Soccer Buzz

Another game for the United States in the Gold Cup, another less than convincing victory, (2-0 over Trinidad and Tobago). Is it wrong for me to think the US should be destroying these teams?

On one hand, this Trinidad and Tobago team features one player that played in the 2006 World Cup and one player that plays abroad. This wasn’t the team that drew Sweden or kept England off the scoreboard for over eighty minutes last year. And for all of the physical play and diving displayed by the Thursday night, the Guatemalan team is also still noticeably inferior to the United States.

On the other hand, we’ll never know what the scoreline would have been had the linesman in the first half had any clue about the offside rule. There were at least three occasions when the US clearly beat the offside trap but Hiran Depico’s spring-action arm kept going up.

Also, United States seems to be the only CONCACAF power that is actually taking care of business at the Gold Cup. Costa Rica has only taken one point from Canada and Haiti, and even more surprising, Mexico suffered a 2-1 defeat to Honduras after struggling to defeat Cuba. Both nations are in the shocking position of needing results in their final games in order to qualify from the group stage.

Perhaps this shows that it is difficult for the big teams to motivate themselves to play in the opening stages of the Gold Cup, and perhaps it shows that these smaller soccer nations take this tournament very seriously. More than likely, it shows that despite all of the criticisms of CONCACAF, many teams in this confederation are capable of giving Mexico and the United States a difficult game, especially if the big boys aren’t playing their A game.

Now to MLS. Houston and DC United may be showing signs of pulling themselves out of their respective funks. Houston has now won three straight, and Joseph Ngwenya may be the answer to Houston’s search for a second forward with goals in each of those victories. After a 4-2 victory over New York, DC has run its unbeaten streak to six games after an 0-3-1 start (thats Win-Loss-Draw).

Of course, Houston’s wins have come against two very enigmatic teams in Dallas and Colorado as well as a Columbus team that once again finds itself at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. DC’s unbeaten streak also features less than impressive opponents, including a 0-0 draw against a hapless LA Galaxy team (if Beck’s likes a challenge, he’ll definitely have one in LA). A victory over New York is worth noting, but I do wonder how bad New York’s makeshift defense is to allow Ben Olsen to record a hat trick. Even more amazing, two of those goals came with DC down to ten men after Bobby Boswell was sent off for professional foul. I can understand Eddie Johnson torching a ten man New York team for three goals, but Ben Olsen?

US Soccer, Gold Cup, MLS, Houston Dynamo, DC United, Ben Olsen, Trinidad and Tobago soccer, Mexico soccer

A 1-0 victory over Guatemala, eh? Well, I guess it’s three points.

I’ll start off in complaining mode. Watching Guatemala play soccer is like watching Southern Illinois University play basketball this past NCAA season. Both teams play a style that constantly blurs (and often steps way over) the line of fair play, and they essentially dare officials to call every single infraction. Eventually, referees seemingly throw up their arms and say “I can’t call every single foul. That’s just how they play.” SIU parlayed this style into a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen, and Guatemala was one defensive mistake away from taking a point from a much superior team. The style may be effective, but it sure doesn’t entertain anyone.

Referee Jose Pineda pretty much let Guatemala play this style. How can referees still not be aware of Carlos Ruiz’s little tricks (whack the defender and then fall down)? How could Leonel Noriega go 85 minutes without getting booked. Or perhaps you could ask why I would seem to expect competent officiating in this confederation after all these years.

Regardless, the United States needs to learn to adjust to this style because it won’t be the last time they see it. The best way to adjust is to simply score when they create opportunities. The US did create several scoring chances, especially in the first half but could only get one goal. Taylor Twellman did well to set up Clint Dempsey’s goal, but how could he not hit the target late in the first half when Landon Donovan sent in a near perfect cross? I cringed on that miss, not only because it would have nailed my 2-0 prediction, but also because those types of misses always reinvigorate the opposition. A goal there probably ends the game and could have opened the floodgates. As it happened, the Guatemalans looked like they just cheated death and played like they had nothing to lose.

On the bright side (relatively speaking), the US did not totally panic after Onyewu (who has to learn to defend without fouling) was sent off, and despite the nervous moments, they never let Guatemala seriously threaten Tim Howard’s goal.

Guatemala deserves credit for being willing to go forward after the US goal instead of continuing to bunker to maintain a solid goal differential. It was another good lesson for the US in terms of handling a team like Guatemala, but eventually, they will have to step on the throats of these teams.

US Soccer, Guatemala, Gold Cup, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Taylor Twellman, Landon Donovan, Carlos Ruiz

The US National Team will open their 2007 Gold Cup campaign this evening against Guatemala. These two teams met just over two months ago in a 0-0 draw in Frisco, Texas with the US fielding a lineup featuring several new players in the national team fold.

The main story line in this game will be how the Americans can attack a team that packs it in defensively. In March, Guatemala really bunkered down from the opening kickoff in what was essentially a 9-0-1 formation with Carlos Ruiz running around up top all by himself. The inexperienced American side was clearly frustrated by this tactic, but coach Bob Bradley hopes the game will be a learning experience for his team, especially going into tonight’s game.

Bradley will obviously have to use a squad rotation in the opening round of the tournament with the team playing three games in six days. However, I expect he will field his best team tonight since this will likely be the biggest challenge for the US in the opening round, especially since Trinidad and Tobago banning all of their players from last summer’s World Cup over a pay dispute (imagine that, Jack Warner’s cronies in the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation are also money-grubbing thieves).

Bradley may choose to use the same 4-3-3 formation we saw in the 4-1 victory over China last Saturday with Eddie Johnson (coming off back-to-back hat tricks with the Kansas City Wizards) flanked by DeMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan playing behind them in the #10 role. This could also easily morph into a 4-4-2 with Beasley dropping into midfield with Donovan or Dempsey playing alongside EJ. Should Guatemala once again go with only one forward, the fullbacks for the Americans, perhaps Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector (now sans mullet), will aggressively push forward up the flanks.

I predict a low scoring once again between these two teams, but not the same result. Bradley will field a better and more experienced lineup than we saw in March, and this team will be much more focused on getting three points. Guatemala, on the other hand, has only scored one goal in its last three games and will be missing their captain and midfield engine Freddy Thompson due to injury. Guatemala will probably bunker again and will keep bunkering even after the US scores in order to maintain a decent goal differential.

Prediction: 2-0 to the USA

One more thing, I know there are many of you that wish the United States would essentially ignore the Gold Cup in favor of Copa America later this summer. That will be a post for a later day…

US Soccer, Gold Cup, Guatemala, Bob Bradley