The Soccer Thread

[USSoccer]

That was absolutely wretched. Kjlestian shouldn't see the field again for a long effing time, and really nobody gave a good account of themselves. Feilhaber was useless. No leadership, no ideas. Route one the whole time. Absolute waste of an opportunity by everyone who started.

 

Some of the reserves looked streets better than the starters. Uck. Bedoya, Dax and Goodison and maybe Davis raised their stock, but none of them will be in SA except maybe Goodison. Bornstein probably wrapped up a spot. Conrad, Wynne, Sacha all probably played their way to the outside, and Chad Marshall looked clueless.

 

Hopefully no one that played tonight sees significant time in June.

[wolf stansson]

I don't even know who this Bedoya guy is and since I fast forwarded through the match after the red card I don't know if he or anyone else was any good. That was worthless and unwatchable.

[sethuel1]

hopefully jimmy conrad played himself out of a spot at least.

 

edit: oh, USS already said that. guess I should read.

[bukie]

In African Cup of Nations action, Ivory Coast lost in the quarterfinals...to Algeria.

[USSoccer]

In African Cup of Nations action, Ivory Coast lost in the quarterfinals...to Algeria.

 

Officiating shenanigans. CIV had the equalizer disallowed improperly.

[wvcbxl]

In African Cup of Nations action, Ivory Coast lost in the quarterfinals...to Algeria.

 

Officiating shenanigans. CIV had the equalizer disallowed improperly.

 

I think the implied message is that it would be foolish to underestimate Algeria.

[USSoccer]

In African Cup of Nations action, Ivory Coast lost in the quarterfinals...to Algeria.

 

Officiating shenanigans. CIV had the equalizer disallowed improperly.

 

I think the implied message is that it would be foolish to underestimate Algeria.

 

I don't think that anyone at USSF would have, but they are on par with Egypt and are a side we should handle. African sides are unpredictable anyway. They could have half the team quit tomorrow, or mysteriously "discover" three great French players with Algerian citizenship.

 

I'm not going to trip over myself that they beat CIV.

[wvcbxl]

I'm not going to trip over myself that they beat CIV.

 

I'm not saying you should, but CIV are a highly regarded side, currently 16th on the FIFA ranking, only two places below USA.

And yes, I know those rankings are flawed.

[USSoccer]

I'm not going to trip over myself that they beat CIV.

 

I'm not saying you should, but CIV are a highly regarded side, currently 16th on the FIFA ranking, only two places below USA.

And yes, I know those rankings are flawed.

 

It's not that. It's that in the ACN, nothing would surprise me. Egypt were the holders and this is a side that didn't even qualify for the World Cup. Also, I think CIV is slightly overrated, FWIW. Strong strike force, iffy keeper.

[wolf stansson]

Also it's hard to factor, but to me it seems like teams like Egypt and Algeria do well in the ACN because they don't have big players on big clubs anxious to get back or anxious to avoid injury.

 

C d'I in particular has seemed like they wanted to leave after the Togo incident. This is just going off of what I've heard and read since we don't get games here.

 

Btw, Holden officially signed with Bolton.

[USSoccer]

Also it's hard to factor, but to me it seems like teams like Egypt and Algeria do well in the ACN because they don't have big players on big clubs anxious to get back or anxious to avoid injury.

 

Especially in a World Cup year.

 

Btw, Holden officially signed with Bolton.

 

That's going to be interesting. I'm still not sure how that's going to work out.

[USSoccer]

A couple of random other thoughts:

 

-Its too bad Roma started out the year playing like RBNY, cause they are now in 3rd position and everyone else except for Inter suck in Serie A.

 

-Yesterdays Milan Derby featured easily the least veiled bought referee I've ever seen. Sneijder's red was a complete joke, and the 2nd sending off late was dubious. Love Jose saying they would have won with seven men, but maybe struggled with six, and also loved his telling the press after the match that Italian football is a rigged mess:

 

''It was a strange game,'' he said. ''I think we all understand that it was no coincidence that he showed the red card to Sneijder. I have realised that they are not going to allow us to wrap this title up. But we were perfect. We would have won this game even with seven men. Maybe with six we would have struggled, but we would have won with seven.''

 

''Everything was done today to try and prevent Inter from winning, but my squad is strong and we will win the Scudetto,'' he told Sky television. ''But I will leave it at that. This is your country and your league. I am just a foreigner working here. One day, I will go and leave this problem with you.''

 

-Eddie Johnson got some tick for Aris this weekend, and should have scored. Adu made the bench but DNP.

 

-I get the feeling that Ronaldo hates playing for Madrid for some reason.

[wolf stansson]

Ronaldinho's penalty wasn't a penalty, Lucio's first yellow was not card worthy and his second was borderline. I would've kept it in my pocket given that it was his second. Sneijder's red was of course, a joke. I couldn't tell which Inter player it was wearing the cartoony Berlusconi mask after the game, but I thought that was awesome.

 

Milan's strikers are terrible and that midfield is older than dirt. There's been some good feeling leading up to the derby with their recent run of good form, but that definitely flattered to deceive. That club has some serious, deep endemic problems and it doesn't look like they are going to be getting any better any time soon. Seriously, who from this roster is going to be there in 2 years that's any good? Pato and?

[Jon]

Trib[/url]"]A star player for Paraguay's World Cup team was shot in the head Monday in the bathroom of a Mexico City bar.

 

Salvador Cabanas, a 29-year-old forward for the Mexican team Club America, was in critical condition. He was conscious when he arrived at a hospital where he was being operated on to remove the bullet, team president Michel Bauer told Televisa network.

[USSoccer]

Ronaldinho's penalty wasn't a penalty, Lucio's first yellow was not card worthy and his second was borderline. I would've kept it in my pocket given that it was his second. Sneijder's red was of course, a joke. I couldn't tell which Inter player it was wearing the cartoony Berlusconi mask after the game, but I thought that was awesome.

 

Milan's strikers are terrible and that midfield is older than dirt. There's been some good feeling leading up to the derby with their recent run of good form, but that definitely flattered to deceive. That club has some serious, deep endemic problems and it doesn't look like they are going to be getting any better any time soon. Seriously, who from this roster is going to be there in 2 years that's any good? Pato and?

 

Gooch? Lol.

 

Pato won't be there in 2 years either.

[wolf stansson]

Wow.

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/4856256/ce/us/davies-remarkable-path-recovery?cc=5901&ver=us

It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June's World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.

 

"Charlie is pretty much light years ahead of where anybody would tell you he should be," said Jim Hashimoto, the former U.S. national team trainer who is overseeing Davies rehabilitation. "When everybody heard about the accident, including myself, it was like, 'OK, this is going to be a long one' -- and it's still going to be a long one, but to see his progress is pretty amazing."

 

Just how amazing? The multiple broken bones in his leg, face and elbow have healed. So has a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and he has recovered from bladder surgery, which left a foot-long scar on his stomach. He has regained the 15 pounds he lost after enduring six surgeries following the crash, and is days away from undergoing his final surgery associated with the accident, a procedure to remove a bone, plate and screws from his left elbow. After a week to recover from that surgery, Davies expects to be back training with Sochaux by the end of February.

 

That's incredible. I wonder if there's a possibility of HGH use or something like that. This is certainly unexpectedly good progress. Not that I'd care. In fact, if he isn't on it now, I'll buy him some to get him back.

 

Also this is gross:

Today, Davies looks very much like he did before the accident. The swelling in his face that was so evident during his interview with ESPN last November has subsided, though a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

[Jon]

peeled his face off down to his chin

I can't even comprehend that.

 

What an amazing story that would be if he's able to come back by June.

[USSoccer]

Here's to hoping all three of Gooch, Davies and Dempsey are back, rested and as close to form as possible.

[shnsajax]

peeled his face off down to his chin

I can't even comprehend that.

 

What an amazing story that would be if he's able to come back by June.

 

That would be unreal if he can even train in February.

 

That is just gross too. Maybe he can summon his own Ribery now.

[USSoccer]

“The next part I remember was just waking up in the hospital and thinking I was in Honduras, thinking that people were trying to steal my organs. That’s how I woke up. It was maybe the third day and I was really confused about where I was"

[chuckywang]

peeled his face off down to his chin

I can't even comprehend that.

 

What an amazing story that would be if he's able to come back by June.

 

Haven't you seen that John Woo movie?

[wolf stansson]

“The next part I remember was just waking up in the hospital and thinking I was in Honduras, thinking that people were trying to steal my organs. That’s how I woke up. It was maybe the third day and I was really confused about where I was"

That's really interesting. When the brain goes through traumatic experiences it sometimes resets to a set of memories that took place before the event. So he must have reset to after the clincher in Honduras 3 days earlier. Crazy stuff.

[sethuel1]

I couldn't tell which Inter player it was wearing the cartoony Berlusconi mask after the game, but I thought that was awesome.

Marco Materazzi

[wolf stansson]

Should have guessed.

[wvcbxl]

I couldn't tell which Inter player it was wearing the cartoony Berlusconi mask after the game, but I thought that was awesome.

Marco Materazzi

 

http://www.sporza.be/polopoly_fs/1.702559!image/2136678841.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape470/2136678841.jpg

 

He was formally warned for it, but no sanction was given.