Soccer Thread 2009-10

[Big Fo]

US blew a couple of chances to ice it.

[DaddyTorgo]

yup.

but it's over. winner winner...chicken dinner

[Big Fo]

Three points, what a relief. Most underwhelming victory in national team history? Perhaps but a road win nonetheless despite the lackadaisical play.

One of Honduras and Mexico are guaranteed to drop points tonight, probably Honduras.

[SirFozzie]

Here's the standings as they stand right now

USA 16 Points (2 to play, +5)
Honduras 13 Points (Mexico +2 to Play, +7)
Mexico 12 Points (Honduras +2 to Play, +2)
Costa Rica 12 Points (El Salvador +2 to play, -3)
El Salvador 6 Points (Costa Rica +2 to Play, -3)
(ELIMINATED)
Trinidad & Tobago 5 Points (2 to play, -8)

Very likely that Honduras will not take three points tonight, at the Azteca. Right now, we're rooting for El Salvador at home vs Costa Rica.. if they do not draw tonight, they're eliminated..

Realistically, Costa Rica's Goal Differential issues (USA has them beaten by 8, Honduras by 10, Mexico by 5) means that if they do not take all three points in El Salvador tonight, a draw in the final US-Costa Rica game will be enough to put the US through, no matter what else happens

[Big Fo]

At halftime the two other games are 0-0. Mexico will score eventually, they've come close several times and Honduras haven't seen much of the ball.

[cthomer5000]

El Salvador just hooked up the USA immensely. Perfect set of results tonight, really.

Matchday 9 clinch scenarios for the US:
1. USA win
2. Costa Rica loss
3. USA draw AND Costa Rica draw


If we fail to do that, we just need a draw or better on Matchday 10. Maybe less depending upon the details of Matchday 9.

[Big Fo]

Mexico 1-0 Honduras
El Salvador 1-0 Costa Rica

USA -------------------- 16
Mexico ----------------- 15
Honduras -------------- 13
Costa Rica ------------- 12
El Salvador ------------ 8
Trinidad and Tobago -- 5

As SirFozzie said above, a draw at home against Costa Rica now assures a top three finish for the US.

[DaddyTorgo]

WOOOO

[RainMaker]

Still kind of scary to see it come down to the final game. Would love to see us get a tie in Honduras.

[cthomer5000]

Yeah... I mean, I want us to get to the world cup... but i can't exactly say my hopes are high at this point. We seem to raise more questions with each game.

[Easy Mac]

My unofficial FM ratings the day after:
Howard - 6
he made one nice save, but was again out of position on the flick that hit the crossbar

Spector - 7
one of those times when FM rates a guy a 7 when he should be a 6.5. was solid on the flank, and our only player demonstrating any touch.

Onyewu - 7
Damn, missed him last game.

Bocanegra - 6
He played, was solid

Bornstein - 6
Not nearly as bad as he could have been, as good as could be expected

Bradley - 5
Did he even play?

Clark - 6
He played slightly better than Bradley, and scored, so...

Donovan - 6
first half was a 8, damn good. second half, was non-existant 4.

Dempsey - 4
one good shot, but otherwise a turnover machine. this from a committed Dempsey fan.

Altidore - 7
he was actually very good last night.

Davies - 6
A middling performance, but he never has an off switch.

Subs:
Feilhaber - 6
meh.

Holden - 6
He can whip in a cross

Ching - n/a
He wasn't very good at holding possession.

[sovereignstar]

Still kind of scary to see it come down to the final game. Would love to see us get a tie in Honduras.

There are two matches left.

[cthomer5000]

Donovan - 6
first half was a 8, damn good. second half, was non-existant 4.


Except for doing all the work on setting up the goal

[DaddyTorgo]

landycakes was fine last night. him and jozy were the only two field players who i thought were anything above "meh"

[Big Fo]

Onyewu also had a good game for the most part. I'd have to watch it again but I'm not sure if he or Spector was more at fault for letting Glen get by them on the lob that hit the bar, other than that he was his typical beastly self.

[DaddyTorgo]

Onyewu also had a good game for the most part. I'd have to watch it again but I'm not sure if he or Spector was more at fault for letting Glen get by them on the lob that hit the bar, other than that he was his typical beastly self.

yeah, gooch was okay. he wasn't really above "average" though - he did give away some free kicks deep that were dangerous.

i guess if i'd say that landy+jozy were "2 ticks above average" then i'd say gooch was "1 tick above average"

[Easy Mac]

yeah, gooch was okay. he wasn't really above "average" though - he did give away some free kicks deep that were dangerous.

i guess if i'd say that landy+jozy were "2 ticks above average" then i'd say gooch was "1 tick above average"

I think Gooch is just unfortunate to have his size and having to play in CONCACAF. Only 1 of those close free kicks was actually a foul (I believe there were 3 or 4), the rest were just T&T falling.

And I'd argue all Landon really did on the goal was pass it back to an oncoming Clark. Aside from Dempsey, anyone else on the team could have made that pass last night.

Also, forgot a rating for the ref: 9 - because he didn't actively try and swing the game for T&T.

Does anyone know what turf T&T uses and what kind of field? It looked liked field turf. With the wet conditions and fast field, the US was struggling early with getting any kind of rhythm.

[kingfc22]

Bradley - 5
Did he even play?



Does he ever play? I'm tired of seeing him in the midfield.

[cthomer5000]

Does anyone know what turf T&T uses and what kind of field? It looked liked field turf. With the wet conditions and fast field, the US was struggling early with getting any kind of rhythm.

It was definitely grass, but it seemed to be putting green short, so it was fast as hell. The field also seemed pretty narrow... so it helps explain our posession struggles somewhat.

Overall though, definitely a poor performance for our team. We got the result though, which is ultimately all that matters. We just seem to have a real knack for playing up or down to the level of our competition. It's maddening.

[GoldenEagle]

I think the US will have a pretty good shot at getting a victory at Honduras. While Honduras has the best collection of midfield and strikers in the region, they are weak in the back. We will be able to catch them in transition, where the US specializes. Guevara is also suspended.

If the Hondurans can ever develop defenders and a goalkeeper, they will be the power of CONCACAF. The combination of Palacios, Guevara, Thomas, Costly, and Suzao is scary.

[ISiddiqui]

Nice needed win by the US.

Also yesterday, Spain and England officially qualified, joining the Netherlands from UEFA. And the victor of the October 10th match between Germany and Russia (which will be a doozy) will automatically qualify.

[BishopMVP]

Lotta things I wanted to hit here.Except for doing all the work on setting up the goalI already come off as a Donovan hater, but I don't really get everyone lauding him for that assist. It was a decent look, not the best pass, and then an absolutely phenomenal touch by Clark to line up his shot and clearly a nice shot to finish. I can't stress how impressed I was by Clark's first touch - ball hard at his feet as he's coming forward, flicks it outside of the foot a yard in front and to the right, but not far enough a defender can get to it.Onyewu also had a good game for the most part. I'd have to watch it again but I'm not sure if he or Spector was more at fault for letting Glen get by them on the lob that hit the bar, other than that he was his typical beastly self.Both of them were at fault, but Onyewu moreso imo. Spector plays Glen to the outside and takes away the line/corner, (i believe) expecting inside help from Onyewu when Glen seals Spector off and goes inside. Onyewu's almost off in no man's land - I don't know if he was trying to jump an overlapping run from the other T&T guy, but that should be Spector's responsibility as outside back. Bocanegra looks late coming over, but as the left center back he really shouldn't be involved off a throw-in from the right hash.

Howard does have a tendency to get caught off his line occasionally, but unlike Easy Mac I won't blame him on this one without seeing a replay that shows him from when the throw in occurs (which ESPN certainly doesn't have). He might have just been coming out to cut down the angle once he sees Glen in free on goal, assuming he'll shoot quick and low like Landon did when Jozy set him up.

Other thoughts - Clint Dempsey has looked horrid now for as long as I can remember on the wing. Everyone was raving about his Confed Cup performance, saying how dangerous he was once he moved up top, and it was the same last night. I know people are loathe to break up the Davies-Altidore pairing up top, but how long do we keep playing Dempsey at the wing instead of putting him in a forward rotation and starting Holden ahead of him on the wing?

Bob Bradley still sucks in his substitution patterns. We thought he had it right when he had Holden and Feilhaber up (assuming they were coming in for Dempsey and Clark respectively, although in retrospect it was probably for Altidore and Clark) just before the goal. Then he decides to take Altidore off and move Dempsey up top - I hate taking Altidore off, but defensible - and sticks Feilhaber on the right wing. Now, I like Feilhaber going forward and he does pretty well in the middle, but he's always looked poor on the wing and Holden's looked good. So why not Holden instead of Feilhaber? He's lucky Carlos Edwards' rip a minute later wasn't 2 feet to either side - that thing was a cannon. And then of course bringing in Brian Ching for basically no reason. He doesn't hold up the ball any better than Davies and he's not in better shape or more dangerous than Davies.

Elsewhere in CONCACAF, Mexico is still a ludicrously dirty team at home. It's nice for us that Guevara is missing the game, but the yellows and Blanco's playacting at the end of the game was absurd. Plus, while it was well-executed and I can't blame the ref for buying it, that was definitely a(nother) dive by Dos Santos to draw the PK. That's +1 for T&T - it's lovely to see a CONCACAF game where players aren't faking injury and diving every 2 minutes, and I suspect that's half the reason why the ref looked so much better from our vantage point last night.

CONMEBOL is getting extremely tight down to the wire. Brazil, Paraguay are in, Chile (my new favorite team with their attacking 3-3-1-3 formation) is almost certainly there with 27 already, then you have
4. Ecuador 23 -2
5. Argentina 22 +1 (Seriously, how is Maradona still the coach - or Raymond Domenech)
6. Uruguay 21 +8
7. Venezuela 21 -5
8. Colombia 20 -4

Argentina's next game is home to Peru, so they should win that, but then they go to Uruguay in what could be a win or go home, or a win and/or face a playoff match.

In AFC, ridiculous finish to Saudi Arabia-Bahrain. Now for the weakest play-in series in recent World Cup history vs. New Zealand! In CAF, usually the most unpredictable region, Cameroon has regained 1st place, Nigeria blew their 2 chances to beat Tunisia and need Tunisia to stumble against Mozambique or Kenya, while Egypt is still 3 down to Algeria - but gets Algeria at home on the last matchday.

[Easy Mac]

Total aside, but I didn't know Dempsey was married until my wife told me tonight. I remember his wife from college. All I'll really say is he has done well for himself... she had her qualities, if I recall correctly. I will not speak to my wife's opinions of her at the time, since Dempsey's wife now has a child.

[RainMaker]

The whole thing still seems too close to comfort. I mean I don't see them winning or tying in Honduras which would essentially make Costa Rica a must-tie game. Just don't like seeing this go down to the last game.

[MrBug708]

When the US gets that truly special player, I'm afraid us Americans will rip him to shreds

[Big Fo]

I don't really agree. There are hyper-critical fans in every sport but in general I think US national team fans are pretty forgiving in regards to the players unless they have a truly awful game. We like to blame the manager when things go badly.

By truly special do you mean a world star like Messi or CRonaldo? Because I think Friedel was one of the best around in his prime. The US might not ever develop a player as good as those other two guys, some countries have been playing soccer as their main sport for nearly a century and haven't managed that.

[MrBug708]

I'm speaking about Donovan. Yes, the guy didn't want to hack it out in Europe, but he has this hatred sparked among fans that I just don't get

[Big Fo]

Ah gotcha. I know what you mean but it always seemed like a slim minority of the fanbase to me. It was definitely worse a few years ago than it is now. I cringe every time one of ours call him "Landycakes."

[cthomer5000]

Lotta things I wanted to hit here.I already come off as a Donovan hater, but I don't really get everyone lauding him for that assist. It was a decent look, not the best pass, and then an absolutely phenomenal touch by Clark to line up his shot and clearly a nice shot to finish.

So when you watch a replay, you seriously dont see Donovan control the ball there at the edge of the box... move into the corner of the box to occupy the 2nd defender (who moves off Clark) before dishing it off? Do you not see that, or does that just have nothing to do with Donovan in your opinion?

[cthomer5000]

Other thoughts - Clint Dempsey has looked horrid now for as long as I can remember on the wing. Everyone was raving about his Confed Cup performance, saying how dangerous he was once he moved up top, and it was the same last night. I know people are loathe to break up the Davies-Altidore pairing up top, but how long do we keep playing Dempsey at the wing instead of putting him in a forward rotation and starting Holden ahead of him on the wing?


Which of the most "in form" players on the team do you pull from up front? Altidore and Davies are as hot right now as any player on the team. Do you really want to fuck with that mojo?

Also, I'm starting to think Dempsey is kind of throwing tantrums in order to precipitate a move to forward. I never see the moronic giveaways (he's good for 2 a game on some really stupid trick attempt) when he's with Fulham. Also, he plays out wide for Fulham (pre Andy Johnson injury) without any issue.

I want to see Holden get a start as much as anyone, but I can't see it happening before we've locked up qualifcation. I pray we can get it done @ Honduras so that Bob has some room to try new stuff against Costa Rica.

[cthomer5000]

One more thing to disagree on - I don't think that was a dive in the slighest by Dos Santos.

Why does the defender go tumbling forward after him if it was simply a dive? He clumsily slammed right into him. Stupid play, and not intentionally malicious, but I thought it was a slam-dunk PK the first time I saw it and on every subsequent replay.

[ISiddiqui]

I'm speaking about Donovan. Yes, the guy didn't want to hack it out in Europe, but he has this hatred sparked among fans that I just don't get

It's mostly because he seemed like a whiner in Europe. A lot of fans were excited that US players may go to Europe and compete among the best in the world and get better from the competition and they felt that Donovan's behavior in Europe may have ruined it for a lot of others. They may have felt that was what the "American player" was like and prevented players from getting the competition they needed to become world class.

[DaddyTorgo]

Ah gotcha. I know what you mean but it always seemed like a slim minority of the fanbase to me. It was definitely worse a few years ago than it is now. I cringe every time one of ours call him "Landycakes."

oops - why? Is there a bad connotation to that nickname? I always just thought it was kinda funny and affectionate, which is why i use it.

guess i better clear that up - i do not dislike Donovan at all, and I think he's a great asset to the USMNT

[Northwood_DK]

CONMEBOL is getting extremely tight down to the wire. Brazil, Paraguay are in, Chile (my new favorite team with their attacking 3-3-1-3 formation) is almost certainly there with 27 already, then you have
4. Ecuador 23 -2
5. Argentina 22 +1 (Seriously, how is Maradona still the coach - or Raymond Domenech)
6. Uruguay 21 +8
7. Venezuela 21 -5
8. Colombia 20 -4

Argentina's next game is home to Peru, so they should win that, but then they go to Uruguay in what could be a win or go home, or a win and/or face a playoff match.

As much as I would love to see Maradona fail, it would be really sad to see a World Cup without Argentina. With the amount of quality players they have it’s a real achievement if they manage to finish outside the Top-5 in the CONMEBOL

[AlexB]

Nice bit of karma here...

edit: apparently I have no idea how to embed a youtube video, so here's the link... :)

YouTube - goalkeeper scores, THEN............ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1qrF6JJ0pQ&NR=1&feature=fvwp)

[Big Fo]

I love that clip, even Leverkusen's defenders were cracking up.

[ISiddiqui]

Saw this joke on another forum... thought it'd bring a laugh or two:

Brazil have been drawn against Scotland in the World Cup, and Ronaldo tells his team mates that he's going to play them on his own, single-handed.

so they all sod off down the pub, have a few drinks, play some pool, and keep up with the score on Teletext.

they see 'Ronaldo' go 1-0 up after 15 minutes and can't believe it.

then, in the last seconds of injury time, they see Scotland equalise.

still more than impressed that one man held a whole team to a draw, they go back to the ground to congratulate Ronaldo, who they find sitting in the dressing room, head-in-hands, looking utterly distraught.

Roberto Carlos asks him 'why are you so upset?'

and Ronaldo replies 'I can't believe I let you all down like this'

Carlos says 'what do you mean? you played an entire team on your own and got a draw. that's incredible!'

and Ronaldo says to him 'no - you don't understand. I got sent off after half an hour'.

[Big Fo]

Great performance from Man Utd today after falling behind in the first minute to a Defoe overhead strike, winning 3-1 at Spurs.

Anderson-son-son with his first goal for the club, a pretty nice one as well.

Rooney's to clinch the win was great, blowing by Hutton then megging Cudicini.

Scholes was red carded (deservedly) early in the second half but Spurs couldn't create much at all. Fletcher and Evra were awesome, Fletcher is the team's player of the season so far.

Ferguson needs to keep playing with two strikers, it works so much better in this post-Ronaldo world.

It was more than enough to erase the anger from watching Malouda score that weak-ass 94th minute winner earlier today. That should be a save nine times out of ten.

[BishopMVP]

So when you watch a replay, you seriously dont see Donovan control the ball there at the edge of the box... move into the corner of the box to occupy the 2nd defender (who moves off Clark) before dishing it off? Do you not see that, or does that just have nothing to do with Donovan in your opinion?No, it was nice enough by Donovan, it was just more that no one was giving respect to Clark for how beautiful a touch he had, probably because he's not a "skill" player. If that was Donovan or Dempsey or Altidore people would be talking about what world-class touch was shown. But it's Clark, so the praise for the goal goes to Donovan.Which of the most "in form" players on the team do you pull from up front? Altidore and Davies are as hot right now as any player on the team. Do you really want to fuck with that mojo?

Also, I'm starting to think Dempsey is kind of throwing tantrums in order to precipitate a move to forward. I never see the moronic giveaways (he's good for 2 a game on some really stupid trick attempt) when he's with Fulham. Also, he plays out wide for Fulham (pre Andy Johnson injury) without any issue.

I want to see Holden get a start as much as anyone, but I can't see it happening before we've locked up qualifcation. I pray we can get it done @ Honduras so that Bob has some room to try new stuff against Costa Rica.I don't *want* to see him start over Davies or Altidore, but I also don't want him up top for Altidore from the 60th minute on either, and I certainly don't want to see him moved up top after being a black hole at RM for 60 minutes. If he's already in a rotation at forward and giving us nothing from the wing, I don't see why he can't do it as a sub off the bench. Holden's probably our best wing at delivering crosses into the area (unless you count Dolo or Spector from RB) and Altidore's probably the most dangerous forward in the air, yet we have Dempsey, who's strength is on the ground playing when Altidore's in.One more thing to disagree on - I don't think that was a dive in the slightest by Dos Santos.

Why does the defender go tumbling forward after him if it was simply a dive? He clumsily slammed right into him. Stupid play, and not intentionally malicious, but I thought it was a slam-dunk PK the first time I saw it and on every subsequent replay.Ridiculously clumsy challenge by the Honduran, looks like a certain PK from behind, hence I don't blame the referee in the slightest. But about 1:23 in this video - YouTube - Mexico vs Honduras 1-0 Highlights 09/09/09 Eliminatoria 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoocgSEywV4) - shows it from the front, and it looks just a little different from that angle. Edit to add - it might still be a PK, but Dos Santos is certainly selling and exaggerating it.

[SirFozzie]

Bad news:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/09/usa-honduras_tv.html?wprss=soccerinsider

Looks like the US-Honduras game is off the air.The rights holder wanted somewhere between 1-4 million dollars to give ESPN the rights.

That makes two USA games off ESPN :(

[DaddyTorgo]

Bad news:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/09/usa-honduras_tv.html?wprss=soccerinsider

Looks like the US-Honduras game is off the air.The rights holder wanted somewhere between 1-4 million dollars to give ESPN the rights.

That makes two USA games off ESPN :(

:rant:

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, instead, the rights holder is going to do a bunch of closed-circuit places, in an attempt to squeeze the most money out of expatriate Hondurans.

[DaddyTorgo]

i wonder how much it'd cost to go down there on an actual airline (TACA has a shitty & horrible safety record and i'd try to avoid flying them).

this blows

[Big Fo]

Rough news on the lack of TV coverage. User comments on that article make it seem like even a dodgy stream might be hard to come by.

After using his foot to try and perform eye surgery on van Persie last weekend it looks like Adebayor will be given a three-match ban, keeping him out of this weekend's derby. I thought it was weird how the media focused more on his goal celebration than the van Persie and Fabregas incidents (Ade tried to stamp him on a tackle).

UEFA has rescinded Eduardo's two-match ban for diving. I guess it's the right call if they weren't going to do that for every other diver.

[sovereignstar]

Actually Manu stamped everyone on Arsenal and the FA and media are pushing for life in prison. Sound about right since he doesn't play for anyone in the Big Four.

[-apoc-]

http://i27.tinypic.com/1ruomd.gif

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n414/znergno12/article-0-0668A408000005DC-788_306x.jpg

Yes yes its all because the FA loves Arsenal :rolleyes:

[bhlloy]

Fuck me, that's horrific. I hadn't seen it before. That's way worse than it's been described in news articles I've read. Hope he gets 10 games for that. That's not a natural foot motion (at least not in any soccer game I've watched or played in) and he's looking right at his face when he does it.

[RainMaker]

Doesn't FIFA have some say on the rights to show the game? I mean you have one of richest nation in the world who is starting to show some interest in soccer and you're going to deny them it on TV. Just seems like it's bad all around for FIFA.

[law90026]

I was horrified when I watched the game live (Arsenal - Man City).

He should never have been on the pitch to score his goal and his celebration in front of the Arsenal travelling fans was pretty disgraceful.

What's truly terrible is his absolute lack of contrition and the excuses he makes for his actions.

[AlexB]

http://i27.tinypic.com/1ruomd.gif

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n414/znergno12/article-0-0668A408000005DC-788_306x.jpg

Yes yes its all because the FA loves Arsenal :rolleyes:

The van Persie rake and the goal celebration were terrible, and he has rightly been charged by the FA for both.

But the picture with Fabregas is a bit misleading - if you look closely you'll see Adebayor's left foot is actually nowhere near Cesc's leg in that particular shot: it's way in front of it.

I don't remember this incident, so it may be that Adebayor did Fabregas just before that particular frame, but that one shot is bogus.

[Blade6119]

The van Persie rake and the goal celebration were terrible, and he has rightly been charged by the FA for both.

But the picture with Fabregas is a bit misleading - if you look closely you'll see Adebayor's left foot is actually nowhere near Cesc's leg in that particular shot: it's way in front of it.

I don't remember this incident, so it may be that Adebayor did Fabregas just before that particular frame, but that one shot is bogus.
Im by no means an arsenal fan, but it doesnt look bogus to me:

http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/adestamp2.gif

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Every time I see these types of gifs all I can think of it "Back, and to the left. Back, and to left."

[SirFozzie]

Doesn't FIFA have some say on the rights to show the game? I mean you have one of richest nation in the world who is starting to show some interest in soccer and you're going to deny them it on TV. Just seems like it's bad all around for FIFA.

Nope. The rules state that the home team controls all the rights to who broadcasts the games. Usually, ESPN will buy the english language rights, but lately, everyone who sees that ESPN is pushing soccer hard wants to soak them for as much as they can get.

[SirFozzie]

Dola:

Woah, some interesting new rules from the EPL

EPL to introduce player quotas - Premier League - Fox Sports (http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,26079393-29437,00.html)

Here's the break down:

25 player squad limit
Up to 17 players that don't qualify under one of two categories (Under The Age of 21, or trained in the English/Welsh system for three years before age 21)

Roster freezes will be set at the end of each transfer window (Sep 1 and Feb 1)

[AlexB]

Im by no means an arsenal fan, but it doesnt look bogus to me:

http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/adestamp2.gif

Fair enough - like I said I don;t remember the incident. But the previous photo didn't show the stamp - it showed after the right foot was down and was made to look like the left was in the process of stamping. That was what I was calling bogus.

Your gif shows however that he did leave his right foot in (at best) before the previously posted frame was shot

[sovereignstar]

I was horrified when I watched the game live (Arsenal - Man City). .

Must've been pretty horrifying as an Arsenal. You got pummeled.

He should never have been on the pitch to score his goal and his celebration in front of the Arsenal travelling fans was pretty disgraceful.

RVP clearly faced the City fans and told them to fuck off after his goal. Yeah, that's much classier on his part. Should've been given a red for his challenge on Manu as well.

Hopefully for your sake you weren't one of the Arsenal fans throwing bananas on the pitch.

[sovereignstar]

This was one of my favorites from last season. Can't remember the dolt that was reffing, but he said he saw it and of course nothing happened to Tranny.

<object height="344" width="425">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gTPdVMjii8g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></object>

[sovereignstar]

Poor wittle Van Persie. Wait. Nope, he's a Grade A bitch. Were you horrified when you saw this?

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CiLA0ZAWes4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CiLA0ZAWes4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[sovereignstar]

He's also a fucking idiot.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2nvPRkHJmJg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2nvPRkHJmJg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[sovereignstar]

Anyone recall what happened to Gary Neville after doing this in front of the Liverpool fans? Let me refresh your memory - a 5,000 pound fine. We'll see what happens with Adebayor.

<object height="344" width="425">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QubF5Afcuek&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></object>

[bhlloy]

None of those are even close to deliberately raking a guy close to his eye with your studs. And I hate Van Persie. He's a molestor and an asshole, but it's still a very, very dirty play by Adebayor. Should be 10 games.

[Big Fo]

Costa Rica fired their coach after three straight losses in qualifiers.

I love that Gary Neville celebration.

[law90026]

Must've been pretty horrifying as an Arsenal. You got pummeled.



RVP clearly faced the City fans and told them to fuck off after his goal. Yeah, that's much classier on his part. Should've been given a red for his challenge on Manu as well.

Hopefully for your sake you weren't one of the Arsenal fans throwing bananas on the pitch.

I'm not entirely sure why you're being antagonistic about what happened.

Yes, Arsenal got beaten. Did we deserve to lose by that margin? Watch the game and you can probably say that wasn't a fair result. Am I upset we lost? Sure.

But what Adebayor did is beyond the context of the result. His stamp on Cesc, his attempt to really hurt RvP ... if that's ok in your book, well there's not much more to say.

[Blade6119]

lol sov, where did that outburst come from?

[illinifan999]

I'm still in a state of disbelief. FSC is showing Liverpool vs. Debrenci instead of Inter vs. Barca. Unfucking believable.

[Big Fo]

Yeah it's a real 'wtf" decision.

Yesterday they had two games on two networks, I thought today would be like that as well :(

[illinifan999]

Sucks even more because from the stream it's looking real back and forth, much different than the Inter vs. Man Utd game last year. Of course it would be so much nicer watching it on TV instead of a fuzzy stream. :mad:

[Easy Mac]

They're showing it at 7 ET, so prime time. Bordeaux-juventus isn't on til 4 am

[DaddyTorgo]

They're showing it at 7 ET, so prime time. Bordeaux-juventus isn't on til 4 am

yeah...fuck them very much for shafting my Juve boys!!

i wonder if espn360 will have it?

[illinifan999]

yeah...fuck them very much for shafting my Juve boys!!

i wonder if espn360 will have it?

i checked espn360, but they didn't have any CL games. I'm guessing they won't either since FSC has the contract.


Lucio may be Inter's signing of the summer.

[DaddyTorgo]

whores

*sighs and sets the dvr later*

[SirFozzie]

heartwarming story at the Lower levels of English Football.

BBC - BBC Sport: Paul Fletcher: Carl Baker and Stockport - an example to us all (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2009/09/carl_baker_and_stockport_an_ex.html#138740)

[Big Fo]

MICHAEL OWEN WHAT A FUCKING HERO GET IN WOOT

[Big Fo]

sovereignstar post if you are ok

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/adam164_photos/PD7508370ManchesterUnitedvM.jpg

[Ajaxab]

heartwarming story at the Lower levels of English Football.

BBC - BBC Sport: Paul Fletcher: Carl Baker and Stockport - an example to us all (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2009/09/carl_baker_and_stockport_an_ex.html#138740)

Great story! Thanks for passing it along.

[sovereignstar]

WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT THAT MICHAEL OWEN WAS THE TRANSFER SIGNING OF THE CENTURY?

[sovereignstar]

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1048/asdfxt.png

[sovereignstar]

It's fucking hilarious - it really is. 4 minutes of added time. Bellamy scores at the 90:00 mark. United kick off before the 91 minute mark hits. Owen scores at 95:30. Do the fucking math. It's quite pathetic the help they get sometimes.

[Big Fo]

The BBC or whoever it is that produces the EPL Review Show that gets aired on FSC actually broke it down.

When the ref says four minutes of added time, that's a minimum. It can be 4:00 or 4:59.

Bellamy's celebration took 55 seconds and the Carrick for Anderson substitution took up another 30 seconds. The goal was scored at 95:25 which was within the added time when those two incidents are accounted for.

[Oilers9911]

Good day for the bandwagons. ManUre and the blue shite Chelsea both win.

[Big Fo]

"ManUre." Both intelligent and original there.

[law90026]

The BBC or whoever it is that produces the EPL Review Show that gets aired on FSC actually broke it down.

When the ref says four minutes of added time, that's a minimum. It can be 4:00 or 4:59.

Bellamy's celebration took 55 seconds and the Carrick for Anderson substitution took up another 30 seconds. The goal was scored at 95:25 which was within the added time when those two incidents are accounted for.

Heh, it's a good technical explanation but it's really unbelievable. Consider that the match went on for nearly 7 minutes before the referee blew his final whistle.

BS call imo.

[ISiddiqui]

"ManUre." Both intelligent and original there.

Do you say the same when someone refers to the blue kitted team from London as "Chelski"?

[Big Fo]

Do you say the same when someone refers to the blue kitted team from London as "Chelski"?

I feel the same way about it. Neither term was ever funny and both have been played out for years.

Heh, it's a good technical explanation but it's really unbelievable. Consider that the match went on for nearly 7 minutes before the referee blew his final whistle.

BS call imo.

Another minute for Man Utd to celebrate after the goal and then Man City had around 20 seconds or so to hoof the ball around before the game ended.

Man City could have also pushed forward to grab a winner in extra time, but they retreated into a shell after making it 3-3 just like they did after making it 2-2.

It's a shame that the referee's correct if controversial timekeeping has overshadowed a great game and Man Utd's great second half performance in some people's minds. Giggs looked like he was 25 out there dribbling through defenders at will, racking up three assists and almost scoring himself. Fletcher seems to get better every week, he's come so far from the years he was stuck out on the right or having to do Keane's running once his legs had gone. Bellamy's first goal was spectacular, a damn laserbeam into the top corner from outside the box. It was one of the most exciting games I've seen.

Instead of pointing fingers at the referee Man City should blame their own defenders for letting Fletcher (not exactly Drogba in the air) score two headers or for leaving Michael Owen that wide open on the edge of the penalty area to score the winner. Or blame Hughes for changing their formation in the second half, taking away their advantage of having an extra central midfielder which was working well for them in an even first half. They got battered after that, without Ferdinand's crazy pass, Berbatov's wastefulness in front of goal, and some good saves from Given it wouldn't have even been close.

[law90026]

See, I'm not saying Man Utd didn't deserve to win the game. They definitely did ... in the proper time allocated.

Saying that 4 mins could mean up to 4:59 is technically correct but, let's be honest here, how many times do we see that actually happen? Referees have even ended games before the time is up.

It was a good game but I really don't think the call was right.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/22/manchester-united-goals-stoppage-time

After the controversy over Michael Owen's winning goal in Sunday's Manchester derby, the Guardian has looked at all of United's league matches at Old Trafford since the start of the 2006-07 season and discovered that, on average, there has been over a minute extra added by referees when United do not have the lead after 90 minutes, compared to when they are in front. In 48 games when United were ahead, the average amount of stoppage time was 191.35 seconds. In 12 matches when United were drawing or losing there was an average of 257.17sec.

[AlexB]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/22/manchester-united-goals-stoppage-time

Just playing deveil's advocate here, but you could make the argument that when away teams are winning or drawing at Old Trafford, they time waste more and so more time gets added on... United generally don't need to time waste when they are winning, so less time gets added on.

I haven't looked at the derby timings much, but being a fan neither team I did take great enjoyment in one of the most blinkered managers today getting a degree of karma.

[Big Fo]

Big win for Houston tonight, 5-1 over Panama's Arabe Unido. They made good use of their man advantage in the second half scoring three goals (and missing a penalty) soon after the Arabe guy was sent off for an elbow. Holden got two goals, one of them a nice diving header.

It'd be nice to get at least two MLS teams into the Champions League knockout rounds. Columbus are in good shape, Houston in pretty good shape thanks to tonight's win fattening up their goal differential, but DC United really need to step it up if they're going to make it.

Anyone else see this video of the fan running on the field to score a penalty?

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The guy and his buddy look happier than most of the pros do when they score for real. I hope they didn't have to spend too long in jail or get banned from the stadium for life.

[illinifan999]

Is it me or at :19 does he do a quick nazi salute?

[Big Fo]

It looks similar. I don't imagine Nazism is very popular in Russia though, maybe it meant something else.

[cthomer5000]

The BBC or whoever it is that produces the EPL Review Show that gets aired on FSC actually broke it down.

When the ref says four minutes of added time, that's a minimum. It can be 4:00 or 4:59.

Bellamy's celebration took 55 seconds and the Carrick for Anderson substitution took up another 30 seconds. The goal was scored at 95:25 which was within the added time when those two incidents are accounted for.

It works as long as you're OK with the doublethink logic that we get precise about the time of Bellamy's goal and celebration, but we just go with a generic 30 seconds for a substitution when it took nowhere near that long.

This particular explanation rings hollow to me. Man U deserved to win the game, but it helped shed a lot of light on the relative absurdity of timekeeping in soccer. I don't believe there would have been any semblance of an uproar had the ref blown the whistle when Tevez cleared the ball a few seconds earlier.

[cthomer5000]

Also... yeah, big win for Houston tonight. Also Puerto Rico drawing Saprissa was a very good result for Columbus.

Houston still has a slight uphill battle, but I think in the end those two will make it out of the group stage. Unforutnately, both their lineups may be dramatically different when the knockout stages roll around in 2010.... the problem with a single CL campaign falling over the course of two MLS seasons.

[cthomer5000]

Fuck me, that's horrific. I hadn't seen it before. That's way worse than it's been described in news articles I've read. Hope he gets 10 games for that. That's not a natural foot motion (at least not in any soccer game I've watched or played in) and he's looking right at his face when he does it.

To be fair, Van Persie was trying to absolutely clean him out with the tackle, and Ade dodged it before applying his cleat to his face. So it's not like little brittle Robin is entirely innocent here.

And I loved Adebayor's celebration. I love villains in sport. Thank god for guys like Adebayor and Bellamy.

[bhlloy]

I love this line of thinking. So because the tackle had some malicious intent it's perfectly OK to rake somebodies face with your studs? If that's not what you meant then fine, but it sounds like you are trying to defend it.

No problems with the celebrations. If you are brave enough to do that to a stand full of British soccer fans, good luck to you :)

[cthomer5000]

I love this line of thinking. So because the tackle had some malicious intent it's perfectly OK to rake somebodies face with your studs? If that's not what you meant then fine, but it sounds like you are trying to defend it.

No problems with the celebrations. If you are brave enough to do that to a stand full of British soccer fans, good luck to you :)

I'm just saying Van Persie is also an asshole. And sometimes when you go looking for trouble, and you find it.

[bhlloy]

Like I said before I despise Van Persie. Is he enough of an asshole to possibly be blinded on the soccer field? Sometimes the punishment has to fit the crime.

I actually really wish soccer would come down harder on deliberately dangerous acts. I still Roy Keane should have got an entire year for ending Haaland's career on purpose and it's pretty ridiculous that Adebayor got the same punishment that you would get for a bad red card call. Just my opinion.

[law90026]

I'm an Arsenal fan and I don't disagree van Persie is an asshole at times.

But there is a world of difference between what he did and what Adebayor did. Frankly, if van Persie wanted to really hurt Adebayor, he could have because he went in from the back and could have absolutely destroyed him if he intended to do so.

I think it's Wenger who said it best. These players know what they can and cannot do and how not to hurt other players on the field. Watch the Chelsea-Tottenham match that occurred this past weekend and see Ashley Cole's goal. He comes in from the blindside to head the ball. Watch the defender (Corluka I believe). He could have followed through on his attempted clearance and absolutely decapitated Cole but you can see he pulls back because he knows he can't get to the ball.

What Adebayor did is a deliberate attempt to hurt another player.

[Big Fo]

It works as long as you're OK with the doublethink logic that we get precise about the time of Bellamy's goal and celebration, but we just go with a generic 30 seconds for a substitution when it took nowhere near that long.

This particular explanation rings hollow to me. Man U deserved to win the game, but it helped shed a lot of light on the relative absurdity of timekeeping in soccer. I don't believe there would have been any semblance of an uproar had the ref blown the whistle when Tevez cleared the ball a few seconds earlier.

Whatever network put the clip together gave a specific time for the celebration but went with the average 30 seconds for the substitution. I was too busy feeling anger and then euphoria during injury time to notice how long either had taken while watching the game and have only seen highlights since then, so I was just going off that.

I still think it's a perfectly reasonable explanation considering that a quicker than normal sub might have shaved off 10-20 seconds at the most and four minutes on the board does not mean exactly four minutes.

[Big Fo]

Tomorrow the US begins play in the U-20 World Cup, their first game is against Germany. ESPN Classic will have the game which kicks off at 10:00 am ET.

I know ESPN has been pushing soccer for some time now but it's still weird for me to see that they're showing games like this and putting EPL/Serie A/La Liga/Mexican League results on the scrolling info thing on the bottom of the screen.

I don't know much at all about our team or anyone else's for that matter but here are the squads for all the countries (http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/10/28/62/fwyc_2009_squadlists.pdf). Hopefully our boys get some good results and we see some future national team contributors.

[sovereignstar]

Glad someone mentioned Bellamy's name. I have a huge mancrush on him right now. He's the epitome of a guy that you love to have on your team, but hate to play against. He's always been given credit as a work rate-type guy, but I'll be damned if he doesn't have some great technique. Every single one of his City goals has been glorious as far as I've seen.

Robinho = dead as far as I'm concerned. Go play in Spain. Barcelona, drop a few quid in Sheik Mansour's pockets if you can pls k thx.

:cool:

[sovereignstar]

I know that very few care about City right now (hello, homerism), but David Conn of The Guardian has concluded a great 4-part series of Manchester City.

Their site is a bit of a clusterf*ck, but a football fan can mange to find what they need if they're really interested.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidconn

[Big Fo]

Germany won 3-0. The US was very sloppy in the final third and only got off a couple shots, one of them a sweet long range strike that hit the crossbar. Possession was even overall but that's partially because Germany sat back in the second half 2-0 up. The US will have to do a lot better against South Korea and Cameroon.

Man Utd move to the top of the table winning 2-0 at Stoke while Wigan beat Chelsea 3-1. Ryan Giggs now has five assists in the last two games, what a legend.

[whomario]

saw the Germany-USA game just now here on TV.
Considering all teams have that issue a question : Was that more or less the strongest squad for the US ?

To illustrate the point about the terrible schedule for this tournament : Germany had 27 eligible players held back by their clubs because the season is well under way. There´s only 5 or 6 guys there that would have been there had the tournament been scheduled in July/August like usual... (was pushed back because of the heat in egypt)
It´s so bad that they made the trip with only 18 players with 3 players on call in Germany where the clubs said "he stays here, if you get a slew of injuries he can come after"
It´s similar with the other european teams there (spain, england, italy, czech republic)

Big opportunity for the smaller countries though, am curious if any can make a surprising push.

[Big Fo]

Yeah they should have held it in the summer or something. Altidore and Adu are young enough to play in it but US Soccer wants them to get games at club level, I don't know how many others that is the case for. A lot our guys aren't pros yet and are still playing college soccer.

[law90026]

Whew, close win for Arsenal today.

[MrBug708]

saw the Germany-USA game just now here on TV.
Considering all teams have that issue a question : Was that more or less the strongest squad for the US ?

To illustrate the point about the terrible schedule for this tournament : Germany had 27 eligible players held back by their clubs because the season is well under way. There´s only 5 or 6 guys there that would have been there had the tournament been scheduled in July/August like usual... (was pushed back because of the heat in egypt)
It´s so bad that they made the trip with only 18 players with 3 players on call in Germany where the clubs said "he stays here, if you get a slew of injuries he can come after"
It´s similar with the other european teams there (spain, england, italy, czech republic)

Big opportunity for the smaller countries though, am curious if any can make a surprising push.

Adu and Altidore should be on that squad

[Blade6119]

Adu and Altidore should be on that squad

Adu is desperate to get playing time at his club, it makes no sense to pull him away. Altidore is just cracking Hull's starting line-up, so to pull him away is pointless as well. Besides, you know what your getting with those two. Id much rather play a Brek Shea or Diskerud and see what they have. We may lose, but its better for the future of the national team.

[MrBug708]

It was an answer to the question of "Did the US send its best squad?" ")

[Blade6119]

It was an answer to the question of "Did the US send its best squad?" ")

I assumed since Big Fo had already answered that question 2 posts prior, you were commenting on the loss.

[whomario]

Yeah, should have thought about those 2 myself. I guess both and especially Adu have "been around" for so long i didn´t associate them as being under 20 anymore .

btw and totally unrelated : Kenny Cooper is a cool guy :) Plays for 1860 munich now and fans love him.

[Big Fo]

I take back some of my earlier praise for ESPN. They didn't come back from commercials until 2:30 into the second half, missing a goal which put the US 2-0 up over Cameroon. They're playing significantly better than they did against Germany.

whomario: On 1860 Munich's website I see Cooper has 2 goals in 7 matches, is he doing well in other areas like build-up play? Or is it more that the fans like his personality?

[Big Fo]

USA wins 4-1, they played pretty well. Duka scored off a cross from the touchline then put on a decent acting job as if he meant to score from there. Ownby added a breakaway goal in injury time.

Standings:

Germany - 4 (+3)
USA - 3 (0)
Cameroon - 3 (-1)
South Korea - 1 (-2)

[BishopMVP]

saw the Germany-USA game just now here on TV.
Considering all teams have that issue a question : Was that more or less the strongest squad for the US ?FWIW, in addition to Adu and Altidore there were injuries at fullback and some odd choices by Rongen the 1st game. Ownby and Powers hadn't been starters while Dilly Duka in particular was the best US player in qualifiers (and now against Cameroon). Bryan Arguez (from Hertha Berlin) and Peri Marosevic were two other players who impressed in earlier games and didn't start vs. Germany. One of the/our most impressive fullback, Sheanon Williams (who I've played with in pickup games - although he was a forward back then) is back now and put in another good performance today.

Overall yes, this looks like a weaker age group than the current U-17's or previous U-20's, although really the goal is for the NT to get 3-4 WC quality players from a cycle, and if you count Adu/Altidore, assume one of Opara/Williams/Duka/etc keeps developing and/or someone like Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey or Marcus Tracy from past cycles blooms "late" and seemingly comes from nowhere we're well on our way to it being an acceptable cycle.

[Blade6119]

FWIW, in addition to Adu and Altidore there were injuries at fullback and some odd choices by Rongen the 1st game. Ownby and Powers hadn't been starters while Dilly Duka in particular was the best US player in qualifiers (and now against Cameroon). Bryan Arguez (from Hertha Berlin) and Peri Marosevic were two other players who impressed in earlier games and didn't start vs. Germany. One of the/our most impressive fullback, Sheanon Williams (who I've played with in pickup games - although he was a forward back then) is back now and put in another good performance today.

Overall yes, this looks like a weaker age group than the current U-17's or previous U-20's, although really the goal is for the NT to get 3-4 WC quality players from a cycle, and if you count Adu/Altidore, assume one of Opara/Williams/Duka/etc keeps developing and/or someone like Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey or Marcus Tracy from past cycles blooms "late" and seemingly comes from nowhere we're well on our way to it being an acceptable cycle.

I really like Marcus Tracy, I hope he continues to do well in Scandinavia

[whomario]

whomario: On 1860 Munich's website I see Cooper has 2 goals in 7 matches, is he doing well in other areas like build-up play? Or is it more that the fans like his personality?

honestly more than anything it´s the way he plays. Plays with a lot of power, very straight forward and refreshing in that he doesn´t shy away from contact. Great guy apparently as well from what a friend told me who is working for the club.
Haven´t seen a full game the last couple weeks, so just judging off of reports here but he´s definitely a popular figure with the fans.

Actually saw the USA-Cameroon game earlier today, pretty good match. Absolutely no tactical skills by cameroon and very early in panic mode. The US could have scored 7,8 easily had they played their counter attacks more decicive.

Anyone saw Ghana win against England ? They absolutely dismantled England, fabolous display (although it should be said that england lost 4 players to a stomach virus the day before the match, maybe affected others as well). Ayew with a magnificent goal, dribbling from the right to the inside then strike it with great power from 20 metres out just into the uper corner.

the Pitches are terrible btw, very "slow", ball stopping a lot.

FIFA homepage has free highlights for every game btw : FIFA.com - Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (http://www.fifa.com/index.html?language=en)

[BishopMVP]

Anyone saw Ghana win against England ? They absolutely dismantled England, fabolous display (although it should be said that england lost 4 players to a stomach virus the day before the match, maybe affected others as well). Ayew with a magnificent goal, dribbling from the right to the inside then strike it with great power from 20 metres out just into the upper corner.There's also always the issue with African youth teams and overage players. I think it was the African U-17 tournament where every team but one was playing with overage guys.

[whomario]

what´s the policy on spoilers for champions league gamedays with the different time zone to the us ?

Anyway :

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goal of the day (lets see how long the video stays online ... )

[Blade6119]

Sick little move, good find!

From Tuesday's matches, and while he was offside, the goal stood:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cfdEymMIVbk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cfdEymMIVbk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Big Fo]

what´s the policy on spoilers for champions league gamedays with the different time zone to the us ?

Feel free to discuss the games as they happen live. Anyone taping matches who wants to watch later on can easily avoid spoilers by not clicking on soccer related threads and websites.

Sick goal from Tihinen. I wonder how long Leonardo is going to last at Milan...

Carrick's game winner today wasn't that extravagant but was still nice, a side-footer into the upper corner from outside the box. Giggs with another goal and assist, what a hero.

And it's nice to hear that Cooper is doing well at 1860.

[DaddyTorgo]

nice to hear Juve got a draw up at AA against Bayern. I'd like to see them win that match, but realistically a draw is fine.

[illinifan999]

nice to hear Juve got a draw up at AA against Bayern. I'd like to see them win that match, but realistically a draw is fine.

i'd take a draw with bayern than a draw with rubin:mad:

[whomario]

nice to hear Juve got a draw up at AA against Bayern. I'd like to see them win that match, but realistically a draw is fine.

Can thank Buffon and Ribery´s playfullness for that (overall Bayern´s reluctance to get the ball to the box in time) , Bayern was the better team by all acounts and should have scored 2,3 goals.
Ribery had the best move of the game, going straight through 2 defenders at the edge of the box but then trying to lob Buffon from about 8 metres ... Even Buffon was laughing/smirking afterwards at that much "exuberance" ;)

Plus the referee pulled a PES, whistling for the end right into a Bayern counter attack that looked very promising ...

Robben apparently with a bad knee injury, 25 mio and any chance at a great season down the crapper ... :banghead:

[MIJB#19]

Robben apparently with a bad knee injury, 25 mio and any chance at a great season down the crapper ... :banghead:He's three to four weeks out, according to Dutch media. But with Robben's usual injury luck, I'm afraid he can be writen off until Christmas.

[Big Fo]

Speaking of Cooper he's made the US squad to face Honduras and Costa Rica for the first time since the Gold Cup.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton: 14/8 SO)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 24/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 4/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 19/0), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards: 1/0), Clarence Goodson (IK Start: 1/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 18/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 3/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 13/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 7/1), Clint Dempsey (Fulham: 20/5), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 4/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 3/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 6/0)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Hull City: 11/6), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 16/6), Kenny Cooper (1860 Munich: 1/1), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 5/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 33/11)

(for whatever reason ussoccer.com gave the caps/goals or shutouts for WCQs and not all international games)

The front page of SBI (http://www.soccerbyives.net/) has links to bars and restaurants that will be showing the Honduras game, it looks like there's around 100 or so showing the game in Spanish and a whopping FIVE showing it in English so far. The only place showing the game within 100 miles of me happens to be only 10 minutes away, now I have a decision between watching the game at a bar in enemy territory or hoping that I can find a working stream at home. Each option has it's pros and cons.

[Big Fo]

The US under-20 team sucked ass today, losing 3-0 to South Korea. Germany beat Cameroon 3-0 so they finished third in the group on goal difference (-3 to -4) but their chances of making the next round aren't too good.

[RainMaker]

I'm kind of nervous about the U.S. chances still. Haven't looked good against the bottom feeders in the group. Honduras will be real tough on the road and Costa Rica slaughtered us already.

[illinifan999]

Wesley Sneijder picks a great time to get his first goal at Inter, what a goal!

[whomario]

German Bundesliga Team Hertha Berlin with high comedy :

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both goals within 5 minutes in the first half ... Only 10 minutes prior to that they scored an own goal as well ... It´s like watching the Bengals really.
Guess where they stand in the table ? When it rains, it pours ;)

[illinifan999]

http://www.gifninja.com/Workspace/78ae6b56-72eb-4bbe-adaf-5809f7318811/output.gif

[RainMaker]

I'm trying to get into soccer overseas and following the English Premier League. Was going to follow a team throughout the season.

My question is, what is the point for the 14 or so teams that have no shot to ever win anything in it? It just seems that it's a competition between 4-6 teams year after year. Is there any motivation for the teams in the middle of the pack outside of pride? Just seems like MLB's big/small market disparity but 100 times worse.

[bhlloy]

I guess getting into the Europa League and avoiding relegation are the real prizes now in terms of league position. I agree, it must suck to be a fan of one of the middle teams that has no shot at winning the title/getting into champions league but also isn't really a threat to go down (although ask Newcastle fans about the latter, staying up every season is still something to celebrate)

FA Cup, Carling Cup and Europa League are good prizes to aim for as well, although of course the top 4 in the league (or some other elite European club) often win those as well.

I really wouldn't mind seeing a European super league at some point for this reason, if it was done with sensible promotion/relegation that ensured a truly dominant team could go up and a team that had slipped from the elite could go back down. Of course if it does happen it will be the big money clubs buying their way in, but still, it would make national leagues much more meaningful again.

[bhlloy]

DOLA - support a Championship team instead, the league is truly competitive, realistically anybody in the division has a great shot of making the playoffs or possibly getting relegated and the football is a pretty impressive standard as well.

Specifically, Cardiff City. A team with great heritage, only team ever to take the FA cup out of England, new stadium, great fans and play some of the most attractive football in the division :p

[law90026]

I'm trying to get into soccer overseas and following the English Premier League. Was going to follow a team throughout the season.

My question is, what is the point for the 14 or so teams that have no shot to ever win anything in it? It just seems that it's a competition between 4-6 teams year after year. Is there any motivation for the teams in the middle of the pack outside of pride? Just seems like MLB's big/small market disparity but 100 times worse.

I think most supporters of the not-big clubs tend to be those that actually live in the area and have always supported those clubs growing up. The main motivation for them is non-relegation because the BPL is a major cash cow right now.

For some of the mid-tier sides, it's challenging for the 2nd tier European competition. For some of the sides outside of the big 4 (currently maybe another 2-4 sides), it's trying to break into the big 4.

I think some of the relegation battles can be interesting. Not those where 1 side is pretty much relegated early but those where a few of the newer sides are fighting for survival against some of the more "established" clubs (like Newcastle last year).

[RainMaker]

I guess I don't see the point though still. Why not just take those 6 top teams that are the only ones that have a chance to win every year and have them play in a league by themselves? You'd have interesting matchups each week and not waste time watching the poorer teams get slaughtered all the time. The other 14 don't matter at all anyways.

Maybe it's just something you have to get used to. I just don't know if I could get into cheering for my team not to finish 3rd to last.

[Big Fo]

I really wouldn't mind seeing a European super league at some point for this reason, if it was done with sensible promotion/relegation that ensured a truly dominant team could go up and a team that had slipped from the elite could go back down. Of course if it does happen it will be the big money clubs buying their way in, but still, it would make national leagues much more meaningful again.

One problem with a potential European Super League is that the big clubs would likely band together to make it a closed system so that the Real Madrid/Man Utd/Bayern/Inter/etc. could never be kicked out of it even with a bad season.

A lot of the ideas I've seen thrown around would have those teams still playing in their domestic leagues on the weekend with the Super League in midweek, it seems like it'd just be the Champions League with more games, fewer teams, and a different format.

Specifically, Cardiff City. A team with great heritage, only team ever to take the FA cup out of England, new stadium, great fans and play some of the most attractive football in the division

Cardiff is a cool city imo, I spent around five days there on a trip to the UK and really enjoyed it.

[bhlloy]

Oh I agree 100%, if it happens it won't be with promotion/relegation. It will be just like rugby where the bigger regions/clubs have sides in the national competition and the super leagues.

If it is a midweek competition to replace the Champions League, then I'd be very interested to see if the bigger clubs handle it. In theory that opens up the domestic leagues in essence making them a kind of reserve/B team. I'd also be very interested to see if the Premiership tells them to shove it if this happens and to choose one or the other. One one hand, the Premiership isn't going to be happy with a Man U team with very few stars playing week to week. On the other hand, a weakened Man U team probably still makes them ten times as much money than any other team in the country they could replace them with would make.

[law90026]

I guess I don't see the point though still. Why not just take those 6 top teams that are the only ones that have a chance to win every year and have them play in a league by themselves? You'd have interesting matchups each week and not waste time watching the poorer teams get slaughtered all the time. The other 14 don't matter at all anyways.

Maybe it's just something you have to get used to. I just don't know if I could get into cheering for my team not to finish 3rd to last.

Well, it's not possible to have a 6 team league that would generate enough revenue for the 6 clubs. People would get bored of seeing the same games over and over again.

It's the matchups with the 14 other teams that add drama. Like this weekend's 2-2 draw between Stoke and Man Utd. Or last week's Wigan win over Chelsea. These are big results for the smaller clubs and, at the same time, make the title race somewhat interesting for the clubs that are actually competing for it.

If you support the smaller sides, you're essentially rooting for the underdog.

In the past, there have also been surprise stories, like Everton qualifying for the Champions League, Portsmouth winning the FA Cup ... stuff like that.

I guess the same question could be asked about why people support specific NBA teams (Clippers, Grizzlies, etc) when they know there's no chance of them winning anything.

[MIJB#19]

15 teams can qualify for the World Cup in the upcoming weekend, here's what they have to do to secure it over the weekend, (as far as I could figure out :D).

Cameroun with win + Gabon loss

Tunisia with win + Nigeria draw or loss

Algeria with win + Egypt loss or draw,
or with a draw + Egypt loss

Ivory Coast with win, draw or Burkina Faso loss or draw

USA with win,
or with draw + Costa Rica loss or draw,
or with loss + Costa Rica loss

Mexico with win + Hoduras or Costa Rica loss or draw,
or with draw + Costa Rica loss

Honduras with win + Costa Rica loss

Chili with win,
or with draw + Ecuador or Argentina loss or draw,
or with loss + Ecuador loss or Argentina loss or draw

Ecuador with win + Argentina loss or draw + Venezuela loss or draw + Colombia loss or draw

Denmark with win vs Sweden

Switzerland with win + Greece-Latvia draw

Slovakia with win or draw

Germany with win

Serbia with win,
or with draw + France loss or draw,
or with loss + France loss

Italy with win or draw

[BishopMVP]

Clint Dempsey is out for the Honduras game.... is that a bad thing? If it's Holden on the wing that's not a bad trade. I'd also rather see Torres out there in Central America, but we'll probably see Clark instead at DM. Baby Bradley obviously being a given. ;)

[DaddyTorgo]

Clint Dempsey is out for the Honduras game.... is that a bad thing? If it's Holden on the wing that's not a bad trade. I'd also rather see Torres out there in Central America, but we'll probably see Clark instead at DM. Baby Bradley obviously being a given. ;)

nope. i'm actually glad that dempsey is out, since BB refuses to play him up top where dempsey obviously wants to be. holden's actually a better choice IMO - much more of a 2-way player and far less likely to make catastrophic mistakes. and he can whip in the crosses!

[BishopMVP]

nope. i'm actually glad that dempsey is out, since BB refuses to play him up top where dempsey obviously wants to be. holden's actually a better choice IMO - much more of a 2-way player and far less likely to make catastrophic mistakes. and he can whip in the crosses!Any chance you're gonna try and catch the game on TV? There's a lot of Spanish-language places listed in Chelsea and Revere. I'll probably end up watching Florida-LSU instead and trying to catch an internet stream if those even exist and gametracker if not, but if we get an FOFC contingent I could be talked into it.

Other bad news: Frankie Hejduk was called into camp to replace Dempsey, and it sounds like Feilhaber has as strong a chance as Holden at starting. Hopefully not, he sucks defensively, and more relevantly is not very good on the wing.

[DaddyTorgo]

hmmm...good question. i'm not sure if i'll try to catch it or not.

i'm actually not as much of a hejduk-hater as i used to be. i want to be a hater, but surprisingly he hasn't really had a really atrocious game defensively in a long time - he's got a massive workrate and always seems to be around the action.

ugh...feilheiber shouldn't be on the wing - you're right on in your analysis of him

[BishopMVP]

Yeah, I love watching Frankie Hejduk play - I'd just rather it be on the Revs rather than the USMNT.

[SirFozzie]

I'll try to find a stream somewhere.

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah, I love watching Frankie Hejduk play - I'd just rather it be on the Revs rather than the USMNT.

unfortunately there aren't that many USMNT options to replace him...sad as that is

[Big Fo]

I'd like to see a midfield of Donovan-Bradley-Clark-Holden but am ready to be disappointed. As much as I dislike Bradley Sr. using two holding midfielders against weaker teams at home I think that will be needed in Honduras (I'll admit that I haven't seen Torres play many times and maybe he's better defensively than I perceive him to be).

[BishopMVP]

I'd like to see a midfield of Donovan-Bradley-Clark-Holden but am ready to be disappointed. As much as I dislike Bradley Sr. using two holding midfielders against weaker teams at home I think that will be needed in Honduras (I'll admit that I haven't seen Torres play many times and maybe he's better defensively than I perceive him to be).I wouldn't say he's better defensively than Clark or Bradley, but that's not our problem. Our problem has been giving away possession way too cheaply after our defense wins it. Some of that's on the defenders for going long ball too early, but it's also easy to see why they have little to no confidence trying to go through the midfield.

[whomario]

at the U20 WC Germany reached the quarterfinals after a great fight against Nigeria. They were down 1:0 and 2:1 , played the last half hour with one man less (red card which was not a terrible call but not a good one either ...) and scored the 3:2 in injury time in the last seconds. Typical mistake by Nigeria who wanted to win it and the got caught on the counter attack. Awesome goal, wins a huge tackle in midfield, takes off by himself and then applies an absolutely clinical finish :

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Too bad they had to draw Brasil, who are by far the best team left ... Anyway, seeing the Roster it´s a success no matter what.



Other Quarter Finals :

Korea - Ghana
Italy - Hungary (Italy beat spain, hungary the czech republic)
UAE - Costa Rica (Costa Rica beat host Egypt ! )

[SirFozzie]

Jack Warner says he's not impressed with England's 2018 World Cup Bid.

Jack Warner unimpressed by England 2018 World Cup bid - FIFA World Cup 2010 - ESPN Soccernet (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=683470&sec=worldcup2010&cc=5901)

I have my official corruption-English translation guide... let's see what it says..

"I am not pleased that they have not yet paid me enough to vote for them"

Quelle surprise.

[Big Fo]

I wouldn't say he's better defensively than Clark or Bradley, but that's not our problem. Our problem has been giving away possession way too cheaply after our defense wins it. Some of that's on the defenders for going long ball too early, but it's also easy to see why they have little to no confidence trying to go through the midfield.

If playing Torres can help our defenders refrain from nervously hoofing the ball to nowhere so often then it could be worth a shot. I know Bradley will be out there and feel that dropping Clark would be harsh after he won the last qualifier with that sweet long-range goal though.

Holden being the one to replace Dempsey would also help the team maintain possession. Like you said Holden would be preferable to Feilhaber on the right.

[illinifan999]

Anyone see the new template that Puma is using for the African Cup of Nations? I like it a lot better than the v around the neck template they're using this season, and they have a different look than I've really seen before.

Angola
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/stories/angola-2010-puma-african-cup-of-nations-home-shirt.jpg

Ivory Coast:
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/stories/ivory-coast-2010-puma-african-cup-of-nations-football-shirt.jpg

Morocco
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/stories/morocco-10-11-puma-africa-nations-cup-football-shirts.jpg

[Big Fo]

In the middle of running a few errands I stopped by the one place showing Honduras - USA tonight and they said it'd be $25 to get in. I'd have a few drinks if I watched it at a bar so that'd put it closer to $40 in total expenses. I think I'm going to stay home and watch it on the computer with Florida-LSU on TV in the background while drinking my own beer, but I'm still not certain. It could be fun, especially if I can get a few other Americans to come with me.

[MrBug708]

I am now in favor of arming whatever rebel group in Honduras will pledge to sell WCQ rights to ESPN for the next cycle.

[George]

I am now in favor of arming whatever rebel group in Honduras will pledge to sell WCQ rights to ESPN for the next cycle.

+1

[RainMaker]

In the middle of running a few errands I stopped by the one place showing Honduras - USA tonight and they said it'd be $25 to get in. I'd have a few drinks if I watched it at a bar so that'd put it closer to $40 in total expenses. I think I'm going to stay home and watch it on the computer with Florida-LSU on TV in the background while drinking my own beer, but I'm still not certain. It could be fun, especially if I can get a few other Americans to come with me.
Where can you watch it on the computer?

[Big Fo]

Where can you watch it on the computer?

myp2p.eu (http://myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=football)

atdhe.net (http://www.atdhe.net/index.html)

I won't know if they'll work until the game actually starts and if I find a better link I'll post it in here. These two sites are generally great for international games, EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, NFL, NBA, and various other sports/leagues. Although the picture quality is not high and during some games these freeze up if a lot of people are watching, it's better than missing the game entirely.

It's possible that you might need to download a separate, free program (examples: Sopcast, TV Ants, Streamtorrent) in order to view these.

Mexico is leading El Salvador 2-0 in the Azteca, the game is almost over. Costa Rica - T&T starts at 10pm, the same time as Honduras - USA.

[SirFozzie]

so here's the drama in the last round of games in South America.

4th Argentina 25 Points
----------------------
5th Uruguay 24 Points
----------------------
6th Ecuador 23 Points

Uruguay plays argentina in the final round @ Uruguay. Ecuador plays Chile @ Chile.

Argentina basically need a draw to qualify for the World Cup. If Uruguay wins, they qualify for the world Cup. Ecuador can only qualify directly if the Argentina-Uruguay game ends in a draw, and they beat Chile (who's already qualified, but they will still be playing a first team probably) by five goals.

But the fifth spot is interesting (the playoff spot vs CONCACAF). Ecuador must win to have a shot there, (they have a horrible goal difference vs Uruguay, so a draw really does them no good.). If Uruguay beats Argentina and Ecuador beats Chile, Ecuador will take the playoff spot and Argentina will be watching the World Cup from home on the TV.

[Ryan S]

The last 10 minutes of Argentina v Peru were great.

Uruguay have to be favorites for the game against Argentina. Argentina did not play well today, and they have a terrible record on the road.

[Big Fo]

Casey is starting, a bit of a surprise. I thought Bradley would pick Ching if Altidore wasn't going to start.

-------------Davies---------Casey------------

Donovan------------------------------Holden

----------------Bradley-----Clark-------------

Bornstein----------------------------Spector

--------------Bocanegra---Onyewu---------

-----------------------Howard------------------

In addition to the two links up the page I found a few on SBI's user comments:

KtRaChOfOrEvEr on Justin.tv (http://www.justin.tv/ktrachoforever)

HOSTREAM - Channel 15 (http://www.hostream.net/channel-a15.html)

Honducarlos on USTREAM: Trasmicion de la liga nacional de Honduras!. Other 24/7 (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/honducarlos) (Definitely working, I'm watching the Honduran pre-game show now)

[RainMaker]

Just curious why Casey is a starter. Does he even have a goal in late qualifying? Altidore is the top goal scorer and on the bench. I understand his conditioning might not be great, but don't you want to try and get an early goal and sit back?

[MrBug708]

I think Jozy is one yellow card away from a suspension

[Big Fo]

fuck my stream died right before kickoff

edit: now I found one in English, hell yea, click the link on http://www.atdhe.net/index.html

[Eaglesfan27]

Is there a rational for this game not being on TV?

Oh yeah, thanks for the link Big Fo.

[Big Fo]

Now that one I posted died, I'm back on the ustream honducarlos one.

[Big Fo]

Bocanegra missed a good chance, his header going over.

Honduras have the ball more, Donovan has drawn a few fouls on some good runs.

[RainMaker]

US looks really bad so far.

[Big Fo]

Costly should have given Honduras the lead, missed wide right 1v1 on Howard.

[RainMaker]

Wow, point blank miss on an open net.

[cartman]

I hate when that happens.

[Big Fo]

Fuck, right as my browser got all laggy right as the commentator got all excited, I thought Honduras scored. Turns out USA almost scored but I missed it.

[RainMaker]

I just can't comprehend there is not a better replacement for Casey. He is just atrocious out there. I don't get this fascination with him that Bradley has. Can't believe the team is having to come down to the final game to qualify for this.

[RainMaker]

Costa Rica up 1-0 at the half. This would make the game against Costa Rica a game they can't lose even if they tie with Honduras.

[Big Fo]

I hope Altidore comes in for him in the second half.

I guess Bradley likes that he's a bigger guy and scores a lot in MLS but he rarely impresses at this level.

edit: Yeah a tie does nothing tonight. Even if Costa Rica tie and USA lose the goal differential is such that we'd have to get crushed in DC to not make the top three.

Just saw the save on Davies and the subsequent miss. Oh dear. Sidefoot that bitch, why pound the volley from so close?

[cartman]

crap

[Big Fo]

Nice free kick, can't blame Howard for that.

[RainMaker]

Only a matter of time, this team is in deep shit.

[RainMaker]

edit: Yeah a tie does nothing tonight. Even if Costa Rica tie and USA lose the goal differential is such that we'd have to get crushed in DC to not make the top three.
I'm assuming Costa Rica wins tonight. That would mean the competition is Honduras for the 3rd spot and they have El Salvador left. That means with a loss tonight, the U.S. must tie or win against Costa Rica. Not an easy task considering Costa Rica kicked the shit out of the U.S. earlier in qualifying and the U.S. has been real bad the 2nd leg.

[cartman]

GOAL!!! Header by Casey!

[RainMaker]

Wow, all that shitting on Casey for never scoring for this team and he comes through.

[Big Fo]

I knew they were unlikely to win tonight, Honduras are quite good and playing at home but USA has played like crap.

Bradley came pretty close a minute or so ago.

Casey scores!

[Big Fo]

Honestly I'm surprised a foul wasn't called on Casey.

[cartman]

But in all seriousness, I'd be concerned about controversial calls going against a country that just experienced a coup.

[Big Fo]

Oh Casey could have made it a brace.

[cartman]

CASEY AGAIN!!!

[RainMaker]

Fuck, I need to keep ripping on Casey.

Although that was all Donovon.

[Big Fo]

hahahaha Casey.

Bob Bradley > me

[DaddyTorgo]

hahahaha Casey.

Bob Bradley > me

hehe yeah!

[bulletsponge]

OMG CAasey again?

[MrBug708]

USA USA USA

[cartman]

3-1!!!!! Donovan on the free kick!!!

He looked a little like his controversial teammate from England on that one... ;)

[Big Fo]

LANDON GET THE FUCK IN

3-1

Now hold on boys...

[Big Fo]

That was gorgeous. omg.

[DaddyTorgo]

imma hafta catch the highlights on sportscenter or somethin...i didn't really want to watch the stream

[bulletsponge]

OMFG!!!!!!!!! USA! USA!

:wank:

[cartman]

Honduras looked to get one back, but they were called for offsides

[bulletsponge]

Bob Bradley must be holding thier passports hostage, threatening to leave them behind if they didnt win!

[cartman]

Crap, Honduras does get one back

[Big Fo]

Oh shit.

Not another letdown like against Brazil in the Confed finals again please.

[cartman]

10 minutes to go plus injury time

[Big Fo]

Blatant non-call for Altidore, tripped in the box or just outside it :/

[cartman]

Jesus, a penalty for Honduras

[cartman]

HE MISSED!

[bulletsponge]

oh shit

[Big Fo]

Penalty to Honduras on a Spector handball, Pavon sent that bitch into orbit, lol

Lucky break, now make it count guys

[bulletsponge]

he missed!?

[cartman]

that was WAY too close

[bulletsponge]

i cant watch the game so im trying to follow it on BS. its almost self imploding everyones going apeshit

[cartman]

damn it, we are giving Honduras too many chances!

[cartman]

we are in injury time now.

[bulletsponge]

please hold on!

[Big Fo]

Feilhaber should have iced it there. Three minutes left I think.

[cartman]

WOOT!!!!

Those last 15 minutes were brutal

[bulletsponge]

did we win
?

[Big Fo]

And that's it, we're in the World Cup. Awesome.

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[bulletsponge]

woohoo!!!!!!!!!

[rowech]

What a wild 2nd half!

A win's a win no matter how ugly or pretty it might be.

[SirFozzie]

something no other country did in Honduras, and that's beat em. I'll take it. :)

[RainMaker]

The sad thing about this not being televised is that there are tons of Americans who missed out on seeing a captivating game. This would have been great for soccer in the states.

[MIJB#19]

FIFA World Cup qualifiers after Saturday's games (19 teams)
Africa: South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana
Asia: Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea
North America: U.S.A., Mexico
South America: Brazil, Paraguay, Chili
Europe: Netherlands, England, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Serbia

To be determined (13 tickets)
Africa, 3 from: Cameroun or Gabon, Nigeria or Tunisia or Mozambique or Kenya, Egypt or Algeria
Asia/Ociania, 1 from: Bahrain or New Zealand
North America, 1 from: Costa Rica or Honduras
South America, 1 from: Argentina or Uruguay
North America/South America, 1 from: Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay or Ecuador
Europe, 2 from: Slovakia or Slovenia, Switzerland or Greece
Europe, 4 from: Portugal or Sweden or Hungary or Norway, Russia, France, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia or Slovenia or Czech Rep or Northern Ireland, Greece or Switzerland or Israel or Latvia, Ukraine or Croatia

[cthomer5000]

One of the craziest games I've ever seen.... watching it on seedy internet streams helped that.

We can thank Carlos Pavon for being criminally incompetent as a striker for Honduras. That season with the Galaxy gave me all the info I needed on him. As he stepped up for the PK I told my girlfriend "Well, the one thing we have going for us is this guy REALLY sucks"... he then sailed it over the crossbar, and missed a point blank header minutes later.


This game continued to show we have a lot of problems, but we got the hard work done. We're off to South Africa.

[cthomer5000]

FIFA World Cup qualifiers after Saturday's games (19 teams)
Africa: South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana
Asia: Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea
North America: U.S.A., Mexico
South America: Brazil, Paraguay, Chili
Europe: Netherlands, England, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Serbia

To be determined (13 tickets)
Africa, 3 from: Cameroun or Gabon, Nigeria or Tunisia or Mozambique or Kenya, Egypt or Algeria
Asia/Ociania, 1 from: Bahrain or New Zealand
North America, 1 from: Costa Rica or Honduras
South America, 1 from: Argentina or Uruguay
North America/South America, 1 from: Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay or Ecuador
Europe, 2 from: Slovakia or Slovenia, Switzerland or Greece
Europe, 4 from: Portugal or Sweden or Hungary or Norway, Russia, France, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia or Slovenia or Czech Rep or Northern Ireland, Greece or Switzerland or Israel or Latvia, Ukraine or Croatia


There's the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff there as well. Ecuador is still very much in the mix to slide into that playoff slot. They can technically make the #4 position, but it won't happen. They'll need to go through the 5 spot and the playoffs for that to happen.


edit: Ecuador play at Chile on Wednesday. If Ecuador win, they are in the playoff spot guaranteed. Also, if they win, Uruguay/Argentina becomes an elimination game (with a draw working to Argentina's advantage).

[MIJB#19]

Ah yes, that's true. :)
I'm aware of Ecuador technically being alive for 4th place, but the Arg-Uru clash means they need a draw in that game and to win by a big margin on the road. Based on that, I 'forgot' to list them (which is not nice, given that I did list virtually eliminated Norway, that needs Malta to beat Portugal by a huge margin and needs Sweden to draw). I did the same thing with Venezuela for the South America/North America playoff ticket.

[whomario]

Good to see the US qualified, looking forward to seeing a couple players from your team again like Donovan and Feilhaber, maybe Cooper gets a shot as well.

German Team qualified as well yesterday, though i sure hope Russia makes it through in the Playoff as well. Russia should have won yesterday, were the better team . Germany wasn´t bad, played very controlled game on a high level in terms of technique (the game was played on artificial pitch btw which imo is a great idea in places like russia, made the game much better than what it would have been on a muddy rain-soaked pitch) , didn´t have many chances though. Russia had more chances and played really good soccer, just couldn´t make them count. Germany connected in the first half for the only goal on a wonderfull combination of Podolski, Özil and then Klose with the goal :

<object height="340" width="560">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Ul2kWjiwZc&hl=de&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></object>

the guy hasn´t scored a single goal this season and was benched most games actually with Bayern Munich and then makes this huge goal. One of my favourite players, so glad :) Now has 48 international Goals 3rd most a german striker ever scored.

full game highlights if anyones interested : YouTube - Russland - Deutschland 0:1 (FIFA World Cup 2010) Highlights & Interviews (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpWFM6V94zY&feature=related) (starts after 20 seconds, no worry with the first few pictures, there´s film coming eventually ;) )

german U20 lost to Brasil :( Up 1:0 in the 2nd half, then Brasil scores in the 88th and then again after just seconds into the OT ...

[SirFozzie]

Dear god.

Charlie Davies, striker for the US Soccer team, suffered what could be career threatening injuries in a one car accident on the DC Parkway early this morning (approximately 3:15 am), where the car basically was split in half.

One person in the vehicle was pronounced dead, while Davies is currently in surgery but in stable condition.

It's unknown if Davies was the driver, and if Alcohol was involved.

(Warning, this is what's left of the car after the accident and the rescue efforts, so I'm not going to show it directly)
http://media.bonnint.net/wtop/16/1663/166352.jpg

[ISiddiqui]

Just saw that on Twitter. That's quite a shame :(.

[dacman]

SON OF A .......!

[DaddyTorgo]

fucking a!!!

prayers for Charlie everyone. The guy was really putting it together. Hopefully his injuries aren't career-threatening.

[DaddyTorgo]

Per Twitter Goff reports broken leg and internal injuries

[Big Fo]

Awful news :(

[SirFozzie]

Goff is reporting that Davies was a passenger and not the driver.

[BishopMVP]

Police saying he wasn't the driver... been in surgery 5+ hours. "possibly career-threatening" but not life-threatening injuries.

[sovereignstar]

Ugh.

[Cringer]

"Ugh" is a good way to say how I feel without getting long-winded.

[k0ruptr]

God I truly hope he makes a great recovery.

[cthomer5000]

"Ugh" is a good way to say how I feel without getting long-winded.

Me too. And probably for the same reasons.

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, you can pretty much pencil him out of WC2010:

Davies suffered a lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur, and a fractured elbow.

In on the field news, Northern Ireland's Cliftonville took on a mixed first and second team from Scottish giants Celtic, and whipped them handily, 3-0.

[whomario]

Northers Ireland´s national team has been very competitive the last 2 qualifying campaigns (both last euro and now for the WC) and basically were on the verge of qualifying.
Although no national team players actually play in the home league but in England, scottland etc.

[dacman]

NI is not mathematically eliminated. If they beat the Czech Republic and San Marino beats Slovenia (why are you laughing?) AND they make up 8 goals in GD (again with the laughter??), they would finish 2nd in their group and be in the playoffs.

[Big Fo]

Jonny Evans :cool:

USA has scheduled their first post-WCQ friendly, they'll be playing Denmark away. Denmark won their group so that should be a decent test.

I want Bradley to give some other guys a start today against Costa Rica, Torres in particular. Maybe Guzan, Rogers, Cooper, and one of Goodson/Conrad.

Uruguay v. Argentina could be a great game today.

[DaddyTorgo]

are we gonna get Costa Rica on tv??

[Big Fo]

ESPN2

Broadcast starts at 7:30pm EST, kickoff around 8pm.

[DaddyTorgo]

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

i figured as much...just checking

[Oilers9911]

fucking a!!!

prayers for Charlie everyone. The guy was really putting it together. Hopefully his injuries aren't career-threatening.

Hope he gets well soon but more importantly a 22 year old woman died. I think she deserves prayers too.

[DaddyTorgo]

Hope he gets well soon but more importantly a 22 year old woman died. I think she deserves prayers too.

of course.

when i typed that first post i hadn't read the details of the story to see that someone died.

[Galaxy]

Europe looks interesting now.

What does everyone think of FIFA's decision (which just happened) to now see the 2nd place teams in the European play-offs, instead of a blind draw? It will now mean that Portugal, France, Russia, and Greece will unlikely have to each other. I know Ireland wasn't too happy with it.

[SirFozzie]

Argentina squeaks through 1-0 with a late goal to take the final S.America qualifying spot. Uruguay still will play either Costa Rica or Honduras, as Ecuador failed to get the required three points, losing 1-0 at Chile.

[Big Fo]

What does everyone think of FIFA's decision (which just happened) to now see the 2nd place teams in the European play-offs, instead of a blind draw? It will now mean that Portugal, France, Russia, and Greece will unlikely have to each other. I know Ireland wasn't too happy with it.

It's complete bullshit, especially since it was only announced a few weeks or a month ago when it was clear teams like France, Portugal, and Russia were struggling.

The teams were already seeded in the groups, seeding the playoffs is too much.

Argentina and Chile win, Argies finish 4th and Uruguay will play CONCACAF's #4 team.

Not many changes for the US team tonight, Cherundolo in for Spector, Fielhaber in for Clark, Altidore in for Davies.

[Big Fo]

Now that's the Conor Casey we expected in Honduras, ugh. Great setup by Altidore.

[Karlifornia]

Now that's the Conor Casey we expected in Honduras, ugh. Great setup by Altidore.

Yeah, that was ugly after Altidore just punked 3 dudes.

[Big Fo]

1-0 Costa Rica.

Ruiz burned Onyewu then slotted it through Howard's legs.

edit: Shit, it's 2-0 now. Ruiz again, curled into the upper corner from outside the box.