Whew...what a game! Although the score was 4-1 in Argentina's favor, I'm still proud of our boys. They are a very young and inexperienced team that has been given only a couple days to gel, but they found a way to overcome and put up a very good fight - taking an early lead and holding the tie until into the second half - and looked pretty good. They strung some nice balls together, Eddie Johnson looked dangerous, and the defense held up for a lot of the game under the pressure of guys like Riquelme, Messi, Crespo, and Tevez. Christ that's a stacked team! I was never expecting a victory from the guys (if you refer to the previous post, you would see that I predicted a 3-1 defeat to the Argentines with a goal from a Donovan PK - the final score was 4-1 with a goal coming from a Johnson PK that would've been taken by Donovan [I should have checked the roster before hand] had he played - not to bad!) and when I saw the roster and asked myself "who are these guys," I wouldn't have predicted them holding their ground and playing quality soccer - but they did it!
These players are learning valuable lessons on the international stage early so it doesn't have to happen in a World Cup.
When the 4th of July starts getting close, I sometimes start to think about why we celebrate ourselves - what about America is worth celebrating? And there's nothing more patriotic than watching your country's top 11 throwing some beat down on those social "democratic" Latin American countries. And I realised that only a couple of the Argentine players actually play in Argentina while most of our squad plays in the U.S. Why? Interesting hypothesis: the quality of life of the said league's country has a major effect on the said player's decision making process. If, as the 4th of July makes us ponder, the U.S. provides a unique way of life that is superior to others, then why would our players want to leave? I'm not saying the Argentinian way life is inferior - ok I am (but only to CALI) - because there are obviously many other factors involved (i.e. money, family, prestige), but it's still an interesting thought! What do you think?
Link to FSC story here.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Its been almost a month since the last post, I've been finishing up school and didn't get a chance to update it. Update: the USA Men's National Team won the Gold Cup (the regional international tournament of the CONCACAF - North & Central America + Carribean) , a mostly meaningless tournament, save for the fact that the winner gets a birth in the Confederation's Cup (the tournament for all the winners of the regional tournaments like the Gold Cup). They didn't play all that well, up until the second half of the final against Mexico (who beat Brazil 2-0 yesterday), but they looked good for a half - and Feilhaber's goal was unbelievable!
The U.S. now eye's Copa America, the South American regional tournament (they invite others to join which is how the U.S. are participating), but they will be facing much stiffer competition. The first game for the U.S. is tonight (6/28) against Argentina. I predict a 3-1 loss, with the goal coming from a Donovan penalty kick. I also predict Argentina to win the tourney, they've got their full squad, including Riquelme (the Brazilians are missing Kaka and Ronaldinho - they won't be miss them on the field), and they're looking for blood after the disapointing showing in Germany. We'll see how it pans out.
The U.S. now eye's Copa America, the South American regional tournament (they invite others to join which is how the U.S. are participating), but they will be facing much stiffer competition. The first game for the U.S. is tonight (6/28) against Argentina. I predict a 3-1 loss, with the goal coming from a Donovan penalty kick. I also predict Argentina to win the tourney, they've got their full squad, including Riquelme (the Brazilians are missing Kaka and Ronaldinho - they won't be miss them on the field), and they're looking for blood after the disapointing showing in Germany. We'll see how it pans out.
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