Tired of the Soccer-Bashing on Pardon the Interruption?

Well, let's do something about it. Much like there was an initiative this past week to try and get the U-20 game put on ESPN, I'm asking all soccer fans to rise up and flood PTI's mailbox with reminders that soccer is the World's Game. Wilbon was overly critical of soccer again today, which is he is almost everyday. I don't care if him and Terry Francona want to joke about how they don't give a crap if Beckham is coming, but I think it's ridiculous to not give credit where credit is due for the U-20 Men's Team.

As almost every soccer fan knows, soccer in the US is being held back b/c the majority of sports writers try to make it out to be a game for pansies. But let's take this time for a bit of a comparison and let's look at baseball or basketball for some examples.

Complaint

1. Soccer is boring. There's not enough action.

This article from Rick Reilly pretty much sums up baseball to me. You watch one baseball game for 3 hours and there's 12 minutes of actual 'ball in play' action. Soccer is a continuous 90 minutes of gameplay.

2. Fat people can play baseball. You can chew tobacco while you play baseball.

Please give Landon Donovan some dip to play a 90-minute game of soccer. I'd love to watch him hurl. Could you ever see Cecil Fielder trying to do ANYTHING for 90 minutes, much less run.

3. Soccer players are pretty boys.

This is coming from people who watch players in super tight outfits pat each other on the ass after every play. Riiiiiight.

4. Soccer players dive and fake injuries.

Alright, so let's look at basketball for this one. If a player comes down the lane and you want to flop on a charge, it's completely acceptable, am I wrong? Now, if someone slides you from behind in the box, you put the ball a little too far ahead of you and you try to draw a foul, same thing, right? Essentially. I would never endorse diving and most Americans don't. If you watch the US MNT or you watch most American-born soccer players, you don't see that. So don't criticize soccer in America for flopping.


My point with all this is that soccer in America gets a lot of crap, especially from sports writers. I don't know if it's something where Americans need to have their own sports and want to ridicule anything that is foreign to them or what. But, other sports are more boring, have less action, have more whiners, have people who are out of shape, and have 2 hours of commercials in a game that could last 1 hour. And I suppose that is where it all lies. In the fact that other sports are much more marketable and give time for people to get up piss the beer out of them, watch 1000 car commercials, and remind ourselves what America is really about and that is $$$.

This is an exciting time for soccer for all of us fans and I don't think it should be cheapened by the talking heads on ESPN or anywhere else. I suppose if you'd like to share how you feel, you should. Email PTI (pti@espn.com), email ESPN, email your local paper. Hell, I'm a lazy bastard, but even I don't mind dropping an email expressing my rage once in a while.

Thanks!

- Brad

Beckham Bash

Well, the time is nearly upon us. Within two days, David Beckham will be officially welcomed to the Los Angelas Galaxy squad. As has been the focus for so called soccer "experts" here in the US, is America ready for Becks and Posh?

The answer to me is simple, and that's no. If you're reading this, you are probably an avid football fan yourself. You are ready for his arrival. You understand what he brings to the table. Can we say that for the average American casual sports fan? Of course not, but hopefully all of you out there WILL understand exactly what he'll do here 'cross the pond, then not be disappointed by what you've seen.

He'll come into the league, immediately contend for the honor of most assists, and of course will "bend it like Beckham" in pursuit of goals on beautiful set pieces (hopefully). He is easily one of the top players in the world, albeit in his role. That's right, he's merely a role player, and never has been much different. Again, a very good one, but nothing more. As with any footballer, he will on occasion show flashes of brilliance and maybe even some dazzling footwork, but I fear the media is pumping the masses up for the second coming of Pele.

Now, don't get me wrong, I DO like Beckham. I hope he comes here and completely blows the nation away with his prowess. He's bringing with him immense star power, and his wife by his side certainly will have her own effect. But, unless you are a true soccer fan, you have no idea what's coming when it hits you.

The reason to have concern is the fact that I believe he can help make or break the MLS. He has provided the league with the opportunity of a lifetime. There will be thousands, if not millions, of people watching his team, and more importantly, the MLS, that would never have even batted an eye over the mention of soccer. How will the league handle this? Hopefully, it will kick start a revolution in the popularity of the sport here.

I have my favorite EPL team I've rooted for for a couple years now, Reading (still can't get over promotion then staying in the top flight!), but the reason I became a soccer fan and started following the sport was for the USMNT. Yes, we have a lot of talent in the player pool who are with European clubs, but the majority are players in our domestic league, the MLS. The only way for players to get better is playing better competition. The MLS is not as bad as some media outlets would have you believe. To be honest, it's not that bad at all. But, it certainly is nowhere close to the EPL. However, the potential is there. All we need is a consistent national following of the sport, and that starts right here at home. I'd be lying if I said I'd be happy rooting for EPL teams the rest of my life. Call me selfish, but I want the best league in the world to be right here in the USA. I want the greatest players in the world itching to come to America to play for the greatest teams in the world. Compare it to the MLB for a moment. Yes, some call it slow, but it is still America's past time, and there will be millions of followers of the sport for years to come. We've all heard of Dice-K from Japan. He was hailed as the greatest thing "since sliced bread" when it came to Japanese baseball. The player that a whole nation rooted for, even if he beat your team. A once in a lifetime, if not more than one lifetime, type of player. What does he do? He comes to the US, abandons all of his stardom at home (granted, he still has his following at home, and Boston seems to like him just fine), all just to play with the best of the best in the world. Why can't the MLS be that league some day in soccer? I want this because the better our domestic league does, the better talent we may have sprouting here at home. You get more of a following, you have more kids playing the game beyond 8-10 years old, and in theory, you may have a better national team. Yes, that is not always the case (ie England, quite arguably holding one of the best leagues in it's own back yard, has yet to produce outstanding results lately on the international scene; but, who wouldn't want the success for their team as England has? I would.), but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Beckham could be the pebble that starts the avalanche of support here stateside. If he comes in, dazzles the crowds and hopefully sells tickets for years to come, then America could find itself home to a powerful league in the next few decades. However, we as sports fans all too often give players, and even teams, one chance, and only one chance. Were it one of the three major sports (sorry NHL, you are no more), of course the game will survive American scrutiny. But a league in it's early stages will now have all eyes focused on it. The league execs cannot, and I stress CANNOT, overlook Becks' arrival. This is a monumental opportunity. How the rest of this season plays out associating to fan support could very well provide a glimpse of what's to come in the future. We need fans to embrace the game and the wonderful skills he does possess, and appreciate him for his worth. I'm afraid his value is being overly appraised compared to his actual assets.

In the end, hopefully Beckham will be a star, not just some model who plays soccer on the side. Help spread the word that his arrival is a very good thing, but be careful to avoid crossing the line. We could be watching history in the making.

-Matt

Keller has some company

I know I'm a few days late on this, but I still need to say it... Kasey Keller now has some company in the panthenon of greatest games ever played by a US keeper after Chris Sietz's performance in the US-Brazil U-20 World Cup. The 2-1 win could have gone so many different ways. It could have been 2-0 US (the goal was almost a fluke for Brazil), or easily 4-2 Brazil (they had a ton of chances, most of which were stopped amazingly by Sietz). He commanded the defense well, made his plays, was agressive and stopped a lethal Brazilian attack. I think his contributions to this U-20 US team have been underrated considering all the press Adu is getting (not that it isn't warranted because he has been unbelievable in the last 2 games).

Who wants to eat crow? Adu! Adu!

ADU


Zizzo and Altidore, thank your friend Freddy.

Yeah, that's right. It's time for soccer bloggers, writers, soccer moms, and ESPN to eat crow. In the past two U-20 games, Freddy Adu has illustrated to us what the hype 4 years ago was about. This is going to be a big statement, but I believe it to be true. NEVER have we had an American prospect with the creativity and flare that Freddy Adu has provided for us, especially at 18.

Two plays that illustrate this.

His first goal against Poland. Do you see Eddie Johnson trying a move like that?


vs. Brazil (see 3:00, 4:35, 5:00, 5:21, 6:52 -setting up the winning goal)


Now the question is, do most of our U-20 players play like this until they get to the Senior team and then they become timid, sad shells of the players they used to be? Or is this the rebirth of American soccer? What do you guys think? How many of you think he could have contributed to the Copa America?

I think he definitely could have contribute to Copa if it was just for his free kicks. He is by far better than anyone on our Senior team at free kicks. Landon Donovan sure isn't the answer. How sick was that move to set up the gamewinner? He set those two Brazilian players up by juggling it up and then beat the both of them to gift Altidore with the winner. The question is... why did ESPN not show him beating the Brazilians and instead praised Altidore? I thought that was odd.

Any ideas on who will sign him? I can't imagine he doesn't have Europe's attention at this point.

COPA AMERICA


Exactly how I felt Sacha.

How bad was this showing? I'm not even going to go into all the terrible misses and lackluster gameplay, but really, as an American soccer fan, how ashamed are you? Most of the blogs have already delved into most of this, but I thought it shouldn't get by ours without at least being mentioned.

I posted on Ives's blog the other day about the possibility of an online petition that can be signed by the soccer fan community and sent to Gulati to let him and the USSF know that we won't stand for a second-rate team being sent to a quality tournament. I understand the hiccups in selecting the team, but if the USSF had any kind of power/negotiation skills, we would have been able to get at least 2 or 3 of our star players to Copa. At some point the (supposed) limited amount of soccer fans in the country need to unite and let the USSF know that we're here and we want a good showing from our country. We don't want to be getting issued statements by the governing bodies of tournaments about a crappy team that we brought (ha hmmm, CONMEBOL). That's damn near embarassing.

Is it just me or does the senior National team have a lot of distractions? Feilhaber and Kljestan have a podcast in which they joke around and talk about how privileged they are to be at Copa. There's a USSoccer blog that they're writing in 3 times a day. I appreciate the fact that it makes them seem like they're giving back to the fans, but as a fan, I'd personally rather see you get focused for the game and play with some intensity than tell me about where you went for dinner. Just seems like the USSF's priorities are way off. Could just be me.

As a Fan



It's funny. I grew up playing soccer and watched it casually when the World Cup came around. Took more of an interest than most of my friends in Friendlys, MLS, etc., but I think in the last 6 months, I have become as rabid a fan as any European. At work, I find myself surfing blogs, soccernet, and fox soccer channel about 2 hours a day. At home, I tape any soccer game that comes on (sans USL) and sit around sweating it out until I have time to watch it. For a long time, I was Rob Gordon in High Fidelity focusing on music, now I'm Nick Hornby in Fever Pitch. I guess my whole life comes in phases of Nick Hornby books. Odd, isn't it?

El Nino!!!

It is finally official, El Nino, The Kid, Fernando Torres is now a member of Liverpool football club. This news coming officially on Wednesday last has made the heart every Liverpool supporter from Merseyside to all the way here in Los Estados Unidos leap with joy. Look at him there on your left, looks like a Ronaldo minus the diving if you ask me. Torres is just the striker Liverpool needs, a proven goalscorer in La Liga for his hometown side of Athetico Madrid since he had been 17 years old. El Nino as he had been affectunatly dubbed by Athletico supporters, has lead his team in scoring every year since. Partnered with Dutchman Dirk Kuyt, or towering Englishman Peter Crouch, it could spell doom for the rest of the league, mainly the Gooners and Chelski. Now all Liverpool needs to really compete with the rest of the league is one or two new highly rated wingers. quaresma the FC Porto winger is next on manager Rafa Benetez' short list, with Mancini from Roma and Simao not far behind. A more likely scenario would be Liverpool acquiring one of the three mentioned above along with Yossi Benayun from West Ham United who would be shipped to the Kop opposite Craig Bellamy going the other way. Yossi is an Israeli international who has been impressing with the Hammers. He might not be a first class winger but is a proven Premiership winger with loads of creativity. Maybe just what the club needs. Get two of these four wingers along with the kid and this is a squad that could take the league by storm.

Renia

Finnan-Carra-Agger-Risse

quaresma-Mash-Alonso-Yossi

Gerrard

Torres

Fantastic.

US U-20-

In the first match against Korea we looked over matched. To be honest we were lucky to come out with a 1-1 draw against the hard luck commies. Perhaps a bit of karma there? Korea hit the post numerous times especially in the second half and were unlucky to come out with a draw. Altidore, Adu, Sizzo, and even Bradley seemed to under preform, however i would be less inclined to blame him playing with such an inexperienced team.

It was a night and day difference between the first game and the Poland game. Frederico Adu the teenage prodigy scored a hat trick in what was undoubtedly his best game ever. His first goal was absolutely incredible, he turned a defender and while he was falling curled a shot into the far post from the edge of the box. Wasn't it me who not a few days ago sung his praise on this blog, urging us to give him a chance, maybe not to live up to the hype, but to become an excellent player. Well a few more performances like that one and he will have Sir Alex calling along with the rest of Europe. However his second goal along with two others were the work of Sal Izzo, he was fantastic along the right wing. Watching the highlights they all seemed to start in the same spot, with Izzo along the right wing winning the ball. I thought they were showing repeats of the same goal for the first few times, Sal crossing the ball in. He played fantastic and i would rate him highest among all the players for this game, even above the hat trick winner Adu. Also a bright spot was Altidore scoring a goal, though if he hadn't finished it he should have been dropped. Fantastic game all around, who would remember the Polkas struck first at 1-0 minutes in. Now all we have to do is beat minnows Brazil and be guaranteed a place in the next round. In seriousness our goal differential will help us if we draw or lose against Brazil, but we should root for a Korea win against Poland which also would assure us advancing. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

Something wrong with the Blog

Did a huge positing on the US Paraguay game from the other day and it's not showing up on the main page. The only way you can view it is by clicking on the "Gunner new and some other notes" post then click on newer blogs.

***Is now viewable below***

Paraguay 3 - USA 1

Tough match for the US last night. Lot's of positives and negatives to the match.

Positives - world class set up by Twellman and even more of a world class strike by Clark. Depending on the development of Michael Bradley, the combination of Clark/Fielhaber could be the starting 2 CM's for 2010, they looked good last night. Jay DeMerit continues to impress.

Negatives - Kasey Keller being hung out to dry on the first two goals and his poor judgement on the third. Jonathan Bornstein... what happened to the Gold Cup version of you? Jimmy Conrad's complete lack of concentration on the second Paruguay goal. Still no 'true' attacking option.

All in all, the US controlled much of the match last night. To a solid Paraguay team that brought it's 'A' list players, the US 'B' team held up pretty well. Mental lapses on the first and second Paraguay goals and the poor judgement on the third (both Keller and Califf whose foul led to the free kick) in addition to the poor finishing of the Americans kept this from being a 3-0 US win.

Now, the player rankings for last night...

Keller - 4 - two huge saves in the second half, but poor judgement on the third goal... looks somewhat lost sometimes... Great character guy though, it's a shame to hear rumors of his possible retirement

Moor - 5 - Decent game for a defender who made his national team debut. Nothing spectacular, but played solid D throughout the game. Would rank him low in the defensive wing depth chart though...

Conrad - 4 - he would have received a 6 or 7 had it not been for that mental lapse on Paraguays second goal. Every American watching last night had to be screaming like crazy as he watched the ball go by.

DeMerit - 8 - Great game. Arguably the best the US has to offer when it comes to defensive technique. I take two points off his game for his lack of defensive headers, but it will come in time. Should be paired with Bocanegra on the first team.

Bornstien - 2 - That awful pass that led to the second goal would normally merit a '0', but some strong defending in the first half puts it up to a '2'. Nothing special in the second half. He's leaving the door open for Spector.

Olsen - 7 - solid performace from the vet. Was not a huge fan of his addition to the Copa squad, but he has definitely proved me wrong. Nothing spectacular on his end, but made all the plays he needed to make, warranting an above average rating.

Clark - 8 - huge turnaround from the Argentina game, where I would have given him a '2'. Defensively solid and a world class stike merit this 'strong' rating

Fielhaber - 7 - Like Olsen, nothing spectacular but made a lot of good plays throughout the game, and that's fine, because his game isn't overly flashy (aside from his goal at the Gold Cup which is arguably the prettiest goal ever scored by a US international)

Kljestan - 6 - played well considering he wasn't playing in his natural position. I take points off because of his lack of finishing more than a few times last night.

Johnson - 3 - I pride players who know their role defensively, which is why Johnson get's anything over a '1'. His offensive game was nothing to be proud of... What is he waiting for? He's overly cautious and it seems like he's afraid. So much potential here... It's actually sad I have to say that he needs to be riding the bench, or withdrawn from the squad... I heard something about him the other day that I could not agree with more "he seems like Robbie Fowler. Great domestic player, but leaves a lot to be wanted at the international level"

Twellman - 5 - I wanted to give him a four, but his chemistry with Johnson (when EJ decided he wanted to play) and his set up to Clark merited higher. His finishing leaves a lot to be wanted, but you can't complain on this guy's motor. He's constantly going.

SUBS

Califf - 4 - So-so... Defensively sound up until he threw his weight around (hasn't anyone learned anything from Onyewu?) which led to the 90th minute free kick and subsiquent goal

Mapp - 5 - One of the few players on the squad who will attack defenders and create chances. So much potential here. He needs to learn when enough is enough though... more than a few instances he would beat his man then try to take on the 2nd or 3rd guy behind him. Freddy Adu could learn alot by watching Mapp attack defenders. Mapp just needs to learn to tone it down just a little. He should've given the ball off to Johnson late in the game (who was wide open for a goal) and instead shot it straight at the keeper.

Nguyen - 3 - nothing special. Didn't even know he came in... I suppose that's a bad thing.

If anything, I hope the US can pull off a win against Columbia and take away a lot of things from Copa to build on. If anything it gives guys like Fielhaber, Clark, DeMerit and Bornstien (guys who will be on the first team come 2010) some invaluable experience at the international level.

Gunner News and Some Other Notes

This is my first post as a contributer to this forum. Feel free to hit me up with any banter about the EPL, League One, International Play, La Liga, Bundesliga and Italian Leagues. A US and Arsenal supporter here, but I'll try not to be biased.

Some Arsenal news... Gunners have just inked Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva to a four year deal after a transfer with Dinamo Zagreb of the Croatian league. da Silva registered a record 34 goals last season. The 24 year old has also scored 7 goals in 12 international games for Croatia. On a side note, he is the first player ever to score in Emirates, putting Dinamo up 1-0 in last summers Champions league qualifier en route to an Arsenal 2-1 comeback win. Lot of upside on this signing. Signed away for only a 6 million transfer fee, he could do well under Wenger. Although the Croatian league is no EPL, hopefully the 34 goals there will translate to 10-20 in Ashburton Grove; it all depends on how he translates to the English game. That puts the Gunners set at striker with the top 4 being da Silva, Adebayor, van Persie and Walcott. Look for Arsene to go after some support at defense, most likely the French defender from Auxerre he has been keen on signing... more updates on that to come.

This most likely will mean Arsenal will move out of the Teves sweepstakes, which may or may not be good, considering Man U was the main competition and looks free to sign Teves, who is still working out employment issues in England.

In other news, the US suits up against Paraguay tonight. The key for tonight is ball control. There was way too much chasing against Argentina. Evident by their complete collapse after the first hour. I figure the starting lineups will be relatively the same, with maybe one or two replacements. Hopefully Eddie Johnson will be on the bench... not too sure how many more chances Bradley's going to give him. Personally I think he's had way too much already. Would love to see a Davies/Twellman paring up front.

More notes on the US coming tomorrow where I'll break down the game. Until then, enjoy Copa!