Copa America
Bob Bradley announced his roster for the Copa America. He is definitely using the opportunity to give his younger players a crash course in international play, versus high caliber players, in hostile environments. The roster includes three (Moor, Wynne, and Gomez) who don't even have a cap. Here's the roster:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Danny Califf (Aalborg BK, Denmark), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Heath Pearce (Nordsjaelland, Denmark), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Colorado), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg SV, Germany), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago), Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Ben Olsen (D.C. United)
Forwards: Charlie Davies (Hammarby, Sweden), Herculez Gomez (Colorado), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City), Taylor Twellman (New England)
I'm not that opposed to the young lineup, but I do find some of the choices curious, particularly at forward. Gomez must be an experiment, but based on what? He hasn't really delivered in the MLS, though he does have potential. Twellman is virtually an old man on this roster, but I guess he's here to get some experience since his international play is as refined as the play of the newbies. Johnson I understand: he shows potential; Bradley just hopes he can tap into it.
Beckerman is a good risk, and I hope we see Nguyen and Clark on the field. Drew Moor is one that I question in the back. He doesn't seem very reliable at the club (FCD) level, so how can he compete against some of the world's best?
Bottom line: this is a lineup that's doomed to not get out of the group stage, but it should be good experience for the players.
Tobias' take on the Copa Oro
The Ft Worth Star-Telegram has a brief commentary on the USMNT's performance (and Fox Soccer Channel's broadcasting performance) for the Gold Cup. I can't say that I disagree with much that he writes. I like FSC, but I'm not a fan of Max Bretos' banter nor his bias towards certain teams, and I absolutely hate his scream when a goal is scored. It's something like "Yeeaahhaaaarrggggh!" What is WITH that?
The Offside Discussion
It's interesting that something so concrete as a rule or law can appear so different to people of a different perspective. The offside call at the end of the US v Canada game is still generating chatter, with people clamoring for both sides. I guess the only definite thing to come out of it is that the call was close enough that -- as infuriating as it is to the Canadians -- it can only be chalked up to a ref's on-the-spot opinion and not to international conspiracy.
Here's the BigSoccer discussion (full of locker room lawyers, be warned)
Bobby McMahon with the more common view that Canada was robbed
Robert Burns has a more unusual take, saying the call was correct because DeRo was offside, and he was part of the play (even though Onyewu deflected the ball before it got to him)
It's no surprise that people have differing opinions. It is a surprise that people can't believe others have a different point of view.
T. Henry
ESPN reports that the deal is done. Thierry Henry is on his way to Barcelona. That's good for him and good for Barca, but poor, poor Arsenal...
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2 comments:
Lets see, U.S. has not been in Copa America for a long time, after negotiations with CONMEBOL they get invited back, and after all the time, all the negotiations all the efforts, they decide to send a weak team?, why?, do they want not to be invited again in a long time?
Gold Cup means nothing, yes, the winner gets to go to the confederations cup, but aside from that Gold Cup means nothing to the 2 teams that win it every time, the U.S. and Mexico, there is no glory in winning, it is expected of them, (there is no glory, but there is a lot of shame if they loose with any of the other teams), the level is not that great, which means top players don´t get to enhance their game.
Copa America on the other hand is a highly recognized competion, heck, Copa America was played years before the first World Cup (in fact the World Cup took inspiration from Copa America), the level is a lot higher and the teams are a lot better.
Mexico learned this a long time ago, and that is why they take seriously the competition, Mexico has advance at least to the 2nd phase every time, they have played already 2 championship games (2001 and 1993), and they have won the 3rd place game twice(1997 and 1999).
The U.S. complains about the fact that their National Team does not receives the respect they have earned, but they don´t get that winning the Gold Cup and winning against Mexico in the U.S. in the last years does not earn any respect.
Mexico on the other hand learned a long time ago that Copa America and the World Cup are the only ways to earn respect, who got seated in the last WC?, U.S. or Mexico?, Mexico, why?, for one thing because they have advanced to the 2nd phase of the last 4 WC, the U.S. in those 4 the U.S? only got to the 2nd phase 2 times, (yes, one of those was a quarter finals game, but you need consistency) and have not played in Copa America.
How about club competition?, Mexico fought to have teams in Copa Libertadores, Mexican teams have already played the championship game and every year their teams usually get to quarter finals and semifinals, not to mention Pachuca is the reigning champion of the Copa Sudamericana.
Do you think Pachuca earned respect from winning the CONCACAF champions cup?, from winning against out beloved Dynamo in the semifinals?, no, they got no respect there, but their championship in Copa Sudamericana was a different story, Cruz Azul winning one of the 2 legs of the championship game of Copa Libertadores against Boca Juniors and in Boca´s stadium earned them respect, Aguilas del America almost winning against Santos do Brazil in Santos' stadium with a B team (America had to play 2 games that day, one in Brazil and one in Mexico on the semifinals of their league) earned them respect.
U.S. National Team can think of themselves as a great team, they can think that they are better than Mexico, but the outside world believes Mexico is a better team, they don't care about U.S. winning in U.S. vs Mexico (they have never won in Mexico by the way), they care about results in the WC (Mexico has a better record in the last WC) and results outside of the Gold Cup, U.S. dissed Copa America for a time, and now that they are back they send a weak team, why?, why?, why?,why?
MLS wants respect, they wont get it playing CONCACAF champions cup (and by the way they have never won that), playing Copa Sudamericana is a start, but they need to go to the Copa Libertadores.
They need to earn respect, MLS and USMNT, our neighbors to the south have done it, only in our minds we are a better team, in the rest of the world they are better, why?, because they have prove it in Copa America (and in the Confederations, Mexico defeated Brazil in one of the tournaments) and consistently play ok soccer on the World Cup.
Do I sound angry?, perhaps I am, I hate seeing another opportunity waisted, which reminds me of the waisted opportunities for MLS.
El Jardin...
I understand your frustration. When the US first announced it was going to Copa America, I thought that Copa should be the priority over the Gold. But I can now understand that being the champion of one's region is a status that the US wants (they can't help that it's the anemic CONCACAF region) and that playing in South African venues in the Confederations Cup the year before the World Cup would be helpful. I can also appreciate the European players wanting a break before returning to their clubs.
Because of these considerations, I can understand the emphasis on the Gold Cup. In fact, taking a "team of the future" to Copa America could help the USMNT in the long run by developing an extended core of quality national players. Even Mexico is not taking its star power to the Copa. (Here's an article on that.)
Having said all that, there's a difference between taking a "team of the future" and simply a "B Team." I question several of the players Bradley selected. Some I question (Twellman, Moor) because they are not showing anything, so why deny a spot to those who are performing well or who have potential to do so? Also, I understand keeping veterans on the team (like Keller and Conrad) to lend some leadership on the field and provide a safety net and even mentorship for the young players, but why Olsen? He's too old to be a player "of the future" and while he's had a good career (and at least one spectacular game this season), he does not bring the steady, veteran leadership component otherwise needed.
So I guess I can say that I don't have a problem with the overall strategy of bringing in youth or even of basing the roster on youth, but I question how that strategy is being implemented. This may hurt our future appearance at the Copa...but if we get into the second round then our guest status may be safe. More importantly, we will have made a dramatic statement on the depth of quality here in the States. But getting into the second round will be very, very difficult for this team.
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