The Boys from Oslo...

Nope, not Turbonegro...this is my soccer journal.

Yup, the Boys in Green went toe to toe with Norway today. And evidently, they came away with a confidence boosting draw at 1-1.

Next up... Georgia!

US versus Guatemala (WC 2010 Qualifier)

For those of you that missed last night's match...well, ya missed a doozy. Though the first half was a tough fought 0-0 draw, the second half was nothing short of brutal. Only two red cards were handed out (one for each side) but there were several yellows and still the ref had absolutely NO CONTROL over the home side (Guate). Though Guate probably had the upper hand as far as how the game was played (when it was actually played), it was the US that dug in and did what needed to be done. Unfortunately, there were some casualties, two-footed slide tackles from behind, Howard got a knee to the head (and then was given a yellow card) and then there was the Eddie Lewis incident. I can't believe I haven't been able to find any pictures of this yet, but i'm sure they'll be out there eventually. Truly Brutal! While the US was able to come away with the 3 points in this qualifying match, I tend to agree with this blogger's ideas about the match. Once I find a good pictures i'll be posting it as soon as I can.

A new season...

As the friendlies wrap-up in the pre-season, things are starting to feel like it's time for some action. Yesterday I made it down to the neighborhood pub to catch Celtic and Manchester City make a go of it for 90 minutes. While the ball stayed on the Celtic end of the pitch most of the time there were few shots on goal and things seemed rather balanced, albeit a bit flat, but nothing unusual for the pre-season, if you ask me.

Eventually, Man City punched in the first goal of the match well into the second half. And with Celtic frequently pinned in their half it wasn't looking good. But with a frenzy in the final 15-20 minutes, it was only a matter of time before the Hoops put one in the net. McGowan tapped one in from a cross and minutes later had a second chance only to have the shot hit the cross bar with high velocity and conviction. There were other chances to break the tie, but few, if any, were very serious. In the end, the final score was 1-1.

Afterwords, Manchester United played Juventus...I caught about 10-15 minutes of this match and was quickly reminded that a) I'm not a Man U. fan and b) I don't like Italian League teams all that much, so I left the pub and did some grocery shopping. With the season not even in full swing yet, there will be plenty more to see in the weeks to come.