Its not as bad as it looks...

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.