USSoccer

the new nike "write the future" thank you ad to the US team is awesome That's the one with the youth players ripping on divers right?

Spain (Iniesta, Fabregas and Pique) Verra much looking forward to Argentina/Germany. Maradona is a fat, insane genius.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wadelebronbulls072010 Hahahah, amazing. They've spent two years gearing up for LeBron and they strike out in less than 2 days. What a pos organization How does a professional organization botch something they've had two years to prep for? Let's ask this guy. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Raymond_Domenech.jpg/220px-Raymond_Domenech.jpg Touche /checks astrological signs

Leverkusen, plz.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wadelebronbulls072010 Hahahah, amazing. They've spent two years gearing up for LeBron and they strike out in less than 2 days. What a pos organization How does a professional organization botch something they've had two years to prep for?

How is it not the same as goaltending? I don't know why people are acting like this is so unheard of. In hockey, if a player is pulled down from behind on a breakaway with an empty net, the goal is awarded. In baseball, if a player illegally tries to field the ball by throwing his glove or a piece of clothing at him, a triple is awarded. If the ball was going out of the park, a home run is awarded. In football, if a team goaltends a field goal, 3 points are awarded. If they commit, in the judgment of the ref, a "palpably unfair act" to stop a touchdown, the touchdown is awarded. Because in those sports, you don't also have to lose a player the rest of the game and play permanently shorthanded.

I completely enjoyed Ghana choking miserably there. F them.

Yeah, Prince was already out by then. I said before the game, stop Boateng and Gyan and you win. Whoops.

The next coach has to start integrating the backline guys in pretty quickly. There's a very real chance none of our starting defenders going into the Cup will be starting in 2014, and only Bornstein (lack of options, potential) and Specs (versatility) are young.

If you're going to play defensively, you pull Jozy and put Clint up front for your mid, or you pull Clint (which, if you're playing for PKs I can defend, as he's never been very good in shootouts, was dead tired and putting Holden or Beasley in to provide width would have been defensible). I think, gun to head and if I get to go back in time and be Bob Bradley, I pull Jozy and put Goodison in and play a very, very compact 5-4-1. We were too tired a team and-starting in abut the 80th minute-really never looked a serious threat to score. I pack the back and make Ghana produce something stellar (which unless it was on a counter or turnover never looked close to doing) and take my chances with Tim Howard in a shootout.

Every game followed the same template: go down early (or get saved by a crossbar), generate a couple chances, sub on Benny at halftime, push Clint up, score goals and create a bunch of pressure, and tear teams up when we decide to link passes together like a real team. The conceding goals early thing wasn't new, either. We did it all cycle. Gold Cup 2007 final, El Salvador home and away, Honduras home, Costa Rica home and away, Brasil I in the Confeds, 3 of 4 games in the Cup. We were also a Howard save/Gio choke job away from going down 1-0 in Columbus against Mexico, and we let Mexico equalize not too far after Charlie's strike in Azteca. Stout in defense we were definitely not. If it was a result of our decision to emphasize a quick strike offense, or coaching/tactical fail, or just poorer defenders, I'm not sure, but it has been an issue for years.

Jozy was 16 when we lost to Ghana in 2006. There are some prospects in the U17 ranks and I rate Jack MacInerrny pretty highly (he's on the list), but top class finishers are tough to come by. If the worst case is we end up with Jozy/Chuck/Clint/Random backup X, and Jozy develops like we hope and Chuck is still Chuck, we'll be okay. If Jozy plateaus or Chuck isn't the same post accident, we'll need some unknowns to emerge. Happily, 4 years is a long time. Davies was one of the B teamers sent to piss off CONMEMBOL during Copa America 2007, and like I said, Jozy was 16 and not on the radar.

My quibble with Howard is that Demerit had shut down nearly the entire angle for the far post shot. Tim, being a top keeper, should have slid over. If Prince-Boateng strikes it in that narrow space at the far post, tip your cap. Great shot. But he left a gaping hole at the near post and the shot wasn't even all that pacy. There was just so much space. Findley...that was a terrible scuff. He lost his footing, or didn't hit it in stride at all, but it was just such a poor effort following a perfectly weighted pass. A better striker curls it in with his left, mirroring Davies' finish in Azteca. Or just blasts it into the upper near corner. Instead, he put it low with average power, and made the Ghanian keeper's job pretty simple.

I sucked it up and rewatched the Ghana game: -Rico Clark's giveaway was bad, but not as bad as Clint's giveaway against Honduras in Chicago during the Hex, and Prince-Boateng beat four of our defenders and beat our slumping world class keeper near post (which Howard didn't cover but should have). That's Clark, Boca, Demerit and Howard all making the worst possible decisions leading to a goal -Going into extra time, knowing we had probably been physically and emotionally spent by the SVN/ALG games and then the 90+ minutes against Ghana, Bradley should have not subbed Gomez in. He should have put Beasley in as an extra mid, or Goodison in as a 3rd centerback and played 4-5-1 and made sure, no matter what, that we'd at least get to the shootout. Gomez for Jozy was the worst possible substitution, taking out a guy who, while not finishing, was actually holding the ball up well and drawing fouls, and putting in a guy who's more of a poacher and less of a holdup guy. When we went down 2-1 and just started launching 50 yard longballs and crosses in the mixer, the only US player capable of winning a ball in the air was Clint, who had basically been beaten and run into the ground. If Bradley absolutely wanted to bring in a striker, he should have brought Buddle on. -On Ghana's second, Boca should have hauled Gyan down and made the ref decide to send off the US captain in extra time or simply just award the free kick. Granted, that was a hell of a strike, but Gyan did get position on both of them and that shouldn't have happened on a route 1 ball. If Bradley had subbed on Goodison or maybe an extra midfielder, perhaps Edu is further back and able to assist. -Clint played maybe the best match I've ever seen him play in a US shirt, but he clearly did not trust Bornstein as an overlapping option. There were at least 10 instances where he either played square to Mikey or Benny or backpassed rather than play Bornstein on the run. In this coming cycle, we need him to take ownership of that left back spot so that whoever's on that flank has more faith in him.

Not really. Between Wolf, Jax and you I think our threads are generally better than their USMNT N&A section (which is allegedly heavily moderated). There are some really great posters there (the guy who does the translations from Gazzetta DelloSport or whatever in Italy comes to mind), but the level of knee-jerk reactionary guys over there makes some of our posters here in the game threads seem like Mensa members.

This was Voros' top 22 forward prospects for 2014: 1. Jozy Altidore, 25, Villareal 2. Charlie Davies, 28, FC Sochaux 3. Robbie Findley, 29, Real Salt Lake 4. Eddie Johnson, 30, Fulham 5. Brek Shea, 24, FC Dallas 6. Herculez Gomez, 32, Pachuca 7. Chris Rolfe, 31, Aalborg 8. Edson Buddle, 33, Los Angeles Galaxy 9. Tristan Bowen, 23, Los Angeles Galaxy 10. Justin Braun, 27, Chivas USA 11. Kenny Cooper, 30, 1860 Munich 12. Chris Pontius, 27, DC United 13. Conor Casey, 33, Colorado Rapids 14. Jesus Padilla, 27, Chivas USA 15. Marcus Tracy, 28, Aalborg 16. Jack McInerney, 22, Philadelphia Union 17. Mike Grella, 27, Leeds United 18. Tony Taylor, 25, GD Estoril Praia 19. Fabrice Picault, 23, Cagliari Calcio 20. Francisco Navas Cobo, 23, Hosuton Dynamo 21. Kellen Gulley, 20, Mississippi Chicago Fire Juniors 22. Peri Marosevic, 25, FC Dallas Holy god that list is awful and full of bad and hurty things. Clint and Landon might end up playing striker in 2014.

I want nothing to do with Conmebol outside of friendlies and occasional trips to Copa America. Yeah, me either.

Someone like Wolf can answer this much more completely and accurately, but the next real competition will be the Gold Cup, with friendlies interspersed before WC qualifying begins in (I think) late 2011 or 2012. As for club conflicts, there are typically scheduled dates where everyone is playing international competition so there aren't scheduled club dates. The Gold Cup is in the summer during the club off-season. If they win that, they win a spot in the Confederations Cup, which is Summer 2013 I believe. 2010 qualifying for CONCACAF started in February 2008 but the US had a bye in the first round and didn't start until June 2008. I assume the 2014 qualifying will be similar. CONCACAF is actually changing our qualifying format and getting rid of the Hex. I'll dig up the details later, but the gist of it is that we have to waste some more time playing Caribbean nations and there's a larger chance of a fluke knockout that before (i think).

When Sebastian LeToux and Pat Noonan are tearing a game up, you may as well be watching a different sport. The park does look sweet though. I like the bridge over head. Danny Mwanga looks like someone possibly worth naturalizing. Zakuani is as well.

PPL Park in Philly looks awesome. Watching MLS after 3 weeks of World Cup? Notsomuch.

Again Ghana has 24 million we have 305 million, Mr. Optimistic What does that have to do with anything?

Yeah, you'd think so. What would you bet they'll do: Replay or some form of goal line officials? Goal line officials, only because it would save them some face (since England and their gutter press are likely to be the loudest voices) while being consistent with Sepp's insistence that video technology isn't fair because it can't be used at all levels. Having 2 extra officials is easier on the poorer/smaller leagues and such.

The silver lining to this is that, now that the US, England, Ivory Coast and the US have been hosed by horrid, horrid officiating, there will be some form of replay or end-line officials behind the goal. England getting hosed alone might have been enough, but between how France qualified, and everything else that's followed, FIFA can't hold off the call much longer.

Marquez just smashed into his own club teammate. That guy has some issues. What are the odds right now he gets a red at some point today? 80 percent? He's already shown he doesn't care that he's Messi's teammate so I have to think another yellow is coming, probably not until the second half though. If Aguirre has any sense about him he'll pull him before it happens, because if Argentina score again-and they will-he's going to lose his mind and just assault someone.

Marquez just smashed into his own club teammate. That guy has some issues. ESPN/ABC must be just thrilled at how this Cup is going across stateside-inept, unaccountable officiating and over-the-top playacting.