PSA: Pretty big USA soccer game on tonight (7/2)
 

See post 21 for relavant info, everything else in this first post is outdated



Tonight at 8:45PM, USA is playing Argentina today in their first game of the Copa America.*

It's on GolTv in English, which I'm sure most people don't have as part of their basic cable.

However, if you speak Spanish or are willing to suck it up and deal with not understanding the commentary, the game is on Telefutura in Spanish, which I would imagine most of you do get.

Just figured I'd post this for the more casual fans of US soccer who might not have realized the game was on tonight. Im a really big fan and even I have missed some games that have been televised recently.


* Copa America is the South American championship. If you're asking yourself why the USA would be playing in the South American championship tournament, it's because they're in the tournament by invite. Mexico is as well (and just had a pretty big upset win over Brazil last night)

And realize, Argentina is sending their A team, and were sending what amounts to our b-team. So the talent gap that was already there, is now much wider.

On the flip side, about 5-6 of tonight's starters were apart of the 2005 U-20 team that beat some of these same Argentinians in the u-20 WC

Yeah, a draw would be a fucking amazing result tonight. It's really the USA Junior Varsity team vs. one of the 5 best teams in the world.

1-0 USA wins, LD PK 68th minute..

In all seriousness this squad is not as good as the Gold Cup Winning squad but I think we should be able to secure a win & draw out of our group. I just hope for a low scoring match tonight that we can stay in and perhaps get a few good chances on goal.

ill be watching on the mexican channel. i just hope we dont stink it up

Also, if you can't get Telefutura, univision.com has a live video cast

lol, that would be quite the trick.

he'll score the PK, then rip off his Taylor Twellman mask to reveal himself.

I cant find it :(

Don't worry. It's only soccer.:)

that wasnt soccer...that belonged on the DVD of worlds most one sided sporting events

The first game on that DVD, would be the columbian game.

not according to the scottish commentator....he apparently fell in love with our Kool-aid. He is the Joe Theisman of soccer commentating.

Yeah, I wasn't sure what game he was watching, not sure how he got that as being such a great performance. US played deep and defensive, Argentina kept possession and passed the ball around tiring the US defense out with having to chase. When Argentina took the lead and the US had to open up a bit to try and get an equalizer, the Argentinians took advantage of the space.

Not a bad performance from the US against a far better team, but not better than the World Cups like Hudson was going on about.

Hudson's not Scottish though, he's English. Don't want him being counted as one of us :)

1. He's English

2. At 1-1 or even 2-1, It was really a very, very good result for the USA. A draw would seriously have been their biggest result in ages. Even a 1 goal loss would have been monumental considering the team we sent there.

3. For about 60 minutes it really was an epic USA performance... the substitution of Gaven for Ben Olsen seemed to suck the life out of the entire team, and it all went in the shitter from there. There are some absolute positves to be taken from how the team went out there and how a few players really stepped it up (Borstein's first half was outstanding), but in the end we're talking about a gigantic gulf between our B team and one of the undisputed top 4 teams in the world.


Hudson was perhaps a bit over the top, but that's his style. He's damn entertaining on a consistent basis.

He does love to hear himself talk though. I love when he gets excited and starts cursing. :)

I'm usually the biggest anti-Olsen guy out there, but that was a horrible, horrible sub. Gaven let Messi run right through him on the goal.

No it wasn't.

We started great, gave up the tying goal really soon after, and then were unable to put 4-5 passes together for the rest of the night. Only on the few free kicks near the box did we even look like we had a chance of scoring.

Having played many lopsided games (on both ends) in my life, it's really obvious to see when a team is outclassed and we definitely were last night(as expected).

If we could have held out to the 75-80 minute mark, then maybe things get a little nervy as Argentina did not play particularly well. But you have to be able to possess the ball for more than 35% of the gameand you have to have at least one or two players who can create space and offer the threat of beating their man. We had neither. By the end of the game, whenever Justin Mapp got the ball on the left side, he already looked like losing it as he was completely bereft of confidence.

This almost reminds me of the talk in 1994 about our heroic performance against Brazil, losing 1-0 when we created one, maybe two chances while up a man. That's not an epic, or even good performance. That's a second or third rate team keeping the score close against a world class opponent. Big difference.

Gaven was brought along because Bradley thought a trip with the national team would help with his confidence. But throwing him out there against Argentina was probably not a wise decision.

Jen Chang's blog entry for last night's game breaks the performance down well, in my humble opinion: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/...name=chang_jen

Another game on tonight, this time vs. Paraguay.

Much earlier start:

6:30PM on GolTV in English, Telefutura in Spanish

Anything less than a draw and the USA are d-u-n done.

i think they need a win if they realistically want to move on..a draw, while possible, is not going to do much good after argentina screwed up our goal differential

I would certainly help. But if Mexico beats Chile on Wednesday, 4 points is good enough to go through, regardless of goal differential.

Obviously 6 points would be ideal, but I think 4 points is a more realistic view of what the US could do to get out of the group.

TERRIBLE MISS

Thanks for the reminder that this was on. Just got home from work and put this on.

That was a fantastic goal!

Whew, Ricardo Clark makes it 1-1 with 5 minutes to go in the half. Very nice setup ball by Taylor Twellman.

Should be 3-1 USA right now, but maybe they can still win this thing. They're definitely playing better overall, but they're just so subject to breakdowns at the back that a team can score on any attack agains them.

Well, 2 bad misses (1 criminal), a couple mind-numbing breakdowns at the back, but overall i thought that was a very good US performance in the 1st half. Moore's passing at right back is really good, Feilhaber looking very good overall again, Eddie Johnson still looking too timid overall.

yeah...i think we just might be done.

at least argentina/colombia is the 2nd game! WOO HOO!!!!

there was your gift-wrapped chance to tie it up and mapp couldn't put it in or get a cross to EJ.

Over and out

Sheesh, that was a weak header. They are blowing way too many opportunities.

ballgame.

Another ugly loss.

That is the game, right there. Fucking pitiful loss. They absolutely played well enough to win, even with the 2 bonehead mistakes that resulted in goals.

Oh, and I don't ever want to see Keller near the US team again, even in qualifying. The guy has lost it, clearly and we need to start finding the guys who are going to take over after Tim Howard.

Why is Keller still playing for the national team? Tim Howard is younger and better, he'll be the keeper at WC 2010. Bradley should have picked a youngster to start for us in this tournament. Beaten by a minute on the "why the hell is Keller playing."

As for the game itself the scoreline once again is very harsh on us and we were good enough for a draw. Feilhaber and Clark could be our midfield pairing for years to come, those two in the middle with Beasley/Mapp and Donovan out wide is pretty solid.

There were some positivies tonight. We are learning what our depth is like in the pool. I thought Conrad was terrible tonight, which is odd since he is usually solid. Moor is a decent player, but not an international defender. Bornstien was terrific again. Mapp should have started. Nyguen was well, non-exist. Twellman played ok. EJ shows he can not create his own chances and needs others to do it for him. Feilhaber is class. Clark is class. Olsen plays really hard. Klejstan is not ready. Keller was not to blame for any of the goals. Calif needs to come back to MLS. DeMeritt needs to go to the EPL.

Did I leave anyone out?

There is no way you can blame Keller on any of the goals today.

Debatable, certainly. He doesn't receive major blame for either of the first 2, but certianly an assist. Look at the whole of the tournament, and he simply didn't make any big saves in a situation where 4 of the goals were probably preventable by a world-class keeper.

It doesn't really matter since he's not our #1, but I think we're just now at a point where starting him makes less sense than working on finding our #2 for 2010, etc.

edit: I mean when it's like "well, you can't really blame Keller for that one" it's one thing. When you find yourself saying that 4 or 5 times in two games, it's symptomatic of a bigger issue.

Exactly. We're sending the young/untried/few capped players to this tournament, might as well try a new keeper as well.

He tipped the Veron blast in the first half of the Argentina game onto the crossbar-- that was certainly a world-class save!

Yes and no. I wish Keller would come off of his line more and I found myself shouting that at the TV. But it was poor breakdowns in the US defense that led to those goals. The keeper is rarely at complete fault for a goal, unless it goes through his hands.

Keep in mind, I am a keeper.

Then from a fellow goalkeeper, I must call you to task. Say it right.

It's NEVER the keeper's fault! :)

I really do hear what you're saying. I think we can probably compromise and simply say that it just doesn't make sense for him to be a part of the national team any more.

I understand in this specific situation Bradley probably wanted him there to 1) help calm down a ton of guys with just a couple caps 2) give us our best available keeper (in theory) and help us get out of the group stage.

Now that we're on the qualifying trail, I really think it's in our best interests to simply work on developing a new #2. Barring something dramatic, we all know Tim Howard will be the #1 for WC2010, and we know Keller will be retired by that point. So it makes sense to be that we start looking for our new #2/potential future #1.

So schedule a friendly in the US, let him announce that it will be his last game for the national team, and make it his retirement match. Keller leaves with over 100 caps and everyone generally having positive memories of him, and we get on with preparing for 2010.

I think the #2 for the 2010 is in with the U20s right now.

yup, but after him who our #3 choice is going to be is a wildcard. Guzan keeps getting looks, but i dont know about him.

Guzan will likely be an option. Someone like Cannon or Reis cold be there in 2010. Heck, Hannehman will also still be in the mix then. There is also Westberg in France who may develop into a good keeper. So right now I would say:

1. Howard
2. Seitz
3. Hannehman/Reis/Cannon/Guzan/Westberg/Perkins/etc.

Keeper is the least of our worries at this point.

I am going to be interested to see where Feilhaber winds up. He has an EU passport, but the Engalnd game does not suit him well. I think he will move to a different club, but not sure where.

Kevin Hartman.

It's just wierd to not see a goalie from UCLA on the roster

Has watching these games and the U20 tourney inspired anyone else to start playing the Winning Eleven series again? I've popped in 9 the last few days and it has to be my favorite Backwards compatible game on the 360.