No Soup for WCQ TV

In a strange and annoying turn reminiscent of the mid-90s, US Soccer has managed to not have the second-to-last World Cup Qualifier broadcast tomorrow.  Oh, the game is available for viewing, via closed-circuit TV in a handful of bars across the country, but no pay-per-view, no web-cast, nada.  For me, this would mean a drive to Chicago if I really wanted to watch this game.  And I really want to watch this game – just not enough to spend six hours in the car.

It’s an important, vital match.  Win or tie and Team America is in the World Cup.  Lose and the last game against Costa Rica in D.C. next Wednesday becomes scary.  Just to review:  tomorrow I can watch Bahrain v. New Zealand or Denmark v. Sweden, or even freaking Liechtenstein v. Azerbaijan.  But no USA v. Honduras.

FIFA 10 – First Shake

The demo for EA Sports’ FIFA Soccer 10 came out last week, so we’re on the spot with some early impressions after a stint of play-testing.  Apparently, the game drops in Europe tomorrow, but on this side of the Atlantic we have to wait until October 20.  That gives all those Euros nearly three weeks to refine their skills before I open up the whip-ass on them.

I’ve played FIFA 09 into oblivion so I definitely have some opinions about the next version.  First off, based on the demo, the  general physics are more lifelike and accurate.  This not only improves player movement and the way the ball flies around, but nuances such as passing, defensive challenges, and shooting position.  Most of the familiar online features will make a return, and you can always count on a few new tweaks.  The graphics have some subtle improvements, the soundtrack will be updated, and most importantly, the rosters will be current and (hopefully) adjusted to reflect the world of football.  For me it will be interesting to see if the USA team has improved in the eyes of the EA Sports developers – particularly in light of the Confederations Cup showing; I thought our players were given short shrift last time, but then again I’m biased.

Enigmatic U20s

The US Under-20 World Cup team looked solid today en route to their 4-1 victory over Cameroon.  Just a few days earlier, they looked extremely shaky losing to Germany 3-0.  With youth teams, you can always cover yourself with the cliche: they’re young and inconsistent, blah-blah-blah.  But Coach Thomas Rongen’s latest squad is even stranger than most.  In the last cycle we had a group of heralded players headlined by Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, and Michael Bradley.  This time we have Dilly Duka, Ike Opara, and Brek Shea – a group familiar to only the hardest of the hardcore US Soccer fans.  The team includes a fair amount of college players, some guys from Europe, and some guys playing in PDL and USL-1.  Not many guys from MLS (even fewer who actually play).  It’s a very random-looking team.  What does this say about the state of USA soccer development?  Not much, unfortunately.

It’s a Catch-22 with American players getting lost in the shuffle.  MLS teams would rather pay more for foreigners with pedigrees than develop the home talent, and since the Reserve-lead closed down last year, and with entry-level salaries so ridiculously low, staying in college has seemed reasonable for guys like Duka, and keeper Brian Perk.  The young guys find it difficult to head for Europe unless they can secure a European passport, which eliminates many.  That’s why you have guys like Tony Taylor and Gale Agbossoumonde who play in USL-1 (the USA second division).  It all adds up to us being behind the countries with more established leagues – this despite many promises by US Soccer, MLS, Nike, and now Adidas.  Take, for example, Germany.  Their U20s are mostly signed to Bundesliga clubs.  They train with the senior team and play reserve matches in the German Third Division, or go out on loans to Second Division teams, etc.  This means they’re playing in competitive games.   Unlike the guys warming the bench in MLS or playing NCAA soccer, with all it’s weird rules and questionable coaching.  No wonder we looked disjointed and inept in the opener.

US Team Nearly There

The U.S. Men’s Soccer Team won in Trinidad Wednesday night, 1-0.  It wasn’t pretty.  T&T striker Cornell Glenn hit the post on a chip attempt and U.S. keeper Tim Howard provided several clutch saves to keep it scoreless in the first half.  Team America played better in the second half, but still needed an unlikely bomb from Rico Clark to carry the day.

An ugly win, a less than stellar performance, and yet the U.S. now sits atop the CONCACAF standings with two more to play.  We’ll only need a tie in the next two matches to seal the trip to South Africa – surely we can’t screw that up, can we?

Followers of the team have been tough on Coach Bradley and the boys (including yours truly), the quality of play, and we’re wondering whether this team has enough quality to make noise next summer.  Some are more negative than others, such as Kartik and crew at the MLS Talk Podcast.  I think some of their criticisms are valid, but many others are off-base or beside the point, so I decided to chime in.  Then I got carried away.  Read on for my reply to the podcast after the bump… 

Pentagram: WCQ v. El Salvador

With a 3-1 (oops, I mean 2-1) victory over El Salvador in Utah, Saturday night, Team America remains in the mix to win the hex.  Here are the standings with three more to play – one game on Wednesday and two more in October:  Honduras – 13 pts, USA – 13 – pts, Mexico – 12 pts, Costa Rica – 12 pts.  Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador are both virtually eliminated with 5 apiece.  The top three teams qualify automatically for South Africa, while 4th place is a play-in with the 5th place team from South America.  As that could be Argentina the way things are rolling, the USA would do well to avoid the drama.

It's a goal for Jozy!

Wednesday we travel to Trinidad in a game we should win and the chance for some breathing room.  As we have two of the more difficult matches next month – at Honduras and home against Costa Rica – you take your three points from the Soca Warrior if at all possible.

Against El Salvador, Coach Bradley trotted out the more attack-oriented lineup many of us we’re hoping to see.  Finally, we saw Altidore and Davies starting up top with Feilhaber, Donovan, and Dempsey in the midfield.  The result was some attractive soccer at points, as well as some defensive lapses.  Five points in the pentagram…

MLS Stretch Run

With the dog days mostly behind us, Major League Soccer looks towards the stretch run and the playoffs.  September and October usually showcase the best of MLS, as teams jockey for position and try to gain post-season momentum.  Ironically, you often see your best soccer this time of the year, the kind a casual fan could enjoy, when most people are occupied elsewhere.

Houston Dynamo (40 points), Columbus Crew (39 points), and Chicago Fire (38 points) are locks for the playoffs.  Of these three, the Dynamo, who just signed Mexican forward Luis Landin and are starting to get healthy again, look the best.  Columbus seems a little shaky, and they have the distraction of the CONCACAF Champions leauge, but they continue to get results.  The Fire have plenty of points but haven’t played particularly well.  Starting defender, Bakary Soumare, seems to be on his way to France, and Coach Hamlett seems to have some issues.  Chicago could still put it together, though.

Pentagram: US @ Azteca

Well, you win some, you lose some.  At Azteca, you mostly lose.  But that doesn’t mean you have to like it.  Sure there are a few positives: the continued ascent of Charlie Davies, who scored the first goal at the Azteca by Team America in many moons, the fact that we’ve been able to take the early lead on Italy, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico in Mexico.  But…  We’ve only managed to hold that lead in one of those games, and let’s face it – luck was with us that day.  A troubling trend.

It’s not the fact that Mexico beat us on their home soil. Again. No, it’s the way the USA played after conceding that first goal, attempting (ineffectively) to bunker 70 minutes on the road, unable to string together passes, and conceding possession at all turns.  You could claim that both of Mexico’s goals were fortunate (and they were) but that’s the beside the point.  El Tri carried the play, dominated possession, and deserved their day.  Now with Honduras’ victory over Costa Rica, we have a logjam at the top the standings for the region.  Costa Rica with 12 points, Hoduras and the USA with 10 points, and Mexico with 9.  Five points in the Pentagram…

Gameday: USA v Mexico

Azteca-Never Won There

Today Team America tries to take points from Mexico at Estadio Azteca – something we’ve never been able to do.  We’ve managed a tie and a whole lot of losses in Mexico City.  The two sides are evenly matched from an objective viewpoint, and it will likely come down to mentality and execution.  If the USA can avoid the mental lapses that led to the lion’s share of this summer’s losses, if we can withstand the early Mexican bull-rush and finish a chance or two, a tie or even a win are definitely possible.  But Mexico always plays its best at the Azteca.  The 5-0 spanking of the Yanks B-side in the Gold Cup has the monkey off their back, and they really need a win.  Drop points today and Mexico is looking at a dogfight to qualify for South Africa.  Truthfully, all the pressure is on El Tri.

Beemsville will cover the match from the unofficial watch party at Sammy’s Sportsbar (5th and Adams) in downtown Springpatch.  Come on out and join us.  Kickoff is 3:00 CST.  You can watch the match in English on obscure Spanish network Mun2, which is now widely available on Dish, DirecTV, and most major cable providers (today only!) thanks in no small part to the outrage expressed when we all learned we might not be able to watch our team.  In English.  Stay tuned for postgame analysis…

Books: The Beckham Experiment

…by Grant Wahl

What - you were expecting someone else's photo?

The Beckham Experiment: How the World’s Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America has been lauded and praised by everyone from dead-spinner Will Leitch to that anti-soccer curmudgeon, Frank DeFord.  And why is that?  Because it’s American Sports Journalism at its finest?  Because it takes the high gloss sheen from David Beckham and his PR machine?  Because it’s a true Hollywood tale of haves and have-nots?  Yeah, no doubt…

The best thing for me is this is the first high profile book devoted to the strange and sometimes counter-intuitive world of Major League Soccer.  This is the world David Beckham brought himself and his handlers into.  The world of a niche sport trying to grasp its share of the fickle American sports attention span, in which soccer, the world’s most popular sport, is relegated to afterthought status on Sportscenter.  In MLS, you have a league set up in a single-entity fashion and backed by some of this country’s wealthiest businessmen.  This structure has so far protected the league and kept it afloat, even amidst contraction (two Florida teams lost several years ago) and unimpressive TV ratings.  Now MLS has been adding teams the past few seasons: Toronto, San Jose, Seattle, and next year Philadelphia.  Attendance-wise, the teams are solid, ranking up there with soccer leagues in places like the Netherlands, Sweden, and France.  But MLS’s single-entity structure isn’t like anyplace else.  The league (not teams) own the player contracts, which means, a team can’t just go out and buy talent like in Europe.  It’s a system meant to impose parity and fiscal responsibility on the teams – something Team Beckham never seemed to grasp.

Pentagram: Two Tourneys, Many Lessons

There’s nothing like a 5-0 ass-whipping by your greatest rival in a tournament final to provide a little perspective on where you stand.  The American Soccer community has had two basic reactions to the Gold Cup loss to Mexico:  the initial righteous outrage and then rationalization combined with eager roster projections. 

While it’s true the U.S Team that took the field against Mexico in New York (facing a 90% pro-Mexico crowd) included exactly one first-team choice in Brian Ching, with Mexico fielding probably four first-choice players, and it’s also true the penalty call that opened the floodgates was a bad, bad decision by the ref, no one can deny the U.S. crumbled and capitulated over the final 35 minutes.  After nearly a decade of domination on home soil (despite often facing pro-Mex crowds) the U.S. conceded the psychological high ground.  And you could tell it on the faces of players like Torrado and Dos Santos, to say nothing of their coach, Javier Aguirre.  You could see their relief and exhiliration.  They did not care that it was a U.S. B-team, the only thing that mattered was beating the gringos and lifting the trophy.  Maybe we didn’t care that much about winning the Gold Cup (and judging by the team selection and mass exodus of players from the initial roster), but to concede anything prior to the August 12 showdown at the Azteca, especially in terms of confidence is troubling.

Team America is 7-5-1 over this busy summer stretch, with two more World Cup Qualifiers looming in the coming weeks.  The Confederations Cup and Gold Cup showed us a lot about this team and about Bob Bradley’s coaching and roster management.  So let’s try to sum it up, pentagram-style…