Long time readers know I don't pay much attention to American Football, but the major moves being made by the Falcons lately have attracted even my attention. Sure, Dunn may be past his prime a bit, but the guy has been such a pillar of the community here in Atlanta, I'm still wrapping my head around it a bit. Don't they think he could hang around and mentor some of the running backs at least. To me, this looks like housecleaning going a bit too far. This is not a move the Braves would have made. (Though, the Patriots on the other hand....) So there goes a little bit more goodwill for the team in the community. And I can guarantee the interest in the Falcons will return to almost nil once again. Thank God for the EPL.
Regular readers who pay attention to my various musings on sports know that I've been quite impressed with U.S. U-20 striker and Red Bull New York player, Jozy Altidore. Now I find out that the "kid" not only can play, he can also write. Today marks the launch of Jozy Altidore's blog on the New York Times website. Today, he writes about facing David Beckham for the first time on the field this weekend. Good timing on his part since Beckham scored his first goal for the Galaxy last night (on a free kick natch).
I'm sure I'll check in on his thoughts from time to time.
Happy new year, football-wise (tomorrow anyway). With that in mind, I thought I would offer up from preview thoughts and predictions.
All predictions guaranteed to be 100% wrong on your money back. I'll offer up my thoughts on each team alphabetically, along with my predicted order of finish in the table.
Arsenal - 2nd Arsenal is a team with a huge number of questions heading into the beginning of the season. How can they replace Henry? They can't. Can they cope with life without the best striker in the world? They can, perhaps. While Arsenal haven't made a lot of noise in the transfer market, they have addresses a number of their needs: goalkeeper (check), right back (check), striker (check). There are some questions, however, remaining: left winger (not so check). I expect that there will be another signing to the Arse, and, with the team spirit they've been showing and behind van Persie's goal tally, they'll just pip Liverpool for third. Challenging for the title isn't out of the question, but its may be just a little unrealistic. At the very worst, they finish fourth again.
Aston Villa - 7th The second season of the Randy Learner regime, and Aston Villa will out-perform the Cleveland Browns. They won't set the world on fire, but will continue to show improvement, earning a place in Europe this season.
Birmingham -18th Welcome back Mr. Short Leash, Steve Bruce. He may be gone by Boxing Day. All kidding aside, I expect Birmingham to be in the relegation fight until the last game of the season. Unfortunately, I think they will fall just short of staying up. They'll be gamers and pick off an upset here and there, and Muamba will look like a very smart transfer come Christmas, when bigger teams will be sniffing around for him.
Blackburn - 5th Mark Hughes will continue the renaissance at Blackburn, leading them to Europe, if not to the heights he hopes for (though I'm sure the fans will be happy). Brad Friedel, unlike his former rival Kasey Keller, isn't past it quite yet, and he should keep them in a few games they shouldn't be in. They can knick some points and potentially be looking at Europe. I expect this to be Hughes' last season with the Rovers. I'm guessing he'll replace Mourinho at Chelsea after this season.
Bolton - 11th Ahh, my least favorite team. Losing Sam Allardyce will hurt them greatly. As much as I loathe him, he made them successful. They really haven't lost anyone other than their manager, but I expect them to struggle. They'll pull it together at the last because they still have some quality players, and the fact that are teams that are in much worse shape than they are.
Chelsea - 4th Why so low? The African Cup of Nations when they'll lose their spark plugs. On talent alone, they win the league every time. But the niggling injuries are already adding up for the start of the season. With Didier Drogba our in January, I see them losing any hope of the league in the winter when he is away. Shevchecko and Ballack will be much improved, but without Robben to provide the late spark (assuming he is off to Real Madrid), it won't quite be enough. Mourinho will likely leave after this season.
Derby County - 20th Straight relegation. No hope for them at all. At best, expect a finish of nineteenth. I am looking forward to seeing Benny Feilhauber play in the league though,
Everton - 9th I'll say it for the record. David Moyes is a fantastic manager. Does he have enough to improve Everton's place on the table though? I don't think so. Everton usually falls back when they have a European campaign to worry about. They won't fall as far this season as in seasons past though..
Fulham - 10th Here's my gamble. Smart money has Fulham barely escaping the drop once again. Lawrie Sanchez has spent lots of money on journeymen though. About mid-season, I expect Clint Dempsey to emerge as a chief playmaker, whether he is feeding McBride or no, and fire them to respectability. Healy will impress as well. Of couse, I could be full of beans.
Liverpool - 3rd Probably a very contentious choice (and the choice that's worth a bottle of single malt for me). Two scouser friends will likely call foul here, but I call them like I see them. Sure, your team has addressed some needs. But, Torres and Voronin have yet to adjust to the English game, so you can't expect that much from them (I remember Reyes). Gerrard is still the best man in his position in the English game, so they won't fall too far, but I see Liverpool as more of a cup team (and that includes the Champions League, where they may get their sixth). In any case, second through fourth should be a dogfight this year).
Manchester City - 13th It's Sven-a-po-looza! Transfer madness. Who are these guys again? I don't think even the manager has seen some of them play. City will definitely improve on its play, if not much on its position. How could they not? But seriously, Sven is a proven club manager, and he's now freed of using English players exclusively. They could be laying good groundwork for next season. Manchester United - 1st The best team in the premiership just got better. Hargreaves, Tevez, Nani, and Anderson. Who did they lose? No one of note. Their only question marks are whether Giggs and Scholes can continue their late season renaissance (and in preseason, it looks like that's the case). Until proven differently, Ronaldo is the best player in England (especially now that Henry is gone). The top of the table will be tighter than last year, but I can't see them losing.
Middlesbrough - 16th Eh. Who cares. They stay up, in an especially unexciting manner. Missed out on Alan Smith. See immediately below. They'll be in the relegation fight for sure.
Newcastle United - 12th I'll be honest. I'm not sure what to make of Newcastle. Allardyce isn't know for playing the type of football that Newcastle's fans like. They have lots of new defenders, and if Owen gets hurt and Martins, transfer (both very likely), I'm not sure who will score the goals. They could challenge for a UEFA Cup spot. They could sink into a relegation fight. I really have no idea.
Portsmouth - 6th Portsmouth will continue to improve. I think fifth position may come down to the last couple of matches of the season. Look for David Nugent to get better as the season progress, as he'll watch Kanu very closely.
Reading - 14th Reading won't have the cinderella season they had last season, but they won't every be seriously threatened with relegation either. They'll consolidate a bit this year, even though they'll slip a few spots. This team could become a fixture in the middle of the table for the next few years. Of course, losing players to injuries received while stretching in bed is never a good sign.
Sunderland - 15th Of the new teams this year, Sunderland are the best bet to stay in the top flight. Roy Keane does not accept losing, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to losses this season. I do look forward to watching the Black Cats play though.
Tottenham - 8th There's too much expectation for Spurs to challenge for the top four. And every time they have expectations, the team always seems to find someway to fall short. I'm sure a lot of folks will think I'm crazy, but I see them disappointing their fans again this year. Sure, they've spent a lot of money, but they still haven't addressed their main needs. Berbatov can't do it alone, but Darren Bent isn't the answer to anyone's prayers (certainly not 18 million's worth).
West Ham United - 17th Same place as last year. A whole lot less controversy. Losing Tevez is going to hurt, and Bellamy is no replacement. How long until there are fights at Upton Park?
Wigan Athletic - 19th Paul Jewell resigns. Why? Wigan are going to be dreadful. They'd be a lock for the bottom is Derby weren't in the league.
In all the hype surrounding that other baseball milestone, Tom Glavine became the 23rd pitcher to win 300 games last night against the Cubs. He know has joined the ranks of Cy Young, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, and Steve Carlton as a mortal lock for a first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame. And he may be the last man to join that list. Only Randy Johnson seems to have a shot to win 300 games among active pitchers. Reduced pitching work loads today make it unlikely that any young pitcher will be able to put in enough innings a year to achieve this.
Even though he attained the milestone while playing for the Mets, one of my least favorite major league teams, I was happy to have been able to witness it (on television). I have many fond memories of watching him ply his trade over the years here in Atlanta, and he turned in some of the greatest pitching performances that I've witnessed live, including the one that may be most remembered and rightly celebrated: his one-hit performance in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, which earned him MVP honors.
Dotel will be a definite upgrade over Wickman in the closer role (even if they share closing duties). Wickman worries me every time he comes in with a game on the line. Heck, the way today is going for the Braves, he could be on his way shortly.
Texeira? What can you say. As someone who follows the Braves, I hated to see Saltalamacchia go, but let's face it, he was stuck behind another very good, young catcher in McCann. Now, the Braves have a gold-glove first baseman with about twice as much batting ability than any Braves first baseman since Andres Galarraga.
The last rumor also looks like it would be a good deal for the Braves. In any case, the NL East just got even more interesting than it already was with Phillies and Mets making moves of their own.
UPDATE: So the Arroyo deal didn't come to pass, but one more trade did occur: Will Ledezma, who had been designated for assignment, for Royce Ring, adding yet another lefty to their bullpen.
I can't remember a trade deadline where the Braves have been this active. Is this a final push to try to win it this year before Schuerholz retires? I don't know, but I think their chances to win the east, or the wild card, just improved quite a bit.
Despite being massive underdogs in the tournament, today Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to claim the Asian Cup for the first time in the country's history. In stark contrast to the nightmare that their country is becoming (or is), this team is made up of Sunni, Shia, and Kurd. While soccer is only a game, it hopefully will provide some comfort to Iraqis of all stripes, especially since is emblematic of a Iraq that could be. Hearing this news actually made me smile, the first smile upon hearing the word Iraq in a long, long time. NP: "Where is Home?" - Bloc Party
Last month, I wrote that this summer was vital in looking forward to the U.S. begin qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Now that all the men's teams are done with their summer after the under-20 team was eliminated from the U-20 World Cup yesterday, losing 2-1 to Austria, I think it's only fair that I look back at what I wrote then, and assess where the teams stand today.
This summer of soccer was a drama (only occasionally comedic) in four acts.
Act 1: Winning the Gold Cup in Style The first act was CONCACAF's regional tournament, the Gold Cup. The U.S. won the Gold Cup handily. They were easily the most consistent team in the tournament, and in the final came from behind to defeat Mexico 2-1. In the end, the U.S. cemented its status as the big dog in CONCACAF.
Coach Bradley fielded a very experienced group of players who play in both the U.S. and in Europe. All in all, they acquitted themselves very well. Landon Donovan continued to model his newly rediscovered form and Clint Dempsey took his opportunity to emerge from Donovan's shadow to show that he is penciled in for all qualifiers, barring injuring and club commitments.
Of all the competitions this summer, this was the one that was most important to the team, as it is our region's major tournament and it guarantees that the U.S. will be participating in the Confederations Cup in South Africa in 2009, a crucial pre-World Cup warmup.
Act 2: Fizzling in Venezuela The second act was Copa America. The U.S. sent a less-experienced side to Venezuela for this competition, and it showed in the results. The U.S. lost all three of their group matches and came home quickly. On paper, that looks like a disaster, but I don't view it so dimly. The U.S. held their own against Argentina in the opener for 70 minutes. They outplayed Paraguay but were plagued by poor finishing. Once they got to Colombia, both teams knew they were going home and played like it.
I always thought that the Copa America would be a chance for Coach Bradley to really begin evaluating the more fringe players on the national scene. His "experimental" line up proved that was indeed the case. However, we can learn some valuable lessons from the performance. All the players involved, mostly new to the national scene, gained valuable lessons playing quality opponents away from home, experience that will serve them well in the future.
What did we specifically learn from failing in South America? First, Taylor Twellman just cannot play at this level. He's just too slow. He shouldn't feature in the qualification battle that begins next year. Second, Benny Feilhaber is the real deal. He should be integral to the coming qualification campaign. The jury is still out on Eddie Johnson, but he'd better begin producing or else he may lose his spot to Jozy Altidore (more on that below). Finally, the U.S. has more quality options at defense than ever before. Farewell Frankie Hejduk, thanks for the memories.
Act 3: The Future is Bright Although it ended perhaps prematurely yesterday against Austria, the U.S. kids provided an astonishing run at the U-20 World Cup in Canada. Along the way, they played beautiful, attacking football and a number of the participants have surely sparked interest across the pond (and more than likely in Coach Bradley's office).
Freddy Adu showed why everyone knows his name, even though he's mostly been a non-entity for his club lately. Of all the games I watched, he was easily the player of the tournament. He absolutely controlled the games from his attacking midfield role, setting up many of the goals he didn't score himself. Jozy Altidore appears to be the real deal as well. Finally, a forward who can score goals. Michael Bradley and Danny Szetela also cemented their status a part of the future of the U.S. midfield alongside Benny Feilhaber.
In the end, the 120 gritty minutes against Uruguay, which forced the team to come behind for a thrilling win showed yesterday against Austria, a very disciplined if not pretty side. This performance is still one they can be proud of and it shows that the future is still bright for the U.S. Soccer team.
Act 4: That Beckham Fellow Yeah, that guy was introduced Friday as the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy. I don't have any idea what the long-term impact of his arrival means for the sport in the U.S., but despite the usual bleating from the British press about MLS, it's telling that Beckham still has a lot left in his tank, and his commitment to the Galaxy has opened the door for others that have a lot of game left in them: Blanco, Angel, and Xavier for example.
Also, his arrival will probably make many people who are just curious about all the hubbub tune into MLS games. Even now, ticket demand is up throughout the league. If MLS can convert even some of the curious to fans, then Beckham's arrival will indeed have left its mark.
I've had a few days to absorb the news that Arsenal's talisman is leaving--and never did the word "talismanic" seem more apropos than when speaking of Henry. I would like to think the shock of the move (although it was long suspected) has worn off, but I may regret these words midway through the 2008-2009 season. Yes you heard me right. A whole season away.
In short, I think this move may be in the best interest of the club in the long term. Of course, it may hurt Arsenal's title chances in the coming season missing his goals, but then again, the team seemed to perform better with Robin van Persie healthy than it did with Henry healthy. So, in the short term, missing a healthy Henry will hurt the club. I'm not sure it totally hamstrings their title chances next season, but that depends on whom Wenger buys in the remainder of the transfer window. After that, I think the absence of Henry will only be a bonus.
Think about it. Thierry Henry was Arsenal football. Everyone on the club deferred to him. And that is dangerous. In the short term, the club will miss his goals, but not his ego (though ego is never a bad thing in a footballer to a certain extent). This will make the team Cesc's and Kolo's, and to a certain extent, van Persie's--all players playing in the shadow of number 14.
All of this assumes of course that Wenger stays after next season, that Arsenal spend some money (which is obviously now available) this offseason, and that the ownership situation stabilizes. If Kroenke splashes a lot of cash about August, all the better (even though I'd prefer the club's ownership to remain stable).
Right now, I expect numbers 11 and 5 to take much of the burden, even if it is not quite enough this season. Last season showed that Arsenal is capable of going toe to toe with the other three of the top four (best record in round robin), now all they need to do is take care of the lesser opposition. I think that exposing them to the bright light outside of Henry's shadow can only do them good. They won't look to him first anymore. Instead, they'll begin to make their own luck, and van Persie has proven what he can do with that.
So, I'm not expecting them to win the league, but its not absolutely out of the question without Henry. Chelsea still looks somewhat vulnerable, and no one played Man U better last season.
What do I expect? Arsenal finish in the top four again without too much trouble (sorry spurs, you haven't proven anything despite how good Berbatov is); qualify for the Champion's League; advance to the knockout stages to face Barcelona (you just know this will happen); and make a run to at least he semifinals in the FA Cup. And yes, I expect Silverware still.
What do I want? Arsenal challenge for the league fighting Man U and Liverpool tooth and nail to the finish; win the FA cup; Robin van Persie nets a hat trick and Lehmann notches a shutout against Barcelona in the first leg of the knockout stages of the Champion's League (sorry Titi, all bets are off); Henry gets a brace in the return leg and is the best player on the pitch to no avail as Arsenal advance behind some fabulous saves from Fabianski (Lehmann being suspended yet again due to an accumulation of yellow cards).
I really don't have anything to add. I recently guaranteed a friend that he'd return to Arsenal, but as soon as I sent the e-mail, I knew I'd probably made a mistake.
I'll always remember those goals. Best of luck in Spain Titi.
UPDATE: Of course I'm gutted by this move, but I won't let it get me down on the man's enormous contributions to the club. For eight years, he was the best striker the Premiership had ever seen.
Slate has the details (with pictures). Some of these are just abysmal, including the blue pinstripey number the team will be wearing in the Copa America next month.
While I disagree with the article concerning the white kits the U.S. wore in the World Cup last year (I liked them), I've long been an advocate of using a style of uniform similar to the 50s kit that brought the U.S. what may be its greatest triumph to date (2002 notwithstanding)--upsetting England in the World Cup.
A red sash on a white kit works for River Plate, why not the U.S?
Sports Illustrated currently has a couple of good articles about a crucial summer for the U.S. Men’s National Team. First, Greg Lalas writes that the Bradley Era has officially begun, which goes some way to assuaging my concerns about his permanent appointment.
While I was initially against the naming of Bradley as the interim coach, his performance has merited the removal of that tag from his job. This is now his team, and how they perform this summer will go a long way toward showing what kind of soccer the team will be playing, and even who will be playing it. I’ve admired how he’s begun bringing in new faces to replace Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna, who retired, as well as to challenge other veterans who may have been complacent in their roles.
It’s about time the U.S. began playing stiff opposition on the road. Traveling to Venezuela for the Copa America is an excellent start. They’ll find much stiffer competition than the team faced in the World Cup warm ups. With all due respect, Argentina, Paraguay, and Columbia are much better than Morocco, Venezuela and Latvia. And that’s not all, the team is traveling to Europe this fall to play matches against a number of countries, including 2006 World Cup participants Sweden and Switzerland.
Finally, Freedman states that this summer sees the U-20 world championships. This tournament, later this summer, will showcase the future, and players should be looking at this as the best way to showcase their talents and begin the arguments for inclusion in the senior squad when qualification gets underway next year. I’m looking at you Freddy Adu, but I’m also expecting big things from Red Bull New York phenom Jozy Altidore.
How’s it working out so far? The U.S. opened the Gold Cup with a 1-0 win over Guatemala, a team that traditionally plays them very tough. Clint Dempsey scored the winner, and I expect that will begin to happen more and more often. More surprisingly here was who wore the captain’s armband—it wasn’t Landon Donovan. I’m not sure why either, especially since he had just begun recovering his form this winter. I guessing it’s getting other players experience with it before leaving for South America since Donovan likely will be staying in the U.S. for that tournament.
It's official. The "interim" tag has been removed from Bob Bradley's title. I'm of two minds about this development. As regular readers perhaps remember, I've was quite critical of his initial appointment late last year. I thought then, and part of me still thinks now, that such a move is a move backward for the U.S. Men's Soccer program. I think the U.S. team has gone about as far as it can go with the status quo.
At the time, I thought Jurgen Klinsman was the answer. And while he proved his tactical acumen at the last world cup, I still had lingering doubts about his organizational nous. Alas, we'll never find out how well he will have done. My second choice was Jose Pekermann. He had proven his developmental and organizational ability in Argentina, and the renaissance of their national side since the debacle in 2002 spoke well of those abilities. I still think someone of his abilities will be required for the U.S. team to made strides toward consistency on the world's biggest stage.
Deals with at least one of these candidates failed spectacularly over issues of control. As for the other, I don't even know if he was interviewed. So we found ourselves stuck in a bad situation, with a temporary coach and no way forward.
All that said, Coach Bradley has done the most that he could with such a situation. I've liked how he's brought in new players. These players will be absolutely essential if the U.S. is to have any success in 2010. My big knock on Area was that he was content to select his team based on past performances rather than current form. I'm especially excited to see future performances from players such as Bornstein, Feilheiber, Demerit, and Bradley (natch). So as we approach Copa America and the Gold Cup, I hope Coach Bradley can stick to his guns, and give us all a squad that has more of the spirit of Clint Dempsey than that of Landon Donovan (though I must say he's looked good in the last few friendlies).
In any case, the U.S. Soccer Federation has now made the bed, and Mr. Bradley and all of the fans now have to lay in it. Now to show well in Copa America.
The First World Cup Hat Trick Was Scored by an American
FIFA amends the records to credit Bert Patenaude with the first World Cup hat trick. After lengthy research and confirmation from the US Soccer Federation, he has been retrospectively entered in FIFA's records as the first player to score a hat trick in World Cup history. He scored three goals in the USA's 3-0 victory over Paraguay on 17 July 1930 during the first World Cup.
"Absolutely I’m interested. I kind of needed some time to reflect after the World Cup. I’ve been in touch with Sunil and had several conversations, all very positive."
When this possibility first surfaced immediately following his outstanding job of guiding Germany to the late stages of the World Cup, I was immediately for it. With the unimaginative job that Bruce Arena had turned in, I thought his willingness to shake things up was just the thing to keep U.S. Soccer from backsliding.
I still think he would be a good option, but I've had a lot of conversations about this with some very savvy soccer friend, and now I don't think he's the only option that can ensure building the program. Other interesting names, like Jose Peckermann, have surfaced. His work with the Argentine youth system alone bears a good long look. His only downside would be his lack of knowledge of U.S. soccer in general, but he wouldn't be afraid to make everyone earn a spot (I'm looking at you prima-Donovan).
A lot of folks also still think that the coach will have a more American flavor. (Klinsmann at least lives in California.) Of the best candidates in this pool, I think Peter Nowak, current coach of DC United, and Steve Nicol of New England are the best bets.
So that gives you a pool of what are probably the top four choices from Sunil Gulati will choose next month. What do I think? I would be very happy with either Klinsmann, Pekermann, or Nowak. Although each of these candidates is very different, they could all improve the standing of the game and the U.S. and the performance of the U.S. teams.
If we're going to live in fantasy land for a moment, Ideally, a combination of Pekermann and Klinsmann/Nowak would be best (thanks for the idea Xavier!). Leave the overall structure and development to Pekermann and leave the coaching to either Klinsmann or Nowak. I'know this idea isn't really workable, but it would probably do wonders for U.S. soccer.
In any case, it's looking like Klinsmann is the number one candidate. Hopefully he, or someone, takes the job real soon.
The NCAA apparently does not. One of my alma maters, The College of William & Mary, has lost its appeal to the NCAA over the use of its logo, which includes a couple of feathers to indicate its nickname, the Tribe. The NCAA, however, has deemed that the nickname itself is just fine.
Now, I'm all for removing hints of our racist past from the ranks of sports mascots—Redskins is racist now matter how you slice it—but how the NCAA is going about this is just ridiculous and incoherent. How on earth is the spear on Florida State's helmet acceptable, where two feathers, totally divorced from any other native american symbols unacceptable.
I'm not too upset about this, but it seems the schools that are being told what they can and can't do are mostly those schools that aren't big football powerhouses.
As most of you already know, I'm a committed follower of Arsenal in the EPL. How this happened is really just a matter of random chance and free tickets, but happen it did. Now that the world cup is over again, I've had a number of people tell me that they wanted to start supporting an EPL team, to which I reply: "Anyone but Chelsea or ManU".
Well, if any of you out there are interested in doing this in a more methodical manner, ESPN's Bill Simmons (the Sports Guy) wrote an article chronicling how he picked an EPL team. He considers all 20 current teams in the league, offers American sports analogies, and eventually comes up with a team to support. I won't spoil it for you, but his choice did surprise me.
Senior, you'll be happy to know that he compares Newcastle to the Raiders. NP: "Thorn" - My Bloody Valentine
I've actually been kind of lost the last couple of days without any matches to follow. Thankfully, four teams take the pitch today for the quarterfinals. Since my initial predictions are now shown to be full of bunk, I thought I'd call a "do-over" and pick this weekend's games.
Argentina vs. Germany Argentina (please please please) in a classic for the ages. I have never seen a Germany team attack like this one. I still feel like their defense could be prone to a couple of errors on offside traps. I think the Argentines take the day 3-2.
Italy vs. Ukraine After the most boring football displayed in this tournament thus far in their win over Switzerland, I don't see Ukraine scoring again, despite their great striker Schevchenko. Italy wins 2-0.
England vs. Portugal This one is tough. My heart wants to pick England (mostly because I am so familiar with the players from following the EPL), but my head says that Scolari is in their head so to speak. Portugal is a weakened side though due to suspensions from the card fest against Holland (I don't get that many cards at Christmas). Going with my heart. England 2 - 0 Portugal.
Brazil vs. France The other monster mash-up of the quarters. Brazil is the trendy pick to win it all, but for some reason, I don't think they'll do it. A newly revitalized French squad may be their undoing. Viera was huge against Spain. He remembers what it was like to be dominating. France 3 - 2 Brazil.
Remember, all picks guaranteed to be wrong or your money back.
It's been an interesting World Cup thus far--not at all what I expected. With the first round almost over, I thought I would revisit my picks and assess things a bit further. So without further ado, here are my thoughts on a group by group basis.
Group A So I was right that Germany would cruise through this group, and apart from a first half scare from Costa Rica, they did just that. Scarily, they are looking better and better as each game, and home field advantage never hurts. I was right in thinking that Poland was not as good as many of the pundits were giving them credit for. On the other hand, I was totally wrong about Costa Rica--I picked the wrong latin team, since Ecuador looked pretty impressive until they met Germany yesterday (and they looked fairly disinterested in the game).
Group B I was almost spot on in my assessment of this group, with England winning it outright, despite some shocking defending against Sweden, and Sweden finishing second. So I had the order reversed, but a lot of that comes down to Trinidad and Tobago holding Sweden to draw in what has been one of the more entertaining matches from a rooting perspective thus far.
Group C My picks are getting better as we progress. I picked Holland and Argentina to advance, and advance they will. Of course, match this afternoon will decide who wins this group. Both teams have looked very dangerous and I think either of them could do a lot of damage in the knockout stages. In retrospect, this wasn't as difficult a group as everyone thought since Serbia and Montenegro, who had cruised through qualifying without giving up a goal in a long time, totally rolled over, especially when Argentina crushed them 6-0.
Group D And my streak ends here. I was totally wrong against Mexico. They will advance along with Portugal, with the result of this game determining who finishes first. Iran had their moments, but late substitutions from Mexico made the difference. Iran had to have points in that first match to advance. I'm thinking Portugal will still end up winning the group.
Group E This has proven to be the real group of death, and any of the four teams could advance, and all four could still go home. This group will be decided tomorrow. Italy advances with a win, and even after Saturday's contentious game, the U.S. has to hope for that. If Italy wins and the U.S. defeats Ghana, the U.S. moves on.
I'm feeling better after Saturday's heroic effort by the U.S. against Italy. We'll see how correct I was about the Czech's age problem, especially after losing Jan Koller. I think the U.S. takes care of business, barely, against Ghana. The other game is up in the air. If there's a draw, the U.S. is likely out due to the 3 goals scored by the Czechs against them. I'll predict Italy wins 2-1 and Italy and the U.S. advance.
Group F Brazil wins group. Yawn. (Even though they've not looked very Brazil-like at times.) The last spot is up in the air. Based on how the teams have played thus far, I'm changing my pick to Australia.
Group G I was totally off base with this group as well. France hasn't looked particularly good with two draws, but I still think they win on Friday and win the group. As for second place, its a total toss up between Switzerland and South Korea. I picked Togo, who are going home, so I'll have to change to South Korea just because they have such delightful fans.
Group H Wrong again. Spain have looked like world beaters and will win this one handily. This may finally be their year. For second, Ukraine have absorbed the 4-0 body blow from Spain and should advance in second place.
Once the group stage is totally complete, I'll chime in with the rest of my predictions.
In other news, I'm in last place in my World Cup pool. I'm doing a bit better with my fantasy league though.
The U.S. team was totally outclassed, and more disturbingly, quit on the pitch in the second half (I won't get into the gory details, since everyone else seems to be doing that). The question is, with such an uphill (nearly impossible road), what do you do. Attack. That's the only hope. Arena needs to totally shake up the lineup.
With that in mind, I'd humbly suggest the following lineup (a 3-5-2).
GK: Howard. Sorry Kasey. You couldn't have done anything about any of those goals, but your distribution was horrible.
D: Pope. Onyewyu. Bocanegra. Cherundolo and Lewis were worse than useless.
M: Mastroeni. Reyna. Dempsey. Donovan. Convey. Beasley needs to learn how to settle the ball. This will be the best attacking lineup in midfield, allowing Donovan to do what he can. Reyna and Mastro play holding roles.
F: Johnson. Twellman (oh wait, crap, he's at home... McBride then) Johnson was the only one other than Reyna who looked like he cared yesterday.
Manager: Someone other than Bruce Arena as soon as his contract expires. Even though he's been hailed as a wizard at preparation, the team had no plan B yesterday. His only tactic seems to be get an early lead and hold on for dear life.
Will this team be able to beat Italy. Who knows, but I guarantee they won't quit on the field (or Dempsey will punch them in the face).
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here come the predictions. Since I'm from the U.S., I suppose I'll start with their chances and get it out of the way. Many of the guys I play soccer with on Saturdays laughed at me in 2002 when I predicted the U.S. would advance to the second round. 16 bets of one beer each, and I had a couple of cheap Saturday afternoons after my prediction turned out to be correct.
So how do they do in 2006? This time they have a much harder draw, though not the true group of death that many are calling it (maybe the group of almost fatal injury is more appropriate).
They open against the Czech Republic, an aging but very high-scoring team. As of this morning, however, the Czechs have doubts about two of their main scoring threats, Pavel Nedved and Milan Baros. If either of them are absent, U.S. chances improve. I like them to win this game outright by taking it right to the Czechs as they did against Portugal four years ago.
Next up, they'll face an Italy team that will have cruised to victory over Ghana. I predict a 2-2 draw. Finally, they face Ghana, and I have no idea what will happen here, but I think a draw is likely. Even though I'm not as sure as I was in 2002, I still think the U.S. will capture second place in their group and advance, where they'll likely face Brazil, at which point they're bounced. It will still be a successful cup for the U.S. though.
Either Italy or the Czech Republic is capable of topping group E, but I'll go out on a limb and say that the Czech's age and injury woes continue to mount allowing Italy to win the group. Here are the rest of my predictions for the group stage:
Group A: The hosts got a pretty easy draw here. Germany should have no problem winning this group. The runner up isn't as clear. Most people give Poland the best shot, but I think Costa Rica uses its speed to run around the Poles and move on to the next round.
Group B: Rooney's metatarsal seems to have healed in time for him to play, as English fans rejoice the world over. His return should boost England to 2nd place in the group. I think Sweden continues their recent dominance over the Swedish coached English team to win the group.
Group C: The real group of death. All four teams realistically have a shot at advancing. If Ivory Coast were in any other group, I'd pick them to move on, but unfortunately, they have Holland and Argentina. I think Holland finishes first and Argentina follows at second. Serbia and Montengro, playing their last competition as a single team, flames out completely.
Group D: Now for my first shocker. Mexico goes home after the group stage. Iran shocks everyone with their form and ends up as runner up in the group to Portugal.
Group F: Brazil has the best team in the world. They win this group, end of story. Until recently, I would have picked Japan to advance based on experience alone. Their form lately has been awful, barely beating Malta over the weekend. I think Australia are too inexperienced to advance, but they'll look pretty good. That leaves Croatia as the runner up.
Group G: France got a gift with this group. Thierry Henry shines as they romp to win the group. The other three teams are a toss up for second though. Here is where Africa has a team advance, as Henry's teammate at Arsenal Emmanuel Adebayor finds the net multiple times and they end up shocking South Korea and Switzerland to advance.
Group H: See Group G, replace France with Spain--only they'll manage to mess it up somehow and come in second behind Ukraine. Shevchenko sets the pace for the Golden Boot starting in this group.
The Knockout Stages
16 teams are left, and if my predictions above ring true, this round has some intriguing games. First up, Germany renew they old World Cup acquaintance with England, only this time England should prevail. Holland easily dispatch Iran, and Sweden and Argentina defeat Costa Rica and Portugal, respectively.
On the other side of the bracket, Italy hold off Croatia in a very tough match, while Thierry Henry gets his Champion's League revenge on Puyol, leading Les Bleus to victory. Brazil ends the U.S. run in a game that's closer than anyone expected, and Shevchenko continues his torrid goalscoring pace as they oust Togo.
On to the Quarterfinals! This is where the great matches really start to line up. Holland versus England. What's not to like? I like Holland in this one. Argentina beats Sweden, France beats Italy, and Brazil gets by Ukrain. This leaves a final four of Holland and Argentina on one side of the bracket and Brazil and France on the other. Holland advances to the final where they defeat Brazil in one of the most entertaining finals in history.
Of course, all predictions guaranteed to be wrong or your money back! NP: "Whatever's Cool with Me" - Dinosaur Jr
The biggest sporting event the world kicks off tomorrow, so I thought I post a round up of links that will let casual fans, first time followers, or the curious get their World Cup Groove on.
The Guardian - This English paper has some of the best all around soccer coverage out their. I especially endorse their minute-by-minute match reports for those of you who will be stuck at your desk during some of the games (like me); they're equally informative and snarky at the same time
Well, tomorrow is the big match. How can a fan not be excited about a match between the teams that play the two best players in the world: Ronadinho and Thierry Henry. Add that to the fact that this is Arsenal's first trip to the Champion's League final and I become ecstatic. And yes, I took all day tomorrow off to enable my, uhm, celebrations.
The matchup has been dissected, resected, dissected again all over the place. So I won't get too much into that. Arsenal go into tomorrow's final as an underdog--there's no doubt of that--but I don't think this will be the automatic victory that many Barcelona supporters think it may be.
Of course neutralizing Ronaldinho and Eto'o will be difficult, but that's what they said about Ronaldo, Nedved, and Riquelme, and they are all sitting at home tomorrow. A team doesn't play over 900 minutes in a competition without allowing a goal just on pure luck alone. Tomorrow, Gilberto will be the key to hold off Ronaldinho when he begins his drift to the center. On the other end of the pitch, Barcelona's improperly maligned (by some) defense will be tasked with stopping Thierry Henry and the flanking runs by Hleb and Reyes. Its important to remember that their defense hasn't let many goals in either.
There are the keys to the match. If you want a long lunch and live in Atlanta, join me at the Brewhouse tomorrow at 2:30 to see what I think will be some very entertaining, attacking football. For the local look on Barcelona, I'm sure Braves and Birds[Ed. Note: And Barcelona?] will have something to say. Care to make a friendly blog-wager Michael?
Prediction guaranteed to be wrong or your money back: 3-2 to the Arse. Go Gunners!
I hope I didn't push any bad vibes his way with my less than enthusiastic response to his inclusion, but Frankie Hejduk is now out of the World Cup. Taking his place from the list of alternates is Chris Albright. Chris is a capable defender and can cross the ball better than Frankie. He lacks Hejduk's speed though. I actually saw him play over the weekend and he looked pretty good.
Here's wishing Frankie a speedy and complete recovery. I've been hard on him in the past, but he always worked his butt off and was fast as blazes.
The 23-man roster for the U.S. in June's World Cup was just announced live on ESPN. I love the extra attention this garners. Now that I've heard the selections, I'm sure all of my dear readers are eagerly wondering just what I think (well maybe one of you will be). So without further ado, I'll break these down by position:
Goalkeepers Kasey Keller (pictured)- Any discussion of Goalkeeper for the U.S. begins with Kasey Keller, the undisputed starter. He's been the MVP of the national team for as long as I can remember (only briefly giving up that spot to Brad Friedel, whose now retired, about four years ago.
Tim Howard - The keeper of the future at the biggest club in the world, Manchester United. I definitely don't doubt his potential, but I have questions about his playing time backing up Edwin Van Der Sar (Holland's starter) this year. Good pick, if only to get him ready for 20010.
Marcus Hahnemann - He's been playing stellar keeper during Reading storm through the Championship in England this year. Due to his current form, I'd call him Kasey's first backup.
Absolutely zero surprises in these selections.
Defense Carlos Bocanegra - This selection is no suprise since he starts in the Premiership and he brings versatility to the squad. A natural center-back, he can also play the wide back if necessary. He's probably not in the starting four at back, but will probably see a good bit of playing time next month.
Steve Cherundolo - No surprise here either as he has been solid through qualifying and plays well for his club, Hannover 96, in the German Bundesliga. Probably the starting left back. He can also help aid the attack.
Jimmy Conrad - This selection surprises me a little bit. Sure, he's been playing well in MLS, but he hasn't impressed me during the last few international matches. All in all, probably a serviceable backup.
Cory Gibbs - I'm glad to see Gibbs on the lineup, as many pundits were doubting he'd make the cut. He'll provide valuable cover for the two starting center backs as he is big and rarely beaten in the air. His pace and conditioning will be key as well.
Frankie Hejduk - Death. Taxes. Frankie Hejduk. One of these days the U.S. will be deep enough at right-back that Frankie won't have to go. We obviously aren't there yet. That said, I love his energy despite his occassional mistakes. He can definitely make the overlapping run and give an opponent fits. Right now, I think he'll be backing up Steve Cherundolo.
Eddie Lewis - Talk about versatility; Lewis plays midfield for Leeds in the English Championship, but has accepted the role of left back for the U.S. A deadly crosser, he has shown the ability to track back and move forward in the attack. Ladies and gentlemen, here's your starting left back.
Oguchi Onyewu (pictured) - I predict that Onyewu will have one of those breakout World Cups that will have bigger clubs calling Standard Liege, his Belgian team. Big, powerful, and skilled, he'll be the key to shutting down opposing forwards and midfielders--no small task when you have to face the Czech Republic and Italy in the first two games.
Eddie Pope - Defender of American Soccer. Eddie's playing in his third World Cup and will probably start alongside Onyewu. I like his inclusion for his considerable experience, but am glad that Gibbs will provide cover for him. I'm a bit surprised that Greg Berhalter didn't make the cut as he has been solid, if not exceptional for the national team. If he was relegated to the alternates list to make room for Gibbs though, I'm OK with it.
Midfielders DaMarcus Beasley (pictured) - I think Beasley will be the spark plug that generates the offense for the U.S. He's already the first U.S. player to play in a Champion's League semifinal last year with PSV Eindhoven in Holland. While he is slight, he makes up for it with incredible hustle and skill. And he's not one to back off either. He'll be the one getting hacked at by opposing defenses and bouncing right back up. A definite starter.
Bobby Convey - Last year nobody thought he'd be on the squad. What a difference a year makes, especially when you're a key cog in helping a team get promoted to the Premiership in England. He won't start, but will probably come off the bench to try to generate office (and backup Donovan).
Clint Dempsey - See above. Clint has really brought his game to another level with the national team this year. An inventive dribbler with height and speed, I think he'll also provide spark from the bench.
Landon Donovan - The Golden Boy (or Mama's boy depending on your point of view). Donovan's story is long. Youngest U.S. player signed abroad (Bayer Leverkusen in Germany). Got homesick, tried again, got homesick, came back to be a big fish in a small pond in LA. All that said, he'll be starting as the attacking midfield, and his game will be crucial to the U.S. chances. He'll need to feed McBride and create chances during the run of play.
Pablo Mastroeni - Mastoeni wasn't supposed to make the squad for the last World Cup, but made it due to an injury to Chris Armas. Since his outstanding performance then, his presence is expected. He may start, depending on the formation and whether on not John O'Brien is healthy or not. If he does, he'll be the defensive midfielder allowing the outside backs to forage forward. He'll be crucial hooking up the defense with Claudio Reyna.
John O'Brien - He will start if he is fit. He played every minute in 2002 and was a big part of the run. Of course, his fitness has been a concern ever since then. He's a creative player that can hold his own along side Reyna and help feed the ball forward. If he's not healthy, look for a combination of Ben Olsen and Pablo Mastroeni to fill his shoes.
Ben Olsen - If you'd told me last year I'd be happy to have Ben Olsen on the team this time around, I would have probably called you crazy, but I am (happy and crazy may be debatable too). He's had a string of fine performaces, both in a national jersey and in MLS. While I don't see him starting, he'll provided valuable minutes off the bench and is capable of putting the ball in the back of the net. I also love his work ethic on the field.
Claudio Reyna (pictured)- Our captain. Captain America. The only U.S. player to be named to the all-World Cup team, ever. He is the indispensable man. He makes it all work--holding the ball in midfield, linking the defense to the attacking midfield. And this is probably his last World Cup.
No surprises here either.
Forwards
Brian McBride (above) - McBride will be the main option up front next month. He make work as a lone forward with lots of midfield support, or he may pair with Wolff or Johnson. He's the only U.S. player to score in two World Cups for the U.S. He got the teams lone goal in France in 98 and scored two game winners in 2002: against Portugal (pictured) and Mexico. This image is my favorite from 2002, especially since it took a couple of phone calls from friends to convince me that I wasn't dreaming that we were beating prohibitive favorite Portugal.
Eddie Johnson - Eddie is just coming back from injury, but if he is fully fit next month, I expect him to do some special things. When he was first called up to the national team, he set the world on fire, including scoring in the qualifying win over Guatemala. He has the potential to be an electric player, and if he can partner with McBride, he may make things very interesting for the Czech Republic and Italy. I expect him to be McBride's partner when the U.S. features two forwards.
Josh Wolff - Wolff has proven himself to be effective next to McBride, and while he doesn't have the nose for the net that Johnson does, he does have speed to burn. Expect him to give slower defenses fits (Mexico, I'm looking at you).
Brian Ching - This selection really surprised me. While he's been looking good in MLS, he hasn't impressed me at all when playing for the national team. Sure, he looks good in a Houston kit, but only if he plays teams named Colorado. I expect that he's the emergency backup to McBride since they have similar games (if not similat results),
The only surprise in this group is the inclusion of Ching over Taylor Twellman, who, while he's as slow as a donkey, has shown the ability to score for the national team (albeit a bit belatedly). At least Cobi Jones will be finally watching from home.
Game Six of the 1986 World Series with Nintendo RBI Baseball
This is fun if a little painful: a recreation of the fateful final at bat in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Thank God these demons were exorcised in 2004!
And Thierry Henry gets to go home for a match. Arsenal managed to hold off Villareal today 0-0, thus ensuring a place in the Champion's League final for the first time in the club's history. Lehmann saved the day again, saving a most dubious penalty in the 89th minute. I'm afraid I can't comment on the match too much right now. I'm drained and I only was able to listen to the match online.
What a strange season its been thus far. While struggling to find any sort of form in the Premier League, Arsenal quietly did something no one expected them to do. Win in Europe. And keep winning. During the group stages, no one really noticed, because, well, they are the group stages. The survived and moved on.
Then, as the knockout round approached, and we drew Real Madrid as the opponent, I couldn't help but feel like this was going to be yet another disappointment. Surely a team sporting a cobbled together defense, a team that struggled to beat such competition as West Brom (currently racing toward relegation), a team that seemed to have lost the desire to challenge for the league title, surely no team such as this could challenge the mighty Galacticos. But challenge they did. In Europe, they just continued to win and continued to keep clean sheets.
Now, after dispatching Juventus handily, and weathering the Spanish storm during the second leg at Villareal, Arsenal are going to the final. Today, Jens Lehmann put the team on his back--again--as he has so many times in this run and held the yellow submarine goalless, setting a Champion's Leagure record for the most minutes played without a goal in the competition. Boring, boring Arsenal indeed! (1 Nil to the Arsenal!).
I'm ecstatic.
UPDATE: The match wasn't the best one in the world to be honest. Villareal definitely had the better chances, but he same could be said of Aresenal in the first leg. At the end of the day, Arsenal's defense held and stayed very well organized, despite numerous almost goals from Villareal. They could have easily conceded a goal that would take the game to extra time were it not for Jens Lehmann (getting well deserved congratulations above). He was definitely man of the match.
Now, Arsenal take a record 10 clean sheets into the final, where they will likely be the underdog to either Milan or Barcelona. That role suits them well, as they are usually the underdogs in this competition. I think Arsenal will be joined by Barcelona--that would certainly ensure the most entertaining football match featuring the world's two best players. JogaBonita indeed.
I've been reading its thoughtful analysis of the Atlanta sports scene for a while now, but have been negligent in adding a link until now. As an added bonus, there's some soccer coverage there as well, mostly about Barcelona though. In any case, I hope that Barcelona win their Champion's League match today, but all my attention will be focused on the second leg of the Arsenal and Juventus. Go Gunners!
UPDATE: Sweet success! Arsenal drew 0-0 to advance to the semifinals for the first time in their history. Barcelona also advanced today. Next round, Arsenal face Villareal from La Liga in Spain.
Really, I'm not trying to bore all my readers who don't enjoy the beautiful game as much as I do. It's just that with the World Cup on the horizon and the Champion's League in its final stages, many of the things I'm finding right now are soccer related.
Submitted for your approval: The World Cup Blog. It seems to have some pretty comprehensive coverage, with blogs dedicated to each of the 32 teams in the tournament. Right now, the USA blog is in the process of helping out Bruce Arena by picking the 23 man roster a month early.
Also, since some of my occassional readers also find follow other teams involved as well, here's a couple more: Brazil, England, and Argentina (for you X!). Finally, in the interest of completeness, here are the blogs for the other teams in the USA's group: Italy, the Czech Republic, and Ghana. (via Spofi)
It's that time of year again. When normally somewhat sane people get all geeky over baseball and participate in countless fantasy baseball drafts across the country. I'm no exception. My league had its draft on Sunday, and I handled my beer bitch duties with great aplomb (I had to deliver drinks because I finished next to last last year and the last place team didn't return). Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my picks:
C - Kenji Johjima
1B - David Ortiz
2B - Marcus Giles
3B - Aaron Boone
SS - Michael Young
OF - Carlos Lee
OF - Juan Pierre
OF - Vernon Wells
UTIL - Aubrey Huff
SP - Ben Sheets
SP - Felix Hernandez
RP - Eric Gagne
RP - Todd Jones
P - Curt Schilling
P - Jeremy Bonderman
P - Oliver Perez
BN - Matt Clement
BN - J.D. Drew
BN - Aaron Rowand
BN - Horacio Ramirez
BN - Kevin Youklis
Hopefully, this team will avoid the injury bug that plagued my squad last year (with the understood excpetion of J.D. "DL" Drew).
Well, that was an ugly game wasn't it. Germany completed routed the U.S. 4-1 in a friendly yesterday. This will obviously bolster Germany's confidence after their own 4-1 loss to Italy earlier in the month, and it will remove some of the heat from Juergen Klinsmann, their national coach.
But what does it mean for the U.S.? Does it mean that we are right back where we where in 1998 while finishing last in France? Does it mean exactly nothing? No on both counts. This is certainly not a disaster for the team by any means. Just take a look at the lineups for both teams and some interesting things begin to emerge.
This is pretty much the team that Germany will use in June when World Cup play kicks off, including two of the most in-form goalkeepers in the world right now.
Do you notice something a little different here? There are some pretty big names missing, mostly due to injuries and club committments. I have to think that the result may have been a bit different if some of the following players that will probably be available in June were present. Barring injury all of these players will figure in Bruce Arena's plans as starters or important role players:
Brian McBride
Landon Donovan
DeMarcus Beasely
Oguchi Onyewu
John O'Brien
Claudio Reyna
Carlos Bocanegra
Clint Dempsey
Eddie Lewis
And, of those players on the field yesterday, Josh Wolff left early with a concussion, and Eddie Pope never got off the bench. Both of these players will likely be on the World Cup roster as well.
Everyone in the U.S. Soccer community needs to view this game as a way to evaluate players that are on the bubble for inclusion for the World Cup roster. So who helped themselves?
Barring injury, Kasey Keller is a lock to be the starting keeper in June. Steve Cherundolo and Gregg Berhalter probably will be there too, despite what happened yesterday. Eddie Johnson showed great movement in the first half, reassuring everyone that he is returning to form from his injury. Finally, Bobby Convey, despite a few mistouches, probably helped his case as well.
Everyone else? Brian Ching shouldn't be buying any tickets. Chris Klein looked lost out there, which will clear up the midfield logjam somewhat. Conrad will definitely want to forget his performance in the second half, making his status a little more doubtful [Ed. Note: Soccernet has more along this vein.]
All in all, the U.S. "B" team hung in there with a desparate Germany for 45 minutes. Although Bruce Arena now thinks that scheduling this game was a mistake, I think we learned some things of value. In any case, it doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for the upcoming World Cup in the least.
I don't want to turn this into a complete soccer blog, but I couldn't let this one pass. The U.S. now ranks fifth in the world--its highest ranking ever. Just three months before the World Cup. Wow. Here's the top 10:
Brazil
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Argentina
USA
Spain
Mexico
France
England
Portugal
Perennial powers Italy (12) and Germany (22!) don't even figure here.
I know the naysayers will immediately start pointing out that these rankings are meaningless and that they don't measure how good a team actually is. And I'd agree with them, since the U.S. has been eternally ranked behind Mexico until now, even though we've owned them outside of Mexico City since 1999 or so. But still, these are the only rankings there are, and they measure a teams performance over time with past World Cups including the dreadful performance of the U.S. in 1998.
I'm feeling pretty good about the World Cup now. I still give the U.S. only about a 50% chance of advancing from their group, but this should buoy their spirits a bit.
And for all you soccer-haters and sports fans who don't normally follow soccer: Now is the time to start paying attention.
Arsenal 0 - 0 Real Madrid (1-0 aggregate). Arsenal are the only English team to advance. They played magnificently, and the score should have been 4 or 5 to nil on aggregate. They attacked magnificently in both legs, but their defense provided a the steel that allowed Arsenal to advance. I was stymied again by work in combination with ESPN, who decided to play the World Baseball Classic instead. If you are really interested, they'll be replaying the match at midnight.
In the next round, Arsenal will have to face Barcelona, Villareal, Benfica, AC Milan, Juventus, Lyon, or Ajax or Inter Milan. I'll have an update once the draw occurs. I don't relish playing Juventus much though, since it's the new home for Patrick Viera, last season's captain at Arsenal.
In other news, both Chelsea and Liverpool were knocked out of the competition.
UPDATE: Crap! It's Juventus. I didn't really want to see Patrick Viera return to Highbury this way.
The U.S. Men's national team began the run up to the World Cup yesterday by beating Poland 1 - 0 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The second half featured heavy snowfall, but the U.S. managed to grind out the win in difficult conditions.
The game was played in front of a raucous U.S. friendly crowd (more so than many of their games in the U.S.). The U.S. fans were undoubtably from the Ramstein Air Force base, which has something like 50,000 personnel stationed there. Hopefully, the U.S. will have at least once such crowd during the World Cup in June, since they play Italy there on June 17.
All in all, a good start to World Cup warmups.
In the coming weeks, I hope to publish a series of posts previewing the World Cup for those among you who don't follow the other football so much. I hope to give you all the tools to enjoy the World Cup, and be able to talk about a bit. (I have to find something to get excited about since Arsenal's season is in the tank.)
Yesterday in the first leg of the first knockout stage of the Champion's League, Arsenal paid a visit to Real Madrid. Everyone in the commentariat gave the Gunners the chance of a snow cone in hell. Just like the Olympics, however, once the game began, it refused to stay on that script.
Mired in a disappointing season at home, Arsenal roared at Real Madrid and its Galacticos for all of the 90 plus minutes, looking more like the team that went undefeated two years ago (was it only two years?) and won on the road 1 - 0 (minute by minute). And it wasn't nearly that close. Arsenal easily should have had two more goals. Arseblog has an excellent report on the match. This is the first time an English team has won at the Bernabeu.
Now on the the match itself. For the first time in a long time, both the young players and the veterans played well. Jose Reyes had one of his best days ever in an Arsenal jersey, and Fabregas was masterful in midfield. Thierry Henry was, well, Thierry Henry. Who says he doesn't show up in big games--his game winner was just masterful. A lot of credit should be given to the defense as well, keeping Real out of sorts for most of the game. And finally, it's good to see you again Mr. Ljungberg!
I don't mean to get too carried away here. After all, they have to do this all over again at Highbury in two weeks, but to go to Madrid and notch an away goal and a win does mean something. It makes Arsenal favored to advance. All they have to do is limit Madrid's goals in their house, where they've played better this season than on the road. And, of course, some players will have healed enough to return to the squad.
Now, I'm hoping this lights a bit of a fire in the team that carries them to that all important fourth position in the league, retain Henry, and usher them into Ashburton Grove in style. On to Blackburn!
In other news, Liverpool and Chelsea both lost their opening legs to BEnfica and Barcelona, respectively. I usually pull for the English teams, even though I can't quite muster any support for Chelsea. I do feel bad for Damon though. I'm confident they'll get it done in the second leg.
The Times of London has a very nice story about FC St. Pauli, a third division team in the German Bundesliga. The team, from the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, has had a special place in my heart (as my second team I suppose) ever since I first encountered their jersey with the Jack Daniels' sponsorship in a department store in Hamburg. Learning some of the details that the article relates only made them more attractive. What's not to like about a club whose unofficial emblem is the Jolly Roger?
Although they are currently in the third division, but they a real shot at being promoted to the second division this year and, improbably, are in the semifinals of the German cup after defeated Hertha Berlin last month. They face Werder Bremen next Wednesday, and even though they'll be major underdogs, I'll be pulling for them.
The AJC shows exactly what it took for the Georgia Dome to host three big-time college and NFL football games in the space of four days. You can actually see how many times Carolina seems to march down the field during the Falcons game portion of the sequence.
Over the last few years, matches between the two teams have been some of the most competitive in English football. So, it's with a little sadness that this marks the beginning of the end of Highbury in my mind--it's beginning to seem real, despite seeing pictures of the new stadium as it is being constructed.
Highbury will always have a special place in my heart since it was the first stadium where I saw a competitive match live; Arsenal won that day and my love affair with the team began. I only hope the team begins to send it off a little better than they have been lately, starting with a win today. Go Gunners!
UPDATE: Arsenal 0 - 0 Man United. Not exactly the result I had in mind, as Arsenal's lack of goal scoring of late is becoming more and more worrying. They absolutely have to be able to win outright at home. Earlier this season, after watching Arsenal lose to Boro in a very uninspiring effort, I said that if they continued to play like that, they would finish mid-table. Well, they've played just like that more often than not, and if they don't improve pretty quickly, there will be no Champion's League football played in the new stadium next year (and probably no Thierry Henry either).
The waiting is finally over--the world cup draw is over. All the group matches are set. I'm a little disappointed that the U.S. isn't one of the top seeds and that Mexico, who the U.S. has owned outside of Mexico City, did.
How will this work (for any World Cup rookies)? A team plays each of the other teams in their group (3 games). You get 3 points for each win and 1 point for each draw. After the opening three matches, the two teams in each group with the most points advance to the knockout stages. (Any ties are decided by the number of goals.)
Here's how I see it right now. Teams advancing listed in order of finish. All predictions are guaranteed to be inaccurate or your money back:
Group A Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
This group shouldn't challenge the hosts much at all. Costa Rica, their opponent in the competition's opening match, was dreadful down the qualifying stretch, and Ecuador is the weak link in my opinion from South America. Germany, Poland advance.
Group B England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
You've got to hate to see Sweden in this group if you support England. They just can't seem to beat the scandanavians. I like Trinidad to be entertaining, but still come in last. Sweden and Paraguay should battle for second. England, Paraguay advance.
Group C Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Netherlands
This is it. The group of death. Argentina is, well, Argentina. Ivory Coast tore through Africa during qualifying, and the Netherlands probably should have been seeded. Normally, I'd go with the underdog Ivory Coast, but they are newcomers, and although I like them to surprise Argentina, they go home early. Netherlands, Argentina advance.
Group D Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
This is the coulda shoulda group. The group that could have been the U.S.'s had they gotten a top seed. I don't know anything about Angola, and that usually doesn't bode well. Portugal, Mexico advance.
Group E Italy, Ghana, U.S., Czech Republic
Ouch ouch ouch. So the U.S. dodges group C, but ends up making the second hardest group. This one is almost too hard to handicap, but I won't let that stop me. The U.S. needs to soundly defeat either Italy or the Czechs to make it easy. Italy struggled a bit of late, but the catennaccio will carry them through. I think the U.S. advances as well using goal differential. ItalyCzech Republic, U.S. advance (it's my blog, I'm allowed to be a homer). (Update: I really thought better of this selection over the weekend.)
Group F Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Australia's dream ends here. Japan played to well in the qualifying; I don't see them crashing out. Brazil is a perennial favorite to win the whole thing. Brazil, Japan advance.
Group G France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
One of the two groups where I was hoping the U.S. would land. France struggled mightily in qualifying, but they can never be ignored. Togo is making it's first trip. Switzerland? See Australia. South Korea, France advance.
Group H Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
The easiest group in the competition. As inconsistent as Spain has been, they should still advance easily. Can Shevchenko carry Ukraine past the first round. Can Tunisia or Saudi Arabia finally make some noise? Not this time. Ukraine has been too hot. Ukraine, Spain advance.
Now for my travel arrangements. The first three games for the U.S. are in Gelsenkirchen, Kaiserslautern, and Nuremburg. I'm leaning toward the final match against Ghana in Nuremburg. This will probably be the make or break match for the U.S.'s hope of advancing. I'd also get to see Japan Croatia match if I get there a few days earlier. Time to start pricing things.
This is shocking. I'm not a United fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this caught me entirely off guard. He was their captain and the enforcer in the midfield. More than that, Roy Keane has been the rock upon which ManU has built its success. Despite his temper and his contentious relationship with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, I find it hard to believe he's just walking away from the club afer 12 years (an eternity in sports). In his time with the club, ManU has been the most successful team in England. Their dominance has only recently waned with the rise of Arsenal and more lately, Chelsea. It's only fitting that he's leaving ManU the same year that Viera left Arsenal given the contentious, physical battles they've participated in against one another over the years.
I can't imagine he's completely done though. He's only 34 and has a couple of years left in him. I wonder where he's off to now. First, the big spenders. Chelsea, while they can afford him, doesn't need yet another midfielder. The thought of him at Arsenal is laughable. And he really doesn't fit the mold of a Real Madrid midfielder.
Here's a thought. Why not Wigan. They are currently second in the premiere league, which no one, including me, expected. I'm sure he could help them stay up this year. My best guess, however, is that he'll end up in green hoops with Celtic.
After yesterday's playoffs, all 32 nations have now qualified for the World Cup next year in Germany. Here's a list by region.
Africa The big surprise here is the absence of Nigerian and Cameroon, who've acquitted themselves very well in the last few world cups.
Angola
Ghana (welcome back!)
Ivory Coast
Togo
Tunisia
Asia This group shapes up according to form. No real surprises here, as Bahrain loses to Trinidad & Tobago in a playoff. I guess they didn't deserve five spots from Asia after all.
Iran
Japan
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Europe Always the largest contingent. I don't want to be around if Croatia ends up playing Serbia & Montenegro. Surprises? The lack of Ireland and Denmark, who had been qualifying regularly.
Croatia
Czech Republic
England
France
Germany (Hosts)
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Serbia & Montenegro
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
North America The group I know the most about obviously. The U.S. wins and qualifies earlier than they have during their modern run. I'd relish another game against Mexico on this stage. Congrats to the Soca Warriors.
Costa Rica
Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago (their first trip)
United States (finishing first in their region)
Oceania This really surprises me. I thought Uruguay would take care of them without a problem. Welcome back anyway Socceroos.
Australia (after a 32 year drought)
South America Losing that playoff has to hurt a bit. Argentina and Brazil are always favorites.
Argentina
Brazil
Ecuador
Paraguay
I'll wait until after the draw to figure out exactly where and when I'll be heading across the pond for a couple weeks next summer.
This isn't a post about Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Tottenham this morning, even though I could go on and on about how each half was a different game and if the squad that played most of the second half had started it, they probably would have won.
Instead, it's about how much the game has grown in the U.S. After the game, I went to get my hair cut at my usual barbershop, but this time I was wearing my Arsenal jersey. As soon as I had taken off my sweatshirt, one of the barber's said, "Hey, Jerry, there's an Arsenal fan down here." And the two of them (the younger two of the four barbers) began giving me a bit of a hard time.
Now Peachtree Battle barbershop is in the middle of college football country in Atlanta ("How 'bout them Dawgs" and all that), but they knew enough to know about Arsenal's struggle's this year. Heck, I was shocked they even recognized the jersey. If soccer has made into this barbershop, it's a lot farther along than many in the media would have you believe.
Of course I asked them who they supported. Their reply?
Wait for it.
Chelsea of course. (I asked if they were Yankees fans too, but they just laughed it off.)
As most everyone in North America knows by now, the Chicago White Sox won their first world series in 88 years last night, so no link is required. But I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate the team and the fans. And to Ozzie Guillen, who I always enjoyed as a player. I was lucky enough to see him play in Atlanta toward the end of his career and I always like the pure joy he brought to the game. He was a nice change from the rest of the very business-like Braves.
As a Red Sox fan, I know exactly what you are feeling right now White Sox fans. Enjoy it. You'll still be pinching yourself for weeks.
In bad news for Braves fans everywhere, Leo Mazzone, who should the first pitching coach who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, is apparently joining the Orioles. Apparently, the Orioles' new manager is one of his best friends from way back. He's been with the Braves organization since 1979, and I can't really imagine the Braves without him rocking on the bench.
What does this mean. Immediately, I'd have to guess that Atlanta's streak of 14 consecutive division titles ends right there. I really like the youth on the team, but pitching wins championships. Now, we'll see no more reclamation projects like John Thompson, Jaret Wright, and John Burkett. How much worse would Dan Kolb been without Leo?
On the other side, Mazzone won't have nearly the talent to work with in Baltimore, but if he can improve their picthing just a little, they should be able to contend with their offense alone.
And yes, I mean Futbol. I don't post about sports much because there are so many good places to read about sports (like Sportsfilter) and there are other things that interest me. Sportswise, I'm mostly interested in soccer and baseball , but I do pay attention to other sports--I just don't get as worked up about them as I do about baseball and soccer. Of course, most sports are always a good excuse to hang out with friends and have a few cold beers.
As for baseball, my favorite team, the Red Sox, are perilously close to media over-exposure right now. Even I'm getting tired of Johnny Damon and his beard. And the Braves? Well I think everyone who doesn't follow them is probably sick to death of them: for example incoming college freshman can't remember when they weren't in the playoffs. I mean, think of that.
So, soccer it is. Arsenal in particular. Like most Americans of my age, I sort of chanced upon soccer in general. It first entered my consciousness during the run up to the '94 World Cup, and I enjoyed that greatly. But it was a slow process. By the time I was ready to begin following it, I was lucky enough to attend a match at Highbury, and just like that, I was an Arsenal fan. I had never been to any sporting event where the passion ran that high. Not even college football, and I've heard Rocky Top in Knoxville. Of course, beating Chelsea that day didn't hurt, even though I had no idea what that meant at the time.
So with that background behind me. I'm now a fixture at the Brewhouse Cafe on many weekends. And now that the season is in full swing, it's time for me to pontificate. So far, Arsenal have looked to be slowly finding their form. They won their opener against Newcastle in a rather boring display for most of the match (aside from Robin Van Persie's fantastic goal in the last 15 minutes), and outplayed defending champions Chelsea in a 1-0 loss (the goal was offside I tell you [Ed. Note: Sure, they always are aren't they]. They found their form yesterday though, thumping Fulham 4-1.
Today, the Champion's League draw was announced. My first thought, having Liverpool and Chelsea in the same group will suck for their supporters, but make for some entertaining football for me. (I will be pulling for the Reds, Damon, don't worry.) In fact, I think this group is probably the hardest of the bunch because of Liverpool's presence here (defending champion and all) instead of whichever Romanian or Welsh team they beat to qualify. Both English teams should still move on though.
Arsenal's group consists of Ajax, Sparta Prague, and FC Thun (from Switzerland). I reckon that Arsenal and Ajax should easily advance, as it is one of the easier groups.
UPDATE: Edited slightly for clarity and to provide some link love to Sportsfilter.
UPDATE Deux: As usual, Arseblog has some thoughtful insight to add.
NP: "If I Love You?" - The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Yesterday, I made the trip over to Birmingham along with five friends to watch the World Cup Qualifier, US versus Guatemala. What a trip. We left mid-afternoon, arriving in Birmingham just in time to enjoy some delicious slow-cooked chopped pork and ribs at Full-Moon Bar-B-Que (26th Street Location). Fully fat and happy, we then proceeded to Legion Field for some full-on tailgating. Beer was consumed (and a little spilled) as we watched the many Guatemalan fans, some of which were from as far away as DC, parade by and generally make merry. Their spirit was amazing. It was like a family reunion, sporting event, carnivale, and circus all wrapped up together. Many news outlets reported that there were more Chapines than Gringos at the match. And it certainly appeared that way when we first arrived.
Once we got into the stadium though, it seemed that the crowd was more evenly mixed, which is still not the best situation for the US, being the "home" team and all. All the Guatemalan fans around us were very happy, living and cheering with their team kick by kick, foul by foul. I'd watch a match with them again any day.
As for the match, the US lightened the spirits of their fans who were still mourning their defeat in Mexico Sunday afternoon. They took control of the match early on; Eddie Johnson continued to cement his permanent place in the starting 11 by scoring in the 11th minute. The US proceeded to continue to fire at the goal, missing about six more great chances in the first half. I'm looking at you especially Brian Ching.
After a few more chances in the second, including a very close offsides call to nullify a goal, they finally got their insurance goal from Steve Ralston. US 2 - 0 Guatemala, and a clean sheet for Kasey Keller, who was fantastic in goal again. (Ed. Note: Brad who?) My man of the match? Eddie Johnson is the obvious choice, but I'm going with Eddie Lewis (We Are P-N-E!), who was a workhorse and fired pinpoint accurate crosses into the box until relieved late in the second half. Here's the local story from Birmingham.
At the end of game, I got congratulated by some of the Guatemalan fans and we returned to the parking lot for more beer until the crowd thinned a bit. Birmingham actually felt like a soccer town last night, making the large sign, "Legion Field - The Football Capital of the South," feel about right--maybe it should have been futbol though.
The only downer was the torrential rain we had to drive through on the way back to the ATL. Our excellent driver got us all home safely, if late, though. Great work Kris! We really appreciate it.
Also, I see that the Birmingham news now has a soccer blog. Go show it some love.
UPDATE: Mexico only managed a draw at Panama, which means the US only trails El Tri by one point. Way to play Panama!
It's a gray, rainy, miserable day in the ATL. What does this mean? Comfort food at the Silver Grill of course! Today I had a breaded pork chop, mashed potatoes, and crowder peas. I tell you, it really hits the spot on a day like today. Special bonus--the cornbread was hot! I need to dwell on the cornbread a minute. I think Kevin stole the recipe from my Granny; it really is that good!
And no, their potato salad still isn't nearly as good as yours Mom.
In the there is finally some good news department, the U.S. Soccer Federation and the National team players agreed to end their labor standoff. What does this mean? Well for one, it means that soccer is learning somewhat from the NHL's abominable mistakes by getting this at least temporarily solved before World Cup qualifying recommences in Trinidad and Tobogo in a few weeks. The players have also released a statement.
Second, it means we'll see the players we're accustomed to seeing in the Hex--Reyna, Donovan, et. al.--instead of replacements from the USL and A-Leagues. Marco Ferruzzi? Who is that? I'll resist calling these guys the epithet usually reserved for replacements in labor disputes for a very good reason: if some kind of catastrophe had struck in this, and Bruce Arena called me for duty, I'd go in a heartbeat. This is an honor most of these guys will never get a chance at again, so I'll forego the name calling.
Now Playing:
Stone Roses - "Waterfall"
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea"
As you may have noticed (all six of you), I've recently added a new site under Other Things to See, The Ultimate Olympian. I was made aware of this project by said Olympian himself on SpoFi, and it has made for some compelling reading as he attempts to compete in all the Olympic Events for which he's eligible by the next summer Olympics. And you know what makes it even better? He's doing it for charity.
Go give it a read and offer some support (moral and otherwise).
The election almost made me forget that the Red Sox actually won the whole damn thing this year. (Am I have trouble adjusting to this new reality? No, thank you very much.)
True to historical form, Arsenal have struggled in the group phase of the Champion's League this year, but after yesterday's thrashing of Rosenborg, they still managed to win the group, even though they had to win the match to be assured of moving into the knockout stages of the competition. Of course, Arseblog is all over this.
Now, where does that leave my fantasy team for the competition? Pretty comfortably in second place. Of course, I wish my fantasy EPL team was performing as well. I've been falling like a rock for quite a while, as evidenced here. C'mon ATL Untitled!
What with all the steroid talk being thrown about regarding Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, what does one of the greatest players of all time think about. The Hammer don't sound happy. I for one hope Hank stays homerun king.
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here come the predictions. Since I'm from the U.S., I suppose I'll start with their chances and get it out of the way. Many of the guys I play soccer with on Saturdays laughed at me in 2002 when I predicted the U.S. would advance to the second round. 16 bets of one beer each, and I had a couple of cheap Saturday afternoons after my prediction turned out to be correct.
