Thursday, August 21, 2008
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.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Viva España!
So the Spaniards were able to handle Germany...and rather easily. It was very one-sided for a 1-0 result. Regardless, the best team won and the long list of Spanish players added to the "Team of Euro '08" shows how strong the full side was throughout the tournament. All that's fine and good...but until you've watched the goal that won it, from every possible angle (well, I haven't found, "bird's eye view" just yet), you just haven't actually seen it yet.
A picture of the team I found weeks after the tournament.
Nice to see the tribute shirt that Sergio Ramos is wearing... "Siempre con nosotros," always with us. [sorry, didn't mention, that's Antonio Puerto in case you aren't a Spain or La Liga/Sevilla fan.]
A picture of the team I found weeks after the tournament.
Nice to see the tribute shirt that Sergio Ramos is wearing... "Siempre con nosotros," always with us. [sorry, didn't mention, that's Antonio Puerto in case you aren't a Spain or La Liga/Sevilla fan.]
Monday, June 9, 2008
It's a TIE!
So the US barely get away with a 0-0 tie against Argentina this weekend. Though that sounds desperate, they actually played rather well. Had their fair share of possession, shots and Tim Howard had some AMAZING saves to keep our slate clean.This made the celebration of Kasey Keller's 100 matches that much sadder. Evidently there was very little in the way of ovation from the crowd for this honor.
Both sides had a couple ding off the crossbar but nothing managed to make it into the net. This almost makes up for the US losing to both England and Spain, but the fact that they did not score a single goal during these three friendlies is a bit unsettling. That and they barely played Freddie Adu, possibly the most creative player the team has right now.
The next match is Sunday against Barbados in their first World Cup 2010 qualifier. it will be televised at 2pm on ESPN2. Compared to these friendlies they just finished Barbados SHOULD be easily handled...but ya never know.
Both sides had a couple ding off the crossbar but nothing managed to make it into the net. This almost makes up for the US losing to both England and Spain, but the fact that they did not score a single goal during these three friendlies is a bit unsettling. That and they barely played Freddie Adu, possibly the most creative player the team has right now.
The next match is Sunday against Barbados in their first World Cup 2010 qualifier. it will be televised at 2pm on ESPN2. Compared to these friendlies they just finished Barbados SHOULD be easily handled...but ya never know.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Independientes F.C.
So, not the best time for me lately. Blogging is not high on my list of "things to do." But with the first season with Independientes F.C. coming to an end, I thought I should mention a couple things about that.
Although it's basically the remainders from C.T.C.F.C. (this is all over 30s, the Open CTC
team is still around), we do have a handful of new players making this
a relatively new team. Things started to click with our new "two team"
plan of attack, but we still weren't getting the wins we had hoped for.
Goals were being scored, but we were still getting scored on quite a
bit. Sadly, in a game when we didn't have enough players for the two
team attack, we finally got a win. It was still a close match and we
only won by a goal, but we won.
In the week prior to our first
win, I actually got my first goal in a couple seasons. Don't normally
brag about this but it was a goal that had several folks from the
sidelines, my teammates and even the keeper for the other team
complimenting the goal. Danny O. lobbed a ball into the box from the
left side. I came running in from the "18" (it's super six, so probably
closer to the 10 or so), and crossed in front of both the defender and
the keeper to nail a header into the bottom corner. Definitely in my
list of my favorite goals, which up to this point pretty much included
every goal I've scored...all dozen or so of them. After that one, I
decided to narrow it down to my top four or five. (Side note: a week
later, Celtic F.C. played for theSPL championship and won the match with a very similar goal. Made me proud on two levels.)
Yesterday
we won our second match in a row...and this one was another close one,
had to take it into an extra period. As time in the second half wound
down, and we were losing by a goal, I fed KG a ball up the right hand
side. I was immediately upset as I fed it a little further up than I
had wanted to. But KG was able to get control, bring it inside avoiding
the defender and take a pretty hard shot. I still thought the angle was
too much, but rushed the goal hoping for a rebound. We got lucky and
the keeper bobbled the ball against the post and it bounced in off his
shoulder. As the ball was being picked up the ref blew the whistle, we
tied it up! In the extra period (not a golden goal situation) we were
able to put another one in and held on, just barely, to win the match.
Next week will be our final match of the season.
We are probably
going to skip the summer season, with many of our players coaching h.s.
teams and summer is prep time, plus if the heat last night was any
indication of what this summer is going to be like, our old bones might
NEED to sit out this summer.
Although it's basically the remainders from C.T.C.F.C. (this is all over 30s, the Open CTC
team is still around), we do have a handful of new players making this
a relatively new team. Things started to click with our new "two team"
plan of attack, but we still weren't getting the wins we had hoped for.
Goals were being scored, but we were still getting scored on quite a
bit. Sadly, in a game when we didn't have enough players for the two
team attack, we finally got a win. It was still a close match and we
only won by a goal, but we won.
In the week prior to our first
win, I actually got my first goal in a couple seasons. Don't normally
brag about this but it was a goal that had several folks from the
sidelines, my teammates and even the keeper for the other team
complimenting the goal. Danny O. lobbed a ball into the box from the
left side. I came running in from the "18" (it's super six, so probably
closer to the 10 or so), and crossed in front of both the defender and
the keeper to nail a header into the bottom corner. Definitely in my
list of my favorite goals, which up to this point pretty much included
every goal I've scored...all dozen or so of them. After that one, I
decided to narrow it down to my top four or five. (Side note: a week
later, Celtic F.C. played for theSPL championship and won the match with a very similar goal. Made me proud on two levels.)
Yesterday
we won our second match in a row...and this one was another close one,
had to take it into an extra period. As time in the second half wound
down, and we were losing by a goal, I fed KG a ball up the right hand
side. I was immediately upset as I fed it a little further up than I
had wanted to. But KG was able to get control, bring it inside avoiding
the defender and take a pretty hard shot. I still thought the angle was
too much, but rushed the goal hoping for a rebound. We got lucky and
the keeper bobbled the ball against the post and it bounced in off his
shoulder. As the ball was being picked up the ref blew the whistle, we
tied it up! In the extra period (not a golden goal situation) we were
able to put another one in and held on, just barely, to win the match.
Next week will be our final match of the season.
We are probably
going to skip the summer season, with many of our players coaching h.s.
teams and summer is prep time, plus if the heat last night was any
indication of what this summer is going to be like, our old bones might
NEED to sit out this summer.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Well...
I'm currently "watching" the Man U. v. Barcelona Champions League match (recording it at home, the first half sounds worthy of keeping for later viewing)...and just found a news article about the Olympic draw for both US National Teams.
Also, this evening will be the second round of the new season of my new >30s team at Warners. The team name, if I haven't mentioned it yet, is Independientes F.C, borrowed from an Argentine team with the name Independientes ("los diablos rojos"). We're in blue and white (once the uniforms arrive) and the unis are said to be loosely based on the other "red devils," yes, Man U....NOT happy about that, but I guess it's a step up from our previous unis which were loosely based on AC Milan's). Our defacto captain, Santi, listed the Argentine team, Independientes, as one of his favorites (he's also a La Liga follower like myself).
The season has not started well as we lost our first match against Barely Kicking, 4-1 (I think). But the attitude was better with our team and we had a lot more show up for the first match (3 subs is a good thing). I'm hopeful about this season and it seems others are as well. Tonight we play 1040s and our goal is to shut them out...focusing on defense. I hope it works.
Also, this evening will be the second round of the new season of my new >30s team at Warners. The team name, if I haven't mentioned it yet, is Independientes F.C, borrowed from an Argentine team with the name Independientes ("los diablos rojos"). We're in blue and white (once the uniforms arrive) and the unis are said to be loosely based on the other "red devils," yes, Man U....NOT happy about that, but I guess it's a step up from our previous unis which were loosely based on AC Milan's). Our defacto captain, Santi, listed the Argentine team, Independientes, as one of his favorites (he's also a La Liga follower like myself).
The season has not started well as we lost our first match against Barely Kicking, 4-1 (I think). But the attitude was better with our team and we had a lot more show up for the first match (3 subs is a good thing). I'm hopeful about this season and it seems others are as well. Tonight we play 1040s and our goal is to shut them out...focusing on defense. I hope it works.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Really?!?!
Evidently the U.S. Men's national soccer team has jumped up seven positions to number 21 in the FIFA World rankings. Personally, i'm still a fan of the ELO Ratings where the U.S. is in 18...even though I think they both have the US a little higher than they should be. Guess we shall see how we do in the next few friendlies leading up to the World Cup Qualifiers. Coming up we have a couple in Europe, with England on 28 May and then Spain on 4 June, followed by a return trip home and a match with Argentina (#1 in FIFA and #2 in ELO) on 8 June.
Anyone care to comment on their thoughts on the new U.S. jerseys? Not sure I like the new color, but I need to get a U.S. jersey. Of all the jerseys I have, both pro and national teams, I don't have a single U.S. jersey. Not right.
Edit: Just found out the U.S. Women's National team have now qualified for the Olympics as well. Let's Go U.S.A.!
Anyone care to comment on their thoughts on the new U.S. jerseys? Not sure I like the new color, but I need to get a U.S. jersey. Of all the jerseys I have, both pro and national teams, I don't have a single U.S. jersey. Not right.
Edit: Just found out the U.S. Women's National team have now qualified for the Olympics as well. Let's Go U.S.A.!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
