Bon_Mot

Look for the Fireballs to "blow up" this week. Ching with two goals as your captain will put some points on the board. Unfortunately I had a defender from each team in the 3-3 draw...

:-X I have to do well so I can justify the subscription fee to the MLSliveTV package!

These were some happy times: [Hidden Content]= [Hidden Content]= Go Dynamo!!!

Maxi Rodriguez against Mexico in '06 WC: Anyone see Messi's chipper on Oswaldo Sanchez in the Copa America last night? [Hidden Content]=

[Hidden Content]

Beckham from midfield: [Hidden Content] Maradona versus England: [Hidden Content] ...and the Hand of God: [Hidden Content]=

Got me! I do remember those late-night telecasts while I was in college. I really liked Gearge Weah from those mid 90's teams. And I really like Baggio until he missed that PK in the '94 World Cup Final. Some of my other favorite Red Devils: Giggs, Becks, Jaap Stam (till he went Agoos and started stinking), Peter Schmeichel, Dwight York, and Roy Keane.

A couple of my favorites from the 90's were Eric Cantona when he was with Man U and Paulo Maldini at AC Milan. Cantona was a bulldog of an attacker and always had an air of disgust for his opponent that is best described as "being French." It's hard to get over the incident where he drop-kicked a fan during a game ( [Hidden Content] ), but I loved the way he played with his collar popped, his chin up, and a scowl on his face. If you don't know of him, he was the old French guy in this Nike comercial last year Here's Eric the King doing what he did best [Hidden Content] Maldini was just a solid, unbeatable defender on one of the best defensive clubs of all time.

Word on the street is that tonight's game against Brazil will be shown on ESPN at 6:30. No confirmation, though.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! :-[ > :-[ > :-[ > :-[ > :-[

This is a good read about the US's lack of identity as far as kits are concerned... [Hidden Content]

USA - 6 Poland - 1 Freddy's first two goals were SICK! [Hidden Content] If we can get at least a point out of the game with Brazil, we will advance. Otherwise, we'll end up with four points and should... but it might get dicey.

Schedule: [Hidden Content] Teams to watch: [Hidden Content] Players to watch: [Hidden Content] I'm heading to Hooters this afternoon since we don't get ESPNU with Time Warner. Here's the preview: [Hidden Content]

Yes, I watched it online. The picture quality isn't great and it's in Spanish, but it's better than nothing. It'll be interesting to see how the US recovers against a Paraguay team that beat Columbia 5-0. Being -3 in goal differential right now the US is in second to last place so we've got to get at least four points out of the next two matches. If the Nats can get that third place spot it'll face the first place team from Group A which will probably be an easier game than if they finish second and play either Brazil or Mexico.

M-BEAR-AH-ZING! :-[ :'( The first half wasn't too bad (1-1), but the latter part of the second have was just sad. Dios mio! (Sorry, I've been watching Univision too long.) Case in point: They sub Lionel Messi off with about 10 minutes left for Carlos Tevez; at the same time we sub Ricardo Clark for Kyle Bekerman. Neither Messi nor Tevez will EVER be mistaken for Clark or Bekerman. The sun will come out tomorrow...

Since a lot of people, including me, don't have TeleFutura or GolTV, I found a link that will show the games (I think). It helps if you can speak Spanish. [Hidden Content] Game one for the US is tomorrow against Mighty Argentina. And when I say Mighty...WOW. They are definitely bringing their A-Team: ------------Abbondanzieri-------------- --Zanetti----Ayala--Milito-----Heinze--- --------------Mascherano-------------- ----Veron----------------Cambiasso---- ---------------Riquelme---------------- ----------Messi-------Crespo----------- If you recognize most of those names, it's because they're all STUDS. Mexico is up 2-0 on Brazil as I'm posting this, too.

For anyone coming out tomorrow, we're going to have to play at the track field on the opposite side of the high school campus past the Performing Arts Center and next to the tennis courts. We had 20+ last week and had a lot of fun. If the weather is OK, it should be fun again.

I think a lot of the Euro-based guys are being called back to their clubs to prepare for the upcoming season, and the USSF doesn't want to hurt the MLS too much by asking many of the studs to miss another couple of weeks to a month. The exceptions to that, though are EJ and TT. I know Eddie is in a contract year and really, really wants to go to Europe and get paid. If anyone overseas is basing their decision on his international performances lately, I'd say good luck in the Polish Second Division, Eddie! As for Twelman, who knows/cares. Maybe Nike struck a deal with him and is going to advertise on his forehead? Another exception is Bornstein, but everyone knows that Bradley either is in love with this guy or is his father. Nothing else explains why this kid keeps getting starts ahead of Spector, Simek, and DeMerit. The first game is against Argentina in the extremely hostile environs of Venezuela. Those poor kids...

[Hidden Content] ;D TEE HEE HEE. Good luck next year, Gunners!

[Hidden Content] After perusing the roster, I'm going to have to retract my earlier statement about how the US would finish second in this group with four points. With this roster I think two points is much more likely. Four points with this B/C team would be a heck of an acheivement. What's incredible is that ten years ago, if we sent our B/C team, we'd consider getting the ball past midfield a major acomplishment! Still, I've never even heard of Charlie Davies. :-\ I'm interested to see Wynn, DeMerit, and Pearce on the backline. The mids look pretty salty. Again, I never thought I'd say the midfield was the strongest aspect of any US team. The forwards..ehhh...I hope Josey, Ferrari, and Johann Smith hurry up and get good.

ME TOO!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Nice call! I don't get TeleFutura so I can't watch the Mexico game. :'( Looking forward, we've gotta replace Heyduk and Bradley for the finals. I suppose Spector and Feilhaber can step into those spots. To the Canada game: Once again, we've got NOBODY up front who can score. We got a PK and goal from a defender, two passes away from a restart. We should just run a 5-5-0 and admit that the US doesn't have a finisher - nor do they have one on the youth level unless Josey Altidore takes some HUGE strides over the next four years. I don't know who the Man of the Match was... No one really stood out above the others. LanDo is always an easy choice. Bradley was solid except for the absolutely needless tackle for the red. EJ did some good things in the field, but for a forward, he sure wasn't up front very much. Gooch was really good at times, but looked awkward at others. Franke got a goal, but he reminds me of that football player on almost every high school soccer team who hustles his butt off, all the parents love his attitude, and does everything the coach asks him to, but he has no soccer IQ, the touch of a bow-legged hippo, and puts more balls in the stands than on his teammate's feet. On the high-school level, I can live with that, but the USNMT has guys on the bench who maybe can't do the beep test like Franke, but they're much more polished. I can tell you who wouldn't get my vote for MOM - Kasey Keller! WOW! He looked like he just got a new pair of feet and was breaking them in tonight. He looked like a freshman thinking about asking the Prom Queen to dance 'cause his friends said they'd give him twenty bucks if he did. I hope this was like a Craig Biggio deal where we let Keller get his 100th cap, pat him on the butt, and send him on his way. Oh well. Looking forward to Sunday!

Alright, I just got into a very heated arguement with myself about the line-up I just posted and decided to change it. I might change my mind in a few minutes, but here we go: ----------Ching--------- DMB------LanDo----Demp ----Bradley-------Pablo-- Spector-Boca-Gooch-Simek ---------Howard--------- This won't happen because Bob Bradley, for various reasons, is in love with Heyduk (the nose?), Bornstein (illegimate son or Chivas USA connection?), and Twellman (that massive planetoid of a head?), but I'd like to see a couple of EPL guys in the defense together who are accostomed to getting into the attack with proper service - not crossing the ball behind the goal or straight to the keeper (Franke) or just hanging back, settling for the five-yard-gimme, and never looking for that killer pass (Bornstein). And I'm not bashing the guy, but if that over-caffinated/bad beard wearing spaz Steve Ralston gets on the field before Mapp or Feilhaber, I'm gonna be PISSED! GO USA! P.S. Just heard that Keller will be getting his 100th cap tonight instead of Howard in goal.

[Hidden Content] On paper, this is the most impressive U 20 roster I have ever seen. Fourteen of 21 are playing professionally! In the past, the roster was always dominated with college guys. Just look at the choices in midfield! "All of the United States’ matches can be seen live on ESPNU, while ESPNU and ESPN360.com will combine to show all 52 games of the tournament, while Galavision will broadcast the USA's second and third group games." Looks like I'm either going to have to learn Spanish or spend a lot of time at Hooters in order to watch these games.

I hope your prediction for tonight's game is correct. The only problem I have with it is that you have Twellman scoring which means he and his smedium jersey (What's up with that TT?) will be on the field. Not a fan of his international game...or EJ's for that matter. Excellent MLSer's, just not very good Nats. I think we should go with the 4-3-2-1 line up: -------Dempsey------- Beez-------------LanDo --Bradly-Pablo-Clark--- Park.-Boca-Gooch-Franke This should neutralize the very, very good Maple Leaf Midfield, and expose Canada's lack of defensive speed with our three attacking guys creating opportunities in stead of waiting for service like Ching and TT so heavily rely on. For any Canadian score, I see a Gooch blunder, a poor clearance by Charles Blackmouth, or Heydude getting caught up-field - either way, DeRo will be a part of it somehow. For a US goal, we'll probably score of a set-piece (bold prediction there!), and I see Dempsey assisting LandyCakes for one goal, and Bradley slotting a perfect thru-ball for DMB and Beasley outrunning the backline for a goal.