Re: confederation's cup

by PurplePrideTrumpet Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:24 pm

[R] is for [Result]. If you don't want to know yet, get out of this thread.

Okay, then.
USA 2-0 Spain
Altidore 27, Dempsey 74. Complete joke of a straight red on Michael Bradley.

Very Happy

by PurplePrideTrumpet Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:29 pm

up7587 wrote:To be fair, the game commentator deriding Casey was John Harkes, not Lalas.

Harkes was still on Casey today about not running after everything.

by PurplePrideTrumpet Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:32 pm

One more thing: Fantastic work by Howard today. And the defense was everywhere. They needed to be the way Spain was creating chances.

by **DaTruRochin** Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:47 pm

Yeah... Was it just me or did the United States not make an on ball tackle the entire game? Haha it seemed sliding tackles to intercept passes were the only method the US employed (but i guess it's what you have to do when literally every attacking player could beat our defenders off the dribble).

That red card on Bradley was flat out ridiculous, it MAYBE warranted a yellow at most (but from the quick view FIFA gave us (btw way to not actually send a crew to the tournament ESPN, ugh I guess this is what we can look forward to now that they are the official home of every league... I wonder how much it would cost to get sky sports here... Rant

) And as for Donovan's little flop, that was ridiculous, but I suppose tactically it worked...

And yeah John Harkes has it in for Connor Casey, so apparently he wanted him to sprint after everything and eliminate any depth the US could have? He doesn't maintain his position, he allows the defense to fully collapse, chasing on his own half just doesn't make sense, but I digress...

Overall you gotta tip your cap to the defense, they held the most potent offense in the world to nothing, finally something we can be proud of!

by PurplePrideTrumpet Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:51 pm

I don't know if ESPN has any choice in the matter of TV crews. This might be something where FIFA provides the feed to the broadcasters.

by **DaTruRochin** Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:56 pm

Yeah, but it was pretty clear ESPN went with their familiar tactic of not even sending their announcers to the game itself... Remember the Euro final where the feed went out, so the announcers couldn't see the game because they weren't even there? Ugh...

by **PilotNut** Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:33 pm

I only was able to watch the last 20 minutes or so, but a stellar job by the US defense and Howard... Spain was viciously attacking but the D held. Howard had some great stops.

The red card was completely bogus. Evil or Very Mad

Can the team play with this much heart and guts again on Sunday? What time is the final? I may still be out in the woods when its on...

by onetouchfutbol Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:00 pm

Good question. Great game.

Here we go: http://www.ussoccer.com/

The game is at 2:30 pm EST or 11:30 PST on 6/28. Damn, my Church will have to put the flat screen onto the wall for that one...

-----------------------

I think I'll sell my Sounders ticket for that day. Casey Conor definitely won't be playing on the Colorado side...

by Geezaldinho Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:57 pm

Great game by the USA, and an absolutely great game by Howard, Gooch, and Demeritt. Howard's performance is the best I have witnessed since Keller's in the 1-0 defeat of Brasil.

I think we may be seeing the emergence of Charlie Davies, too.

All in all, a great effort, with the possible exception of Bradley's red card.
You could argue whether it was deserved o not, but the fact remains that when players have gone hard to ground there have been consistent cards in the tournament, and at least half have been red. For the USA it was the THIRD!!!! do you think FIFA is sending a message on hard slides? duh...

What's the definition of insanity? Something like doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

To compound things, I've seen a report that Bradley fils accosted Referee Larrionda in the tunnel. A guaranteed extended suspension and a near guarantee that we will see Larrionda in the next important international match.

by **DaTruRochin** Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:58 pm

Discipline definitely hasn't been one of our fortes this tournament, especially in the central mid. And yeah Geez is right, when Fifa decides to arbitrarily enforce a rule the refs tend go crazy with it in usually very visual points in games. In retrospect I'm surprised there wasn't more than one card; the US defenders used the slide tackle pretty extensively throughout that game.

by Geezaldinho Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:21 pm

Looks like we play Brasil on Sunday for what could be the first USA FIFA tile of any kind. It's already our first finals.

a pretty interesting change in the ELO ranking - Spain is now the Avis, Brasil is number one, even though Brasil hasn't managed to beat Spain.

The USA goes to #9 in the world, according to a BS statistician. Pretty amazing.

Ratings and Statistics as of Thursday June 25 2009
rank team rating highest 1 yr change matches goals
rank rating rank rating total home away neutral wins losses draws for against
1 Brazil 2090 1 2153 +3 +102 842 299 277 266 524 140 178 1834 798
2 Spain 2040 1 2104 -1 +39 565 264 223 78 313 113 139 1081 531
3 Netherlands 2008 1 2067 0 +10 669 313 278 78 331 188 150 1376 869
4 England 1964 1 2041 +5 +71 882 386 412 84 502 171 209 1996 887
5 Germany 1929 1 2099 +1 -36 815 351 341 123 469 180 166 1823 966
6 Italy 1910 1 2079 -1 -75 687 315 256 116 370 135 182 1198 688
7 Russia 1882 1 2023 +3 +8 643 216 321 106 342 135 166 1143 648
8 Argentina 1873 1 2117 -6 -126 891 316 354 221 471 196 224 1681 965
9 United States 1864 9 1869 +10 +81 544 299 179 66 222 202 120 750 737
10 Croatia 1857 5 1967 -3 -40 198 81 86 31 100 40 58 342 202
11 France 1855 1 2106 -3 -40 701 355 267 79 332 221 148 1244 1006
12 Denmark 1820 2 1960 +4 +30 731 316 342 73 340 249 142 1370 1037
13 Chile 1811 9 1852 +12 +53 639 249 239 151 227 271 141 877 958
14 Uruguay 1809 1 2035 +3 +20 811 280 346 185 347 266 198 1284 1043
15 Portugal 1794 2 1983 -2 -47 485 229 195 61 218 155 112 775 612
16 Serbia 1791 2 1962 +23 +90 663 235 322 106 309 210 144 1270 950
17 Ukraine 1780 16 1789 +18 +58 155 65 76 14 64 44 47 193 157
18 Turkey 1778 9 1867 -3 -25 483 203 224 56 170 195 118 634 733
19 Switzerland 1776 8 1877 +5 +17 692 333 311 48 226 318 148 992 1240
20 Czechia 1771 1 1999 -6 -68 694 279 335 80 339 201 154 1309 861

by Geezaldinho Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:08 pm

I just noticed that all the other teams ahead of us were rated #1 at some point this last year.

by onetouchfutbol Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:52 pm

According to BS statisticians, I think we've had higher rankings in the past than 9th. Hopefully, the team will play inspired again on Sunday. We'll need it to knock off 2 #1 ranked teams in a row...

by Geezaldinho Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:17 pm

The Confederations Cup Final is Sunday Morning at 11:00 AM Pacific against Brasil.

Yeah, I know. Brasil is the odds on favorite in this one, having beaten the US 9 out of the last 10 games, But so was Spain.

As an added incentive to watch, Think about this - 8 of those 10 games only had a one goal differential (the other two were 2 goal wins), and everyone knows, in a one goal game, anything can happen.

Want proof? watch this video of the only game we won in the ten game span, sparked by our own Kasey Keller's career game in goal, and Preki's blast from outside the box. I selected this video because there is an added bonus for all Pilot fans during the celebrations...

Play close attention.

by Geezaldinho Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:05 pm

just how good a game Casey had and what Tim Howard is going to have to aspire to, here's the video of Keller 10 save effort.

Youtube (embedding disabled)

If you don't know Spanish, the announcers are talking during the game about how Keller and Romario are going to be exchanging jerseys and whether Romario is still looking for his number 18.

by **DaTruRochin** Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:04 pm

Wow, that spector cross was nice, and that donovan led counterattack... absolutely clinical.

Perhaps Dunga should re-think his switch to the Euro-style physical play...

by **DaTruRochin** Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:38 pm

dissappointing final result, but all in all a well played match. At least this time aroud the boys actually looked like they belonged.

For once I actually agreed with Lalas, our lack of depth really killed us, our starting 11 was strong, but we really had nobody to bring off the bench, erstwhile Brazil brings off a player from Man City and Barca (eek!) It will be interesting how we bring other players together working toward the WC, getting Ching and Edu back will definitely be upgrades over C. Casey (I hate to pick a Zag over a Pilot but...) and the like.

I was VERY impressed with Fiebhaler (sp?), his control in the midfield was a very welcome addition, and Charile Davies speed caused absolute havoc in our counter-attacks, I think the Davies/Altidore strikeforce is definitely something to watch for in the future.

Also the US ended up getting the Golden Glove award for Tim Howard (who ABSOLUTELY deserved it) and Clint Dempsey garnered the Bronze Ball award (for the 3rd best player in the tourney, considering the players who played in the tournament, pretty big honor)

by Geezaldinho Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:41 pm

Yeah It was a good game, but you had to figure Brasil would go out in the second half with everything they had.

There were some stages where we DID look like we belonged, so that's something to build on. And considering how this tournament started, a fantastic tournament for the USA.

The gold Cup is next. Hopefully good things will come of that.

1. the Gold Cup roster is out and shows a completely different crew. Pierce and Cheruldolo can work themselves back into shape, Adu has a chance to show he can play both ways, And with luck, Louis Robles might even get a few minutes.

2. it looks like there actually was a confrontation between Bradley and the Uruguayan ref after the Spain game. FIFA acknowledged there is an investigation going on. So the Gold Cup may be where he serves out his probable suspension. That's fine, He wasn't on the announced roster anyway.

by golaso Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:58 pm

luis is the first keeper for the US at the gold cup...

by **DaTruRochin** Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:34 pm

Yeah, I'm sure all 3 goalies will see some time, but Luis is def the #1. It will be nice to see if they work some depth into the central midfield, a GLARING weak spot if Donovan works the flank or Dempsey moves up front. It will be interesting if any of the MLS guys can work out, ALSO I wonder when Jermaine Jones will get his first call up...

by Geezaldinho Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:08 am

I think I saw an article that has Jones with a leg injury right now. There was mention he may be good to go for Azteca, though.

by **DaTruRochin** Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:28 pm

Annnnd with the addition to Brad Guzan today, Luis definitely gets taken down the totem pole a bit (but BG won't be there for all the games, so Luis should have some opportunities) ALSO Connor Casey and Jozy Altidore was added to the roster as well (plus Ching comes back from injury), he must want to see how different combinations work leading up to qualifying/next summer...

by Geezaldinho Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:14 pm

Michael Bradley is suspended for 3 games, which he can serve during the Gold Cup.

He isn't on the roster anyway, so that's no big deal, but there is a fourth game he may have to serve if he misbehaves again. Any further red card will be reviewed for a period of six months to see if the fourth game will be added.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOC_US_MBRADLEY_SUSPENDED?SITE=PAGRE&SECTION=SPORTS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-07-07-14-21-05

confederation's cup