Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:25 pm

Jermaine Jones of Schalke has decided to not play for Germany and instead the US national team. He was capped 3 times in friendlies for Germany but with the new FIFA rule, he can switch.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:01 pm

Obviously fancies his chances of getting into the German national team then.

In other news, the increasingly tedious Cesc Fabregas says that when he mentioned that he was committed to Arsenal, there were exceptions, to whit..

"It's very obvious that it (an offer from Barca) would be special but I am also clear about the fact that Arsenal made me captain in the middle of last season," Fabregas said in an interview published in Spain's Sport newspaper.

"That gives me extra responsibility and ties me closer to the club and I would be excited to win a trophy as captain of the Gunners," he said, but added that if Guardiola called him "it would be different."

Translation - "I'd like to follow Eidur Godjohnsen in getting paid for 2 or 3 years to appear as a 80th minute sub, in CL group games when we are already through or maybe for a half against Getafe...", as he has about as much chance of starting in that midfield as I have.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:12 pm

he looked good against New Zealand.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:22 pm

They aren't as good as Getafe.

rhymes450 · Post by **rhymes450** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:53 pm

Have to apologise to Dave for my totally over the top reaction to what was essentially a fairly innocuous comment. Fraid it caught me at a bad time and what I said was way out of order. Rush of blood to the head. Anyway, no excuses...

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:29 pm

Spain got put into a pretty tough group....

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:42 pm

Can we just assume that damn near anybody would be open to a move if Barcelona came knocking? It hardly seems worth the trouble of articulating the sentiment.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 3:08 am

rhymes450 wrote:Have to apologise to Dave for my totally over the top reaction to what was essentially a fairly innocuous comment. Fraid it caught me at a bad time and what I said was way out of order. Rush of blood to the head. Anyway, no excuses...

No problem matey - my comments aren't innocuous, I spent 20 years standing on terraces supporting Man City before I even sat down, so they are loaded with bitter sarcasm and hate....think of me as soccer's Bill Hicks

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:34 am

RobVarak wrote:Can we just assume that damn near anybody would be open to a move if Barcelona came knocking? It hardly seems worth the trouble of articulating the sentiment.

It is if you want to start planting ideas into the mind of your current chairman and you would like a new contract, or you want to encourage Real Madrid to put in a cheeky bid just to piss Barca off.

But Fabregas ? I don't think that he'd fit into either of those 2 sides. He's now urging Arsenal to buy a midfield enforcer, and Yaya Toure from Barca has been mentioned - seems a little unlikely, but they do need a ballwinner.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:35 pm

Egypt-Brazil was a nice match. Good to not see players rolling around on the turf for a change.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:50 pm

Well that was frustrating! Rossi grabbing a brace just adds insult to injury and emphasizes the fact that we're a second-rate footballing nation. Would be nice to have one of these Italy-US games officiated by a professional for a change.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:08 am

red card or not. It is once again another American doing a bonehead thing when playing against a big team.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:23 am

I dont watch as many matches as you guys do so forgive me if Im stating the obvious.

Americans vs real competition...Lack of finishing and defensive lapses.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:22 am

It was a harsh result for the US, who generally performed pretty well.

When the red card came (which was undoubtedly a horrendous call from left field--Gattuso's tackle on Dempsey 10 minutes earlier was every bit as bad and didn't even draw a yellow), the Americans were getting the better of the play, though Bradley and Altidore muffed the two best chances of the game up to then.

For the next 25 minutes the US managed the game very well, finding a go-ahead goal and limiting Italy's opportunities. Once Rossi scored from 30 yards however, the game completely changed and the result seemed inevitable (notwithstanding the fact that conceding that second goal should never have gotten by either Gooch or Howard).

Still, there were many positives;
-Donovan was invisible early, but then played very well the last 70 minutes.
-Altidore did a great job of making life difficult for the Italian defense. As a lone wolf tracking down long balls, he consistently won the ball and draw fouls, and of course the PK.
-Brave play from the back line, and Gooch was utterly dominant in the air.
-I'm not sure if Fielhaber played his way into the lineup with passes like the one that sprung Altidore, or played his way out of the lineup with repeated unforced giveaways in midfield, including simply being stripped of the ball by Rossi seconds before the game-turning goal.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:50 pm

What's the story with Rossi?

Are there other talented American-born players who are bailing on playing for the US team?

With the native and immigrant population in this country, there should be more world-class players.

Well other than the fact that the best athletes go to other sports.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:02 pm

Neven Subotic and Edgar CAstillo chose other countries. Freddy Adu and Jose Torrres chose us. There is a brit who qualified for the T&T team because of his grandmother's heritage.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:48 am

First PK500-Fsquid derby will be August 19th when the mighty Owls travel to Newcastle. They will play at Hillsborough on Boxing Day. That will be a large crowd.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:32 am

Normally I'm all for fan noisemaking, but these damn trumpets in S. Africa are awful!! They make every game sound like it's being played in a stadium from the Guatemalan 2nd division.

http://tinyurl.com/n7635u

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:31 am

So they are preparing them for the number of people who will be using them once the WC has finished....that's useful to know.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:41 am

I like how the crowd dances though.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a media briefing he was aware of complaints the din of the instrument was drowning out the commentary of broadcasters

Well I don't think that is a bad thing.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:27 am

He was actually saying

"drowning out the dodgy deals that I was trying to make and also making it very difficult for Jack Warner to tout his World Cup tickets"

obviously the nuances have been lost in translation somewhat.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:34 am

So how many more games before the UEFA qualifying rounds are done?

Several Asian nations qualified yesterday, if I heard correctly on Sportscenter.

Looks like Portugal or Sweden or both may not qualify.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:50 am

All but one of the 9 qualifying groups have 6 teams in, which means 10 games. Most of the teams have played 6 games, so there are 4 rounds left.

Portugal or Sweden will most likely miss out unless Denmark collapse, but it may well be that Hungary fall away so one of them will get through.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:58 pm

Bob Bradley needs to go and take Beasley with him

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:42 pm

fsquid wrote:Bob Bradley needs to go and take Beasley with him

Let's not overreact.

According to the USSF party line, as well as deep thinkers like Alexi Lalas and John Harkes, there were "positives" to emerge from that steaming pile of horseshit.

Unless one views conclusive evidence that Beasley should never wear a US shirt again as a "positive", I have a hard time figuring out what language they're speaking.

Dreadful. Inexcusable and dreadful. This team was not prepared mentally, tactically or emotionally to take on the world's best in this tournamen t, and that is totally unacceptable. What's worse is that we saw the same thing in Germany and South America.

At some point we have to admit that the post-2002 "baby step" progress is dead and buried. Shameful mishandling of this squad at every level. Players, coaches, management and the upper echelon "brain trust" at US Soccer have all totally and utterly failed...again.