USA To Play Nigeria, Netherlands, and Japan in 2008 Olympics
Its been a long time since we’ve updated the blog. School has been a hassle, and really the time just has not been there. Apologies to those who have been loyal to this blog and have kept checking it out over the months. We’re back in business though, so lets do this thing.
The u-23 team will face Nigeria, Japan, and the Netherlands in the group stage of this summer’s Olympics in Beijing. Talk about a group of death. The Netherlands have a very tough squad and Nigeria might just be the best squad on paper in this group, as members of the team played in the 2005 u-20 World Cup and won the 2007 u-17 World Cup. What does this mean for the US? It is what it is. We will have to play well, otherwise we will be going home earlier than we anticipated. I think it is imperative that we bring a veteran keeper to this tournament(Brad Guzan? Tim Howard?) and Landon Donovan and possibly a defender(Bocanegra? Demerit? Spector? Gooch?) or winger(Beaz!) to go with the young talent already in place. I’m predicting that Nigeria and the US come out of this group, but it will not be a walk in the park for anybody. Here are the rest of the groups:
- USA, Netherlands, Nigeria, Japan
- Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Australia,
- Brazil, Belgium, China, New Zealand
- Italy, Cameroon, South Korea, Honduras
And that’s that. What do you guys think?
USA Roster Vs Poland Announced
The roster for the USMNT match vs Poland has been announced. It goes as follows:
GOALKEEPERS: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)
Decent lineup. Not much to complain about really. No Adu, or Altidore, as they’re being rested after getting the US to the Olympics! More on that tomorrow. Anyways. its good to see Benny Feilhaber back in the fold. Hopefully he’ll get some minutes that will impress an MLS club enough to buy him this summer. Also good to see Brian Ching and Cory Gibbs, both of whom have had injury issues. Based off of this roster, I’d say the US can pull off a win, if they play up to their standards. Another thing to keep an eye on is how Eddie Johnson has improved since his move to Fulham FC. Will we see a new, more aggressive Johnson, or the same, timid, forward who looks to pass back before going forward. We shall see. The game will be shown Wednesday at 3:30 on FSC.
USA Olympic Qualifying
Well, so far its been a somewhat disappointing few games for the US. They haven’t lost yet, but their games haven’t been much fun to watch, with a 1-1 draw with Cuba, a 1-0 win over Panama, and a 1-0 win in stoppage time against Honduras telling the story of a team that just right now lacks a killer instinct. I’ll leave you with a few thoughts from what I’ve seen so far.
1. Paging Jozy Altidore, paging Jozy Altidore: For the 18 year old Altidore, is this to be expected, at least for the time being? You could say so, given the fact that he is only 18, playing on the u-23 team. He has also been deployed as the lone striker for the 2 games he played in, so that’s probably a cause for his lack of production He was much better in the Panama game than he was against Cuba, but this cannot be the case against Canada. Altidore needs to put his stamp on the game early, and show what he is capable of. I can’t stress how important going to the Olympics is for the United States. Failure to do so would be a terrible loss for US Soccer, and could potentially see the end of Peter Nowak as the u-23 team coach.
2. No Michael Bradley: In watching these games, doesn’t it just seem like the US is missing something from its midfield. That would be 20 year old Michael Bradley. Bradley, who has been phenomenal at SC Heerenveen this season, would provide a bite to the midfield that seems to be lacking, and also the potential to score goals, as he has done with Heerenveen this season.
3.Who would the US bring to Beijing that is over 23? This is me thinking ahead, but who would you take the Beijing if you could have your pick of the senior team that was over 23? Of course, Landon Donovan would make the list for me. But then who else? Would you bring an Eddie Johnson, someone who could potentially play next to Altidore? How about Tim Howard? Clint Dempsey would also have to be in the mix as well.
The next qualifying game is Thursday at 9 pm against Canada. It will be shown on both ESPN Deportes and Fox Soccer Channel. Let’s go get em USA!
USA To Play Argentina June 8th, 2008
The USMNT will play Argentina on June 8, 2008 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. What a game the USSF has planned. Argentina is the # 1 team in the world, and we’re lucky to be playing them. What does it mean? Its a chance to test our team against one of the best teams in the world. Argentina should field the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Riquelme. World class talent. For us? We’ll be seeing players like Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. The question is, will we see players like Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore? One would hope so, but with the Olympics this summer, and WC qualifying beginning right after this game, perhaps not. It will be something to keep an eye on.
USA Names Olympic Qualifying Roster
USA Olympic coach Peter Nowak has announced his roster for the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic qualifying games and beyond. The roster is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Dominic Cervi (Chicago Fire), Tally Hall (Esbjerg fB/Denmark), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Hunter Freeman (New York Red Bulls), Kamani Hil (VfL Wolfsburg/Germany), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis/Mexico), Mike Randolph (L.A. Galaxy), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
Midfielders: Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County/England), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96/Germany)
Forwards: Freddy Adu (Benfica/Portugal), Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF/Sweden), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Solid roster, I’d say. If you’re wondering Michael Bradley is, he will be joining the team at some point during the camp. No worries there. Now I know this is probably American pride showing here, but if this is the lineup the US can send out come time to go to Beijing, there isn’t any real reason we can’t go and shock the world. The majority of this team remembers the bitter disappointment that came with the u-20 World Cup, so hopefully that can channel that frustration into a medal winning campaign this coming summer. Thoughts?
Credit to SI.com for the roster.
USA To Play England May 28, 2008
I called it. The US will play England at Wembley in London on May 28th, 2008. So far this year, I have to give Sunil Gulati and the USSF for scheduling great friendlies. The US is also in talks to play a top 5 world team in June. Right now, the top 5 are Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Now we’re already playing Spain in June, so scratch them. We played Brazil back in September, so scratch them too. That leaves Argentina, Germany, and Italy. With Germany and Italy getting ready for Euro 2008, my guess is that the US will face # 1 Argentina this June as well. But we can talk about that later.
England represents an amazing opportunity to send shock waves throughout Europe. The fact is, England has fallen off its perch as one of the top teams in the world. Even though England fans have yet to realize this, facts are facts, and the US is good to jump at the opportunity to play England. Why? Credibility. A win against England will do wonders for the US Soccer program. It doesn’t really matter that England is down at the moment, to go into Wembley and win is a fantastic achievement, no matter what England squad is out there.
With a game against Spain coming soon afterwards, coming away 2-0 against England and Spain in Europe would be the start of what could potentially be one of the greatest summers in US Soccer history. With the Olympics, World Cup qualifying, and great friendlies to play, in what was seen as a down year in terms of action for the US has now become a very important year for the players and Coach Bob Bradley. If the US folds in the Olympics, friendlies, and qualifying, it could be the end of Bob Bradley as coach. The fact is, the US cannot afford to blow any of these chances this summer. I think we’ll be ok, but don’t be shocked if Bob Bradley is out as USA coach if the US plays badly this summer.
Anyways, we’re playing England. Hopefully we can go to Wembley and beat England, and finally shut up the English who say the US is no good.
USA 2-2 Mexico
Mexico continued it’s tradition of not beating the United States on home soil Wednesday night. The United States started off with a disadvantage since a lot of their players were out of season, while the Mexican league is active. So some rust was expected. The game was as heated as it usually is when these two teams play. Tim Howard got into a pretty significant scrap and was lucky not to be carded. He performed well once again, and can’t be blamed for either of the goals. There were some communication issues between him and the defense, but that was due to crowd noise. Bocanegra and Onyewu performed well enough, but there were some problems at the fullback position. Both were terrible, especially Ramiro Corrales.
The midfield was not as good as we are accustomed to, either. The partnership of Ricardo Clarke and Michael Bradley didn’t seem to work too well. They haven’t played much together, though, so it’s not too worrying. With Feilhaber not getting much playing time, it looks like he will be sharing more of his playing time with Edu and Clarke. Michael Bradley has been in brilliant form for Herenveen and I think he’s assured himself a starting spot in the midfield for the future.
As for the strikers, they played decently for the service they were getting. Altidore looked comfortable. It was good to see him score in his first start. That should only help his confidence. Dempsey played decently, but I still think he plays better in the midfield. He did score a great goal, but it was ruled out. He was offsides when he received the ball 15 minutes before he scored the goal. The call was a bit odd for me.
It was a bit of a disappointing performance for me, but with many of the players not playing regularly it was expected.
As per request, here are some highlights of the game. Thanks to 101greatgoals.com for providing the link. Longer highlights from US Soccer can be seen here.
USA Roster For Upcoming Friendly Vs. Mexico
The official roster for the USA vs Mexico friendly next Wednesday has been released. Here is the lineup as follows:
GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS : Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)
MIDFIELDERS : Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS : Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK)
What a roster. I absolutely love it. The younger players are moving in(Adu, Edu, Bradley, Altidore) along with the veterans(Donovan, Howard, Dempsey, Convey) to form what will hopefully become the nucleus of a successful 2010 World Cup squad. No Taylor Twellman, no Eddie Johnson, no complaints from me. Bob Bradley got this one right.
New USA Kits!
New USA Kits
Nike and US Soccer have released the new 2008 USA home kit that will be featured for the first time next week against Mexico. Here is a picture of the new kit:
At first glance, I absolutely hated it. But the more I look at it, it grows on me a bit more. I’m not sure if I’ll put up $70 dollars for a new kit, but this is what the USA will be wearing at its home games for at least 2008. The new USA away kit should be released in April. To me, this kit looks a bit like something you would find at American Eagle, which makes sense considering this is the America. I’m not sure why a change in kits was needed to be honest. There wasn’t anything wrong with the kits we had last year. I think US Soccer lacks continuity in this aspect of the game. If you think about it, how often does Italy change its kits? They make small changes, but its always that blue that you associate with the Italians. Even our rivals Mexico have a jersey that you can associate with them. Anyways, that’s the new kit. What do you guys think?
USA Knocks off Sweden 2-0
The USMNT beat Sweden 2-0 on Saturday, starting off 2008 with a win under Coach Bob Bradley. Eddie Robinson scored the first goal and Landon Donovan broke the USMNT scoring record by notching his 35th goal in international play from the penalty spot early in the second half. It was a solid, if not boring, result for the US. Here are some of my post game thoughts.
1. Brad Guzan Is A Great Kepper. Guzan made a few world class saves for the US, and while Tim Howard is the # 1 right now, perhaps that # 1 spot may be up for grabs come 2010. While Howard has proven himself in the EPL, Guzan is the reigning MLS Goal Keeper of the Year. With a trial with Celtic coming up for Guzan, he could make a move to Europe very soon. The opportunity to become the # 1 keeper for the US is a huge opportunity for Guzan, and he has the skill and presence to make it happen. I still think Howard is the best keeper we have at the moment, but I won’t be shocked if Brad Guzan is between the pipes as starter in 2010.
2. Taylor Twellman Has Hopefully Played His Last Game For The US. Everything was setting up for Taylor Twellman to have a great game. After his transfer situation, he could finally show what he would do, and show MLS why he deserved to be sold. And what did he do? Blew it. He was downright terrible, and its time for him to go. I like Twellman in MLS. But for some reason he just can’t seem to replicate those goals with New England for the US. I’ve looked for reasons why Twellman just can’t do it for his country, but hopefully Bob Bradley has realized just like the fans have that Twellman just is not up to snuff. Terrible thing too, because its not like the US is overflowing with forwards. Which leads me to point # 3.
3. Jozy Altidore Is The Real Deal. As soon as Altidore came in for Twellman, business picked up for the US. He was all over the place. He wanted to move the ball, and he wanted to score. Altidore is an example of what’s right in a forward, while Twellman and Eddie Johnson are examples of what’s wrong. While Twellman just can’t seem to do it, Johnson just seems lackadaisical out on the pitch. The one concern I had for Altidore was that his first touch let him down a few times, but at 18 years old, this is to be expected I think. Another year of coaching and tutoring with New York should set Altidore up for a number of years in Europe and with the national team.
4. US Talent Pool: The US has a deep and impressive talent pool, and it is full of young, hungry players. When Bruce Arena was coaching this team, this aspect of the game was not emphasized. But Bob Bradley is leaving no stone unturned, and that can only spell good fortune for the US down the road.