Own 2 I's News
This is a pretty special article. Colorado defender Mike Petke writes about his memories of Sept 11 2001. From the teams website.
~and~
US Soccer has appealed to the Spanish Football Federation to rescind their cancellation of the USA match v Catalonia in Barcelona on Oct 14. The USA is also looking for a replacement match if necessary.
As I think back on the first 8 months of the Bob Bradley Team USA era only one thing comes to mind that I do not like. The team has a propensity to be lined up with 2 defensive midfielders. Against Brazil, like several other games, it's been Benny Feilhaber & Michael Bradley. While I like both of these players immensely I just don't think they should be on the field together unless the team is trying to kill off a game. Otherwise we need more offensive firepower on the field, plain and simple. For instance again against Brazil when Bobby Convey & Eddie Johnson were brought on for Josh Wolff & Feilhaber I thought the attack burst to life. Suddenly we had an extra attacker on the field and really took it to them. This would have been a great thing again Sweden last month, not to mention against all those minnows in the Gold Cup. This team has the weapons, Bradley just has to stop being so conservative and go for the throat more often.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 12
DC v Salt Lake - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Thu Sep 13
Chivas v Los Angeles - 10pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alex Zotinca of Chivas will miss the game V LA due to a Red Card suspension.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DC United forward Luciano Emilio has been named MLS Player Of The Week. He scored 4 goals in 2 games last week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As we stand today Jaime Moreno has upped his all-time record MLS goals to 110. Jason Kreis retired earlier this year, so unless something surreal happens he will sit at 108 forever. That leaves Ante Razov in third at 106! Yes he is that close to catching and passing Moreno. So far this season JM has 5 goals, while AR has 8. And I think we all feel Razov has more seasons left in his tank then Moreno has in his.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Amazingly the kid who won the Chivas USA Reality TV Show contract, Jorge Flores, made his debut for the senior team on Sunday v New York. The guy can really play!!! Fantastic to for him and Chivas! (thanks to Matt L for the info)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Can I give you two good reasons why New England has been in an offensive slump lately? Andy Dorman & Steve Ralston. The two of them have not been effect in the past month or two. Dorman has gone especially quiet after starting the season so good. What is the fix for this?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When I was looking at the Houston box score from last weekends game I noticed that midfielder Cory Ashe assisted on all three Nate Jaqua goals. (And yes you read that right - Nate Jaqua with three goals!) But back to Cory Ashe, I have liked this kid since I first saw him when he was with the USA U17 team several years back. His speed is deadly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated answers viewer mail in his usual impressive style. Be warned though, you will have to skip ahead to page three if you want to avoid B****** talk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Metrofanatic calls New York's Claudio Reyna a "Designated Disappointment". Sad, but I totally agree. CR still has a handful of games and hopefully the playoffs to prove it wrong. Here is a frightening stat from the article: "With Reyna on the field this year, Metro's goal difference is -7. Without him it's +9." Wow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet rips the idiotic English press for all the bullshit stories they have been making up about Beckman. Don't the editors and publishers at these fishwrap's have any humility at all?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell at the New York Times Goal blog gives his opinions on some of the excellent newcomers to MLS this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jaime Cardenas of the Los Angeles Times writes about the real problem with attendance and exposure Chivas USA is experiencing despite playing some of the best soccer in the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley uses his First XI column this week to ask "What If?" Some really good ones.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
St Louis suburb Collinsville has taken the next step toward approving the rights to build a stadium for an MLS team. The St Louis Post Dispatch with an article on the proceedings.
-The hopeful owners of the team, St Louis Soccer United, have more details on their website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Hampton Roads Pilot with a pretty wild story on what caused the Virginia Beach Mariners USL First Division team to suddenly fold just weeks before this season began. After reading the story, and then the readers comments that follow, you can tell this is a sad story, and there seems to be plenty more to it than what is written. (thanks to David A for this link)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Women's World Cup
Round 1 of Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Mon Sep 10
Germany 11-0 Argentina - Yes you read that right 11 goals for Germany!
-Tue Sep 11
Japan 2-2 England
USA 2-2 N Korea
Nigeria 1-1 Sweden
-Wed Sep 12
Ghana v Australia
Norway v Canada
New Zealand v Brazil
China v Denmark
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise says the USA & Mexico need to use Brazil as their measuring stick on the world stage, and follow their lead to success.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald News sees the positives in the USA's loss to Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports called the USA performance v Brazil a "breakthrough".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF & CONMEBOL Friendly's
-Tue Sep 11
Australia 0-1 Argentina
Austria 0-2 Chile
-Wed Sep 12
Mexico v Brazil - in Boston
Venezuela v Panama
Honduras v Ecuador
Peru v Bolivia
South Africa v Uruguay
Colombia v Paraguay
Canada v Costa Rica
-Thu Sep 13
Guatemala v Trinidad & Tobago
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Euro 2008 Qualifiers
-Wed Sep 12
Portugal v Serbia
Kazakhstan v Belgium
Finland v Poland
Ukraine v Italy
Lithuania v Faroe Islands
France v Scotland
Turkey v Hungary
Norway v Greece
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Moldova
Slovakia v Wales
Czech Republic v Ireland Republic
Cyprus v San Marino
Macedonia FYR v Estonia
Andorra v Croatia
Spain v Latvia
Iceland v Northern Ireland
Denmark v Liechtenstein
Slovenia v Belarus
Bulgaria v Luxembourg
Albania v Netherlands
Montenegro v Sweden
Azerbaijan v Georgia
England v Russia
Malta v Armenia
Germany v Romania
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
African Nations Cup Qualifiers
-Wed Sep 12
Nigeria v Togo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Serbian Vladimir Petrovic has been hired as the new coach of China's men's team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Someone at a London train station kicked Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson today. Ferguson was not really hurt, but the dude who did the kicking was arrested. Maybe he was just showing SAF his free kick form and accidentally caught the old red nosed bugger in the shin? Coulda happened that way?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian with an article on what Russia & manager Guus Hiddink have up their sleeves for England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
UEFA has gone after 5 teams for crowd trouble during recent Champions League games. Anderlecht, Fenerbache, Lazio, Dinamo Bucharesti & Red Star Belgrade. Pathetically though the largest fine handed out was less than $17,000 US and no one was punished for any of the reported racist behavior.
~and~
US Soccer has appealed to the Spanish Football Federation to rescind their cancellation of the USA match v Catalonia in Barcelona on Oct 14. The USA is also looking for a replacement match if necessary.
As I think back on the first 8 months of the Bob Bradley Team USA era only one thing comes to mind that I do not like. The team has a propensity to be lined up with 2 defensive midfielders. Against Brazil, like several other games, it's been Benny Feilhaber & Michael Bradley. While I like both of these players immensely I just don't think they should be on the field together unless the team is trying to kill off a game. Otherwise we need more offensive firepower on the field, plain and simple. For instance again against Brazil when Bobby Convey & Eddie Johnson were brought on for Josh Wolff & Feilhaber I thought the attack burst to life. Suddenly we had an extra attacker on the field and really took it to them. This would have been a great thing again Sweden last month, not to mention against all those minnows in the Gold Cup. This team has the weapons, Bradley just has to stop being so conservative and go for the throat more often.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 12
DC v Salt Lake - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Thu Sep 13
Chivas v Los Angeles - 10pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alex Zotinca of Chivas will miss the game V LA due to a Red Card suspension.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DC United forward Luciano Emilio has been named MLS Player Of The Week. He scored 4 goals in 2 games last week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As we stand today Jaime Moreno has upped his all-time record MLS goals to 110. Jason Kreis retired earlier this year, so unless something surreal happens he will sit at 108 forever. That leaves Ante Razov in third at 106! Yes he is that close to catching and passing Moreno. So far this season JM has 5 goals, while AR has 8. And I think we all feel Razov has more seasons left in his tank then Moreno has in his.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Amazingly the kid who won the Chivas USA Reality TV Show contract, Jorge Flores, made his debut for the senior team on Sunday v New York. The guy can really play!!! Fantastic to for him and Chivas! (thanks to Matt L for the info)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Can I give you two good reasons why New England has been in an offensive slump lately? Andy Dorman & Steve Ralston. The two of them have not been effect in the past month or two. Dorman has gone especially quiet after starting the season so good. What is the fix for this?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When I was looking at the Houston box score from last weekends game I noticed that midfielder Cory Ashe assisted on all three Nate Jaqua goals. (And yes you read that right - Nate Jaqua with three goals!) But back to Cory Ashe, I have liked this kid since I first saw him when he was with the USA U17 team several years back. His speed is deadly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated answers viewer mail in his usual impressive style. Be warned though, you will have to skip ahead to page three if you want to avoid B****** talk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Metrofanatic calls New York's Claudio Reyna a "Designated Disappointment". Sad, but I totally agree. CR still has a handful of games and hopefully the playoffs to prove it wrong. Here is a frightening stat from the article: "With Reyna on the field this year, Metro's goal difference is -7. Without him it's +9." Wow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet rips the idiotic English press for all the bullshit stories they have been making up about Beckman. Don't the editors and publishers at these fishwrap's have any humility at all?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell at the New York Times Goal blog gives his opinions on some of the excellent newcomers to MLS this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jaime Cardenas of the Los Angeles Times writes about the real problem with attendance and exposure Chivas USA is experiencing despite playing some of the best soccer in the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley uses his First XI column this week to ask "What If?" Some really good ones.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
St Louis suburb Collinsville has taken the next step toward approving the rights to build a stadium for an MLS team. The St Louis Post Dispatch with an article on the proceedings.
-The hopeful owners of the team, St Louis Soccer United, have more details on their website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Hampton Roads Pilot with a pretty wild story on what caused the Virginia Beach Mariners USL First Division team to suddenly fold just weeks before this season began. After reading the story, and then the readers comments that follow, you can tell this is a sad story, and there seems to be plenty more to it than what is written. (thanks to David A for this link)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Women's World Cup
Round 1 of Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Mon Sep 10
Germany 11-0 Argentina - Yes you read that right 11 goals for Germany!
-Tue Sep 11
Japan 2-2 England
USA 2-2 N Korea
Nigeria 1-1 Sweden
-Wed Sep 12
Ghana v Australia
Norway v Canada
New Zealand v Brazil
China v Denmark
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise says the USA & Mexico need to use Brazil as their measuring stick on the world stage, and follow their lead to success.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald News sees the positives in the USA's loss to Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports called the USA performance v Brazil a "breakthrough".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF & CONMEBOL Friendly's
-Tue Sep 11
Australia 0-1 Argentina
Austria 0-2 Chile
-Wed Sep 12
Mexico v Brazil - in Boston
Venezuela v Panama
Honduras v Ecuador
Peru v Bolivia
South Africa v Uruguay
Colombia v Paraguay
Canada v Costa Rica
-Thu Sep 13
Guatemala v Trinidad & Tobago
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Euro 2008 Qualifiers
-Wed Sep 12
Portugal v Serbia
Kazakhstan v Belgium
Finland v Poland
Ukraine v Italy
Lithuania v Faroe Islands
France v Scotland
Turkey v Hungary
Norway v Greece
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Moldova
Slovakia v Wales
Czech Republic v Ireland Republic
Cyprus v San Marino
Macedonia FYR v Estonia
Andorra v Croatia
Spain v Latvia
Iceland v Northern Ireland
Denmark v Liechtenstein
Slovenia v Belarus
Bulgaria v Luxembourg
Albania v Netherlands
Montenegro v Sweden
Azerbaijan v Georgia
England v Russia
Malta v Armenia
Germany v Romania
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
African Nations Cup Qualifiers
-Wed Sep 12
Nigeria v Togo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Serbian Vladimir Petrovic has been hired as the new coach of China's men's team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Someone at a London train station kicked Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson today. Ferguson was not really hurt, but the dude who did the kicking was arrested. Maybe he was just showing SAF his free kick form and accidentally caught the old red nosed bugger in the shin? Coulda happened that way?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian with an article on what Russia & manager Guus Hiddink have up their sleeves for England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
UEFA has gone after 5 teams for crowd trouble during recent Champions League games. Anderlecht, Fenerbache, Lazio, Dinamo Bucharesti & Red Star Belgrade. Pathetically though the largest fine handed out was less than $17,000 US and no one was punished for any of the reported racist behavior.
posted by brucio at 21:57
6 Comments:
Dear Bruce, I was at the game Lazio vs Dinamo Bucharest, and I can assure you that no racist booh was screamed from the tribunes. Unfortunately Lazio is fighting with the roman press, entirely pro asroma (this is not victimism), which at half time of that game was already writing about racist chants. Liars.
The president of Lazio, Claudio Lotito, has been fighting racist supporters since his first day, and he won the battle last year. The bosses are at home arrest since last year (even if the president now nedd to walk around with protection). This is the reason why UEFA imposed us only a small fee, due to a loud "little bomb" thrown on the tartan around the field.
Franco - MLSItaly
I pray that I can come visit one day in my life!
I don't necessarilly think Benny and Bradley are a bad pariring in MF; Benny has shown great potential as a passer of the ball--moreso than Bradley. I think a Bradley and Matroeni pairing (which I seem to recall seeing vs Sweden, though I may be misremembering) is more emblematic of your concern. Either way, Rico Clark is probably deserves to get in the central MF.
Re Convey and EJ: I dunno, man. I thought Convey looked pretty poor. Maybe he stirred things up a little, but it was more in the Justin Mapp mold, all the commotion ending in whimpers (and I'll skip his ducking on th ronaldinho set piece--wasn't that hard of a shot, though). And our second goal was in spite of EJ. He got the ball and did his typical national team routine of taking himself out of the attack with his first touch. We just got lucky that EJ's touch went slightly astray and to Donovan, who smartly chipped in ahead of Cherundolo, who was making a wonderful run. I love Bobby, but he need to get hs game sharp again at Reading. As for EJ, perma-sub status.
Talking about Ives' article, him saying the national team will do well to build the team around Boca, Bradley and Dempsey...he's leaving out a very important lynchpin there in the name of one Landon Donovan. Bradley/Benny as our midfield engine just won't get it done without Donovan on the field. Dempsey doesn't score his goal vs. Brazil without Donovan on the field. I know it's the cool, popular thing to do nowadays, to downplay Donovan's role on the team. But he is still the key attacking player that in his absence, the attack frankly sputters.
As always, great post Bruce. I am a daily reader/user of your blog. keep it up!
excellent info from you Franco
thanks very much for sharing your thoughts and giving us another perspective on things in rome and at lazio
grazie amico
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