kljestan (1st Gen, ethnic Bosnian Serb –former yugoslav)
Jozy Altidore (1st Gen, Haiti)
Jose and Guillermo Torres (Mexican-US; dual citizens)
Maurice Edu (1st gen, Nigerian)
Ugochukwu Ihemelu (born in Nigeria)
And -Rossi (father Italian, mom American – chose Italy though)
Spector (2nd gen – half German – who took an EU passport to play in Europe)

It’s not just Mexican immigrants, there are African, South and Central Americans, and European immigrants whose kids have the “culture” of football. As long as these immigrants continue to look towards the US to make a life for themselves, and the better players continue to seek playing opportunities abroad then US football will continue to get better.

And actually, it’s not true that Americans don’t care about the National Soccer Team. They don’t care when a US team is NOT winning. As soon as the team wins important matches, everybody knows about it. Good lord, Disney’s ESPN hasn’t stopped replaying the Spain-US highlights. The final is now going to be broadcast on the main channel, ESPN and not ESPN2. Americans just love to win (anything) – just as much as they don’t actually care about cycling, they just liked the fact that Lance Amstrong lorded it over everybody. It’s the American way.

By: El Tri

El Tri — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:26:51 +0000

Good job US Soccer. Good for CONCACAF. Now we beat you at Azteca but we are happy for you today.
US soccer does have good level since 8 years back, the Brazil game and Italy game didn’t really reflected the USA level due to the ejections, US is a very dangerous team and very tough physically and mentally than most trainers and people think or know and if they can play with the level and intensity when they always play Mexico then they will come up big winners, they just need to avoid any ejection! I picked US to win 3-2. 2-0 is much better though.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:17:19 +0000

If I was Bradley I would keep the back four the same from here on out. Spain didn’t look dangerous on any dead ball plays or corners. I thought Micheal Bradley was gased and for that matter so was Clark. I think Altidore should have received a PK in the second half of this game. He was completely taken out in the box without the ball being touched. I think Spain has some real concerns in the back because they have no height and didn’t really mark real well throughout the tournement. I think Brazil would absolutely destroy Spain on set pieces. I’m anxious to see what South Africa can do against the Samba Kings. The crowd will be amazing and i’m guessing it will be super cold something Brazil isn’t really use to. Brazil will still win but the differing styles of play will be fun to watch. Hopefully it is a close game.

By: Lars

Lars — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:12:52 +0000

All the Canadians I spoke to are happy with the US win. The US is my third favourite national team in the world in football…it’d be second but i have a family connection to Brazil…I’m extremely happy with the performance of the US MNT in this tournament. CONCACAF should be respected!

By: RedWhite&True

RedWhite&True — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:27 +0000

Great win for our boys. And Joey Clams …. you are small and hateful.

This was a great win for us and we don’t need to see what some some Canadian fans write on a forum. By the way, most Cdns I spoke with today are happy we beat Spain.

By: quakesin2kNever

quakesin2kNever — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:01:36 +0000

Good point Kartik. I think the fans have a lot to do with it. When they play in Europe they have an army of 50k fans traveling with them to every game. Not so on other continents.

““Will this win get us the respect in Europe that we deserve?””

I think it will only help a little. Other than Fullhamerica, most European clubs and fans have a strong ingrained negative stereotype about American players. It’s unjustified discrimination and prejudice but it’s tough to break that with just one or two wins on the international stage. The Europeans need to start seeing American players stand out during club seasons as well in their own European domestic leagues. Which is tough since they never play a lot of our players in their domestic leagues. Fullhamerica is helping to break that cycle. We’ll see if other teams follow suit.

By: Fridley 17

Fridley 17 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:50:37 +0000

Oops. Time and again he did NOT provide cover for his fullback.