Tuesday, November 10, 2009

US Releases 22 man roster for Slovakia


Well, we now have it, and if I count myself amongst the majority, which I do, then we're all heavily disappointed with this roster.  So who's missing due to injury or club commitments?  Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Charlie Davies, Jose Torres, Edgar Castillo,  Jermaine Jones, and Maurice Edu.  Who's missing who should be here?  DaMarcus Beasley, Freddy Adu, Jeremiah White, and Kenny Cooper.  Here it is in all of its lack of glory:

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

So who shouldn't be on this roster?  Frankie Hejduk for one, RB spot is for Spector and Cherundolo only.  There's no reason for him to be on the field over either of those two.  The FC Dallas contingent (Cunningham, McCarty, Pearce) all warranted call-ups for Dallas' late season run that nearly saw them grab a playoff spot.  Sacha Kljestan's call-up is intriguing considering his antics following Chivas' loss in the MLS playoffs.  So lets cut to the chase.  US Soccer has stated that this is the roster for the Slovakia game only, which means we could see the some of the guys missing because of the MLS playoffs or Mexican league commitments.  Also possible call-ups for the Denmark guys like White, Danny Califf, Michael Parkhurst, and Marcus Tracy.  So who are the starters from this group.  Here's the group I'd go with.

---------------------Guzan

Spector-----Marshall-----Bocanegra-----Pearce

-------------Bradley------Feilhaber

Kljestan----------------------------------Dempsey

---------Cunningham------Altidore


Hahnemann
Cherundolo
Goodson
Bornstein
McCarty
Rogers
Casey
Johnson

Monday, November 9, 2009

US Team notes and news, plus a Yanks Abroad Update

Donovan linked to Celtic
LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan pops up in the transfer rumors this week.  This time it's the perennial Scottish power Glasgow Celtic FC who are the rumored club.  What's my take?  I think Landon would do fine in Scotland, but other than Rangers, the Scottish league offers little good competition.  If its his only option, then I say go, but if PSG and Livorno are still in the market then I'd entertain those clubs as well.

U20 Defender Gale Agbossoumonde linked with Portuguese leaders Sporting Braga
Agbossoumonde, who currently plays for Miami FC in the USL, is expected to join Sporting Braga on loan on Nov. 17, when he turns 18. At 6'2 and 185 pounds, Agbossoumonde is expected to join the club's youth team, but he will have a chance for a place on the first team if he impresses.  According to Agbossoumonde's agent, Aaron Maines of Wasserman Media Group, Agbossoumonde has yet to sign a deal with Braga, but is in serious discussions with the first-place Portuguese club.

Look for the roster early morning.  Two confirmed players are Jozy Altidore and Edgar Castillo.



Yanks Abroad Update

England

PREMIERSHIP
  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Everton's 2-1 win vs. West Ham United on Sunday.
  • Jozy Altidore started and played 83 minutes in Hull City 's 2-1 win vs. Stoke City on Sunday.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
  • Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 2-1 loss vs. Everton on Sunday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Aston Villa's 5-1 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 5-1 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 4-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
  • Jay DeMerit did not dress in Watford's 2-0 win vs. Preston North End on Saturday. He is recovering from an eye injury.
  • Frank Simek started and played 72 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-1 loss vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
  • Ian Joyce dressed but did not play in Southend United's 3-0 loss vs. Gillingham in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread and Millwall play AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup on Monday.
  • Mike Grella came off the bench, played 4 minutes and scored a GOAL in Leeds United's 2-0 win vs. Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup on Saturday. 
  • Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 1-0 win vs. Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman started, played 81 minutes and scored a GOAL in Wycombe Wanderers' 4-4 draw vs. Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 2-1 win vs. St Mirren on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played 45 minutes, helping set up the game-winning goal in Rangers' 2-1 win vs. St Mirren on Saturday.
  • Dominic Cervi dressed but did not play in Celtic's 3-3 draw vs. Falkirk on Sunday. 

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 2-1 win vs. Lazio on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA
  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 0-0 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 2-2 draw vs. Hamburg SV on Sunday.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 2-2 draw vs. Hamburg SV on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 1-1 draw vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
BUNDESLIGA 2
  • Kenny Cooper came off the bench and played 16 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-0 loss vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
  • Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 3-1 win vs. RW Oberhausen on Friday.
  • Matt Taylor started and played 75 minutes in FSV Frankfurt's 0-0 draw vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
  • David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made eight saves in TUS Koblenz's 2-1 loss vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Friday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra started and played 66 minutes in Stade Rennes' 3-2 loss vs. Toulouse on Sunday.

Portugal

  • Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 3-0 loss vs. Pacos de Ferreira on Friday.
  • Kamani Hill did not dress in Vitoria de Guimaraes' 1-0 win vs. Braga on Saturday.

Denmark

  • Benny Feilhaber started and played 90 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-1 draw vs. Koge on Saturday.
  • Jeremiah White started and played 75 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-1 draw vs. Koge on Saturday.
  • Danny Califf did not play in FC Midtjylland's 2-1 win vs. Randers FC on Sunday.
  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 win vs. Sonderjyske on Sunday.
  • Marcus Tracy started, played 74 minutes and scored a GOAL in Aalborg's 1-0 win vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.

Mexico

  • Jose Francisco Torres started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 3-0 loss vs. Toluca on Sunday.
  • Michael Orozco dressed but did not play in San Luis' 4-2 win vs. Santos on Saturday.
  • Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Tigres UANL's 4-0 win vs. Atlante on Saturday. 
  • Marco Vidal started, played 70 minutes and received a yellow card in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 1-0 loss vs. Chiapas on Saturday.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Recurring theme of missed chances as U.S. falls to Italy


This commentary comes from Brent Latham of ESPN.

KADUNA, Nigeria -- With the American team eliminated from the FIFA U-17 World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Italy, an evaluation of the team's performance -- in their knockout round match Wednesday with Italy and in the tournament in general -- is really a matter of recognizing that there are two sides to every coin.
On one hand, maybe the U.S. U-17 team never played to their full potential in Nigeria. They demonstrated plenty of skill and flair, and outpossessed all their opponents, but couldn't quite put all the pieces together. On the other hand, the team left little evidence that they could do better, as chance after chance to prove their quality on the international stage slipped away over 10 days.

"Italy won; they deserve it," coach Wilmer Cabrera said of this match, the fourth in a row in which his team managed a single goal from multiple chances to score. "They are clinical to finish the opportunities that they had. They had two, three opportunities and they put the ball in the net. For us throughout the competition it's been difficult to put the ball in the net. So now we have to leave the tournament."

As has become a custom for them here in Nigeria, the Americans wasted a number of chances in this quarterfinal matchup in Kaduna -- including a penalty kick early in the first half -- on their way to losing to an Italian side stocked by players affiliated with Serie A clubs, who knew exactly how to do everything they had to in securing a 2-1 victory and moving on to the quarterfinals.

On this day, the U.S. had its best opportunity in the early going, when the Americans were awarded a penalty kick after Italian defender Federico Mannini -- alone in the box -- handled a throw-in from a teammate. But Jack McInerney was unable to get the resulting shot past goalkeeper Francesco Bardi. That turn of events took the wind out of the American sails, and things went downhill from there.

After a series of half chances for the Europeans, Italy took the lead through AC Milan starlet Giacomo Beretta on the half-hour mark, and the Americans were forced to chase the game against a resolute Italian defense. Cabrera's team did little to help themselves in a subpar first half replete with turnovers in the midfield that sent the Italians off on the counter, along with some shaky play on the back line.

However, the second half was a different story, as the U.S. managed to turn things around quickly. After McInerney saw another point-blank attempt pushed onto the bar by Bardi, Nick Palodichuk equalized off a corner kick six minutes into the half.

"We got ripped apart in the locker room," McInerney said. "We figured out what we needed to do to fix it, and came out with the attitude that this could be our last 45 minutes, and came out and played better. But it was just one of those days. It wasn't my day."

The Americans outplayed the Italians for long stretches but couldn't do the little things needed to defeat a team that was every bit as good as they were technically and tactically. Just a few minutes after the U.S. had evened the match, it gave the Italians a little too much space in back, and forward Pietro Iemmello took advantage from 25 yards, for what would be the deciding strike.

The Americans spent the rest of the game elaborating on the same old theme of wasted opportunities, even with five forwards on the field in the final minutes. For the final half hour, they showed one more glimpse of what could have been, controlling the tempo and playing with a lot of flair, as they have throughout the tournament.

"The American team is a very strong team, with technically impressive players in the attack," Italian coach Pasquale Salerno said. "They complicated the game for us greatly, and I'm really happy to have been able to get away with the victory. If we had to play 30 minutes more, we would likely have lost."

So with another American youth team headed home from a World Cup at a relatively early stage, despite some praise and positive developments along the way, is the glass half full, or half empty?

The team seems to have a number of players with bright futures, and if this attacking style is a sign of things to come, perhaps this generation could still be the first in a renaissance of American soccer. Coach Cabrera, at least, is among the believers.

"I leave the tournament proud of my kids, because they respect the game," said Cabrera. "Everywhere we went, we tried to play, to put the ball on the ground, create several options. We showed that personality. So this is a step up, but obviously the difference in this sport is when you score goals, and we couldn't make the difference."

Conferance finals set: LA will play Houston, and Real Salt Lake will take on Chicago



Real Salt Lake 3, Columbus Crew 2 (4-2 aggregate, RSL advances)
Real Salt Lake rattled off three unanswered goals including a Robbie Findley penalty kick and Andy Williams insurance goal to give RSL a 3-2 victory at Crew Stadium and a 4-2 aggregate series victory over the Crew in their Eastern Conference playoff showdown.

Chicago Fire 2, New England Revolution 0 (3-2 aggregate, Chicago advances)
The Fire got their revenge at home vs New England through John Thorrington and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.  The Fire will now host the Eastern Conference finals next Saturday against Real Salt Lake.

Houston Dynamo 1, Seattle Sounders FC 0 (1-0 aggregate, Houston advances)
Brian Ching scored on a volley in the 6th minute of stoppage time and sent the Dynamo through to the Western Conference finals in Los Angeles.

LA Galaxy 1, Chivas USA 0 (3-2 aggregate, LA advances)
Landon Donovan converted a PK after Mike Magee was taken down in the box by Yamith Cuesta.  LA will host the Dynamo on Friday.