Monday, June 27, 2011

Some News for Mon Jun 27, 2011

STARTERS

Mexico is the Gold Cup champions. Huge congrats to them on a roaring comeback win crushing their rivals the USA. Hurra Cerveza!

dN

In a whopper of a deal DC United has acquired Dwayne DeRosario from New York in exchange for Dax McCarty.

dN

In a stunning upset River Plate has been relegated to the second division (B Nacional) in Argentina for the first time in their 110 year existence.
-To put into context that would be like Liverpool or Manchester United being sent down in England.
-The aftermath saw chaos in the streets of Buenos Aires as people rioted around the stadium. The final tally looked like this: 2 cops with fractured skulls, 15 cars torched, 75 arrests, and nearly 100 injured taken to hospitals.

dN

The USA U17 team tied for 2nd place in their group with New Zealand. And when I say tied, I mean tied in every tie breaker. So how did the USA get the 2nd place seed in the knock out rounds? The drew straws. I kid you not.
-The USA is now stuffed into a foursome of Germany, Argentina and England, facing Germany in the next round, and if they win taking on the winner of the other two, just to get to the Semifinals where the most likely opponent would be the host team - MEXICO!

dN

LA Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts suffered a broken left arm and will be out of the line up 6 weeks or so.
-With back up Josh Saunders serving a suspension for a red card next week, who will tend the nets, and don't say Mike Magee. Odds are strong that Brian Perk will make his pro debut.

STORIES OF THE DAY

Part 1:
None other than Jonathan Wilson of Sports Illustrated tells us what happened to the USA.

dN

Part 2:
Marcela Mora y Araujo of Sports Illustrated writes about the melt down in Buenos Aires after River Plate lost and got relegated.

TEAM USA

Gold Cup

The USA faced their #1 nemesis Mexico in the Copa Oro title game and were smashed to bit.

The USA had a 2-0 lead at one point and seemingly threw it all away.

dN

The official team blog.

dN

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

Matches & Scores:
Final
-Sat Jun 25
USA 2-4 Mexico - USA goals by Michael Bradley & Landon Donovan. Mex goals by Pablo Barrera(2), Andres Guardado & Giovanni Dos Santos.
Venue: Rose Bowl - Pasadena CA
Attendance: 93,420

Match report from US Soccer. (Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom to see who they named as USA Man of the Match. Wow.)
Post game analysis by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Paul Kennedy of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated.
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Post game analysis by Jere Longman of the New York Times.

dN

The only question I have remaining about this match is a repeat: Why was Mexico allowed to replace 5 players that were kicked out of the tournament for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs? And when will we see the results of tests on those players B samples?

dN

All team rosters

USA AT THE 2011 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

Germany 2011 is under way.

The USA is in Group C with Colombia, North Korea and Sweden, and play their first game tomorrow.

The USA women will bring all their power and experience and try to make the soccer world theirs again. Check out this cool clip Nike created: Pressure Makes Us.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 28
USA v N Korea
-Sat Jul 2
USA v Colombia
-Wed Jul 6
USA v Sweden

COPA AMERICA

2011 Copa America will kick off on Jul 1.

Tim Vickery of the BBC previews the tournament that has at times produced some of the greatest football on the planet.

The 10 CONMEBOL teams will be joined by guests Mexico and Costa Rica (who CONCACAF has ordered to only bring U23 teams.)

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 1
Argentina v Bolivia

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Why is there a banner with Bill Murray's face (Stripes era) on it hanging behind Bouna Coundoul at Red Bull Arena?

click to enlarge



NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! (READ IN SLOW MOTION)

Coming up on Wednesday the MLS Toilet Bowl!

The battle of #17 versus #18 will tell us who is the worst team in the league at the mid-way point of the season.

-Wed Jun 29
Toronto FC v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field

THATS WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

My man Steve Davis on his blog Daily Soccer Fix gives some words of advice to the owners of the New England Revolution, on fan appreciation.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

We have proof that Stan Kroenke knows who the Colorado Rapids are. Yes he is the owner, but he is elusive and few of us outside CO have ever scene proof of him in the same vacinity of his team. The team met President Obama at the White House today in honor of their MLS Cup victory. Great stuff.

















One more thing - what the hell is Tyrone Marshall doing in that picture??? He wasn't on the team last year. Excellent move on his part. I approve!

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 15

Matches & Scores
-Wed Jun 22
Philadelphia Union 0-0 Sporting Kansas City
Venue: PPL Park
Attendance: 18,127
Chicago Fire SC 0-0 Real Salt Lake
Venue: Toyota Park
Attendance: 14,972
-Thu Jun 23
Seattle Sounders FC 4-2 New York Red Bulls - SS goals by Eric Frieburg, Osvaldo Alonso & Roger Levesque(2). NYRB goals by Dane Richards & Zach Scott(OG).
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Attendance: 46,065
-Sat Jun 25
DC United 2-2 Houston Dynamo - DCU goals by Chris Pontius & Charlie Davies. HD goals by Brad Davis(PK) & Brian Ching.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Attendance: 15,734
San Jose Earthquakes 0-0 LA Galaxy
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Attendance: 10,872
Philadelphia Union 3-2 CD Chivas USA - PU goals by Veljko Paunovic, Carlos Ruiz & Danny Mwanga. CUSA goals by Michael Umana & Justin Braun.
Venue: PPL Park
Attendance: 18,139
FC Dallas 4-0 Portland Timbers - FCD goals by Zach Lloyd, George John, Brek Shea & Jackson.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Attendance: 10,470
Sporting Kansas City 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - SKC goals by Omar Bravo(PK) & Julio Cesar. VW goal by Camillo.
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Attendance: 18,467
Real Salt Lake 3-1 Toronto FC - RSL goals by Nat Borchers & Alvaro Saborio(2). TFC goal by Maicon Santos.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Attendance: 15,077
-Sun Jun 26
Chicago Fire SC 1-1 New York Red Bulls - CF goal by Marco Pappa. NYRB goal by Joel Lindpere.
Venue: Toyota Park
Attendance: 16,961
Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 New England Revolution - SS goals by Tyson Wahl & Alvaro Fernandez. NER goal by Sainey Nyassi.
Venue: Qwest Field
Attendance: 36,212
Columbus Crew 4-1 Colorado Rapids - CC goals by Eddie Gaven, Andres Mendoza(2) & Tom Heinemann. CR goal by Conor Casey.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Attendance: 10,771

dN

EJECTIONS:
-Conor Casey - Colorado - red card
-Josh Saunders - Los Angeles - red card

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
26 Philadelphia Union (+5 GD) (16 GP)
24 Columbus Crew (+3 GD) (16 GP)
24 New York Red Bulls (+6 GD) (17 GP)
19 Houston Dynamo (-1 GD) (17 GP)
18 DC United (-6 GD) (15 GP)
17 Sporting Kansas City (-2 GD) (15 GP)
17 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (17 GP)
15 New England Revolution (-8 GD) (17 GP)
15 Toronto FC (-13 GD) (18 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
35 LA Galaxy (+10 GD) (19 GP)
31 FC Dallas (+7 GD) (17 GP)
31 Seattle Sounders FC (+7 GD) (19 GP)
26 Real Salt Lake (+9 GD) (15 GP)
22 Colorado Rapids (-2 GD) (17 GP)
20 San Jose Earthquakes (+3 GD) (15 GP)
18 Portland Timbers (-8 GD) (15 GP)
17 CD Chivas USA (-1 GD) (16 GP)
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-6 GD) (17 GP)

DU NORD PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND OTHER STUFF

Mike Magee of Los Angeles started the game on Saturday at forward as usual, but after goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts injured his elbow in the 24th minute, and back up Josh Saunders got a red card in the 43rd minute, it was Magee who pulled on the black jersey and gloves to not only keep San Jose scoreless but also made 4 saves along the way! Not forgetting that they played that whole time with only 10 players, and on the road in front of a record Buck Shaw Stadium crowd.

MY THOUGHTS

Win another home win Kansas City has moved up from 9th place to 6th place in the Eastern Conference.

dN

And with a 10th game in a row without a win New York finally fell from 1st place to 3rd place in the East.

dN

Toronto fell into last place in the East, and worse yet they have given up the most goals in the whole league.

dN

Dallas have moved to within 4 pts of league leaders LA, and they have 2 games in hand.

dN

Beyond the broken arm suffered by LA keeper Donovan Ricketts there were more injuries this weekend of note:
-Brad Davis - Houston - came off at half time due to a groin strain, and injury that can be a nag for a long time if you don't get enough rest.
-Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado - left the game yesterday in the 16th min but no one seems to want to say what the injury is.
-Jeff Parke - Seattle - left the game early due to a migraine. No word on his condition.

dN

3 teams took leads on the road and then found a way to lose:
-Chivas USA: scored first, then tied it up again at 2 only to lose in Philly 3-2.
-New England: grabbed a goal in the opening moments, then got rolled 2-1 in Seattle.
-Colorado: got the opening goal then lost 4-1 at Columbus.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Soccer America reports that the league has levied 3 big fines that will send a message to others around the league.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated with five things we learned from Week 15.

dN

The league has named Mike Magee the Player Of The Week.
-If figured Roger Levesque was a lock for that one.

CHICAGO FIRE

Six home tie games in a row for the Fire. Oof.

DC UNITED

DCU bought centerback/defensive midfielder Brandon McDonald from San Jose today.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The Honolulu Star Advertiser with a great story on their native hero Brian Ching who has struggled all season long with injuries. (thanks to David for the link)

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Big Apple Soccer has quotes from midfielder Joel Lindpere who is one peeved Bull. "It's not fun anymore."

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Steve Kelley of the Times on the contribution to the Sounders made by reserve forward Roger Levesque.

TORONTO FC

The Star on goalkeeper-by-day and artist-by-night Stefan Frei.

Midfielder Alen Stevanovic has left the club to return to Torino in Italy where he had been on loan from. Can you believe they were on the hook for $250,000 for this guy?
-Will they spend it any more wisely this time around?

Luke Wileman of TSN tells us about TFC's new academy home that is currently being built.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun looks at where the Caps stand at the exact half way point of their schedule.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Rumor season is really starting to hot up!

Soccer 365 with whispers on Oguchi Onyewu, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Lucas Neill, Chad Marshall, Danny Koevermans, David Beckham, Sulley Muntari and much much more.

IF MLS HAD SINGLE TABLE STANDINGS

35 LA Galaxy
31 FC Dallas
31 Seattle Sounders FC
26 Real Salt Lake
26 Philadelphia Union
24 Columbus Crew
24 New York Red Bulls
22 Colorado Rapids
20 San Jose Earthquakes
19 Houston Dynamo
18 DC United
18 Portland Timbers
17 Sporting Kansas City
17 CD Chivas USA
17 Chicago Fire SC
15 New England Revolution
15 Toronto FC
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC

NASL NEWS

Last place Atlanta thought they got off to the right start on Saturday night by scoring the opening goal against first place Carolina. Then they gave up five goals in a row to Carolina who won for the 9th straight game!

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 25
Atlanta Silverbacks 1-5 Carolina RailHawks - AS goal by Matt Horth. CRH goals by Etienne Barbara, Nick Zimmerman(2), Chris Nurse & Brad Rusin.
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1-1 Puerto Rico Islanders - FLS goal by Martin Nunez. PRI goal by Jonathan Fana.
-Sun Jun 26
FC Edmonton 1-0 Montreal Impact - FCE goal by Kyle Porter.
-Wed Jun 29
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v FC Tampa Bay
Montreal Impact v Puerto Rico Islanders

dN

Standings (as of Sun Jun 26):
34 Carolina RailHawks (+20 GD) (13 GP) 2.62 PPG
23 FC Edmonton (+3 GD) (13 GP) 1.77 PPG
18 Puerto Rico Islanders (-1 GD) (12 GP) 1.50 PPG
18 NSC Minnesota Stars (+2 GD) (13 GP) 1.38 PPG
16 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+2 GD) (12 GP) 1.33 PPG
13 FC Tampa Bay (-6 GD) (12 GP) 1.08 PPG
9 Montreal Impact (-2 GD) (12 GP) 0.75 PPG
5 Atlanta Silverbacks (-18 GD) (13 GP) 0.38 PPG

US OPEN CUP

Third Round

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 28
New York Red Bulls v FC New York
Rochester Rhinos v Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew v Richmond Kickers
Real Salt Lake v Wilmington Hammerheads
FC Dallas v Orlando City
Sporting Kansas City v Chicago Fire PDL
LA Galaxy v Los Angeles Blues
Seattle Sounders v Kitsap Pumas

SOCCER IN AMERICA

The Fort Wayne News Sentinel with an article on their main man DaMarcus Beasley.

USA U17 TEAM

U17 World Cup

The USA advances to the Round of 16 and gets stuck with high flying Germany.

dN

The official team blog.

dN

Matches & Scores
-Sun Jun 19
USA 3-0 Czech Republic - USA goals by Aljedanro Guido, Esteban Rodriquez & Alfredo Koroma.
-Wed Jun 22
USA 1-2 Uzbekistan - USA goal by Alfred Koroma, Uzb goals by Bobir Davlatov & Abbosbek Makhstaliev(PK).
-Sat Jun 25
USA 0-0 New Zealand
Match report from US Soccer.
-Thu Jun 30
Germany v USA

dN

Standings
GROUP D
3 Czech Republic
4 New Zealand
4 USA
6 Uzbekistan

dN

USA roster
G:
Wade Hamilton - Arsenal FC
Kendall McIntosh - San Jose Earthquakes Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Joe Amon - South Carolina United
Zach Carroll - Vardar
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
M:
Matt Dunn - FC Cologne
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids Academy
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
F:
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Alfred Koroma - Solar SC
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs

MEXICO 2011 - USA U17 WORLD CUP

June 18 to July 10.

All 6 groups have now been completed.

dN

So after 3 rounds they only eliminate 6 of 24 teams, doesn't hardly seem worthwhile to me.
-Who is out: Netherlands, Jamaica, Rwanda, Czech Republic, Burkina Faso, Denmark, Canada & N Korea.

dN

Official website

All games are shown on ESPN3.com, and some are shown on TV channel ESPNU.

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores
-Sat Jun 18
Congo 1-0 Netherlands
France 3-0 Argentina
Mexico 3-1 N Korea
Japan 1-0 Jamaica
-Sun Jun 19
Rwanda 0-2 England
Uzbekistan 1-4 New Zealand
Uruguay 3-0 Canada
USA 3-0 Czech Republic
-Mon Jun 20
Germany 6-1 Ecuador
Brazil 3-0 Denmark
Burkina Faso 0-1 Panama
Australia 2-1 Cote d'Ivoire
-Tue Jun 21
N Korea 1-1 Netherlands
Japan 1-1 France
Mexico 2-1 Congo
Jamaica 1-2 Argentina
-Wed Jun 22
Uruguay 1-0 Rwanda
USA 1-2 Uzbekistan
Canada 2-2 England
Czech Republic 1-0 New Zealand
-Thu Jun 23
Burkina Faso 0-3 Germany
Australia 0-1 Brazil
Panama 1-2 Ecuador
Cote d'Ivoire 4-2 Denmark
-Fri Jun 24
Japan 3-1 Argentina
Jamaica 1-1 France
N Korea 1-1 Congo
Mexico 3-2 Netherlands
-Sat Jun 25
Uruguay 0-2 England
Canada 0-0 Rwanda
USA 0-0 New Zealand
Czech Republic 1-2 Uzbekistan
-Sun Jun 26
Burkina Faso 0-2 Ecuador
Panama 0-2 Germany
Cote d'Ivoire 3-3 Brazil
-Mon Jun 27
Australia 1-1 Denmark

dN

Standings
GROUP A
9 Mexico
4 Congo
OUT-2 N Korea
OUT-1 Netherlands
GROUP B
7 Japan
5 France
3 Argentina
OUT-1 Jamaica
GROUP C
7 England
6 Uruguay
OUT-2 Canada
OUT-1 Rwanda
GROUP D
6 Uzbekistan
4 USA
4 New Zealand
OUT-3 Czech Republic
GROUP E
9 Germany
6 Ecuador
3 Panama
OUT-0 Burkina Faso
GROUP F
7 Brazil
4 Cote d'Ivoire
4 Australia
OUT-1 Denmark

dN

Round Of 16

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 29
1 Congo v Uruguay
2 Uzbekistan v Australia
3 Japan v New Zealand
4 Brazil v Ecuador
-Thu Jun 30
5 Germany v USA - 3pm CT on ESPN3.com
6 England v Argentina
7 France v Cote d'Ivoire
8 Mexico v Panama

dN

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jul 3
Winner 1 v Winner 2
Winner 3 v Winner 4
-Mon Jul 4
Winner 5 v Winner 6
Winner 7 v Winner 8

dN

Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 7
Winner 1/2 v Winner 3/4
Winner 5/6 v Winner 7/8

dN

Final

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jul 10
Championship Game

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Huge game for Mikkel Diskerud who scored 2 goals for Stabaek in a 3-3 road draw.

dN

Game Action:

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Joe Bendik - Sogndal - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Fredrikstad.
Sean Cunningham - Molde - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they lost 1-0 at Odd Grenland.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - Sun Jun 26 - went the distance scoring 2 goals as they drew 3-3 at Tromso.
Josh Gatt - Molde - Sun Jun 26 - came on as a sub to start the 2nd half but they lost 1-0 at Odd Grenland.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Ranheim.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Sun Jun 26 - went the distance in a 2-0 win v Hodd.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Sun Jun 26 - started but came out at half time as they lost 1-0 at Bodo/Glimt.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Hodd.

RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - Tom' Tomsk - Sun Jun 26 - came on as a sub in the 56th min but they lost 0-3 v Volga.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Gale Agbossoumonde - Djurgarden - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Hacken.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Mon Jun 27 - played the full match getting a yellow card but losing 1-2 v Helsingborg.
Samuel Petrone - Mjallby - Sun Jun 26 - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Orebro.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - Sat Jun 25 - went the distance and won 5-0 v Brage.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - Mon Jun 27 - played the full 90 but lost 1-3 v Brommapojkarna.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelhom - Mon Jun 27 - played the full game as they won 0-1 at Hammarby.
Michael Thomas - Ljungskile - Mon Jun 27 - went the distance as they lost 1-3 v Brommapojkarna.

dN

Coming Up:

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Sean Cunningham - Molde - Wed Jun 29 at Valerenga
Josh Gatt - Molde - Wed Jun 29 at Valerenga

ENGLAND

Manchester United has a completed a deal with Atletico Madrid to sign goalkeeper David de Gea.

CONMEBOL

The countries have been playing warm up friendlies in prep for the Copa America which begins Fri Jul 1.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 25
Colombia 2-0 Senegal
-Tue Jun 28
Peru v Senegal

ARGENTINA

River Plate could only manage a draw in the Second Leg of their promotion/relegation playoff with Belgrano and have been relegated on a 3-1 aggregated score. WOW!

Mark Fleming of the Independent on the chaos in the streets that followed River's loss.
-Team president Daniel Passarella told the supporters he is not quiting: "I will have to be taken from here in a body bag."

San Martin San Juan and Gimnasia La Plata are the other two teams in a playoff to go up or down.

Matches & Scores
1st Leg
-Sun Jun 26
San Martin San Juan 1-0 Gimnasia La Plata
2nd Leg
-Sat Jun 25
River Plate 1-1 Belgrano - Bel wins the series 3-1 and is promoted to the Primera.
-Wed Jun 29
Gimnasia La Plata v San Martin San Juan (0-1)

dN

Quilmes and Huracan have already been relegated.

dN

Atletico de Rafaela and Union de Santa Fe have been promoted from B Nacional (the 2nd division.)

THE FIFA SCANDAL STORY NEVER ENDS

Well respected senior soccer journalist Brian Glanville writing for the Gulf News weighs in on the FIFA-carcas.

JACK WARNER MANIA

No longer a member of the world soccer community in any way, Jack was chopped down another rung of the ladder today when the Trinidad government took away half of his roll as a senior cabinet member. Warner had been the Minister of Transportation and Works, but Transportation was removed from his plate. He is now Minister of Works, and the goverment is still feeling tons of pressure to releave Jack of his duties all together.

Seem to me that no one has liked Jack for a very very long time, but they never had the guts to stand up to him. Now that one person, his long time sidekick Chuck Blazer, has turned on him, they are all lining up to take their shots.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been under heavy political pressure to make many changes in her goverment, Warner's being just one of 16 changes made yesterday.

BIG PIMPIN

To celebrate the most American of holidays, we are proud to present our Bumpy Pitch Fourth of July t-shirt.

Although this shirt is clearly inspired by the Fourth of July, the major undertone is the idea of celebrating independence in general.

As an independent brand, we wanted to explore the idea of independence. We feel like there is an amazing spirit of independence that exists and we wanted to celebrate this notion via the medium of a t-shirt graphic.

So celebrate the amazing and liberating notion of independence with us. But don't wait too long. These shirts are limited in numbers and once they are gone, they won't be coming back.


Celebrate Independence!!

8 Comments:

Anonymous Bill Urban said...

Bruce:

In the WWC section, the US plays its first match tomorrow, rather than 8 days in the future.

As an aside, Du Nord word verification: chumies. Candy shared amongst FIFA executives...

8:44 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

bill:

thank you for being smart!

8:47 PM  
Blogger Zathras said...

You know what stuck with me about that Mexican team and the way they played? They just played. There wasn't the histrionics, the diving, the whining that accompanied their teams for years. I said after the 2009 Gold Cup final that I was frustrated with how much they whined rather than playing the game, and observed that as soon as they stopped doing so, they scored. Credit goes to these young guys for keeping their heads not only as young players, but also as opposed to the older, veteran, ostensibly "cooler heads" around them. If they keep the mentality and play like this, they'll be quite a force to be reckoned with.

9:15 PM  
Anonymous humberto Gutierrez said...

B samples on the mexican players have been out for a while now. It seems the english USA media doesn't care enough to report on it.

FYI, all negative. FIFA says they will try to help the players, as the sanctions do not come from them but some other agency whose name i now forget.

Nice to see my beloved Mexican team get back to #1 in the region in convincing fashion.

9:20 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

i think Zathras is right on the money

and of course we can always count on humberto to come through with the truth

thanks guys

10:39 PM  
Blogger kgaard said...

Hi Bruce,

Just fyi, the Red Bulls beat New England a few weeks ago, so it's one win in ten, not games without a win. Not that that's much better ...

10:35 AM  
Anonymous Jester said...

Bruce,
Another quick correction.
Pablo Mastroeni did not come ut in the 16th minute. He came out with 16 minutes remaining. He wasn't injured, he's 1 yellow away from suspension. No point in keeping him in a game that is beyond lost.

11:00 AM  
Blogger brucio said...

thank you jester

it never seemed right to me when i researched and wrote it
i watched the game and i didn't remember anything happening, but i read the match report and that is what it said
so i went with it

11:02 AM  

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