The United States announced its final World Cup roster Wednesday.
While there were some positions up for grabs, primarily depth roles and the second striker along with Jozy Altidore, most of this team won their seats on the plan to South Africa during the qualifying round.
It was a given the likes of Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Altidore were locks to make the team. Still there were a few surprises, pleasant and otherwise, that made the final roster. A full breakdown can be found here.
My first thought when looking at the roster is the US may employ a 4-5-1 system for periods of the World Cup, leaving Altidore up front with either Dempsey or Donovan playing in the hole between the midfield and the 20-year old.
Based upon the form Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez have shown with their respective club teams they deserved a spot on the team. Whether they deserve on the field June 12 when the Americans play England remains to be seen.
“As we move toward the World Cup, players that are on a roll come in handy,” Bradley told ESPN about taking Buddle and Gomez.
Their selection means Floridian Eddie Johnson did not make the final roster. The Flagler County product was a long shot after sustaining a hamstring injury during training camp then being ineffective in a May 25 appearance against the Czech Republic.
Not only did the Americans take just four forwards, but Bob Bradley selected nine midfielders. But with the choices available to him at forward, it’s hard to begrudge the coach with a 35-19-6 record as head coach of the national team.
What may be of bigger concern for the team is the defense. Despite three of the probable starters having World Cup experience, injury and ineffectiveness, or a combination of the two, may keep the U.S. from advancing past the group stage.
Captain Carlos Bocanegra is coming off a hernia injury. Right back Steve Cherundolo made his first appearance for the national team Tuesday after sustaining a shoulder injury in January. Then there is towering centerback Oguchi “Gooch” Onyewu who is returning from a knee injury suffered in the last qualifying match back in October.
Cherundolo and Gooch both played against the Czechs, turning in performances that may have left some fans wanting.
Cherundolo got forward well from the right and partnered with Stuart Holden to provide width and an offensive option going forward. Though he punted the ball in the air a little too much for my liking, Cherundolo was far better than the two men the Americans lined up at left back during the match.
It was mentioned during the telecast Onyewu only had 60 minutes of action for AC Milan before suffering his injury on Oct. 14. That said he was getting back into shape and adjusting to the physicality and speed of a game that cannot be replicated in practice.
Though Onyewu was beaten in the air for the Czech’s first goal in the 44th minute, he provided an otherwise solid performance for the 65 minutes he was on the field. The American defense was a lot rockier in the final 25 minutes—in part because midfielder Maurice Edu was at center back, but moreso because the 6’4” Onyewu was on the bench.
Once again the United States kicked off its “send-off series” with a loss. However, there are caveats to Tuesday’s 4-2 loss.
First, at least six starters were not on the field for the Americans, including Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Bocanegra and midfield bulldog Michael Bradley. Secondly, the Czechs are a much better team, and sparring partner for lack of a better term, than Morocco was in 2006. Finally, and it cannot be understated, the Czechs were trying to erase the sting of losing 2-1 to Turkey over the weekend.
Saturday the Americans will have their own crack at the Turks in the final match on U.S. soil before the team leaves for South Africa May 30.
Bradley told ussoccer.com that the team features a blend of World Cup experience as well as newcomers, all of whom have proven they deserve to wear the red, white and blue.
Now the bigger question is whether this team can win in South Africa.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The proper send-off
The vacuum the closure of the club season left will now be replaced by scores of international friendlies featuring countries that are making the last tweaks before the June 1 deadline to glean 23 players from a 30-man preliminary roster.
The United States joins the party this evening as it will prepare to face the Czech Republic in the first of three games that are being dubbed the “send-off series”. Of course completing the 90 minutes unscathed on the injury front will be the primary concern for head coach Bob Bradley.
For players on the fringe of that 30-man roster — this means you Eddie Johnson, Robbie Findley, Heath Pearce and Sacha Kljestan — the contest represents a final opportunity to impress head coach Bob Bradley and the U.S. coaching staff that they are fit for the final 23-man roster. Bradley is slated to announce the team on ESPN Wednesday afternoon.
Unlike the 2006 send-off series the results may not matter as much this time around. Most of the core of the American team has played in big international matches, including previous World Cups, so the atmosphere surrounding the event should not be overwhelming.
Also, the competition in this year’s edition of the series is much better than what the Americans faced in 2006.
Morocco, Venezuela and Latvia were teams that were not close to qualifying for the Germany 2006, yet the Americans found a way to be unimpressive in all three contests.
Losing to Morocco on home soil was dispiriting enough, but to watch winger Bobby Convey utterly gassed after 65 minutes less than a month before a World Cup should have been a sign the U.S. was not going to make a return to the quarterfinals four years ago.
This time Bob Bradley’s team will face a quality opponent in the Czechs, Turkey, a semifinalist in Euro 2008 and an Australian team that qualified for South Africa and has the talent to make the quarterfinals.
Of the six combined matches against the Czech Republic—which includes a match as Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup—Turkey and Australia the Americans have never won a contest. Granted, the 3-0 blowout to the Czechs at the 2006 World Cup was the only game that has been contested within the past five years.
“We expect a very good challenge,” U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan said during a recent press conference. “If you can’t play one of the teams that have qualified for the World Cup, there’s not many better teams that you can pick that the Czech Republic.”
However, for the American public to no longer consider events like the 2009 Confederations Cup run a surprise, as Donovan himself once noted when accepting an ESPY award, playing teams like the Czech Republic should evolve from a challenge to a tune-up for bigger conquests.
The United States joins the party this evening as it will prepare to face the Czech Republic in the first of three games that are being dubbed the “send-off series”. Of course completing the 90 minutes unscathed on the injury front will be the primary concern for head coach Bob Bradley.
For players on the fringe of that 30-man roster — this means you Eddie Johnson, Robbie Findley, Heath Pearce and Sacha Kljestan — the contest represents a final opportunity to impress head coach Bob Bradley and the U.S. coaching staff that they are fit for the final 23-man roster. Bradley is slated to announce the team on ESPN Wednesday afternoon.
Unlike the 2006 send-off series the results may not matter as much this time around. Most of the core of the American team has played in big international matches, including previous World Cups, so the atmosphere surrounding the event should not be overwhelming.
Also, the competition in this year’s edition of the series is much better than what the Americans faced in 2006.
Morocco, Venezuela and Latvia were teams that were not close to qualifying for the Germany 2006, yet the Americans found a way to be unimpressive in all three contests.
Losing to Morocco on home soil was dispiriting enough, but to watch winger Bobby Convey utterly gassed after 65 minutes less than a month before a World Cup should have been a sign the U.S. was not going to make a return to the quarterfinals four years ago.
This time Bob Bradley’s team will face a quality opponent in the Czechs, Turkey, a semifinalist in Euro 2008 and an Australian team that qualified for South Africa and has the talent to make the quarterfinals.
Of the six combined matches against the Czech Republic—which includes a match as Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup—Turkey and Australia the Americans have never won a contest. Granted, the 3-0 blowout to the Czechs at the 2006 World Cup was the only game that has been contested within the past five years.
“We expect a very good challenge,” U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan said during a recent press conference. “If you can’t play one of the teams that have qualified for the World Cup, there’s not many better teams that you can pick that the Czech Republic.”
However, for the American public to no longer consider events like the 2009 Confederations Cup run a surprise, as Donovan himself once noted when accepting an ESPY award, playing teams like the Czech Republic should evolve from a challenge to a tune-up for bigger conquests.
Monday, May 24, 2010
World Cup stimulus package
People can be motivated by the most innocent things.
As excited as I have been about my upcoming trip to South Africa, this weekend added another bit of spice to a trip that has quickly encompassed so much of my thinking. In southwest Florida to visit family before I head 7,000 miles away for the adventure of a lifetime, I anxiously chatted about the pending trip and gave an outline of my itinerary.
It was neither the commercials touting the event, the Champions League final that made me realize that in three weeks I will be in Johannesburg, nor my family’s genuine concern for my safety.
It was a video game, a simulation of all the things I hope to see when I am a world away. My cousin, Zsan, challenged me to play 2010 FIFA World Cup on his Xbox.
The play was so realistic I could see the vibrancy of Durban and Cape Town from the comfort of my cousin’s new living room. Player attributes were so genuine, the color commentary sounded like something one will hear when the matches kickoff.
Though not consciously thinking about it, some of the teams I selected from the United States, to England to the Ivory Coast to reigning European champions Spain are teams I will likely watch during my fortnight on the motherland.
A week of praying that my mustard seed of faith that everything would go well concluded with a weekend where just about everything I needed to happen did.
It would be the folly of a fool to think that my 36 hours promising others I would be safe would not have been possible without the faith that my entire South African adventure is the personification of my favorite biblical verse. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
As excited as I have been about my upcoming trip to South Africa, this weekend added another bit of spice to a trip that has quickly encompassed so much of my thinking. In southwest Florida to visit family before I head 7,000 miles away for the adventure of a lifetime, I anxiously chatted about the pending trip and gave an outline of my itinerary.
It was neither the commercials touting the event, the Champions League final that made me realize that in three weeks I will be in Johannesburg, nor my family’s genuine concern for my safety.
It was a video game, a simulation of all the things I hope to see when I am a world away. My cousin, Zsan, challenged me to play 2010 FIFA World Cup on his Xbox.
The play was so realistic I could see the vibrancy of Durban and Cape Town from the comfort of my cousin’s new living room. Player attributes were so genuine, the color commentary sounded like something one will hear when the matches kickoff.
Though not consciously thinking about it, some of the teams I selected from the United States, to England to the Ivory Coast to reigning European champions Spain are teams I will likely watch during my fortnight on the motherland.
A week of praying that my mustard seed of faith that everything would go well concluded with a weekend where just about everything I needed to happen did.
It would be the folly of a fool to think that my 36 hours promising others I would be safe would not have been possible without the faith that my entire South African adventure is the personification of my favorite biblical verse. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
There are no “easy” games at a World Cup
A former journalism professor posted a link on his Facebook page about German captain Michael Ballack missing the World Cup due to tearing ligaments in his ankle during the May 16 FA Cup Final.
Professor Joe Ritchie is fluent in German so he almost undoubtedly read Kicker magazine or Bild or some other publication to get more insight about how much the midfielder’s presence will be missed this summer. Within moments of linking an article to his profile, I was online providing my thoughts about Ballack’s importance.
In my haste, I noted: “He will be missed, but not until the knockout phases, because Group D should be easy.”
That is what happens when one does not pay full attention. When I browsed the FIFA website, I thought the Germans were playing Ghana, Serbia and Austria. I confused “AUS” with Austria, one of the worst teams in Europe, with an experienced and gritty Australian team.
Australia have a lot to prove after a 2006 World Cup where shoddy refereeing led to their elimination in the Round of 16 against eventual champions Italy and nearly cost the Socceroos their place in the knockout phase in a victory over Croatia.
Of course Professor Ritchie got me right together noting there are no easy contests in the World Cup. Every team, including the Bafana Bafana has proven they deserve to be in South Africa at some point over the last two years.
Prof. Ritchie went as far to say he thinks Ballack’s injury makes Ghana the favorites to advance from this group. I’m not so confident.
Nothing against Ghana or Australia, but Germany has qualified for the quarterfinals in the five World Cups since the fall of the Berlin Wall, including winning the 1990 tournament. No other team can boast such a record, not the Brazilians, the Italians, the Argentines, not the arrogant English or anyone else.
However, it’s not just the history of this team that leads me to believe Die Mannschaft will at least make the Round of 16 this summer.
With seven players on the preliminary roster from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich including likes of Holger Badstuber and Philipp Lahm in defense, 2006 revelation Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield and World Cup poacher Miroslav Klose this team has the steeliness to advance.
I did not have the fortune of seeing Cacau play on television this year, but from what I have read and seen about the Stuttgart forward he will dovetail nicely into this team that was a finalist in the 2008 European championships.
My only question of this team would be goalkeeping. It’s incredibly sad that likely No. 1 Robert Enke committed suicide last year. But in truth, before Enke took his life this position was one that made me raise an eyebrow.
German soccer is famous for a lot of things, and the reliable goalkeeping Die Mannschaft have been able to rely upon over the past two decades certainly qualifies.
Bodo Illgner was the first goalie to keep a shutout in a World Cup Final. Andreas Koepke was instrumental in the Germans winning Euro 96 and was not culpable for the Croatian debacle two years later in France. Oliver Kahn is a legend. While Jens Lehmann may have his eccentricities, but was a very good shot stopper for Arsenal and Stuttgart at the club level as well as the German national team at the 2006 World Cup — as the Argentines found out the hard way.
Group D is not as easy as I originally surmised, but the key to the qualifiers from this group may be: goalkeeping.
Ghana and Australia have goalies that have led their teams out the tunnel in a World Cup. Many Germans only wish the same could be said of Hans Joerg Butt, Manuel Neuer or Tim Wiese, one of whom will have his work cut out for them this summer.
Professor Joe Ritchie is fluent in German so he almost undoubtedly read Kicker magazine or Bild or some other publication to get more insight about how much the midfielder’s presence will be missed this summer. Within moments of linking an article to his profile, I was online providing my thoughts about Ballack’s importance.
In my haste, I noted: “He will be missed, but not until the knockout phases, because Group D should be easy.”
That is what happens when one does not pay full attention. When I browsed the FIFA website, I thought the Germans were playing Ghana, Serbia and Austria. I confused “AUS” with Austria, one of the worst teams in Europe, with an experienced and gritty Australian team.
Australia have a lot to prove after a 2006 World Cup where shoddy refereeing led to their elimination in the Round of 16 against eventual champions Italy and nearly cost the Socceroos their place in the knockout phase in a victory over Croatia.
Of course Professor Ritchie got me right together noting there are no easy contests in the World Cup. Every team, including the Bafana Bafana has proven they deserve to be in South Africa at some point over the last two years.
Prof. Ritchie went as far to say he thinks Ballack’s injury makes Ghana the favorites to advance from this group. I’m not so confident.
Nothing against Ghana or Australia, but Germany has qualified for the quarterfinals in the five World Cups since the fall of the Berlin Wall, including winning the 1990 tournament. No other team can boast such a record, not the Brazilians, the Italians, the Argentines, not the arrogant English or anyone else.
However, it’s not just the history of this team that leads me to believe Die Mannschaft will at least make the Round of 16 this summer.
With seven players on the preliminary roster from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich including likes of Holger Badstuber and Philipp Lahm in defense, 2006 revelation Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield and World Cup poacher Miroslav Klose this team has the steeliness to advance.
I did not have the fortune of seeing Cacau play on television this year, but from what I have read and seen about the Stuttgart forward he will dovetail nicely into this team that was a finalist in the 2008 European championships.
My only question of this team would be goalkeeping. It’s incredibly sad that likely No. 1 Robert Enke committed suicide last year. But in truth, before Enke took his life this position was one that made me raise an eyebrow.
German soccer is famous for a lot of things, and the reliable goalkeeping Die Mannschaft have been able to rely upon over the past two decades certainly qualifies.
Bodo Illgner was the first goalie to keep a shutout in a World Cup Final. Andreas Koepke was instrumental in the Germans winning Euro 96 and was not culpable for the Croatian debacle two years later in France. Oliver Kahn is a legend. While Jens Lehmann may have his eccentricities, but was a very good shot stopper for Arsenal and Stuttgart at the club level as well as the German national team at the 2006 World Cup — as the Argentines found out the hard way.
Group D is not as easy as I originally surmised, but the key to the qualifiers from this group may be: goalkeeping.
Ghana and Australia have goalies that have led their teams out the tunnel in a World Cup. Many Germans only wish the same could be said of Hans Joerg Butt, Manuel Neuer or Tim Wiese, one of whom will have his work cut out for them this summer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
