US Women Downed By Brazil 4-0
The US Women were defeated by Brazil 4-0 this morning, ending what was supposed to be a dominant run by the US women. In a way, it was the end of domination for the US as Brazil proved that it was a much better side than the US. What lessons can we take from this defeat? Well lets see what we can come up with………
1. Hope Solo Should Have Started This Game. I see Brianna Scurry’s record against the Sabmba Queens, but if we are honest with ourselves, Hope Solo should have started the game for the US. While she gave up 2 goals in the first game of the tournament, she had not allowed a goal in 3 straight games. She was the hot goalie, and she should have played. So Why did coach Greg Ryan make this move? He based his decision on Scurry’s previous games against Brazil, and while she was undefeated against Brazil, those games occurred while Scurry was in her prime, something that she is not in right now. The fact is, at 25, Solo should have not only been the keeper for this game, but the keeper next year in the Olympics. I’ll be curious to see how Coach Ryan goes about fixing this volatile situation in the future, as Solo is very important to this team. Speaking of Coach Ryan….
2. Coach Greg Ryan Made Too Many Mistakes In This Tournament. His mistake of playing Scurry over Solo is well documented already, but he severely hindered his team’s chances by completely neglecting his bench when it came to his team. Even in blowouts by the US, Ryan did not sub out his star players, and it showed against Brazil. The Americans looked tired and just plain out of it, especially in the second half when the game was out of reach.
3. The US Is No Longer The Dominant Team In Women’s Soccer. Every year, more and more teams get closer to the US in terms of quality and skill, and we should not expect this trend to change. Brazil, Germany, and England are just a few of the teams that pose a threat to the US, and if the US is not careful, it can and might be left behind. The US front line and back line are excellent, but the midfield needs serious work before 2008. Hope Solo also needs to be back in between the pipes come 2008, or this team could be in trouble. But with Marta, who might just be the world’s greatest female player today, leading a strong Brazilian team, the US can no longer call itself the best in the world.
4. At Some Point, We Need To Stop Crowning Our Teams Before They Win. Nike called this team “The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of.” And they were right. I watch a lot of soccer, and outside of Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, I couldn’t name a single player on the team. As I watched the games, I learned that this team is good, but its not as great as it was made out to be. The same thing was done before Germany 2006 with the Men’s National Team. While we love our teams and think they can win anything, we have to realize that at the moment, we simply cannot hype our teams like this anymore, because all we do is set ourselves up for disappointment.
5. This Is The End Of A Decent Summer For US Soccer. We won the Gold Cup, got demolished at Copa America, and disappointed at the u-20 and u-17 World Cups. And now we’re bounced out of the Women’s World Cup. If you look back at it , the only tournament that went terribly for us was Copa America. I’m excited about the future of US Soccer, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming matches for both the Men and Women.
Freddy Adu Scores His First Goal For Benfica
Well the Carling Cup continued today and a couple of Americans were involved. Frank Simek took part as Sheffield Wednesday lost 3-0 to Everton. Everton rested Tim Howard as most Premiership sides rest their starting keepers for this competition. It may be because I’m biased, but I don’t see Frank Simek’s career taking off with Sheffield Wednesday. If they can return to their Premiership days, there may be a chance, but I think after a while he might want to move on. Spector was also on the bench for West Ham.
In bigger news, Freddy Adu scored his first goal for Benfica. He came on as a second half substitute. A Taça de Portugal player committed a handball in the area. In a surprise move, Adu was elected to take the penalty, and easily put it home. He took another penalty in a shootout after regular time ended 1-1. Hopefully he can score from open field next time and start to move into regular first team action. It is nice to see the team has confidence in him to allow him to take that penalty, and have him be their first taker in the shootout. Anyone that knows me knows that I have sometimes have doubts about Adu, but it is good to see him on the score sheet.
A few programming notes before I leave you. The United States Women’s Team Semifinal against Brazil will be shown on ESPN2 tomorrow with coverage starting at 7:30 Am ET. (The game doesn’t start until a couple of minutes before 8.) Also on ESPN2, LA Galaxy take on Kansas City at 8:00 PM ET. Kansas City will be looking for all three points, as the playoff race is on. The Chicago Fire are “lighting a fire” underneath them, and it may turn into a tight race down the stretch.
Daily Roundup 9/26/07
Long time, no update. I have to admit, Danny and I lead busy lives. Sort of. Actually, not really. Lets just do this thing….
Bobby Convey scored in the Carling Cup against Liverpool, slotting one past GK Charles Itandje in the 28th minute. He would have scored his second of the game right before halftime, but his shot was saved brilliantly by Itandje. Its good to see Convey back on the scoreboard. He’s had it tough the last year or so, and while I do think his time on the national team should be coming to an end soon, but he can still provide valuable minutes to a club like Reading.
In other news, sources are saying that US Women’s Keeper Brianna Scurry will start on Thursday against Brazil. This means that Hope Solo will not be starting. I’m not sure why this is happening to be honest. Solo hasn’t been playing badly, and while Scurry is still solid, at 36, one has to wonder if she can still bring it at this level? We’ve already seen the demise of another over 35 keeper for a US national team(cough Kasey Keller cough). I would hate to see the US flame out of the tournament over a mistake by Scurry that Solo would not have made. We shall see. The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of Until You Read This Post faces Brazil at 7:55 am Thursday. Also, FoxSports.com did a very interesting piece of DC United midfielder Ben Olsen. You can check that out here. And really, thats the news for today. Later this week, we’re looking to do an in depth report on the MLS playoff race, and who we think will end up winning(hint: Freddy Adu used to play for them). So until then, enjoy the week, catch up on European games(Go Red Devils!), and just kick around if you get the chance.
I’ll leave you with this. It still gets the adrenaline pumping for me.
Credit to YouTube and user Seraphim921 for the video.
Women’s Team Advances to the Semis
Women’s World Cup
The ladies’ team was victorious yet again this morning, dispatching England with a score of 3-0. The game was a rather tight affair. Both teams showed their defensive quality, but the Americans had that slight extra advantage. When Abby Wambach broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, the floodgates opened. Shannon Boxx and Kristine Lilly scored in quick succession to put the game away. We’ll post highlights as soon as we are able to find them.
With Kelly Smith leading England’s attack, the Americans were able to show how stout they are defensively. With a strong performance by the defense in the semis, it is hard to see anyone beat them. They will face the winner of Brazil versus Australia, and we can only hope that Australia comes up with an upset. Marta is a force to be reckoned with, and avoiding her would be a very lucky thing for the United States. The semifinal will take place next Thursday.
Premier League
It was not as busy a Saturday as we are used to. Only half of the games took place today, while the other half will take place tomorrow. Benny Feilhaber got a decent amount of time for Derby County today. He was brought on in the 56th minute, but had little effect. Arsenal’s midfield was suffocating, and there was nothing Derby could do to stop them. The game ended 5-0, with Emmanuel Adebayor scoring a hat trick. You can’t help but to feel that Derby are doomed for relegation. However, the presence of Giles Barnes back from injury will provide them with a slight spark, and a scoring threat that they haven’t had so far this season. Another bright note is that Eddie Lewis, the American veteran, did look lively on the left wing today. He has a decent crossing ability, but just needs someone to get on the other end. Even with the big loss, I think Lewis has cemented his place in the team, whether it be as a starter or someone that can come on late in the game.
Marcus Hahnemann lead Reading to a 2-1 victory over Wigan to end their slump. They seem to have fallen into the “sophomore slump” category that most teams that have just come up suffer from. With such a great season last year, they were expected to do well again. But with little luck in the transfer market, including the loss of Sidwell to Chelsea (which in my opinion was a very questionable career decision), they have gotten off to a very slow start. The win has taken them out of the relegation zone, and lets hope they can stay out.
Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra played the full 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-3 draw against Manchester City. The draw brings Fulham out of the relegation zone along with Reading. Fulham have looked good this season, although their point total doesn’t show it. They have a fighting mentality and an ability to never give up in the game. With their determination, and a little luck, it is easy to see them staying up this year, and even making it to a mid-table position.
Michael Bradley
Michael Bradley scored 2 in Herenveen’s 5-3 victory over Helsingborg in the Uefa Cup on Thursday. Highlights can be seen here. Credit to for providing the highlights.
USMNT To Play South Africa In Johannesburg
The USMNT will play South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Cup Challenge on Nov. 17th, 2007 in South Africa. This will be just the third time the USMNT will have played on the continent of Africa, and US Soccer Coach Bob Bradley is excited about the game. “”It is a great honor to be invited to participate in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup,” United States coach Bob Bradley said. “South Africa has always had a talented team, and the match represents an excellent opportunity for our players to travel and play in South Africa.” This is a good game to look forward to. The World Cup will be played in South Africa in 2010, and the opportunity to play there before the Cup will be huge for our team. As usual, I’ll be looking forward to the call ups for the team, as there will be the chance for some players(Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore) to get their feet wet with the senior team in an environment that will most likely be hostile.
In other news, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has left the club following a year of rough relations with the club. Now I’m not saying that US Soccer should be giving him a look……but can you imagine his antics for US Soccer? And he does win. I just think it would be interesting. And that’s the news for the day. We’ll get a preview of the USA vs England game for tomorrowup at some point this evening.
US Women Take First Place While Feilhaber Makes Derby Debut
USA 1 - 0 Nigeria
The United States Women’s team took first place in the group this morning by beating Nigeria. Lori Chalupny scored the only goal 55 seconds into the match. The Americans dominated the rest of the game, firing a total of 18 shots on goal. This brought their streak to 50 games unbeaten and means that they continue their record of being undefeated in World Cup group stages. They needed some help from Sweden to guarantee first place. Sweden beat North Korea 2-1, to drop North Korea to second.
North Korea goes on to face a very good German team, while the United States move on to face England. England are a very capable team, lead by Arsenal striker Kelly Smith. We’ll have a preview for the big game later in the week.
Feilhaber
Benny Feilhaber has finally made his debut for Derby. However, he was overshadowed by another first timer for Derby, Kenny Miller. Miller scored the lone goal with a 39th minute rocket. The goal can be seen here. Benny came on for Miller in the 80th minute. The win takes Derby off the bottom of the table, leap-frogging Bolton. This was also Sam Allardyce’s first defeat at Newcastle. His team looked tired, which some will blame on the international break.
Champion’s League
The Champion’s League group stages start today, with Benfica and Rangers both in action. We should definitely see Beasley in his game against Shakhtar Donetsk. Rangers are favorites for this clash and need to get all the points since they are in a very difficult group. Benfica have a tough fixture today facing Champions AC Milan. Freddy Adu may get a good run out due to a bit of injuries at the Portuguese side.
European Soccer Roundup: Dempsey, Bradley, Bocanegra, Beasley, Hahnemann
Good weekend in Europe for our American based players, as Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, and Michael Bradley all scored for their respective teams. Let’s jump right in…
Clint Dempsey scored the only goal for Fulham as they drew 1-1 with Wigan. Clint is absolutely tearing it up for Fulham right now, and he should start for the rest of the season. If he can bag 15-20 goals this season, I see a move to a big time English club(Not to say that Fulham isn’t a big club) but he does have the skills to thrive with a big club, and with better players around him, he’ll be that much better as well. USA Capt. Carlos Bocanegra also played his 100th game for Fulham, and while he didn’t have the biggest impact on the game, the fact that an American player has 100 games played in England is very impressive. Congratulations to him. In the same game, Kasey Keller was on the bench for Fulham, but he did not play.
Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey both played for Reading in their 2-1 loss to Sunderland. Hahnemann made 8 saves, but it just was not enough to keep Sunderland from grabbing 3 points and the win. Bobby Convey came on in the 76th minute for Reading. Its good to see Convey getting some minutes at Reading, and he needs to get more. Fact is, Convey doesn’t really do much for the national team at the moment, and I think he needs more minutes at Reading before he can make an impact for the US. In Scotland, DaMarcus Beasley slotted home a nice left footed goal as Rangers lost 4-2 to Hearts. In the Dutch league, Michael Bradley scored for Sc Heerenveen. He’s another one who is playing very well at the moment, and if he keeps up this form, a move to a bigger club could be in his future as well. And that’s pretty much it for the weekend. Tim Howard did not play for Everton against Manchester United as he was unable to recover from his dislocated finger injury that he picked up against Brazil last Sunday. We’ll be back later with a report on MLS action and a preview of the USA women’s game against Nigeria next Tuesday.
Credit to FulhamFC for the picture.
Eddie Johnson Close To Derby Move
Eddie Johnson has admitted that he is close to moving tothe English Premier League club Derby County today. Johnson has scored 14 goals in 18 games for his MLS club Kansas City. I’m not sure what to think of this move. Everyone and their mother knows we need a quality striker up top for the national team. I think that it is unrealistic to expect Jozy Altidore to come in immediately and dominate the way he is capable of. He’ll be great down the road, but as of right now, he can’t and will not dominate any national team games. So where does that leave Eddie?
A move to the Premier League will be excellent for his game. He has good size, strong, and has world class speed. His game would be good in England, because of these traits whereas in Italy or Spain, he would fail significantly because he lacks the technical skills it takes to succeed in those leagues. Hopefully Johnson makes this move. In other news, David Beckham might get left out of the Euro 2008 squad by England manager Steve McClaren. Fact is, Shaun Wright Phillips is faster, a better attacker and just better on the wing than Beckham. We’ll have to see whether McClaren includes him or not, but if he isn’t, its good news for the Galaxy and bad news for Beckham himself.
Wambach Scores a Brace to Down Sweden
The United States Women’s Team was able to bounce back from their draw with North Korea to beat Sweden early this morning. Abby Wambach was the star of the game, which is no surprise. She scored two to make USA tied with North Korea for the top spot in Group B.
The first came from the penalty spot in the 34th minute after Lori Chalupny was brought down in the box. The Swedish goalkeeper completely misjudged a long ball and it bounced over her head. Chalupny was about to tap it in when she was brought down from behind. Wambach’s second goal came early in the second half, when she chest controlled a long ball and slotted the ball home to finish the Swedes off.
The one theme of both goals was long balls. With the team coming out in a 4-3-3 formation, our midfield was dominated. We were not able to keep possession well, and that lead to some scary moments. The Swedes were able to control the pace of play, and when our defenders got the ball they just booted it up the field. The long ball tactics are effective, but can’t be relied on every game. An established midfielder, or a change in formation, could definitely help us control games better.
On September 18th, the Women’s Team plays their last group stage game against Nigeria at 8 AM ET. Anything but a loss will guarantee that we proceed to the next round, but a big win would be preferred. North Korea looks like they are firing on all cylinders and will be able to beat the Swedes. If they win, we will have to beat them on goal difference to take first place. Second place would be fine, but then we may have to face Germany in the next round. Avoiding Germany at all costs right now would be the best option.
I’ll try to find some highlights later, and will post them for everyone to see.
LA Lose…… Again
Chivas made history last night by beating Los Angeles in the SuperClasico for the first time in their brief history. The 3-0 victory puts them top of the league in the Western Conference, just tied with the Houston Dynamo. But don’t let the scoreline fool you. This game was competitive, and there were times, especially in the second half that I believed the Galaxy were going to get into the game.
The first half did not go well for LA, as Chivas dominated every aspect of play. Ante Razov was able to make Xavier look foolish in the 23rd minute. He simply ran by him, and slotted the ball into the back of the net. You would usually expect better from Xavier. Watching the highlights you can see that he was in two minds - to guard the shot or to guard the pass. He chose the pass, and that was the wrong choice.
In the second half, particularly after the 60th minute, the Galaxy definitely looked like they would get back into the game. They were throwing everything at the Chivas defense. Their attack, lead very well by Landon Donovan, created opportunity after opportunity, but just couldn’t find the final touch. However, it was nice to see Donovan being aggressive and running with the ball, creating space for everyone around him. The Galaxy are in need of an out-and-out striker. A fox in the box player who was a clinical finisher would do them well, and could have prevented what has turned out to be a very embarrassing season.
Towards the end of the game, the Galaxy threw everything at Chivas, and payed the price. With a quick counterattack for the first and a couple of lucky bounces for the second, Chivas was able to pull 3 ahead. This extends their current run of form to 6-0-1. With the playoffs coming up, they chose a great time to go on a streak.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
With a completely inconvenient schedule for the Galaxy, they play Real Salt Lake on Sunday in a battle of the worst teams in the league. Chivas USA will also be in action on Sunday, where they will be away to face the Colorado Rapids.