WORLD CUP 2006 / GERMANY

[Jim R]

Norway had a left back? Seriously, though, I've liked Dempsey for quite awhile. I haven't seen a whole lot of Revolution games, but he always seems to play well for the national team. He's a workhorse, IMO- he does a lot of the dirty work in midfield, earns a lot of free kicks, runs his ass off, and makes good decisions with the ball (plays like a veteran in that respect). He looks like he's going to break in half sometimes with that thin frame, but he's tough!

[scottb]

USA 3 - Japan 2

As a whole the US looked strong. After about 5 minutes they took control and essentially had Japan pinned in the box for the next hour. The Japanese keeper robbed them of a couple more as well. In the past I've seen Asian teams give the US trouble with their quickness but the US handled it well tonight. At the end Japan was starting to come on. Their subs provided a spark ours couldn't counter.

Twellman with a goal and 2 assists. This is just what the US needs. I disagree with Balboa on this one. I think you could play Twellman up top along with McBride. Yes they are both target players but they both bring so much more to the attack. At Fulham since Helguson joined McBride up top they have been giving defenses fits, including Chelsea's. If Bruce ain't thinking about that combo, he should be.

Wolff, same song second verse. Yes, he's fast and can occasionally provide a good ball in but his skill and finishing are just not up to par. How many times did the announcer say "...and Wolff is unable to bring that one in." or "... that one just got away from Wolff." I would send Noonan to Germany as a forward before I sent Wolff.

Noonan had a good game. He's versatile, played some good D tonight. I take him to Germany.

Dempsey had another great game.

Dunivant played very well and could be the answer at left back.

Klein struggled a bit, new position, understandable.

I like the way the team is playing. Nice ball control, good team speed, good team defense even from the forwards, variety in attack, lots of different guys scoring goals.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

WORLD CUP 2006 / GERMANY, Discussion, analysis, emotional venting

There aren't any Lufthansa tix out of DC to Munich for under $1,350 in June!!

[ASNL77]

WORLD CUP 2006 / GERMANY, Discussion, analysis, emotional venting

There aren't any Lufthansa tix out of DC to Munich for under $1,350 in June!!

I would try to fly to Paris and take the train to Munich. It should be much cheaper. And Paris is well worth a visit!!

[Jim R]

Hey scott, did you see the 4-0 shutout vs Guatemala today? Similar to the Norway match in terms of the final score, but we were not quite as dominant as we were vs the Norwegians (no surprise, since we were playing almost exclusively with our youngest, least experienced players, while Guatemala pretty much used their A team which nearly qualified for the WC).

First order of business: it is time to put Josh Wolff out to pasture. Once again, he had several good looks at the goal- some from very close range- and he not only failed to score, he failed to put the ball ON FRAME. The camera would go to Arena, and he'd be shaking his head and looking at the ground. I know he probably hopes he'll be able to keep Wolff on the roster for his experience and tenure with the team, but Bruce... PLEASE, dump the guy. If he can't score in friendlies where we're dominating teams and getting frequent scoring chances, he sure as hell ain't gonna score in a World Cup match. It's sad, because he actually did some really good things otherwise (creating space for himself, setting people up, etc).

Chris Klein got a goal, but it was garbage time. He didn't look all that good in the right midfiled (probably still shaken by that experience at right back against Japan).

Eddie Johnson's goal was well taken, but sloppy defending set up his opportunity. He also played kind of selfish at times (Balboa criticized him for it once), which I hate to see. I think he's still a bit of a question mark, but he does have a knack for finishing his chances.

Ching got a goal as well, and I thought he worked better with his mates than Johnson did. Unfortunately, Brian also missed a couple of pretty good chances with his head. He looks very fit, though. Great target man to back up McBride in Germany, IMO.

Ben Olson should have gotten man of the match (they gave it to Johnson). His opening goal was pretty sweet (not quite a world-class bomb, but scoring from that far out was still impressive, especially off the half-volley). He was all over the field besides, and was really talking it up and making things happen. Don't think he should go to Germany, though... too many good players ahead of him.

Zavagnin looked very solid again, but I don't know if he breaks into the traveling squad (our depth will cause some very good players to stay home this Summer).

We had a kid named Heath Pearce at left back. He looked a little shaky at times on defense, but he looked good when he pushed forward (had one long range bullet shot that went just wide).

Hejduk looked solid, and Marcello thinks he'll be going to Germany (hard to argue with him, even though we probably don't really *need* him in the lineup).

Jimmy Conrad continues to shine at the back. He made several Eddie Pope-like plays that may have saved goals. He may just earn himself a spot.

Eddie Pope was Eddie Pope.

Most of the other players who saw action were just okay, and have little or no chance anyway. I didn't even recognize the two keepers we used.

Next up, a stiffer test: Poland on March 1st. I think we may have some of our euro-based players available.

[scottb]

I saw the game and saw it exactly as you did. Really good showing for our "JV team" as one columnist put it. I thought Olsen also was the man of the match but agree we're just too strong in that position for him to go to Germany.

Pope and Conrad really looked tough back there. Even when the others made mistakes, those two had their backs.

Overall I was pleased to see that team score 4 without the likes of McBride, Donavan, Beasley, Dempsey and Twellman.

I think the matches in Germany against Poland and Germany will be a great warmup and we should have our full squad there.

I heard Totti had a pretty serious injury and could be out for an extended period of time. Will probably be back for the World Cup but you never know if he'll be 100%.

Edited February 20, 2006 by scottb

[scottb]

On a less serious note, anyone see the new uniforms for the WC?

Poor Netherlands. That is a hideous shirt. The adidas uniforms look OK but Nike has apparently gone retro with not so great results. THe US kits look OK I think, but some of the others look pretty drab.

Look HERE

[Jim R]

On a less serious note, anyone see the new uniforms for the WC?

Poor Netherlands. That is a hideous shirt. The adidas uniforms look OK but Nike has apparently gone retro with not so great results. THe US kits look OK I think, but some of the others look pretty drab.

Look HERE

Overall I'm underwhelmed. I thought Spain's looked good, but other than that the only one that struck me as very "new" in design was the US jerseys. I don't hate them, but I'm not sure they couldn't have done better.

I was surprised by this, btw. I thought the U.S. WC jerseys were going to be these...

I was just doing a few searches, and strangely enough, when I saw this photo I didn't even remember our jerseys looking like this in 2002:

Edited February 21, 2006 by Jim R

[Jim R]

Article at US Soccer site: http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_280722.html

More pics: http://www.ussoccer.com/sights/index.jsp_p...lery-75-0.html#

[Alexander Hawkins]

On a less serious note, anyone see the new uniforms for the WC?

Poor Netherlands. That is a hideous shirt. The adidas uniforms look OK but Nike has apparently gone retro with not so great results. THe US kits look OK I think, but some of the others look pretty drab.

Look HERE

I quite like the retro Dutch shirt...as 'Oranje' shirts go...

[brownie]

HOLD OFF EVERYTHING

BIRD FLU ALERT

From AFP today:

WORLD CUP SHOULD BE CANCELLED BECAUSE OF BIRD FLU: GERMAN POLITICIAN

A German Green party politician said the football World Cup, which will be played here from June 9 to July 9, should be cancelled because of the outbreak of bird flu in the country.

"The virus is here, and we have a giant sports event on our hands. I would be tempted to say let us be cautious and call it off," said Baerbel Hoehn, the leader of the parliamentary committee for agriculture.

The World Cup organising committee refused to comment but Hoehn found support from World Health Organisation expert Klaus Stoehr, who said he did not think the suggestion amounted to "scare-mongering."

"We should think very carefully about what we are going to do if we have a human case of avian influenza," he said.

The 2006 World Cup is expected to bring some three million football fans to Germany, and the country has been preparing to host the event since 2000.

The dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu reached German shores last week, and by Tuesday 103 dead birds had tested positive for the disease.

[birdanddizzy]

[Jim R]

Damn... I just realized that I forgot all about the US vs Poland match in Kaiserslautern today. I just heard the result announced, and heard a bit about who was playing (more top rank players this time), and I really wish I had remembered to tape it. Oh well, at least I can run the VCR at 2 a.m. tonight and get it in spanish. Anybody see it?

I did get a chance to see a bit of the England / Uruguay game at lunchtime (Uruguay was up 1-0 last I heard).

[sidewinder]

England improved in the second half and won the game agsinst Uruguay 2:1, which is half-way encouraging.

Sadly, the veteran Chelsea and England player Peter Osgood died yesterday at only 59 years of age so the players were wearing black armbands in recognition.

[brownie]

France lost to Slovakia 1-2 on homeground in an uninspired performance

Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, top scorers when they play for Arsenal and Juventus Turin failed once more to deliver the goods under the national jersey.

Coach Raymond Domenech continued to maintain his what-me-worry attitude after the game and complained after French supporters booed goalkeeper Fabien Barthez he keeps maintaining in the goalmouth!

[Jim R]

I got a chance to see more of the England / Uruguay match this evening as it was replayed on FSC. For a "friendly", it sure got testy toward the end. I have to give the referee poor marks for not only allowing too much pushing and shoving to go unchecked, but actually participating himself (repeatedly pushing a few Uruguayan players himself). They probably deserved it, but I think it's bad form for a ref to be pushing players in the chest. Use your cards to enforce your power.

[sidewinder]

Yes. for a minute I thought there was going to be a communal punch up there (with the ref one of the protagonists). Fortunately they all came to their senses !

[porcy62]

HOLD OFF EVERYTHING

BIRD FLU ALERT

From AFP today:

WORLD CUP SHOULD BE CANCELLED BECAUSE OF BIRD FLU: GERMAN POLITICIAN

A German Green party politician said the football World Cup, which will be played here from June 9 to July 9, should be cancelled because of the outbreak of bird flu in the country.

"The virus is here, and we have a giant sports event on our hands. I would be tempted to say let us be cautious and call it off," said Baerbel Hoehn, the leader of the parliamentary committee for agriculture.

The World Cup organising committee refused to comment but Hoehn found support from World Health Organisation expert Klaus Stoehr, who said he did not think the suggestion amounted to "scare-mongering."

"We should think very carefully about what we are going to do if we have a human case of avian influenza," he said.

The 2006 World Cup is expected to bring some three million football fans to Germany, and the country has been preparing to host the event since 2000.

The dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu reached German shores last week, and by Tuesday 103 dead birds had tested positive for the disease.

I think they should cancel it because of the howful match they played with Italy, and I am not a believer of greatness of today's italian team. Even more if you consider that our best player, Totti, is out for a serious accident.

[scottb]

To me of all the results yesterday, the scariest was Italy 4 - Germany 1.

Looks like the US is going to have beat the Czechs to get out of the group.

[mikeweil]

To me of all the results yesterday, the scariest was Italy 4 - Germany 1.

It will be very, very hard for Klinsmann to find a hole to hide in case his team goes on like this. I'd laugh my ... off when they don't survive the first round ......... I bet they at least have to work hard to move on.

[marcoliv]

France lost to Slovakia 1-2 on homeground in an uninspired performance

Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, top scorers when they play for Arsenal and Juventus Turin failed once more to deliver the goods under the national jersey.

Absolutely true Brownie and i'm constantly asking me why this is happening since Euro2000. Viera is also playing very bad for France and i'm sick of complaining about Zidane being on the team.

i was kinda disappointed about the reaction against Barthez, who was the only one who played on his regular level on the catastrophic performances in 2002/2004, but i need to blame this horrendous coach we have for not making a decision about this issue. i agree that Greg is the one who should play but i will not be concerned if Fabien is the goalkeeper.

i enjoyed Croatia's performance yesterday...if they can reproduce this on their first match

Marcus

[Jim R]

To me of all the results yesterday, the scariest was Italy 4 - Germany 1.

It will be very, very hard for Klinsmann to find a hole to hide in case his team goes on like this. I'd laugh my ... off when they don't survive the first round ......... I bet they at least have to work hard to move on.

Well, the Germans took a first step toward getting on the right track today. The U.S. may not have been playing with it's best team, but Germany were very efficient the way they capitalized on the americans' defensive errors. The first goal was reminiscent of the 2002 match (if memory serves); Nouville's goal (I said "uh-oh" when I saw him coming on as a sub) was clinical; and Klose and Ballack made the most of their gifts from the U.S. defense. Cherundolo's goal was a true oddity, hardly worth calling it a "goal".

From a U.S. fan's perspective, I have to follow my usual practice of criticizing a few players. In this case, the list has to include someone who is usually pretty steady- Greg Berhalter. He gave Klose his goal; was also responsible for Nouville's; and he may or may not have been the man who should have been somewhere within hailing distance of Ballack when he was left all alone for his well-taken header. Another defender who has looked very good in recent games, Jimmy Conrad, looked bad today. He didn't commit any huge marking blunders, but his passing out of the back was truly awful.

I think that the substitutes that coach Arena was choosing were the players most at-risk for not making the WC squad (in other words, our weakest subs). Chris Klein has basically done nothing in previous games (except for one goal against a demoralized and outmanned opponent), and he did nothing today. Every time he broke down the right flank and found space for a cross, he would either waste the chance or play a weak ball. Bringing on Ben Olsen after we were in serious trouble was not a good feeling, either. When Arena brought in perhaps our greenest player (Pearce) at left back, I knew the Germans were licking their chops.

The best performances we had were by Pablo Mastroeni, Bobby Convey (although his free kicks were not great), Corey Gibbs, Cherundolo, and Eddie Johnson. I have to say, though, that Johnson's header that nearly beat Kahn was not close enough to the corner. Ballack knew where to put his, and that's the difference between being good and being world-class. In addition, Johnson missed at least one great opportunity to service a teammate who was running unmarked into the box in the first half. You have to have vision, and be unselfish in those situations, and that's one aspect of Johnson that I don't like.

Hopefully this match will serve as a wake-up call to the U.S., a team that had been gaining a lot of confidence ever their last several games. I know that we didn't really see winning this one as highly important, but when you get outscored 4-1 (and the "1" was a fluke), it has to have a psychological effect nonetheless. We had better play well next month against Jamaica.

[J.A.W.]

Short review: the Germans, who again played very badly, had a field day against an American B-team with a horrible defense. I don't see these teams going very far this summer if they keep playing like this. Awful.

[Jim R]

Short review: the Germans, who again played very badly, had a field day against an American B-team with a horrible defense. I don't see these teams going very far this summer if they keep playing like this. Awful.

I thought the Germans played very well in the second half overall, especially the way they finished their chances. Ballack's header was placed perfectly; Klose finished strongly on his gift; and Nouville's volley was beautiful... of course, the weak defending helped, but those goals still required significant skill.

At any rate, I agree that this was no World Cup-level performance. The Germans, despite their strong second half attack, were not operating at the kind of speed at which they used to attack people. As for the Americans, I can only hope (pray) that they will be ready to play MUCH better when they have their full team together.

[J.A.W.]

Short review: the Germans, who again played very badly, had a field day against an American B-team with a horrible defense. I don't see these teams going very far this summer if they keep playing like this. Awful.

I thought the Germans played very well in the second half overall, especially the way they finished their chances. Ballack's header was placed perfectly; Klose finished strongly on his gift; and Nouville's volley was beautiful... of course, the weak defending helped, but those goals still required significant skill.

Sorry, I strongly disagree, in my view the Germans were only able to play "very well" thanks to the very poor opposition from the American team; the American defense was appalling, and yet the Germans only managed to play "well" in the second half. I thought both teams put on an appalling display.