Holden helps US beat Japan

This morning, I woke up early enough to catch the 2nd half of the US Men's Olympic team's match versus Japan. It was great to see the Houston Dynamo represented well, with our very own Stuart Holden scoring the winning (and only) goal for the US Team.

So our own Hometown Holden is the scoring leader for the US team. Okay, so that's a weak stat at this point. I won't mind if another teammate (McBride? Adu? Altidore?) passes him up this tournament, as long as Holden continues to contribute and the US continues to win.

As for the game itself, it seemed that the US tried to sit back on the lead. The US has a pretty good (if very shallow) defense, but that tactic won't work in the next match, versus the Netherlands. A draw versus the Oranje would help our chances quite a bit overall, particularly after their draw with Nigeria. I'm looking forward to watching my recording of the whole Japan match tonight; I heard we did well in the first half, although we conceded several golden opportunities to the Japanese.

Here's a preview of the Japan match. It doesn't bother to mention anything about Holden, choosing to stick to the easy subjects: Adu, Altidore, and McBride.

Here's the US Soccer recap of the match. Holden was the "Sierra Mist Man of the Match." And here's the AP recap of the match. (It's from the Chron, so the link will only be good for a few weeks.)

Here's an old article about both Dynamo players, Ianni and Holden, after they first joined the Olympic team.

Oh, and for minor laughs, here's Jamie Trecker's preview of the US Men's Olympic team. His schtick is to have a cynical perspective on the US soccer culture in general, and US soccer players specifically. (He seems to have a personal vendetta against Ching; being almost childish -- and definitely rudimentary -- in his criticism of the Hawaiian prior to World Cup 2006.) His counter-culture approach would be better served if he was better at analysis and if he didn't rely on media handouts as the basis for his opinions (even if his opinions are only to counter those handouts). For instance, he obviously hasn't watched any Dynamo games, because he says in the above-linked article "Holden looks to be a journeyman at Houston" and could be on the 2014 US World Cup team "if at all." No one who is considered a solid understudy for DeRo at attacking midfield could be considered merely a journeyman. And no one who has seen Holden's touch, powerful shot, and dribbling skills would consider him a journeyman. Research is perhaps the most difficult job for writers, and so Trecker often skimps on this aspect. If you see facts in his writing, don't take them as accurate. His opinions can be amusing, as I've said, or even interesting at times; but they are often based on a weak foundation of factual errors, on poor analysis, or simply on a hope that a negative perspective will sound insightful.