Starting Lineups For The US/Italy Confederations Cup Game

[bullets13]

Lineups

The starting lineups have been announced.

GK: Howard

D: Spector, Onyewu, DeMerit, Bornstein

M: Dempsey, Feilhaber, Clark, Bradley, Donovan

F: Altidore

Italy's going with:

GK: Buffon

D: Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso

M: Gennaro Gattuso, De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo

F: Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino, Mauro Camoranesi

[bullets13]

felt like the US got hosed a bit.  the red card was not a terrible call, but could just as easily been a yellow.  on top of that, if that's a red, the elbow to donovan's face two minutes later should be a red, and an argument could have been made for a red on our PK as it was last man back.  i also thought Donovan being used as a ladder in the box in the second half was a clearer penalty than the first call, but it wasn't called.  all that being said, i felt like the US played really well.  they were beaten by three great strikes, although gooch was to blame for the second goal.  the US played well considering the circumstances, and deserved a tie.  What a talent Rossi is!  two incredible strikes!  can you imagine if he'd decided to play for the US?  we'd have a legit goal scorer, which i honestly believe would be enough to put us in the top ten in the world. 

[Guest setxgal]

That was pushing it for a red.......but gotta love soccer!!!!! ;D ;D

[Gabe]

:'( - That's me crying for ya'll

[bullets13]

:'( - That's me crying for ya'll

i hope you get as fat as your kids.

[Guest setxgal]

Yeah and I hope their moms are cuter than a female pau gasol

[Gabe]

Yeah and I hope their moms are cuter than a female pau gasol

I'll start looking for her right away ;D

[Guest setxgal]

Well at least the "gabe" did post in the soccer forum. And heard a rumor u even knew the score. Ur a closet soccer fan. Ssshhhhhh no one tell!!! :)

[RonBurgundy68]

The U.S. played with heart and desire for once, and it showed... The entire first half, they controlled and had 2 legit scoring chances in the box that ended up being wiffs by Jozy and Bradley, so in reality the score should've been 3-0 at the end of the first half... The goals in the second half could have been prevented, but Rossi's shot was insane... If only somebody would have pulled their head out of their you know what and stepped up and put some pressure on both shots, then I guarantee you the shot wouldn't have went in... But regardless, the U.S. played very well... Jozy, Landon, Bradley, and Spector all stood out in my mind...

[Gabe]

This is my honest, not-making fun post of US soccer.

Do you wonder why the US' best soccer player is about 5'8? Because our best athletes do not play soccer. America's best athletes play football, basketball and baseball way before soccer. European kids play soccer first. I don't know his name but one of our best soccer players is on the Italian team is he not? It switches though because the best European basketball players come to play in the NBA. Soccer is simply not the first choice of American kids and hate to say probably never will. It is not in our culture. The US will not beat the European teams on a regular basis because of this happening.

[KFDM COOP]

Cowherd just said that on ESPN about our best Athletes.

[Gabe]

Cowherd just said that on ESPN about our best Athletes.

Well I was listening to Ron White on Sirius LOL

[Guest setxgal]

I knew that was too much thought about soccer from you Gabe! Thanks for busting him coop!

[Gabe]

I was listening to Ron White thank you! All I heard of ESPN Radio today was him mention they would talk about US soccer players. I even texted SOMEONE about that too  . I never get busted, cause I never get caught with my hand in the cookie jar 

[bullets13]

This is my honest, not-making fun post of US soccer.

Do you wonder why the US' best soccer player is about 5'8? Because our best athletes do not play soccer. America's best athletes play football, basketball and baseball way before soccer. European kids play soccer first. I don't know his name but one of our best soccer players is on the Italian team is he not? It switches though because the best European basketball players come to play in the NBA. Soccer is simply not the first choice of American kids and hate to say probably never will. It is not in our culture. The US will not beat the European teams on a regular basis because of this happening.

i agree and disagree.  i won't say that our soccer players aren't some of the best athletes just because they're 5'8''.  being 6'10'' and a good athlete doesn't mean that a basketball player is a better athlete than a guy under 6 feet tall that can run 5 or more miles in a 90 minute game, do things with his feet that most can't do with their hands, and compete in a game that is much more physical than people give it credit for being.  that being said, if i'm a 6'6'' gifted athlete, and i'm good enough to make it in the pros in both soccer and another sport, the odds are that the other sport will pay me ten times more to go in that direction.  the thing that sets soccer apart in my mind from other sports is that it requires a tremendous amount of both skill AND athletic ability.  in most other sports you can get by on one or the other (or sometimes neither, if you're tall enough). that doesn't mean that there aren't athletes in other sports who possess both qualities, because obviously every sport has a ton of athletes who are both skilled and athletic.  i'm just saying that every other sport has a large share of players who either excel because they're tall or huge, or just highly skilled.

[RonBurgundy68]

More often than not, an average joe can go out on a basketball court, pick up a ball and be somewhat know what they are doing at the end of the day... I've seen many, MANY people try to do the same on the soccer field, and it doesn't happen... Just an example, and that's not me being biased because I'm a soccer player either...

[Bon_Mot]

Do you wonder why the US' best soccer player is about 5'8? Because our best athletes do not play soccer. America's best athletes play football, basketball and baseball way before soccer. European kids play soccer first.  The US will not beat the European teams on a regular basis because of this happening.

LandyCakes may be the media darling, but he is the A-Rod of US soccer. 

Check out these guy's measureables.  Not only are they built like athletes, they all play in Europe with the rest of the best of the world:

Altidore, Jozy F 6-1 175

Bocanegra, Carlos D 6-0 170

Bradley, Michael M 6-2 175

Dempsey, Clint F 6-1 170

Edu, Maurice M 6-0 170

Howard, Tim GK 6-3 210

Onyewu, Oguchi D 6-4 210

Spector, Jonathan D 6-0 180

Guzan, Brad GK 6-4 210

Hahnemann, Marcus GK 6-3 220

When you say "Americas best athletes play football, basketball, and baseball."  I'll give you football and basketball, but professional success in those sports is almost neccessitated by a certain body type.  Lionel Messi (currently the best soccer player in the world) would never be successful at either, but does that mean he's not an athlete? Does "athlete" only mean freakishly big or fast?  Are golfers athletes?  What about hockey players?

And America doesn't have a monopoly on baseball anymore, unless you mean North America...and Asia.

[sahen]

More often than not, an average joe can go out on a basketball court, pick up a ball and be somewhat know what they are doing at the end of the day... I've seen many, MANY people try to do the same on the soccer field, and it doesn't happen... Just an example, and that's not me being biased because I'm a soccer player either...

that could be because your average joe in the usa has some experience with basketball and played a little when younger while the same guy probably never played or thought about playing soccer...if you go give a bunch of brazilian kids a basketball they are gonna drop it on the ground and kick it around....the brazilian average joe would prolly be much better off kicking it around than shooting hoops...just a thought...some of the differences is culture driven...soccer is definitely a difficult sport to master, but i'd argue that the basics of it are just as basic as football or basketball, but if you live in a culture that only plays football and basketball you are a lot better with your hands than your feet while if you live in a country that plays soccer your a lot better with your feet than your hands...you have to develop that coordination either way, it doesnt jsut happen...

[bullets13]

More often than not, an average joe can go out on a basketball court, pick up a ball and be somewhat know what they are doing at the end of the day... I've seen many, MANY people try to do the same on the soccer field, and it doesn't happen... Just an example, and that's not me being biased because I'm a soccer player either...

that could be because your average joe in the usa has some experience with basketball and played a little when younger while the same guy probably never played or thought about playing soccer...if you go give a bunch of brazilian kids a basketball they are gonna drop it on the ground and kick it around....the brazilian average joe would prolly be much better off kicking it around than shooting hoops...just a thought...some of the differences is culture driven...soccer is definitely a difficult sport to master, but i'd argue that the basics of it are just as basic as football or basketball, but if you live in a culture that only plays football and basketball you are a lot better with your hands than your feet while if you live in a country that plays soccer your a lot better with your feet than your hands...you have to develop that coordination either way, it doesnt jsut happen...

a good point, but most people use their feet for walking and running, and little else.  every day people use their hands to do hundreds of different skills, so when you take a basketball or a football and put it in their hands, they'll have some sort of muscle memory that will help them.  when it comes to soccer, the skill set is completely foreign to someone who's never played soccer.  give me a 10 year old who's never played soccer OR basketball, and i'll give you a child that begins to succeed in basketball MUCH quicker than in soccer.