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