Soccer Buzz

I’ll get to Beckham, MLS, and European transfer news later this week, but today, I’ll look at international competition.

The United States was upset in the U-20 World Cup 2-1 by Austria in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Americans looked set to dominate in the early going, but they relinquished control, which Austria was more than happy to seize upon. Austria finally broke through in the extra time after Anthony Wallace was sent off for a second yellow card.

I thought the United States was suffering from their extra time win over Uruguay only 3 days prior, which could explain why Austria controlled the last 75 minutes of the game. Still, I thought they could have shown better than they did. Their tactics seem a bit static, especially with Danny Szetela not playing his best game. They seemed to miss his marauding runs forward to support Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.

I’m disappointed in the result, but there is plenty of talent on that team that can have a solid career with the senior team.

In the Copa America final, Brazil pulled off an upset of its own by defeating Argentina 3-0. This was supposed to be Argentina’s tournament. They brought their big guns to this tournament, determined to win their first international competition in 14 years. Brazil, on the other hand, left Kaka and Ronaldinho at home and looked shaky at many times in this tournament.

However, it shouldn’t totally shock anyone that a Brazilian team managed by Dunga would have a game plan to shut down creative players like Riquelme and Messi. After all, Dunga was the defensive midfielder and captain of the 94 World Cup winning team, a Brazilian team that was criticized for being too tactical and playing enough of the beautiful, free-flowing soccer that Brazil is famous for. On Sunday, Argentina could not get their attack going with Riquelme and Messi constantly being hounded (and often fouled) by the Brazilian midfield. Brazil was willing to concede possession, but they certainly capitalized on their forays into the Argentine half with great goals from Julio Baptista and Daniel Alves.

Brief highlights are featured below. Click here for an extended highlight reel of the match.

U-20 World Cup, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Danny Szetela, Copa America, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi, Dunga, Julio Baptista, Daniel Alves

In U-20 World Cup action, the United States defeated Uruguay 2-1 in extra time to advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday where they will meet Austria. Uruguay, who had the better of the play during many stretches of the match, broke through in the 73rd minute when Luis Suarez pounced on the rebound of goalkeeper Brian Perk.

The score looked like it would stand until the 87th minute when Danny Szetela knocked down a clearance from a corner kick and sent a low cross across the face of goal that deflected in off a Uruguayan defender. Uruguay nearly won the game in regualtion, but Manuel Diaz’s header hit the goalpost. The US made Diaz pay for his mistake in the second extra time period off another corner when Michael Bradley redirected Jose Valentin’s shot from a corner kick.

This game wasn’t pretty for the United States by any means. They could not open up the game the way they did against Brazil and Poland. Freddy Adu, in particular, never had much of an opportunity to work his magic as Uruguay seemed intent on keeping him in check. The Americans will have to reevaluate their tactics and mental approach if they expect to advance further in this tournament. Still, even the best teams often have to find a way to win ugly, especially in knockout competitions.

Finally, at the risk of stepping on toes, the behavior of Uruguay’s national teams the past two days have been disgraceful. Uruguay has earned a reputation over the years as a team that will employ dirty tactics during games and are sore losers after. Aside from the typical diving and acting during the course of the game, their defenders seemed intent on injuring Jozy Altidore. In the first half, a defender stamped him before a corner kick, and Uruguay succeeded in knocking him out of the match early in the second half with a horrible, two-legged, scissor tackle from Martin Caceres.

Just as the senior team did against Brazil after losing in penalties in Copa America, the U-20 team decided to initiate a melee after the game. Michael Bradley was particularly upset during the scuffle at it appears he was the victim of a sucker punch (or at least an attempted sucker punch) from Mathias Cardacci, and he had to be held back by coaches and teammates. Luckily, he regained his cool, and merely flashed the ultimate comeback: “2-1″. It would have been a shame had Bradley been forced to miss the next game because Uruguayans couldn’t accept the fact that they actually lost the game.

Here is the video of the incident. Note that this is a Canadian broadcast team calling the “action”, not a homer American crew.

Against both Brazil and the United States, the Uruguayans showed that they are more than capable of playing top-class soccer. Unfortunately, they have a long way to go in terms of acting like top-class players.

FIFA U-20 World Cup, US Soccer, Uruguay Soccer, Luis Suarez, Danny Szetela, Michael Bradley

Brazil defeated Uruguay on penalties last night to advance to the Copa America final. The heat and humidity may have kept the game from being the most beautifully played game, but it did not lack in excitement and tension. Brazil twice took the lead against Uruguay, but Uruguay was able to conjure up a response on both occasions.

And as unjust as penalties may be, the also delivered fantastic drama. It took seven rounds to determine the victor, including Sebastian Abreu of Uruguay deciding to chip in a must make penalty. If you haven’t seen this game, I’d recommend finding a way to watch it.

With Uruguay’s loss in Copa America, the nation’s hopes for international glory now rests with its U-20 team, who will face the United States this evening. After an opening draw against South Korea in which the team looked slow, passive and unprepared, the United States has been outstanding in defeating Poland 6-1 and Brazil 2-1. Freddy Adu has reminded us why he was hyped as one of the next big international stars with numerous highlight reel moves and spectacular goals.

Uruguay enters the knockout stage with significantly less fanfare, especially after a 2-0 defeat to Zambia in the final group stage match. The defeat saw goalkeeper Mauro Goicoechea sent off for professional foul after he committing a ghastly giveaway in his own penalty area. The replacement goalkeeper for the Uruguayans will face a baptism by fire facing an American attack featuring Adu and Jozy Altidore.

Brazil soccer, Uruguay soccer, Sebastian Abreu, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore

We American soccer fans needed some good news after the loss to Paraguay in Copa America, and we got it when the U-20 squad beat Poland 6-1 in the U-20 World Cup Tuesday. After watching the United States Copa America squad squander chance after chance on Monday, it was incredibly satisfying to see the U-20s bury a half dozen.

It was a great result for the U-20 squad since barring a major disaster against Brazil, it clinches entry into the knockout stages. Also, it was a great rebound from the lackluster performance in their first game against Korea. The team seemed unprepared for the athletic, high pressure, high intensity game from South Korea. and they were lucky to get a 1-1 draw. Tuesday night, this team came to life after Poland scored in the fifth minute, the Americans came to life and dominated nearly every aspect of the match.

The biggest story was Freddy Adu’s hat trick as all three goals were top quality, especially his first goal. Adu has received attention worldwide as a bust. Yes, he received more than his fair share of hype since he was 13 years old, and he has yet to dominate the soccer world. He had mixed results at DC United, and he has been invisible at Real Salt Lake this season. Still, he just turned 18, and a performance like he had today shows that it is far too soon to write this kid off.

Danny Szetela is another young American that has yet to fully recognize his talents. Four years ago he appeared poised to become a dominant, marauding midfielder with his performances in the U-17 World Cup. We haven’t heard much from him since then. At the club level, he was forced to join Columbus when he entered MLS. He wanted to play for the Metrostars (who are now the New York Red Bulls) thanks to the convoluted MLS lottery system that is used to place young players that for one reason or another didn’t go through the draft (please don’t ask me how it works. I don’t think anybody knows). It seemed that he never wanted to be in Columbus, and he had the misfortune of having the incompetent Greg Andrulis as his manager for his first two years in the league. Still, he was expected to be a major contributor in the U-20 World Cup two years ago, but Benny Feilhaber took his spot in midfield.

On Tuesday, he had a terrific game, scoring two goals and playing very well with Michael Bradley in the center of midfield. He turned 20 last month, and like Adu, there is no reason to give up on him as he is still a very talented player.

U-20 World Cup, Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Paraguay.

There are no two ways about it; the United States gift-wrapped this game to Paraguay. The Americans looked much better than they did against Argentina as they often carried the play against Paraguay, but when Sacha Kljestan’s missed an open header in the first ten minutes of the game, it was a sign that this was going to be a frustrating one.

It only got worse in the second half. Benny Feilhaber played a great through ball to substitute Justin Mapp, but Mapp decided to unsuccessfully chip the ‘keeper rather than pass it to a wide open Eddie Johnson who had a wide open goal in front of him. Taylor Twellman weakly hit a volley on a great chance, and then in the most maddening moment of all, Drew Moor, standing all alone less than 10 yards away from goal, headed the ball straight to the goalkeeper.

To be fair, Paraguay got some solid goalkeeping last night. Justo Villar made a good save on Jonathan Bornstein after a great build up from Feilhaber and Johnson. Villar left the game in the second half, but his backup, Aldo Bobadilla, made two great saves in the second half on Johnson and Ricardo Clark.

The United States, however, did not get any big saves, and this showed on the biggest blunder of the game for the Americans. Bornstein deserves plenty of scorn for that awful back pass to Kasey Keller, but Keller probably played it as poorly as he could by coming out halfway and stopping. It seems that Keller could have come out and dispossessed Oscar Cardozo (or at least force him to round Keller to give the American defenders time to retreat into position), but he gave Cardozo time to control the ball and pick out the far corner. Keller has been great for the US throughout his career, but I really hope to see Brad Guzan against Colombia.

I did like the play of Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark in midfield. Feilhaber continues to show his skill and vision, and Clark displayed not only his ability to disrupt opposition attacks, but also his offensive skills as he took his goal well. Also, despite what some of the crazies on Big Soccer believe, I thought Eddie Johnson played well by holding possession, and making good runs.

In English news, Sheffield United have seemingly lost their challenge to remain in the Premiership. An arbitrary panel upheld that the Premier League’s decision to merely fine West Ham over the Carlos Tevez/Javier Mascherano transfer as opposed to docking them points, which would have put West Ham in the relegation zone.

West Ham were fined £5.5million over the transfer. They would have lost almost ten times that amount had they been relegated, and there is little doubt that Tevez was perhaps the biggest reason they survived the drop. Therefore, the fine is hardly a punishment to West Ham considering the alternative. In my opinion, justice was not served in this matter

I understand the argument that players and fans shouldn’t be punished over the actions of the front office. Yes, it was unfair to all of the well-behaved English fans and clubs that all English teams were banned from European competition after the 1985 Heysel incident. It would have been harsh to the fans of Juventus and AC Milan had the original punishments for match fixing been carried out last year. However, sometimes, such drastic actions are the only way to get the offenders to realize that their actions are unacceptable.

Illegal transfers may not be an epidemic like English hooliganism was in the 80s or match fixing in Italy, but if clubs see that shenanigans in the transfer market will only result in a relatively small fine, I fear we could see more of more cases like Tevez and West Ham.

US Soccer, Copa America, Benny Feilhaber, Ricardo Clark, Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson, West Ham, Sheffield United

It’s no fun to lose 4-1 to anyone, but with this Argentina and this young and inexperienced US team, it was always a possibility.

For 60 minutes, there were reasons to be impressed with the Americans. Even though the Argentines had most of the possession, I thought the American defensive organization was fantastic, and the Albiceleste seemed frustrated that they couldn’t find a way to break down the US back line. Individually, Jonathan Bornstein was tremendous defending Lionel Messi as the FC Barcelona starlet did not get a chance to display his skills in the first half.

As to the turning point of the game, there are several theories. First, coach Alfio Basile moved Messi to the left wing to get away from Bornstein and play against Marvell Wynne, who received his first cap Thursday night. Second, Bob Bradley removed Ben Olsen for Eddie Gaven. Almost immediately after the substitution, Gaven gave Messi too much space, setting up Argentina’s second goal of the game and opening the floodgates.

I’m not going to defend the substitution, but as SnowyAruba commented late Thursday night, Argentina’s goal explosion was almost an inevitability regardless of people complaining about tactics, heart, and emotion, etc. This Argentina side is going to score a lot of goals; the hope for the United States was only that they wouldn’t score them in those ninety minutes (seriously, they have Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez coming off the bench).

Luckily, things get easier against Colombia and Paraguay.

The U-20 World Cup starts tomorrow for the United States. They have the unfortunate situation of having another loaded Brazil side in their group, but the Americans should advance in a group that also includes Korea and Poland.

Now, to MLS week13

Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas

This should be the match of the week as the top two teams in the West face off with Houston now only three points behind their Texas rivals. Houston has been playing so well as of late, and with Brian Ching returning to the lineup, I think the Dynamo extend their winning streak. HOUSTON 2, FCD 1

New York Red Bulls at Columbus Crew

The Red Bulls had last week off after managing a draw at home against Kansas City while the Crew have won two straight. The week off gave New York may have given time for some injuries to the back line to heal, but there are still questions surrounding the Red Bulls defense which is not a good thing against a Columbus attack that is showing signs of life. Of course, the Columbus defense isn’t much to write home about either. NY 2, CREW 2

New England Revolution at Chivas USA

Chivas USA may have been bombed at Houston last Thursday, but Chivas is much different at home. The weakness for Chivas is their slow central defense, but New England’s front line isn’t particularly fast either. I think Chivas will eek out another one at home. CHIVAS USA 1, REVS 0

Colorado Rapids at Chicago Fire

Colorado just received a beating against DC while the Fire haven’t played well in a long time. However, I think the Fire will respond to Dave Sarachan’s firing and win this one at home. FIRE 2, RAPIDS 1

Toronto FC at Kansas City Wizards

The Wizards are facing a two game losing streak, and their attack with the exception of the 3-3 draw at New York, their attack as been impotent without Eddie Johnson. Plus, Jimmy Conrad is now unavailable as well. Luckily for Kansas City, hosting Toronto seems to be the perfect tonic right now. Toronto has only managed one point on the road, scored a total of two road goals this season, and has a road goal differential of -12. KC 2, TFC 0

US Soccer, Argentina Soccer, Copa America, U-20 World Cup, MLS

A couple bits of news:

Fabio Capello has been sacked by Real Madrid less than 2 weeks after winning the Spanish Primera title. And people wonder why Beckham didn’t want to stay.

DaMarcus Beasley has completed his long rumored move to Rangers. It may not be the glamorous move to a Premiership club, but he will be getting first team soccer, play in the Champions League, and he will learn to play in high pressure situations (i.e. any game against Celtic).

In MLS action, DC United hosts Colorado this evening at RFK Stadium. Both teams have serious injury/international duty concerns. I think DC bounces back after losing to Real Salt Lake last week. DC 2, Colorado 0

Copa America begins tonight for the United States as they face Argentina. The Argentines have brought in essentially their best squad possible, and they are dead serious about winning this tournament for the first time since 1993. Meanwhile, the Americans are bringing a team with many young and/or inexperienced players at the international level. Nobody is expecting much from the United States this evening, and in many ways rightfully so.

This leads to the question of why did Bob Bradley bring such an inexperienced squad. After all, Copa America is more prestigious than the Gold Cup so why didn’t he bring the “A” team with him to Venezuela and have the “B” team play in the Gold Cup?

Well, there are many reasons. First, because the United States is a guest team at Copa America, clubs are under no obligation to release players for the tournament. Even if clubs are willing to release players, do you think, for example, that Fulham would be pleased if Carlos Bocanegra or Clint Dempsey decided to play? For some players, it boiled down to a situation of needing rest and making sure their place in the lineup was secured. Mexico is missing several European-based players at Copa America for the exact same reasons. So basically, Bradley knew all of those players would be available for the Gold Cup, but their availability was in serious doubt for Copa America.

Why even accept an invitation to Copa America knowing all of this? First, the Chicken Littles in US Soccer were out in full force after the US was knocked out of the World Cup in the first round. These people were proposing all sorts of changes to improve the US team, one of which was accepting the invite to Copa America, because by their logic, the American players needed to play against quality opposition in big time environments. Initially the US Soccer Federation was going to decline, but perhaps under pressure from the Chicken Littles (and maybe thinking a foreign head coach would want to play in the tournament), they accepted the invitation.

Of course, none of the logistical problems I mentioned above were considered because people were in full panic mode after the World Cup. So now, these same people are complaining that we didn’t bring our full squad. Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the point of playing in Copa America to get our players experience at this level against the best teams (and Argentina definitely qualifies as such)? Most of our first team players have experience playing in pressure situations against high quality teams, but the players on the Copa America roster do not. Therefore, Bradley is accomplishing the goal of playing in Copa America by bringing this squad.

Some people fear that these players will wilt under the pressure and suffer a major confidence blow. Well, isn’t it better to find all of this out about these players now as opposed to finding out about it during a World Cup qualifier or the World Cup itself? Playing Argentina tonight will be shock therapy for some of the players, but this means that many of these young players will have some kind of experience to fall back on when they are called upon in major games down the road.

Finally, people complain about the lack of prestige in the Gold Cup. Well, the only way this tournament gains prestige is if the top teams in CONCACAF take it seriously, because we can’t rely on the incompetent folks that run the confederation. This is what happened in the final: the top two teams each fielding their best possible squads. And nobody that watched that game can tell me that it really didn’t matter.

So in short, this Copa America controversy is nothing but another example of how American soccer fans always find the need to complain about something.

Fabio Capello, Real Madrid, DaMarcus Beasley, Rangers, DC United, Colorado Rapids, US Soccer, Gold Cup, Copa America

Thoughts from the US 2-1 win over Mexico in the Gold Cup final.

• Although we all enjoy beating Mexico 2-0, it was nice to see the Americans show that they can come from behind against a good opponent. The timing of Mexico’s goal (just before halftime) had the potential to be a psychological killer, but the US came out of halftime ready to play, producing a flurry of chances in the first five minutes of the second half.

• The United State also showed that they can beat higher quality opponents by playing an attacking. Mexican players and coaches loved to complain that the US only played a counterattacking style and was too afraid to open up their game. This was not the case Sunday as the United States created chances throughout the match. Mexico had the advantage in corner kicks, but Oswaldo Sanchez had a much busier day in goal than Tim Howard as the Mexican keeper made numerous good saves to keep the Americans scoreless for 61 minutes.

• The United States also showed that they could respond to pressure. It was obvious that the USSF’s main goal this summer was to win the Gold Cup to win a spot in the 2009 Confederations Cup. A loss would have resulted in some seriously bruised egos not only from losing to Mexico but also from sending a bunch of youngsters to Copa America with a tremendous amount of pressure to perform. With a Gold Cup victory, these younger players (and Bob Bradley) can relax and focus on playing their best in Venezuela.

• Speaking of pressure, before the game, Landon Donovan (who is fluent in Spanish) ripped the Mexican team in an interview with ESPN Deportes. He said that the US is El Tri’s daddy (what he actually said), and he also called out Oswaldo Sanchez, essentially calling him a jerk. It was fitting that Donovan was the one taking the penalty to tie the game against Sanchez. Sanchez tried every psychological tactic he could muster (trash talking, blowing kisses, dancing around before the penalty), but Donovan walked the walk and buried the PK.

• Bob Bradley showed that he is the man for the job. He was criticized for his late game management earlier in the tournament, but he got everything right yesterday. Putting on Ricardo Clark at the half was a great move as it added offensive talent without unbalancing the midfield. I’m a big fan of Clark, and I hope we see more of him in the future.

• Tim Howard showed that he could make the huge saves when he stopped Bofo Bautista from point blank range in the dying minutes of the game. He wasn’t under constant fire, but he delivered when he had to.

• Can we please finish off teams? Brian Ching, who otherwise had a great game, made a great play to find an open net with the US up 2-1, but his off-balance shot hit the post. Not to be outdone, DaMarcus Beasley somehow missed an open net from six yards out with only a few minutes left when Donovan put the ball on a silver platter for him. Mexico was very lucky to have any chance at all to tie this game.

• Still, the same old tired excuses were being trotted out from the Mexican locker room. Coach Hugo Sanchez, like several previous Mexican managers, claimed that his team “deserved a better result”. This is the excuse after every American victory over Mexico, and if a US victory was a somewhat rare occurrence, I could possibly understand. However, in the last ten meetings between these teams, Mexico has lost seven of them, but Mexican coaches (and often players) would have us believe that this is just luck. Perhaps Mexico should seriously consider the possibility that we might be better than them and figure out what they need to change in order to reverse the trend of American dominance. Maybe if they treat games against the United States the way they treat games against Brazil and Argentina, there’s a chance they would fare better against the us. However, I don’t think Mexican players, fans, coaches, and soccer honchos can break out of what Eric Wynalda called the “permanent state of denial”. Sorry, Mexico, but as Ric Flair says, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man. WOOOOOO!!!!”

• Speaking of Hugo Sanchez, he’s lucky that Copa America is starting so soon after the Gold Cup or else he might be out of a job. This blowhard did nothing but rip former coach Ricardo Lavolpe for not getting results. Now, he’s the one losing the United States, and he doesn’t seem to have a grasp on managing the national team. Of his many tactical mistakes throughout the tournament, though, I’d have to say his worst was wearing a hot pink polo shirt under a black jacket. Seriously, that was ridiculous.

• One more thing… Benny Feilhaber’s game winner…WOW

Que golazo!!!

Well, the US did eliminate Canada last night in a way too close for comfort win.

Let’s just cut right to the controversial last minute offside against Canada that disallowed an Atiba Hutchinson goal that would have tied the game. When it first happened, I thought Canada was the victim of highway robbery. The second time I saw the play, it was closer than I initially believed but still onside. Then, an astute poster at Big Soccer posted this video from ESPN Deportes that sheds a different light on the subject.

Perhaps the assistant referee wasn’t flagging for Hutchinson; perhaps he was flagging De Rosario. The ball seems like it was intended for De Rosario, and Onyewu may have decided to cut out the pass to an open De Rosario, which of course landed right in the path of Hutchinson. If this is true, it throws the matter into the dreaded gray area as De Rosario could have been adjudged as taking advantage of an offside position.

Was Canada unlucky not to have equalized? Yes, but they were also lucky to have been in that situation in the first place as the United States, as they did against Guatemala and Panama, were in a position to decisively crush their opponent, only to let them off the mat. Honestly, I don’t know what happened to Donovan early in the second half when he completely whiffed with an open net in front of him.

Anyway, the United States will face arch rivals Mexico in the final on Sunday. I really don’t know how to read this Mexican team. Usually they enter matches against the United States with overconfident in their abilities, and when the US proves it is no pushover, the Mexicans turn to anger, losing their focus entirely. This time, however, they have been playing so poorly that El Tri may be forced to pay the Americans some respect before kickoff (but I wouldn’t bet any substantial amount of money on that). For the United States, maybe playing Mexico will be just the tonic they need cure their finishing woes.

US Soccer, Canada Soccer, Mexico Soccer, Gold Cup

Yes, there is some MLS news out there like Dave Sarachan getting fired in Chicago (which happened to make the Sky Sports News ticker) or Chris Klein traded to LA. There are also rumors of Sven-Goran Eriksson returning to England to manage Manchester City. However, I’d rather discuss tonight’s Gold Cup semi-final. I could go on about how the United States has looked excellent with the exception of finishing, but I’d rather discuss the opponent for the Americans

Hello, Canada. I admit that I really don’t have anything against you or your soccer team. In fact, I really like your country. However, because our soccer teams are meeting each other tonight, I’m obligated to hate you for the next 24 hours. It’s nothing personal, just business.

And I won’t make all of the typical jokes about monopoly money, Don Cherry’s fashion sense, or how Tim Horton’s is a couple steps away from taking over the entire country. Still, I hope we can kick the back bacon stink of your soccer team out of the Gold Cup tonight (okay, I made one typical joke). I may actually say some things in the heat of the moment that are pretty mean and over the top. I’ll ask for forgiveness, and since you Canadians are so nice (and I mean that sincerely), you’ll probably accept my apology.

So for now, I offer these final words to you, Canada. Enjoy

In case you didn’t know, this video is from one of the greatest episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 ever. If you get the chance, get a copy of episode 910, The Final Sacrifice, and watch it. And if the video offended you in any way, do as the MST3K theme song says: “Just repeat to yourself ‘It’s just a show. I should really just relax’.”

US Soccer, Canadian Soccer, Gold Cup

I said I would talk about the Kansas City/New York game over the weekend today. Okay, I lied, but I will talk about it tomorrow when I preview the Kansas City at Columbus midweek match.

I’ve come across a couple of interesting articles that I’d thought I’d share. Last week, a reader (I have readers?) from Manchester in the UK noted that many in Britain and Europe hope that the game succeeds over here. Coincidentally, Steven Wells of the Guardian (a newspaper that absolutely loves to poke fun/insult the United States) had a blog entry about English views towards Americans playing “their game”, and that perhaps we Yanks know a bit more about this game than the rest of the world believes. I can also assure you that despite the stereotype, most American fans of the game don’t want to see radical changes to the rules similar to the NASL (and many of those ideas came from the Brits).  Americans playing association football is really nothing to fear, unless you fear competition.

Slate had an article about the constant change in the US National Team uniform design/color. Sure, every country’s kits change over time, but you know that Italy will be wearing blue, Mexico in green, England and Germany will wear the white, etc. The United States in the last 15 years has featured red, white, blue, stripes, no stripes, and last but not least, this weird design that looked like denim with a bunch of stars all over the place, as seen in the picture of Marcello Balboa in all of his mullet glory.

The issue has affected fans, particularly those in Sam’s Army. In the late 90s through 2001, the United States would wear red, so Sam’s Army (which really doesn’t have any sort of centralized leadership) encouraged fans to wear red if they wished to stand in that section. Then Nike/USSF decides to switch to blue in 2002, thus screwing all of us over although red remained the color of choice for the fans. Still, I’m no longer sure what to wear nowadays.

Well, where to start?

Real Madrid managed to take care of business against Mallorca to win the La Liga championship. Around the second half of the Madrid/Mallorca and the Barca/Gimnastic de Tarragona games, Barcelona supporters must have sensed that their club would take over first place on the final weekend as their team led 4-0 while Madrid was trailing 1-0. However, two goals from Jose Antonio Reyes sandwiched around a Mallorca own goal gave Los Galacticos their first Spanish league title in four years and let David Beckham leave Spain as a champion before joining the LA Galaxy. Also, it is good to see that Barcelona did not become champions after Lionel Messi’s handball goal against Espanyol a week ago (apparently, Messi needed to recreate both of Maradona’s goals against England in 1986.)

The United States managed to beat Panama 2-1 in a game that probably should have been a bigger victory for the US. The Americans once again could not finish some excellent scoring opportunities, including Clint Dempsey missing a chance while trying to showboat late in the game. Dempsey’s antics made the game interesting in the end with Blas Perez grabbing a goal for Panama a few minutes later. To be fair to Panama, Tim Howard had to come up with a big save against Perez early in the second half to keep the score at 0-0.

Of course, Panama should have finished the game with only 8 men on the field when the referee failed to send off Felipe Baloy for intentionally handling a through ball in the first half, and then didn’t send off Carlos Rivera for bringing down Landon Donovan when Donovan was through on goal. Manual Torres did eventually get sent off for dissent. The Panamanians complained about referee Neil Brizan, but he was awful for both teams, which is par for the course in CONCACAF.

And now for the MLS wrap up. I did fairly well on my predictions until Sunday when I completely missed both games.

FC Dallas 1, Real Salt Lake 0 (My prediction: FCD 2 RSL 1)

Nothing much to see in this game. Dominic Oduro scores in the 93rd minute to add some kind of excitement to this one.

Columbus Crew 3, New England Revolution 3 (My prediction: 2-2)

Exciting game with plenty of goals. Columbus coach Sigi Schmid made some changes to shake up the squad and they did produce some goals thanks to another good game from Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Both teams have defensive issues, especially New England without Michael Parkhurst

DC United 3, Chicago Fire 1 (My prediction DC 3-0)

United have started to play like they are capable, but the Fire are in total shambles at every single position. Goalkeeping, defending, midfield, forwards, you name it; Chicago has problems with. The Fire faithful are ready to form a lynch mob against Dave Sarachan and GM John Guppy, and right now, it’s hard to blame them.

New York Red Bulls 3, Kansas City Wizards 3 (My prediction NY 2-1)

It set up as the game of the week, and it delivered. I’ll talk more about this one tomorrow as there is much to discuss, but this game was not only entertaining from a dramatic standpoint, but the level of play was extremely high. It was also good to see a good crowd at the Meadowlands.

Chivas USA 2, Colorado Rapids 0 (My prediction Chivas 2-1)

Chivas continues to play well at home, and they are quietly putting together a decent season. Brad Guzan looked really good in goal for Chivas, and he should have a bright future with the US national team as well. Meanwhile, Colorado continues to struggle away from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (insert whatever joke you like).

Toronto FC 4, FC Dallas 0 (My prediction 1-1)

Big whiff on my part. Toronto continues to play well north of the border, but unlike their last two games at home, they were able to totally smash their opponent. Two pieces of bad news for Toronto, however. First, Danny Dichio had to leave the game for x-rays, and second, they have to go on the road for six consecutive games. Meanwhile, Dallas has shown that they are capable of some excellent play, but they struggle with inconsistency. I also realize they were injury-riddled and fatigued on Sunday, but I’d still take the East’s top three teams (New York, Kansas City, and New England) over Dallas.

Los Angeles Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 2 (My prediction 1-1)

Not a bad effort from the Galaxy, albeit against another cellar dweller. Perhaps the Galaxy can still put together a decent season. They have just signed Honduran forward Carlos Pavon, and he could be the box forward that the Galaxy need. Plus, they are waiting for the return of Landon Donovan (who will also play in Copa America), and they are waiting for some English guy to arrive next month. Salt Lake, on the other hand, continues to look for its first win. What a mess they have on their hands.

This weeks prediction record 4-3.

Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, US Soccer, MLS

The United States plays Panama tomorrow in the Gold Cup quarterfinals. However, I’d rather point out that June 17 is the anniversary of two memorable World Cup games for the United States.

The United States drew Italy June 17th last year 1-1 in a wild match that seemed to feature everything. What an incredible range of emotions I felt during this game. Disappointment when Gilardino scored after US had the better of the play in the opening 20 minutes. Elation when the US equalized 5 minutes later off a Christian Zaccardo own goal. Excitement mixed with rage when De Rossi was sent off for a blatant elbow on Brian McBride. Rage and fear when referee Jorge Lorrionda decided that the Italians couldn’t dare play a man down against the Americans when he sent off Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope on both sides of halftime.

Then came the 65th minute when DaMarcus Beasley appeared to give the US the lead, but the goal was disallowed for offside. This video of American fans at the game in Kaiserslautern seems to reflect how we all reacted at that point.

Still, we were pleased to hold on for a 1-1 draw playing with nine men for nearly 45 minutes (we even created good scoring chances with nine men). Of course, five days later, our World Cup came to an end.June 17, 2002, however, was one of the greatest days in US soccer history. The United States fortuitously advanced to the second round of the tournament despite losing 3-1 to Poland in the final group stage game. I, like most American fans, were just happy to advance…until I realized that our second round opponent would be Mexico. For those of you who aren’t aware, US/Mexico is an intense rivalry with plenty of animosity on both sides.

Unlike the Italy game last year, there was no emotional roller coaster in this one. It was just sheer ecstasy for ninety minutes. Mexico may have had more of the possession, but it was obvious the United States was calling the shots. Mexico was so desperate to shake things up that Mexican manager Javier Aguirre threw on over the hill forward Luis Hernandez in the first half. Hernandez’s most memorable moment was a comical dive after Landon Donovan put the US up 2-0 in the second half. The referee wasn’t impressed by Hernandez’s acting skills, and “El Matador” (or is it El Flop-ador) was booked for diving.

What an unbelievable day! Advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Cup was the ultimate reward for being an American soccer fan. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how I felt in the early morning hours of June 17, 2002.

US Soccer, World Cup 2006, World Cup 2002

It was nice to see the United States put a team away in the Gold Cup with a tidy little 4-0 victory over El Salvador. Yesterday I noted that DaMarcus Beasley may not play against El Salvador in order to finalize a move to Rangers.

Oops.

Not only did he play, he bagged two goals. Sure, he had chances to make it a hat trick, particularly one shot in the first half that he sent into orbit, but I’m not going to complain about an American scoring a brace.

The strange thing about this victory is that it could set up an inconceivable quarterfinal match against Mexico. Should Mexico lose to Panama tonight (or possibly draw depending on the scoreline), Mexico would be the final team to qualify for the quarterfinals, meaning they would play against the top team in group play, which would be the United States. Everyone expected that the two teams would renew their rivalry for the final on June 24th in Chicago, but not in the quarters. The US did their job, can Mexico do their part?

Sam’s Army was chanting “We Want Mexico!” last night, but right now, I don’t want any part of El Tri. I’d rather face Mexico when they are fat, happy, and convinced they are kings of CONCACAF. They may actually play like they have something to prove against us if we face them next round, but should they snap out of their poor play in the Gold Cup and face the United States sometime later in the tournament, they will more likely approach the game like they have approached so many games that have ended in a 2-0 victory for the United States.

Gold Cup, US Soccer, DaMarcus Beasley, Mexican Soccer

The US faces El Salvador tonight in the Gold Cup. The Americans have already qualified for the quarterfinals, and a draw guarantees that they will win their group. I’d expect Bob Bradley to let some first team guys sit this game out, especially Carlos Bocanegra and Frankie Hejduk who are sitting on yellow cards from the game against Guatemala.

Another player that may sit this one out is DaMarcus Beasley. The Scottish paper Daily Record is reporting that Glasgow Rangers have agreed to a transfer fee with PSV Eindhoven for the left winger, and Beasley would like time off to discuss personal terms. While Beasley wanted to catch on with Manchester City, this wouldn’t be a bad move for him. He would get to play in Europe, and if there’s a league that will force you to become accustomed to physical play, Scotland is it.

Despite Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon shooting his mouth off (again), David Beckham says he fully plans to head to Los Angeles to play for the Galaxy at the end of the month. No real shocker there, in my opinion. Beckham was seemingly never appreciated by the front office, multiple coaching staffs, and the fans at the Bernabeu until he has become one of the driving forces in Real’s resurgence this season. He knows that if he leaves now, he would be departing as a hero in Madrid. Why stick around long enough for public opinion to turn on him again?

In other transfer news, Thierry Henry and his agent have denied that the Arsenal captain has agreed to personal terms with Barcelona. I doubt this saga is over, but at least this is good news for Arsenal for the time being. Some might argue that Arsenal should sell Henry while he can still fetch a hefty transfer fee. I’m not so sure I agree with that logic. Henry may be getting older, but after watching Arsenal’s form drop significantly after his injury early in 2007, one can’t deny the impact he still has on the club. I’d hope that if Henry does leave, Arsenal will look to find an immediate replacement for him, unlike the inability to replace Patrick Viera’s presence in midfield when he was sold to Juventus.

Gold Cup, US Soccer, DaMarcus Beasley, Rangers, David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Madrid, Thierry Henry, Arsenal, FC Barcelona