The Searching Cross

From history to immortality

2010-07-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, there's a reason why the media swarms around semifinals, Conference Championships, and the Final Four. Each team is just one game removed from the sport's biggest stage, and after weeks of muddled brackets, it's finally pretty simple: win and play for everything, or go home and never get the chance. Your accomplishment is already cemented in history, the glory is still fresh, but your work goes on towards immortality. Quick, who played for the 2010 NCAA Basketball championship? Who were the losing semifinalists? The answer to one question is historically significant; the answer to the other is legendary.

In the next 48 hours, four teams will take the field with this in mind. Two will play next Sunday. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

My predictions:

Netherlands beats Uruguay, 3-1
Much of the focus surrounds the suspension of Luis Suarez, as the man who saved their World Cup journey is forced to possibly watch it end. However, Diego Forlan is skilled enough to unlock a Netherlands defense that hasn't exactly answered every threat it's faced.

The more problematic absences are in defense, as Jorge Fucile and Diego Lugano are unavailable to deal with Sneijder et al. This is the inescapable difference between the two sides, as the Dutch have too many skilled dribblers for Uruguay to stop with a patched-up back line. After 90 minutes, La Celeste will know that their holes in defense were larger than the Suarez-shaped one up front, as the Dutch dominate play.

Germany beats Spain, 2-0
Incredibly difficult game to predict, because everything hinges on who scores the first goal. If Spain score first, they're able to spread the whole field and play keep-away until the clock strikes 90:00. However, when Germany has scored first, they've frustrated every opposing offense by committing their disciplined men behind the ball, counter-attacking to quickly put games out of reach. Each team has thrived all tournament when scoring first, yet both experienced group-stage hiccups when someone else beat them to it. Thus, my prediction is that whoever draws first blood will dominate the rest of the match.

With that said, who is more likely to strike first? To be honest, Spain have looked subpar to me all tournament: Torres has struggled to hit the net, the midfield's passing game has lacked precision, and the defense has given away quite a few more balls than usual. Even Iker Casillas has looked less than luminous. Thus far Spain hasn't been made to pay, thanks to still-superior talent, a slate of very defensive teams (Chile aside), and David Villa's best Superman impression. However, Germany has looked world-class in the knockout rounds, showing virtually no glaring weaknesses and looking clinical as ever. True, form is temporary while class is permanent, so Spain could revert to their Euro-winning ways. However, without seeing any evidence of this in the last 5 games, I have to think that Schweinsteiger and co will find the weak point and hammer away.

FINAL: Germany beats Netherlands, 2-1
If this match-up happens, expect the entirety of Holland to collectively wet themselves in a combination of excitement and fear. You can read further in David Winner's excellent Brilliant Orange, but basically the Dutch have a continual inability to beat the Germans when it matters, a cultural anxiety which the 1974 World Cup final did nothing to change.

This may not change anything at a tactical level, but from a personnel standpoint, no way this German side ends its ruthless streak against a Dutch defense that let Robinho walk right in on net. Goals could come from anywhere with such a matchup of two stellar squads, but the German defense has looked far likelier to keep out more of them. Given the combination of both ancient and recent history, I'm not betting against the German side.

It's a shame, too. I've always disliked that only 7 nations have ever won a World Cup, and both Holland and Spain are distinguished enough as soccer powers to deserve becoming the 8th. Even Uruguay would be enough of a throwback to please me, but my gut tells me to listen to Gary Lineker's infamous definition of soccer: "22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and in the end, the Germans win." I'll be rooting hard against it, but something tells me that won't matter much.

Video of the Week: Jon Stewart tackles "futbol"

2010-07-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE for the Video of the Week!

This week's Video is 10 times as long as our typical clips, and infinitely funnier. On June 30, Jon Stewart broadcast a "special futbol edition" of The Daily Show, and thanks to his background as a winger for William & Mary, Stewart certainly had enough expertise to fill a great half-hour.

The first segment, "You're Welcome", is some of the Daily Show's more absurd humor, but focuses more on political jokes with a World Cup background. If you're looking for more soccer-related humor, skip to the second segment, the latest in the show's "Vuvuzealots" reports. The piece is a hilarious look at soccer fanatics, drinking and hooliganism, so any American soccer will definitely laugh out loud.

However, the best segment is saved for last: Stewart's interview with Landon Donovan and Bob Bradley. The interview is an incredibly interesting take on not only U.S. Soccer, but also the perspectives of Donovan and Bradley.

I'll leave most of the video for you to judge, but am I the only one worried that Landon et al are acting like we accomplished something great? True, the World Cup was a milestone for America's soccer attention, but the team led for 3 minutes and struggled mightily to advance from a fairly weak group. Landon's gotta do the talk show circuit after the USA's (and his personal) epic World Cup, but I'd be reassured of the team's ambitions if he seemed disappointed at least once.

Oh, and if you haven't realized it yet, you're crazy if you think I'm not gonna write about the Algeria and Ghana games. More to come.

Video of the Week: "Oh Africa!"

2010-06-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

This week's Video continues the trend of great World Cup commercials, and I think this one's my favorite. Can't even do it justice with a description, just an awesomely cheerful commercial marrying football and Africa. You really should watch this, all 2+ minutes.

Side note: Funny how the best World Cup commercials are from non-sponsors of the tournament: Pepsi beats Coke, Nike over Adidas, etc. (Though their Star Wars ad is worth a look, if you somehow missed it.)

When referees play karma

2010-06-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

After the USA-Slovenia rollercoaster ended Friday afternoon, our entire nation seethed at one man alone. Koman Coulibaly's phantom call was inexplicable at the time, and it still remains mystifying no matter how many times you replay the free-kick itself: no offsides, no fouls (aside from the slew of Slovenian ones), nothing at all. It was, easily, one of the worst calls in World Cup history.

Most media sources have largely chalked this one up to gross incompetence, but some have started to realize that we've been robbed much worse than we knew. I noticed this via a revelatory tweet, as Twitter user paddytim wrote to WhitlockJason:

"bs call was a make up call for a bad call on awarding free kick to US. Ref blew whistle before play even started. US guy dove"

Upon further review, this is exactly what Coulibaly was thinking. Here's how the play happened by his reasoning. (Click link for full video.) Jozy falls under contact to the neck from a Slovenian defender. Coulibaly blows his whistle for the free kick. He quickly doubts his decision, and this doubt is reinforced when he notices the linesman doesn't raise his flag. When the free-kick is struck, Coulibaly already has his whistle in his mouth and blows the play dead, without hesitation or any particular reaction to what's in front of him. In other words, he was resigned to whistling a makeup call from the moment he doubted his original call.

I barely even know where to begin with this logic. I guess let's start from the beginning: the play leading to the free kick was absolutely a foul. Jozy certainly embellished the contact, but it doesn't change the fact that the Slovenian defender put a hand to his neck. That's a foul and a free kick in any circumstance. It's comparable to Nigeria's red card against Greece: Torosidis rolled around like he was shot, but Kaita had still tried to spike a dude in the thigh. That's a red card no matter what, and a hand to Jozy's neck is a foul, no matter what.

Into the real issue: the make-up call. Let's even put aside that make-up calls are explicitly outlawed by FIFA. Simply put, it is still an unacceptable justification. Think about it, where does that thinking lead to? If he thinks he mistakenly awarded a penalty, does he give another one later? (What if that guy misses, how do those mistakes cancel out?) If he didn't realize he was giving a second yellow to a player, does he send off someone from the other team? A referee should never play karma by retrospectively evening out his own mistakes, because these decisions have ripple effects.

This human interference is even worse than getting unluckily screwed by human error. At least poor officiating is an honest mistake, something we've long understood and forgiven as a part of sport. (Just ask Jim Joyce.) The U.S. fought back deservedly, and the game was decided by the players on the field, until Coulibaly decided that it wasn't. Such revision is absolutely intolerable from someone who is only supposed to enforce the rules of the game, and whatever punishment FIFA hands out is warranted.

As for the U.S., Algeria's draw with England means that the U.S. controls its own destiny, advancing with a win over Algeria on Wednesday morning (10 AM, ESPN). A draw can also put them through if England fails to win, yet without Coulibaly's input, that draw would have sufficed no matter what. The resolute Algerians make such a specter haunting, yet the U.S. proved its toughness against Slovenia, and this squad is ready for the fight. Bottom line, the USA showed that it's capable of advancing, but nobody will benefit if more than 11 men stand in their way.

Examining the past, to fix the future

2010-06-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

By now you've all seen the reports and headlines from USA-England, from both neutral observers and American homers (and British ones too). Some say the Americans' point was deserved, and some say it was simply lucky, but neither side can argue against the fact that Robert Green's mishap changed the face of the whole game. Earned or undeserved, the point now puts the U.S. in a great position to advance past the group stages.

In order move forward, the U.S. must learn from its past, examining both successes and weaknesses. The squad played exceptionally in many areas of the field, notably its resolute defending, but they were certainly exposed in predictable areas. England couldn't produce anything out of this exposure, but eventually someone will exploit these weaknesses if they aren't addressed. Essentially, the U.S. is playing very well, and it still has the precious opportunity to go from good to great.

Three things the U.S. needs do:

Sit Ricardo Clark...

Plain and simple, England's goal is the epitome of why Ricardo Clark is ineffective as a holding mid. Clark was inexplicably ball-watching as his man Steven Gerrard, only one of the best players in England's history, sped past him to score the opening goal. I gave Clark the benefit of the doubt in my USA preview, since he often unglamorously plays ball-denial by blocking passing lanes. Nevertheless, he showed against England that not only does he doze off at times, he doesn't have enough impact when focused to shut off a higher calibre of player. Too often he disappears like this, failing to stall offenses like a holding mid should, and as such he should lose his claim to this role to Jermaine Jones after the World Cup.

...in favor of an aggressive holding mid.

In the meantime, the U.S. needs a more aggressive holding mid anyway, since Slovenia plays a slower passing-oriented offense than England. As a result, look for Bob Bradley to start Jose Torres at holding mid on Friday. While he could opt for Maurice Edu instead, the U.S. may need Torres' creative passing to break down the resolute Slovenian defense. The combination of these two strengths makes me think Bradley will call on Torres.

Offense is a great form of defense...

Thanks to the U.S. speed up front and on the wings, England could never fully commit forward to attack Tim Howard's goal until the very end. In one of the few instances where England ignored the threat, Jozy was on hand to break forward and rattle the post, a reminder of the consequences to pouring forward. This threat of counter-attack is one of the most viable ways for the U.S. to restrict a superior team's offensive might, reinforcing that Robbie Findley's speed is needed from the opening whistle in this scenario.

...but tailor it to the opposition.

This counter-attack works best against clear favorites, who typically take the fight to the Americans. However, Slovenia is an underdog, more likely to control the ball and expose the U.S. when it goes too far forward. In other words, the roles are somewhat reversed from the England match, so the U.S. offense must shift away from speed and athleticism, and towards passing and ball skills. Edson Buddle should therefore replace Findley, since he distributes the ball better and shoots more clinically.

The defensive spine is solid...

Questions about the defensive spine were resoundingly addressed against England. Oguchi Onyewu looked completely healthy both in his tackles and in the air, and DeMerit bottled Wayne Rooney as well as anyone can expect. Emile Heskey occasionally got free when defensive resources were focused elsewhere, but as I rationalized before the game, he's still Emile Heskey. This squad is well-equipped to handle threats through the middle.

...but the wings must work together defensively.

However, Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips put in dangerous crosses far too often, predictably exposing the wingbacks as our remaining big weakness. Simply put, no wingback has both the speed and skill to keep up with speedy wingers like Slovenia's Valter Birsa. As such, other players must help compensate for the team's personnel weakness. Primarily, the wing-mids must track back to impede runs down the sideline, since then the pressure of stopping opposing wingers doesn't fall solely on the backline. Dempsey and Landon are still needed offensively, but they must help defensively to solve the team's biggest weakness.

In my opinion, the U.S.-England game was an extraordinary display by both teams, marred by one stupid mistake by one player on each side. That said, the U.S. did not play perfectly, but after all, it was the opening game against a vaunted opponent. Going forward from here, the U.S. has a great chance to retain its pole position, making a couple minor tweaks along the way. Things are looking up from here.

(Thanks to Bleacher Report for scouting Slovenia.)

Video of the Week: A Nation's Expectation

2010-06-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Our Video of the Week is this awesome segment on the USA, part of ESPN's "32 Teams, 1 Dream" series summarizing each country at South Africa 2010. The piece shows just how far we've come as a footballing nation: not only do we hope for the U.S. to advance, we are expecting it. What a tribute to the USMNT. (To see segments for the other 31 nations, search "32 teams, 1 dream" on ESPN's YouTube page.)

Say what you will about ESPN's journalistic practices, but they are absolutely the single biggest factor in promoting American enthusiasm for the game. Check out the huge difference between the USSF's World Cup commercial and ESPN's two build-up commercials, all aired during the warm-up match against the Czech Republic. ESPN's are just flat out funnier, and their TV expertise makes them second to none at getting an audience's attention. For soccer to continue its growth in America, the game needs the continued support and reach of the ESPN family of networks.

The point of no return

2010-06-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

As I intimated last week, if you're not excited for the World Cup yet, you're either soulless or Shakira. Personally, the World Cup's arrival really dawned on me as I watched the U.S. squad round into form over the last two weeks. The squad looked downright poor in the 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic, but really found their stride three days later in the second half of the 2-1 over Turkey, saying goodbye to America in style. The last game, a 3-1 demolition of Australia in South Africa, proved that they'd adjusted and shaken off the rust for good.

These types of games are usually tune-ups for the main squad to jell before The Big Show, but they took an even greater significance for a USA squad still struggling to define its identity and starting XI. The absence of Charlie Davies prompted questions about the structure of the 4-4-2 lineup, as many wondered if we'd be less effective without his speed up front. Coupled with legitimate debates over the starters at multiple positions, the team came into to the Send-Off Series collectively more undefined than it was a year ago. Not a great place to be two weeks before playing the 3rd best team in the world.

Yet experimentation is sometimes why these matches are scheduled in the first place. By testing many different players and lineups under the pressure preceding a World Cup, Bob Bradley saw how much more dangerous the team was by the end of the warm-up slate, ending a brief attempt at a 4-4-1-1 and settling all debates over who plays where in the 4-4-2. Thanks to these matches, we've got a solid idea of the team's best options. And even if we didn't, the countdown is already on until England on June 12. For better or worse, the line-up has likely been decided. World Cup 2010 is here.

Judging by what we've seen over the last year, here are my picks for the 2010 USA World Cup starting XI:

Goalie: Tim Howard

Least shocking pick of the whole team. The USA's best player will need to be at the top of his game, and at this point, we expect and receive nothing less from him.

Center-backs: Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit

These two have easily been the most solid defenders for the U.S. over the last year. DeMerit's positioning is nothing short of superb, and while he started slow against quick teams like Turkey, he picked up the pace and showed against the Turks that his shot-blocking ability simply keeps the team in games. His constant presence in the squad shows how reliable he's been in this capacity for Bob Bradley.

On the other hand, Onyewu's absence is what hammered home his value to the team. Finally back from injury, Gooch showed his near-full fitness with multiple great sliding tackles in all three warm-ups, so for the most part, we have our stud defender back. Sivok's opening goal for the Czechs did raise doubts about Oguchi's aerial ability, so if strikers like Peter Crouch could be too big an issue for the backline, Clarence Goodson has been more than impressive enough (and tall enough) to fill the spot.

Left-back: Carlos Bocanegra

He's often played center-back in Onyewu's absence, but Bocanegra's veteran presence is sorely needed at the weak left-back slot. Jonathan Bornstein's performances there are consistently riddled by positional mistakes, and he has been burned too often by skilled players like the Czech Republic's Martin Fenin. (Nevertheless, Bradley bafflingly continues to use Bornstein as an offensive-minded sub, despite losing the ball frequently against poor teams like Australia.) As a result, Bocanegra's positional instinct makes him the only reliable player at the position, short of emergency backup DaMarcus Beasley. Bocanegra showed last summer that he can shut down the world's best, and the team needs that form out of its captain again to plug its biggest gap.

Right-back: Steve Cherundolo

Just like his counterpart on the left, 'Dolo is needed as a experienced hand. Jonathan Spector doesn't commit atrocities like Bornstein does, but Arda Turan outran him multiple times against Turkey, hinting that he may not be capable of stopping England's speedy Aaron Lennon. Cherundolo is better than Spector positionally but not athletically, making this a question of trade-offs. It's a tough call, but the American defense relies on its defenders to back each other up, and positioning is a huge part of that. Since the differences aren't too pronounced, I'd rather have Cherundolo as the starter and see Spector come off the bench late in the game.

Holding midfielder: Maurice Edu

The U.S. has three quality choices at holding mid, and Bob Bradley's choice will say a lot about how he wants his team to play. Traditionally, Ricardo Clark has manned the back of the midfield diamond, but every time he has played lately I ask myself "Wait, Ricardo Clark is playing?" He never has any visible impact on the game, since instead he's passively blocking opponents' passing lanes.

Using Clark like this isn't the worst thing in the world, except that opponents then have so much time on the ball. A more aggressive holding mid like Maurice Edu would be a better choice, since he's stronger, faster, and more disruptive to attacking offenses. Clark is better against patient teams like Spain who unlock defenses, but since the teams in Group B are more likely to pressure with athletic dribblers, Bradley should select Edu based on his impressive tackling performances of late.

It's also worth mentioning, Jose Torres might be the best choice in our system. Torres proved himself to be an exceptional tackler in the second half against Turkey, yet he sets himself apart with his passing ability after the tackle, since he distributes excellently from the back once he's disrupted the opponent. This is exactly how Xabi Alonso ran the dynamic Liverpool offense a year ago, and it makes the team as a whole incredibly dangerous, since the defense is actively launching counter-attacks more quickly and more frequently.

In the end, Bob Bradley is most likely to pick Edu or Clark since they've both played often and admirably in the role, while Torres has only had a couple appearances. However, since he played so well when given the chance, don't be surprised if we see him at some point during the Cup.

Attacking midfielder: Michael Bradley

No surprise here, since by now Bradley is no longer "the coach's son", but rather one of the most consistent performers in the squad. As my friend George put it, he's a very American center-mid, since he'll win a ton of challenges and out-hustle everyone else on both sides of the ball. He's our starter here for the long haul.

Left wing: Landon Donovan

Little new can be said here, but Landon has been incredible for the national team on either wing. He's played as a striker for most of his career, but by putting him here, Bob Bradley takes advantage of Landon's speed and passing skill, without preventing him from shooting the ball himself. He displayed his pace and trickery with a couple awe-inspiring runs against Australia, and for the U.S. to operate at its best, Landon will need to have more impact than he did in '06.

Right wing: Clint Dempsey

Where can the U.S. best utilize Dempsey? It's been a major question for quite awhile, but if the Confederations Cup didn't answer it, the last three games certainly have: Dempsey needs to be a winger.

Here's the logic behind the pick: as a team, the USA's strengths are its athleticism, speed, and power, while its largest weakness is its technical skill on the ball. Therefore as a team, the U.S. wants to maximize its strengths by directing play to the wings, where athleticism is most useful and the team is less likely to be outclassed by superior ball-handlers. The U.S. will then want its most complete players on the wings, and that clearly nominates Dempsey and Donovan, both of whom have the speed and skill to control play once it's been directed to them. (As their backup, the slower Stuart Holden has filled the role at times, though much less effectively when tracking back.)

For proof, witness the team's play during the Turkey game. The U.S. played miserably in the first half, and Dempsey looked unable to get going without room to run. Yet once they moved Dempsey back from forward to the wing opposite Landon, the team dominated play and fought back to win. Part of this was from switching back to the familiar 4-4-2, but moreso this was thanks to a more athletic player filling the wing spot. I understand (though I personally disagree with) people saying that Dempsey's the team's second-best forward, but for the sake of the team's playing style, he's needed more on the wing.

Forward #1: Jozy Altidore

In the current 23-man squad, Jozy is irreplaceable as the team's only possession forward. No other striker can play particularly well with their backs to goal, to the point that it may have been a mistake to take Gomez or Buddle instead of Brian Ching. Not to mention that Jozy is easily the best finisher of the four strikers, or that he makes the best runs at goal with the ball. As long as he's healthy, Jozy has to play as many minutes as possible.

Forward #2: Robbie Findley

Possibly the most controversial pick, but as with Dempsey, Findley is needed to facilitate the team's goals. As a counter-attacking team, the U.S. needs a forward with enough speed to keep defenses honest, since runs from the wing aren't too threatening if defenders aren't worried about being outrun to a through-ball. Neither Buddle nor Gomez presents that threat, as they've mostly scored by popping up well to poach goals, a la Michael Owen.

Not that Findley is being picked for his blazing speed alone. The 24-year-old has incredible passing vision beyond his years, shown when he set up the tying goal against Turkey with a brilliant chip over the defense. Moreover against Australia, he similarly created the third goal with a great flick back to Landon, and his electric run down the sideline in the 58' should have resulted in a Buddle finish. His finishing has been suspect, but as Martin Tyler put it during the Australia game, he's created so many chances for himself and others that the goals will come. Buddle or Gomez may replace him in the later stages of games, but Findley needs to start so that the U.S. is a threat from the opening whistle.

There's some room for personal choice, but in all likelihood, Bob Bradley will start this XI against England. He's tested everybody, and thankfully he found the team's rhythm... just in time too, since we've reached the point of no return. Everybody put your game faces on, it's time to make waves.

Video of the Week: Glory

2010-06-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Simply put, if you don't like our Video of the Week then you have no soul. In 10 days, England-USA. 1:30 PM. World Cup 2010. It's gonna be a hell of a show.

Article to follow this week.

Video of the Week: "WRITE THE FUTURE"

2010-05-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Searching Cross is back for the World Cup! Expect this page to showcase frequent updates on South Africa 2010, as we all witness the greatest sporting event in the world. (And follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates!)

Our latest Video of the Week is Nike's World Cup ad, which has been getting lots of mainstream airtime as we get closer to June 11. Superstars such as Drogba and Ronaldo take center stage, capturing many of the purest emotions we feel when watching the beautiful game. Lesser luminaries like Ribery and Landon Donovan appear in cameos that make you simply go, "That was awesome." Even non-soccer icons like Roger Federer and Homer Simpson make appearances, showing how the World Cup gets the whole world's attention. I could go on and on, but if you haven't seen this commercial yet, or even if you want to bask in its awesomeness again, you owe it to yourself to take a look. Nike really outdid themselves this time.

And for those of you who dislike Nike's domination of world soccer, here's a lesser-known Puma commercial that focuses more on Africa. Just as awe-inspiring, and it really captures the spirit of African soccer. Plus, it shows off the sweet "African unity" jersey that they've made for the continent's first ever World Cup. Check it out:

Video of the Week: Ref knocked unconscious

2009-12-28T21:22:00.001-08:00

In Morocco this week, a referee was knocked into a coma after this shot hit him square in the head. He was out cold immediately after being struck, and is currently in a hospital in Casablanca. Rough luck for this guy, best wishes for a quick recovery.

In other news, I regret to say that The Searching Cross is taking a hiatus until the summer. My class load is heavy this semester, so I can't follow the soccer scene as intensely as I'd like. Rather than bore you with uninformed articles, I'll be taking a break from writing until the month before World Cup 2010. However, you may see the occasional Twitter post, so definitely subscribe to the feed. See you all in May!

Soccer & Politics

2009-12-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

This past semester, Duke University offered a very interesting class called "World Cup and World Politics". Professor Laurent Dubois taught how international soccer and world politics are often interrelated, and the class studied multiple examples where one has affected or symbolized the other.

Recently the class completed its final projects, exhaustive websites studying a particular country or topic. These informative projects cover the most interesting material of a highly engaging class, so I suggest that you take a look around at least. For the full list of sites and their subjects, click HERE.

The project that I worked on is titled "El Clasico as Spanish History", about the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry and its relationship with Spanish politics. Specifically, we tackled the contentious signings of Alfredo di Stefano and Luis Figo, two of the most explosive stories in the history of La Liga. If you're interested, the link is provided via the above link, or you can just click HERE to go there directly.

Finally, the host site itself, Soccer Politics, is also a great blog to follow for stories that extend past the field of play. The whole class contributes to the blog, and anybody can comment on the posts. You can find a feed on the sidebar of this site, or head to http://www.soccerpolitics.com/ to be redirected to the full blog.

Enjoy!

Video of the Week - Figueroa scores from midfield

2009-12-13T18:51:00.001-08:00

And you thought only David Beckham did this. On Saturday against Stoke, Wigan's Maynor Figueroa scored a brilliant free-kick from his own half. Figueroa's awareness here was impressive, but the precision of this strike has to be seen to be believed.

Though the wondergoal gave Wigan a 2-1 lead, Ryan Shawcross leveled two minutes later. When Hugo Rodallega had his 90' PK saved, the teams were destined to finish level. Nevertheless, even though Wigan has been forgettable this season at 14th position in the table, this strike is destined to live on in our collective memory for far longer.

How odd.

2009-12-10T16:29:00.001-08:00

Going into Tuesday's final Group Stage game against Wolfsburg, Manchester United found themselves in a somewhat odd qualification scenario in Group B. Rarely does United root for teams to challenge their top spot, but faced with the possibility of a loss in Germany, United wanted CSKA to win in Istanbul to set up a three-way tie on 10 points. Such results would have allowed United to still top the group through their better results among the three teams, whereas Wolfsburg would have triumphed on goal differential between just those two teams.

Confused yet? Good. Because events only got weirder once the game began. Much had been made of United's defensive crisis before the game, and still nobody quite expected the announced defense of Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, and... Ji-Sung Park? The revelation eventually came that Park was actually a part of the 5-man midfield, reducing the number of scratched heads watching Fox Soccer Channel. Yet still fewer expected the remaining 3 defenders to perform so admirably. Though Wolfsburg's striking talents had made them the favorites in the press, Evra's performance was even more imperious than usual. Moreover, Carrick and Fletcher transferred their harrying presences perfectly into central defense, and Carrick's poor marking on Dzeko's goal was the defense's single hiccup. This near-flawlessness was what gave United a thoroughly unexpected but highly useful authority over this match.

Stranger still, as I remarked on my Twitter feed, an injury crisis didn't involve Michael Owen for the first time in recent memory. (It isn't a cheap shot, I swear. If it was, Owen would be out for 4-6 months.) What's more, in blinding contrast to his past 3 seasons, Owen undoubtedly defined the game with his hat-trick. In the absence of today's more established players, the superstar of yesterday provided United with a sorely needed striking instinct. Two of his goals came from a perfectly directed header and a deft chip of the goalie, and on such evidence, Owen still has the pace and skill that made him an English icon in the first place. While the media's overtures for an England recall may still be premature for a man who has struggled with consistency, he is showing that this elusive rhythm is all he currently lacks. Players like Darron Gibson are beginning to get more games and may have a brighter future, but at crucial moments like this, Michael Owen is proving his worth and justifying Sir Alex's continued faith.

United owe the first and third goals to Owen's finishing, but you might as well credit Gabriel Obertan with the winner. The young Frenchmen made about 3 Wolfsburg players look positively silly as he jerked his way through the German defense, before playing an effortless square ball to Owen for the finish. Personally, I can't help but think about Ronaldo when I see Obertan like this. As I've written before, Obertan was seemingly bought as the latest successor to United's #7, and his almost awkward way of jilting defenders positions him to rise to the heights of Best, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo in the shirt's history of misdirection. Ronaldo had more searing pace, but that was his trademark, just as Beckham's was his masterful passing, and Cantona's was, well, a unique mixture of traits. At least right now, Obertan is already distinguishing himself similarly, with a dribbling style that echoes Cantona but glides more and overpowers less. Stories such as Nani's teach us that we can't know just how a player will develop, but I will say one thing right now: I already love Gabriel Obertan, and I think he's going to become a world superstar.

By the way for those following at home, the madness in Group B didn't end even with the final whistle. Reports surfaced in injury time that two CSKA players had tested positive in random drug tests, prompting legitimate suggestions that CSKA could be thrown out of Europe altogether. Wouldn't this have shaken things up: CSKA would have been ejected from the competition immediately after qualifying for the group stage, and in all likelihood Wolfsburg would have been promoted from their Europa League slot to take their place. Hell, Besiktas would have found their way into the Europa League, despite having just blown their astronomically small shot at getting there! Unfortunately, UEFA ruined all my fun by letting CSKA stay in the Champions League. Thanks for nothing Platini, I guess it's back to the real world.

Finally, let me be the first to recognize that The Searching Cross has been barren lately, apart from the occasional tumbleweed. (Which have all originated in Manchester anyway.) Expect regular content to start up again next week, as I tackle a couple important themes of the last 2 months or so. If you check it out, in return I'll try my hardest to leave a certain Premier League champion unmentioned. No promises though.

Video of the Week: Chelsea outclasses Arsenal

2009-11-30T17:02:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, Chelsea emphasized their Premier League superiority this season with a 3-0 demolition of Arsenal, and Drogba once again led the way. The Ivorian scored the opener in the 41st with a beautifully angled redirection, before Thomas Vermaelen ended the half with an own goal, producing an odd and unfortunate carbon copy of Drogba's strike. A wonderful Drogba free-kick sealed the game, as Chelsea won by 3 at the Emirates for a second straight season.

Chelsea have now won all 4 of their games thus far against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham, scoring 9 times on their main title rivals without conceding a single goal. If they cope well with losing players to January's African Cup of Nations, something will have to change dramatically for Chelsea to lose out on the title.

Video of the Week: Egypt survives at the death

2009-11-15T14:35:00.001-08:00

Scenes of ecstatic disbelief exploded all over Egypt on Saturday, as Emad Moteab powered home a header from 8 yards to win 2-0 over Algeria in Cairo. Egypt went into the game needing a 2-goal win in order to avoid being knocked out of the World Cup, and after Amr Zaki's 2' goal, they had to wait until the 5th minute injury time to score the crucial second goal.

Extraordinarily, that goal meant that Egypt and Algeria finish with identical records: 13 points (4W, 1D, 1L), nine goals scored, four goals conceded. The two sides are even tied on head-to-head record, due to Algeria's 3-1 win in the reverse fixture. Almost nothing separates these two sides.

As a result, FIFA has ordered the two teams to play a near-unprecedented one-match playoff, in neutral Sudan on Wednesday. Nothing is ever easy for the Egyptians, so Wednesday's match is surely going to be one hell of a spectacle.

Video of the Mid-Week: Drogba is an immovable object

2009-11-05T15:13:00.001-08:00

Kun Aguero's fantastic goals took most of the plaudits in the 2-2 draw between Atletico and Chelsea, but Drogba showed with this goal why Chelsea is so dependent on his form. Bulling through three Atletico defenders, Drogba looked like an unstoppable force as he persisted to score his second goal.

Chelsea have a top-of-the-table clash with Manchester United this Sunday, and if this kind of form is any indication, Chelsea must be considered the favorites in the match, as well as for the title.

"An extraordinary night of football at Old Trafford"

2009-11-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

Wednesday afternoon, I avoided all Champions League news until after the FSC replay of Manchester United-CSKA Moscow, and I hope some of you did the same. The match was easily the most refreshing European tie I've seen recently, because any preconceived notion of a "stale" Champions League was thrown out the window from the opening whistle. CSKA ran the show offensively while an under-strength United side struggled to break down a tight defense, yet the Red Devils dominated the end of the game to produce a signature stirring comeback.

You can read a more detailed summary of the game here, but I had four observations that you might not see anywhere else.

That 3-1 lead was CSKA's to lose, and make no mistake, they lost it more than United overcame it. Nothing exemplifies this better than one clearance around the 80th minute: the ball fell near 3 CSKA attackers and 3 United defenders at midfield, yet no CSKA player made any pretense of going for the neutral ball. At the time, FSC's commentators lightly mentioned that CSKA refused to go forward for fear of being caught out, and that mentality was exactly what killed them. If you sit back and let an elite team like United take their chances, they will make you pay, as they've demonstrated ad nauseam to the point that "stirring comebacks" have become United's media-hyped habit. As CSKA had demonstrated for the first 75 minutes, the best way to shut United down is to put them on the back foot, and the Russians accomplished that in spades for the majority of the game. But as soon as they abandoned their offense for the last 15 minutes, you could just tell that United would pull it back, and I wasn't particularly flabbergasted when it happened.

No telling if it swung the game's outcome, but Olégario Benquerença put in a pretty poor officiating performance, for two reasons. First, he seemed to make some calls based on distinct preconceptions of players' styles. Darren Fletcher was the major victim of this policy, as he was booked early in the 2nd half for diving on a clear penalty decision, and later was mystifyingly whistled on a perfect tackle near the touchline. Second, Benquerença's yellow-card bark was never followed up with any real red-card bite. Yevgeny Aldonin abused the practical no-red-card policy as he went unpunished for multiple studs-up knee-high tackles, despite being on a yellow for the game's last 35 minutes. As a result, the game devolved into chippy skirmishes towards its heated conclusion, and when Benquerença finally did send off Deividas Samberas for a relatively benign skirmish with Gabriel Obertan, it was too late to reverse the game's degeneration. Just a very schizophrenic way to officiate a high-profile match.

Michael Owen and Gabriel Obertan are exact foils at this point in their careers. Owen contributed a vital goal, an instinctive finish based on years of striking prowess, but otherwise his movement was totally out of synch with the team. Meanwhile, Obertan dazzled with deceptive runs and complete field vision, but he is still learning how to direct that raw ability into a deadly product. The former contributes on the field via his vast experience in the game, while the latter contributes by progressively harnessing his great promise. The important similarity is that both found a way to contribute, and that the team looks most dangerous when everybody contributes in whatever way possible. Many pundits have noted that this United team is characterized by a

worrying dichotomy of young and old players, but judging by the contributions of Owen and Obertan, such a set-up could arguably be United's best way to beat young Arsenal and aging Chelsea to the title.

Together with Rubin Kazan's victory over Barcelona last matchday, CSKA's performance cements the Russian Premier League as a viable force on league, club, and individual levels. The League itself is approaching a firework-filled conclusion with Rubin Kazan and Spartak Moscow separated by a single point, a situation that exhibits some parity with traditional powers CSKA and Zenit St. Petersburg. The flagship clubs clearly can succeed in the Champions League, as Rubin and CSKA have earned points at two of the most hallowed grounds in Europe, and both are in control of their European destiny. And as Alan Dzagoev, Milos Krasic, and Igor Akinfeev proved in the CSKA-United game, Andrei Arshavin is far from the last superstar to come through the Russian Premier League. Forget their collective history in the Champions League, the Russian clubs are ready to make waves.

Video of the Week: Barcelona run rampant over Zaragoza

2009-10-26T15:13:00.001-07:00

Barcelona put on a show at the Camp Nou on Sunday, beating Real Zaragoza 6-1 as the side beamed with pure class. In one of the finest collections of goals you will ever see, Seydou Keita scored an unlikely hat trick, while Ibrahimovic powered home two goals and Messi brilliantly chipped the keeper for one.

Barcelona looks stronger than ever, as Ibrah's pure strength has added needed muscle to their intuitive passing game. Teams like this are the stuff of legend, so don't sleep on watching the best team in Europe.

Video of the Week: Rene Higuita's famous "scorpion kick"

2009-10-18T13:18:00.001-07:00

NOTE: For those having trouble with the embedded video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCxe4r6SjH0 to watch the clip.

Earlier this week, Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita was honored with a Golden Foot award, given by an independent commission to players whose whole careers have been devoted to excellence and entertainment. Higuita captivated the world with a style as eccentric as it was successful, as he scored 33 goals over his career for club and country.

This video highlights possibly the most famous moment of Higuita's illustrious career, the "scorpion kick" that he executed in a friendly against England in September 1995. I could try and explain it, but just watch the video to see why the name "Higuita" was once synonymous with footballing entertainment.

A tragedy of the unknown

2009-10-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Emotionally, this week saw some of the highest and lowest points in our country's soccer history. On Saturday, a back-and-forth game saw the U.S. clinch qualification for the World Cup, rallying from 1-0 down to beat Honduras 3-2. Barely holding on thanks to Carlos Pavon's errant late PK, the nation celebrated ecstatically after clinching their ticket to South Africa in the most dramatic of ways. I even started writing an article explaining why anything was possible for the U.S. in 2010, from group stage elimination to World Cup champions.

All of that buoyancy disappeared within 3 days, as the news surfaced that Charlie Davies was tragically injured in a car crash on Tuesday. One passenger was killed at the scene of the one-car accident outside of Washington DC, while both Davies and the car's driver needed surgeries for multiple traumas. Davies in particular was in surgery for five hours on Tuesday afternoon, where doctors repaired a lacerated bladder and multiple broken bones, including his left elbow, right tibia, and right femur. As for his recovery, he was responsive in the hospital during Bob Bradley's visit, but the sweeping extent of his injuries leaves a scary degree of the unknown in his future.

The accident has shocked the entire soccer nation with its suddenness and severity, and the outpouring of support from the American soccer community has been incredibly noble. For its part, the media has showed a great deal of sympathy for all families involved, and the restraint on World Cup talk implies the dignified sentiment that Davies' health is the most important issue. As the media keeps a respectful distance, the team itself has led the healing process, rallying in strong support for their teammate. They underscored their unbridled emotion during an otherwise unimportant 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, ending their celebration of the late result by unfurling a banner with Davies' #9.

While its importance has been muted by the shocking tragedy of the event, Davies' value to the national team has not been understated anywhere, especially since his injuries have been described as ruling him out of next summer's World Cup. A wincingly tragic sort of irony has therefore arisen, since it was Davies who asserted a week ago that the USA's available personnel could win the World Cup in 2010. That suggestion was regarded lightly even in America, because the U.S. has shown certain not-quite-Rimet-worthy characteristics in recent years: lack of early motivation, mental lapses in defense, and inability to hold a lead.

The win in Honduras reprised those same issues, yet before Tuesday, Davies had a valid point. Despite those glaring flaws, the first team has only been blown out once in the past two years, in Costa Rica in June. That game's lack of mental preparation won't be repeated in a World Cup, and thus while we haven't been able to finish off teams when we're ahead, we've never been totally out of a game either. At the very least, every game

was virtually guaranteed to be a contest, and given the team's extraordinary resilience, that left the door open to anything from a group stage exit to a finals run.

Now, however, the team may struggle to find its identity without one of its leading lights. Davies has been instrumental to the counter-attacking success that makes the U.S. so dangerous, and in the rest of the squad, only Landon Donovan possesses the same rare combination of blazing speed and clinical touch. Landon is thus the best candidate to lead the front line, but as the team adjusts to any change up front (and in midfield if Landon shifts forward), it may experience renewed growing pains in the year leading up to the group stages.

Such discussions are trivial compared to Davies' recovery, and yet they emphasize how irreplaceable he is to this team on multiple levels. As the saying goes, "A team is more than a collection of people", it is a collective unit, and in this case it is also a brotherhood. Parts can't be interchanged with any expectation that the whole will function in the same way, because that's not how human relationships function, on or off the soccer field. As such, the quandary up front is more than tactical, it is symbolic of the emotionally bewildering expectation that the team must move on without Davies. The unknown is a frightening prospect at the moment, both for Charlie Davies and the soccer nation that prays for him.

Video of the Week: Martin Palermo saves Argentina, then applies for AARP

2009-10-12T14:29:00.001-07:00

Argentina is quite lucky to be in 4th in CONMEBOL's World Cup Qualifying, judging by the number of times this ball bounced around the box. Receiving his 10th cap less than a month before his 36th birthday, Martin Palermo scored a 94th minute winner to vault Argentina into an automatic qualifying place. To keep that spot, they will have to avoid defeat on Wednesday in a do-or-die match against 5th place Uruguay.

The goal, by the way, was immediately upstaged by coach Diego Maradona's absurd sliding celebration, also shown here.

Video of the Week: Well, this is awkward...

2009-10-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

Before United's match against Wolfsburg this past week, Sir Alex Ferguson thought he might play matchmaker by urging Jonny Evans to propose to his girlfriend, who was one of the reporters in the conference room that day.

Fergie's stated before that he wants his players to have stable personal lives, but this is just ridiculous. (And hilarious, for that matter.)

Video of the Week: Individual brilliance in Russia

2009-09-30T22:06:00.001-07:00

Rarely does a game showcase three goals of extraordinary individual skill, but it happened today in Moscow, in the 2-1 game between CSKA and Besiktas. Alan Dzagoev and Milos Krasic scored for CSKA, before Ekrem Dag struck a last-minute goal for Besiktas.

These encounters rarely get shown to American and English audiences, because these teams aren't considered very glamorous. It's truly a shame, because the Russian and Turkish styles are so intriguing and distinct from the rest of Europe. Hopefully these three goals will give you some sense of that.

Death, taxes, and sensationalist media

2009-09-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I hadn't planned on writing this week, because I've been quite busy lately. Of course, that changed once the Guardian published this story in the wake of the Manchester derby, about Manchester United receiving more stoppage time "when they need it". I'm sure you've guessed, I'm indignant about this deliberately lazy and sensationalist piece of journalism.

I'll start with the misleading accusation that United benefitted from "the referee... allow(ing) almost seven minutes, even though the fourth official had signalled a minimum of four" against Manchester City. In reality, those who read my Twitter feed, or more respectable coverage like that of the BBC, saw the very simple calculation. The official gave 4 minutes minimum stoppage, plus 1 added minute for Bellamy's goal celebration in stoppage, plus 30 seconds for United's substitution in stoppage, all of which equals 5.5 minutes. Michael Owen scored at 95:27, within the appropriate amount. The rest of the "seven minutes" resulted from Owen's extended celebration.

As for the report of United getting additional time when they're not winning, it's a true but totally incomplete statistic. Notice anything missing from the Guardian's story? The article provides overall stoppage time figures for the other 'Big Four' teams, but only to cleverly disguise its complete lack of the "winning/not winning" differential for those teams. In other words, despite conducting a thorough "study", the Guardian is conveniently omitting the fact that in all likelihood, this phenomenon happens for every Big Four team.

Without such an anti-United conspiracy theory, the question remains: why do the better teams get more time? Though we can only speculate, we should remember that stoppage time isn't decided in a vacuum, but rather by the events on the field. For instance, the best teams in England play fluid football, with very infrequent fouls.

If these teams play quickly like this, of course there'd be less stoppage time when they're winning. On the other hand, if other teams resort to slow them down with hard tackles and such, then there will be more stoppage time when they're losing. The fact that physical Chelsea leads the 'Big Four' in stoppage time at home supports this theory.

As I said, I'm only speculating, so I'm not claiming to understand the total cause behind the stoppage time disparity. My point is, I noticed the issue's complexity from looking at the basic facts in my free time, so clearly the experts at the Guardian could too. Instead, the Guardian smelled a sensationalist accusation to be printed, and they proceeded to select spotty and misleading evidence in an attempt to legitimize it, while ignoring facts that clearly disproved their potential scoop. They've created an unneeded commotion, not to mention distracted attention from possibly the greatest ever Manchester derby, and I've lost a tremendous amount of respect for the Guardian as a result.

It infuriates me that much soccer media is driven by "flashy stories" such an this, rather than by rational thought and analysis. One of the reasons I write this blog is because I disapprove of this type of laziness and sensationalism, and I think we should strive for a higher quality of talent. In the meantime, we'll have to trust the public to know the difference.

Video of the Week: Messi and Barcelona seem unstoppable

2009-09-22T22:34:00.001-07:00

In this week's (very late) video, Lionel Messi goes on one of his mesmerizing signature runs before lacing the ball beautifully into the top corner.

In contrast to big-spending but defensively challenged Real Madrid, Barcelona is steamrolling every opponent without letting up any easy goals. At the moment, they have to be the clear favorites in La Liga.

(Also, apologies for the lack of new material lately, midterms have been crazy the last two weeks. I have a piece going up soon that's been in the works for awhile, so stay tuned.)

Video of the Week: Amazing free-kick in WCQ

2009-09-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

This week in World Cup Qualifying, Bosnian midfielder Sejad Salihovic scored a fantastic dipping free-kick to level matters against Group 5 rivals Turkey.

This crucial goal kept Bosnia-Herzegovina comfortably in second place behind already-qualified Spain. Barring a total meltdown, they'll soon clinch the group's playoff spot.

For anyone that's interested, this goal by Samuel Eto'o came in a close second.

As the World Cup nears, the U.S. has to start treating every game seriously.

2009-09-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is finally starting to come into focus on nearly every continent. England and Spain have looked dominant throughout European qualifying, but teams like Serbia and Slovakia are now poised to lock down their spots as well. Brazil and Paraguay have dominated most of South American qualifying yet again, with Chile right behind them. The Asian spots were decided before the summer, and the Ivory Coast and Ghana are virtually secure in the African groups. Struggling holdouts like France and Argentina join roaring comebacks from Portugal and Cameroon in providing some 11th hour suspense, but we're finally getting a sense from the qualified teams that yes, South Africa 2010 is very, very close.

Even the CONCACAF hexagonal has somehow sorted itself out, despite looking totally knotted after Saturday. The region has essentially been a tight four-team contest since El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago starting dropping points, but Costa Rica settled the question of who would resort to the playoff with South America when they decided to remake Space Jam. Given that Costa Rican disaster, Honduras is content beating up on the teams below them to stay in 3rd, and Mexico's stunning turn in form since the summer has locked their place in as well.

All of which leaves the U.S., king of the CONCACAF castle and almost certainly headed for South Africa. In getting 6 points this weekend, the U.S. did a credible job in separate themselves from the other contenders. You would think, then, that almost securing a berth with these two wins would provide some relief, but the past week showed that we're nowhere close to being prepared mentally for the World Cup.

Saturday's game against El Salvador highlighted a notable flaw in the team's psyche, that poor refereeing decisions always throw us out of rhythm. No doubt, Jose Pinéda did a terrible job with the game: he afforded us almost no protection while whistling them for every small foul, and he also rescinded a fantastic 59' goal by Jozy Altidore for no discernible reason. However, like against Italy in the Confederations Cup, the U.S. just pouted in protestation, rather than rise to the occasion and defeat all 12 men. Strong teams should be able to fight through such adversity, and we're just not there yet.

More worrying was the total lack of sharp play shown at the beginnings of the last three American wins. A total lack of passing and movement characterized the U.S.' starts against Honduras and El Salvador, and in both cases, only an early goal by the opposition took us out of our daze and into Confederations Cup form. Against Trinidad & Tobago however, the opposition just wasn't playing well enough to score, so the team just never woke up. Not even Cornell Glen's chip off the bar did the trick, and truthfully, Ricardo Clark's out-of-nowhere screamer

bailed us out from an embarassing draw. Such a result would have dropped us into dangerous territory in the table, yet the team was inexplicably content to play sub-par soccer, as long as they weren't behind.

Alexi Lalas' postgame consensus was "Who cares if it wasn't convincing, we got 3 points", but this all-too-common outlook totally evades the fact that the current U.S. team is dangerously inconsistent at motivating itself. More specifically, too many players like Clint Dempsey come out firing against "big game" teams like Mexico, Spain, and Brazil, but wait for a reason to snap into world-class form against "lesser" nations like T&T. If you're wondering why that's a dangerous mentality, June's game against Costa Rica should clue you in: we underestimated our opponents, and got promptly overrun. Results like that will get us eliminated from the World Cup.

As much as I love both Dempsey and the U.S. team, this underlying malaise is inexcusable. If the objective is to win, and the game starts even at 0-0, the job is set out in front of you. In other words, nobody deserves a win until they earn it, even against "lesser" teams. The team needs to start treating every game like it's crucial, or we'll soon be left to rue missed opportunities at the worst possible times.

Video of the Week: Kakha Kaladze scores twice... on his own team.

2009-09-06T11:32:00.001-07:00

Italy were fortunate to have a double agent playing for Georgia in this week's Video, as Georgian captain Kakha Kaladze scored two own goals to hand Italy a 2-0 victory in World Cup qualifying.

In all seriousness, you have to feel bad for the man. He's just come back from 7 months of knee repair hell, he steps onto the field against players he knows quite well (since he plays for AC Milan), and this happens to him. Terribly unfortunate.

(And apologies for the weird language in the video. Best I could find.)

"My game is more beautiful than yours."

2009-09-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I may be overstating the situation, but Saturday's match between Arsenal and Manchester United had no redeeming value whatsoever. If you saw it, you know what I mean: none of the slick passing both teams are known for, no rhythm, and not even one goal scored without someone else's help. (I'll always maintain that Ben Foster got a hand to Andrei Arshavin's rocket, and should have kept it out.) This wasn't the Arsenal-United semifinal game of last year's Champions League, this was Chelsea-Barcelona.

You can blame most of that on the referee. As every Arsenal fan has pointed out in the last couple days, Mike Dean did a poor job of holding both teams to the same standards of physicality. The disparity in cards was the clearest indication of that, since Arsenal were shown twice as many yellows, despite being whistled for 6 less fouls. The penalty calls were horribly inconsistent as well, as Wayne Rooney received a borderline whistle, even though Arshavin was denied an automatic one earlier. Players usually seek early indications of the referee's standards on such things, but Dean left them in the dark all day.

Until today, I was simply thankful for the 3 points, and otherwise wrote the game off as a poorly officiated performance, as well as an unfortunate missed opportunity for an entertaining match. That, however, was before Arsene Wenger opened his mouth on Monday morning. In a calm press conference, Wenger made unprovoked comments that show the naivety and delusion of "The Professor".

My main reaction to the press conference: who is Arsene to decide what is "anti-football"? Whether or not the strategy was intentional, teams are certainly allowed to use strength to throw their opponents off their rhythm, as long as they aren't fouling players. The referee is the one to control a game's physicality, not the players, but in this case Mike Dean didn't reign it in. Shouldn't that anger be directed at Dean instead of Sir Alex?

No, I think the problem is deeper than that: Wenger has always been unable to admit that his team, or his players, have flaws. Arsenal hasn't succeeded against more physical squads, so he complains every time an opponent doesn't play "beautiful", rather than recognize that they're just tactically exploiting Arsenal's greatest weakness. Wenger is known to amend his perceptions to support his team, and this is just one more attempt to blame somebody else for the fact that his team has a flaw. The differences over time in his stance on diving supports this also. (See: his defense of Eduardo's ridiculous dive.)

I'm inevitably going to get under people's skin here, but this is why I can't stand when Arsenal fans tell me, "We're the best team to root for, because we play the purest football." Yeah, that's probably true, but games aren't won on style points; in the real world, a degree of practicality is necessary. A club might sometimes have to spend money, big money, on experienced imports, because an XI entirely from the academy is often too single-minded and easy to stop. A team might have to play stifling tactical defense, if strength is their only advantage towards winning 3 points. And the result of mixing this practicality with beauty can still be, well, this. Teams shouldn't abandon academies, or only play 5-4-1: the world needs purist beauty in the game. It's just that such purism alone is too easily ruined.

Arsene Wenger has long cemented his status as a genius, a romantic and an idealist who embodies why many people watch the beautiful game. I will always respect him for those qualities. But until he accepts that it's his team that has flaws, rather than the system it plays in, he'll also be forced to accept that being an idealist doesn't necessarily earn you anything.

Video of the Week - Stankovic buries Milan

2009-08-31T17:26:00.001-07:00

Unbelievable goal this weekend from Dejan Stankovic. With the game already out of reach for AC Milan, the Serbian threw another dagger into the very corner of the right side.

Inter look like they've rebounded from a poor draw last weekend, while Milan are still struggling this year without Kaka.

Video of the Week: Burnley's wondergoal shocks United

2009-08-23T17:17:00.001-07:00

I didn't enjoy this week's video too much, but I at least appreciated it. Robbie Blake sent a laser past Ben Foster on Wednesday to hand United their first loss of the season, 1-0 at Turf Moor. Judging by the subsequent 1-0 win over Everton, Burnley are looking like a tough side to beat at home.

Ready for a crazy Premiership season?

2009-08-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

(I wrote this article early last week, in preparation for a busy week moving back in to school. My apologies if some statements seem outdated, since obviously the first week of the Premiership was crazy. I'll be back next week, with updated thoughts on the opening weeks of the season.)

As fun as hearing 20,000 stories about David Villa and Franck Ribery has been all summer, it's about time that the Premiership's opening weekend kicked some life into the soccer world. Every season promises something fresh and exciting, but 2009-10 is multiply intriguing, as both the build-up to a World Cup and the beginning of possible mayhem at the top of the table.

Since Manchester City spent their billions in the off-season, the traditional order in the table is under threat. There are now at least five legitimate threats for the four Champions League spots, so inevitably, one club will be disappointed in the return on their investment. As a result, the threat of losing all that European cash will make the competition much more ruthless at the top of the table. In all likelihood, this competition will trickle down through the rest of the league as well, so it’s bound to be a heated year in the Premiership.

And so, this is my prediction for the final table of the upcoming Premiership season. I’ll be the first to admit that these exercises are long and stupid, since all the upheaval in the offseason makes nothing predictable, plus managers and players get fired and injured unexpectedly during the season. It’s still fun to look back at our perspectives once the season ends though, and if you don’t want to read my blabbering now, you can always skip to the end for a predicted table.

So, in reverse order:

It Was Fun While It Lasted

20. Hull City

They ended last season on the worst run of form I've ever seen that didn't end in relegation. They've lost two players, and brought in two “unproven” replacements, despite the increasingly heated competition at the bottom. And despite those signings, it looks like nobody’s first choice to play for Phil Brown ever since his ridiculous antics at Manchester City. How could they not be the biggest impending disaster in the Premiership?

19. Portsmouth

…However, Portsmouth doesn’t look too far behind in that column. The club has to sell before they buy, and they lost Glen Johnson while only bringing in an aging Steve Finnan and unproven Frenchman Frederic Piquionne. Everything could change if their sale to Sulaiman al-Fahim goes through, but if that doesn’t happen before the end of the transfer period, Portsmouth will have trouble in the first half, and that'll prove fatal.

18. Wolverhampton Wanderers

The last relegation spot looks like it’ll be a dogfight, and I don’t expect Wolves to have enough firepower to carry them through. They’ve added a couple players to a good squad, including Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann, but they just don’t have enough Premiership experience. Much will depend on the contributions of club fixture Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

Fighting the Downward Tide

17. Birmingham City

Birmingham could finally end their yo-yo between the Premiership and Championship. Barry Ferguson was a great addition to a team that has narrowly missed staying up before. They’ll still have to fight off a strong challenge from Wolves though.

16. Blackburn Rovers

Last year’s side finished 15th, and despite signing Franco di Santo on a short-term loan, I don’t think they’ve made enough improvements to do any better. Sam Allardyce will struggle to keep this team up.

15. Stoke City

Tony Pulis’ side has lost nobody of huge importance from last year’s strongarm side, and they’ve added experienced midfielder Dean Whitehead. A workmanlike side that frustrated Liverpool and Arsenal last year should continue their relative success in the Premiership.

14. Burnley

Owen Coyle’s Burnley is the perfect example of how to promote a team the right way. He’s placed his faith in young players to get the team up, and new signings Richard Eckersley and David Edgar have the same drive to make a statement in the Premiership. Hard work will make up for whatever gulf in talent they suffer from as a newly promoted side.

Stuck in the Middle:

13. Bolton

Has any coaching change been less beneficial to both parties than Sam Allardyce leaving Bolton in 2007? Since those European days, Allardyce has suffered disaster at Newcastle and now struggles to keep Blackburn afloat, while Bolton is stuck in Premiership purgatory, neither threatened by relegation nor tempted by Europe. They play possibly the least attractive soccer of any team in the Premier League, but as they have proved over the last many years, that’ll probably keep them floating along this year.

12. Wigan

Steve Bruce had this club humming along, and most of the same players and system remain. Antonio Valencia’s departure definitely left a hole to fill, but Scott Sinclair coming in on loan surely provides firepower. Bruce’s scouting will eventually be missed, but for now, Wigan seems stable.

11. Sunderland

Thanks to Steve Bruce’s recruiting power, Sunderland have had a hell of an offseason, with Frazier Campbell, Lorik Cana, and Darren Bent providing some big names and needed talent at the Stadium of Light. They’re certainly a club on the rise, but they don’t play as consistently as the teams chasing Europe. Sunderland might still chase those spots though, if Bruce totally transforms this team’s mentality.

The Hunt for Europe:

10. West Ham

Luis Jimenez is a good signing, but as Craig Bellamy, Diego Tristan, and David di Michele leave, West Ham might have trouble scoring goals. The negatives outweigh the positives for the Hammers this offseason, but not enough to knock them too far down the table.

9. Fulham

It seems like Fulham’s offseason was more about holding onto their players than attracting new names, and in that sense, they did well to keep Brede Hangeland and Andrew Johnson. They’re a great squad that will consistently challenge for Europe, but aren’t quite making a push for the Champions League like the teams above them.

8. Aston Villa

Cued by Gareth Barry’s move to Manchester City, big departures and big signings have marked a new era for Aston Villa. Fabian Delph will take time to make his mark on the Premiership, and Stewart Downing will be out until roughly 2010, so this might be considered a transition year of sorts at Villa Park.

7. Everton

Everton’s biggest boost will be a healthy squad, as Jo, Yakubu, and Mikel Arteta return to strengthen a team that finished 5th and runners-up in the FA Cup without them. Their predicted drop in the standings is more a result of the next two teams making huge strides, while Everton continue their consistent progress.

6. Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Redknapp had this team looking deadly by the end of last season, and I only expect Peter Crouch’s partnership with Jermaine Defoe to make the machine run more smoothly. Finally given some relative stability, this talented squad should find its groove and stop underachieving.

5. Manchester City

Given all of their activity, it might be surprising to see them outside the Champions League, but there’s a reason why ‘World XI’ teams often lose against lesser-skilled teams. You can’t just throw good players together and expect results, because they need time to understand each other, to find an identity. City will beat lots of less talented teams, but it’ll take some struggles in close matches for them to finally realize their full potential. By the end of this season, we’ll see the beginnings of a true force.

Nice To See You Again:

4. Arsenal

I don’t understand why Arsene Wenger hasn’t learned his lesson: selling more talent than he buys isn’t getting him anywhere higher in the table. I’d be convinced that City would kick them out of the Champions League spots for that reason, except that Andrei Arshavin is the Premier League’s next superstar, no questions about it. He’ll need more talent around him though, so Wenger should start spending that Adebayor/Toure cash soon.

3. Liverpool

I had them in second until they sold Xabi Alonso, and I honestly think he would have been the difference maker this season. As is, Alberto Aquilani is good, but it’d be a hell of a debut season to be the heartbeat that Alonso was last year. Glen Johnson isn’t the guy that’s going to make up the difference between Liverpool and Manchester United, and it doesn’t seem like Rafa Benitez has made any effort to find that person, even with all the Arbeloa/Alonso cash. Unless Torres and Gerrard somehow find yet another gear to step up to, Liverpool will be exactly where they have been since 1990: looking up the table.

2. Manchester United

A stellar preseason should eliminate any doubts about United’s ability to adapt post-Ronaldo, especially since they should have beaten Chelsea in the Community Shield. Some questions have yet to be answered about Michael Owen, but Antonio Valencia has shattered expectations with electric displays so far, and Wayne Rooney has proved that he can be the go-to guy on this team. As I wrote earlier this summer, Ronaldo’s departure has cleared the way for the team as a whole to flourish, and these are still great days to be a Red Devil.

1.Chelsea

What an effect a coach can have on a team. As a stellar World Football Challenge proved in the preseason, Carlo Ancelotti has Chelsea playing ruthlessly, and he is maximizing all of the traits that have been lacking at times since Jose Mourinho, Once again, nobody is going to beat them at Stamford Bridge, and once again, Drogba is going to score almost at will. Given Ancelotti’s mastery of the Champions League, this could even be their year to conquer Europe, unless Real Madrid has something to say about that. The Blues will be feared as they earn the title this year.

Predicted Table

1.Chelsea

2. Manchester United

3. Liverpool

4. Arsenal

5. Manchester City

6. Tottenham Hotspur

7. Everton

8. Aston Villa

9. Fulham

10. West Ham

11. Sunderland

12. Wigan

13. Bolton

14. Burnley

15. Stoke City

16. Blackburn Rovers

17. Birmingham City

18. Wolverhampton Wanderers

19. Portsmouth

20. Hull City

Video of the Week - Drogba saves Chelsea

2009-08-16T18:49:00.001-07:00

This week, Drogba scored dramatically in injury time, saving Chelsea from an embarrassing draw with Hull.

Drogba has looked unstoppable in preseason, and judging from this precise shot from a tight angle, he's not going to stop anytime soon. Chelsea fans should hope that he isn't the only one to step up though, since these two teams are likely to finish at exact opposite ends of the table, and 1-1 would not have been a great way to start the season.

The more things change...

2009-08-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was just an all-around depressing day for U.S. soccer. The bad news started before kickoff, as most of us abruptly discovered that half of America couldn’t even watch the game. Thanks to Telemundo’s refusal to sell the TV rights to ESPN at any reasonable price, CONCACAF’s biggest World Cup qualifier was broadcast on some monstrosity called “Mun2”, Spanish television’s equivalent of ESPN 8 the Ocho. A soccer-skeptical friend of mine best summarized the result: “The U.S.-Mexico match had me excited for soccer for the first time ever. I eagerly turned on the TV to watch it, only to find out that it wasn't on TV. My opinion stands-- soccer blows a big one.” Score another one for TV politics.

Sitting in the middle of Kentucky, I was in the half of America that didn’t receive everyone’s favorite Telemundo spinoff channel. As such, I turned to the Internet to pirate miserable Spanish-language feeds, changing every 10 minutes as each one was shut down in succession for copyright violation. In short, just watching the damn game was an adventure, and I’m sure that between the terrible broadcast quality and frequent stalling and switching, I missed some important observations. And yet, what I could see made it abundantly clear that nothing has changed lately in the U.S. camp.

Oguchi Onyewu embodied the positives in the American defense, strong in positioning and athleticism. The level of practice he gets in Milan is already lifting his game, and he leads the team naturally

now. Aside from his unlucky reaction that allowed the second goal, he turned in a stellar performance.

The rest of the defense followed his lead, but with more mistakes. The American backline’s work rate is unmatched, but Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra continued the propensity for occasionally awful tackles. Furthermore, Bocanegra gave Israel Castro all the room in the world to unleash his marvelous first goal. Is somebody going to step up and tell them that these mistakes are inexcusable at this level?

Also, a good portion of the team remains largely invisible at times. Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark: I’m looking at you here. Only Bob Bradley knows why Jozy and Jonathan Spector started on the bench, but unless it was a reaction to the conditions at Azteca, we could have used their offensive threat.

Charlie Davies, however, continues to prove that he is the perfect striker for the USA’s counterattack strategy. Landon Donovan gave him a great through ball on the American goal, and he received it brilliantly. With his speed, he’s going to put those away every time, and he was unlucky to be called offsides on a potential winner in the 71st.

On another note, the U.S. continues to suffer from an obvious double standard in yellow cards. Apparently, even commentators noted that directly after DeMerit and Bocanegra earned yellows for bad tackles, the Mexicans got away unpunished for similar ones. I can only assume that bad tackling is a stereotype that referees have of American soccer, since we saw a similar trend in the Confederations Cup. We’re certainly contributing to the perception, but it’s unfair and frustrating that it hurts us in such key matches.

For their part, Mexico continues to epitomize exactly why most Americans hate soccer. On the day, they started a stupid fight, they writhed in pain at every foul as soon as they got the lead, and they delayed play at the end of the game, petulantly dribbling away from Tim Howard. Yes, as an American I’m biased, but I’ve seen enough games on television and in person to objectively decide that this isn’t an isolated incident, it’s a plague. (I’ll leave the swine flu jokes to you.) Watch any SuperLiga game for proof: it always happens, and it’s obnoxious. (Apologies to any offended Mexico fans. For what it’s worth, you also play a more attractive brand of soccer than us.)

Finally, lots of fuss is always made over the Azteca’s smog, heat, altitude, and hatred from the Mexican crowd. But the smog was allegedly not bad on the day, the heat was mild for a summer afternoon, and the players are professionally prepared for the altitude and crowd. We were ready to face all of these problems, and yet the deciding factors weren’t a result of the atmosphere, but of our same stupid tendencies. In other words, let’s stop pretending like it’s a given that “no U.S. teams win in Mexico”, because that excuse is becoming a crutch. We’re better than that.

I feel like I’m writing about the same strengths and flaws over and over again, just replacing the specific instances of each individual game. It really shouldn’t be that hard to correct our problems, and frankly, I’m sick of writing the same thing without seeing change. Let’s fix this already and get to 2010.

Video of the Week: "Arshavin... YES!"

2009-08-09T10:30:00.001-07:00

In this week's Video, Andrei Arshavin scores an inconceivable goal, and proves that he's one of the best reasons to watch the Premier League this year. He's going to be a superstar, and Gunners fans better thank Arsene Wenger for spending the money to put him in an Arsenal jersey.

When does "loyalty" become unreasonable?

2009-08-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

If you had to summarize this offseason in one word, "money" would be a fitting choice. For the last three months, money has set the backdrop of the global economic downturn, and it has created the summer's major sensations, Manchester City and Real Madrid. Naturally, as most of the world become ‘have-nots’, the influx of talent towards the few 'haves' spurs many accusations of greedy betrayal. In many cases we are justified in identifying greed, but as fans, we might want to reconsider how we misguidedly judge loyalty.

It's difficult to fault players like Roque Santa Cruz for advances in both wage and prestige, but other transfer stories from Manchester City have shown that the paycheck is all that matters to some players. Emmanuel Adebayor not only left the club that made him a superstar, but he essentially scorned European competition, leaving a Champions League semifinalist for a club that would be ecstatic at even qualifying. John Terry's potential transfer was higher-profile, and as 'Mr. Chelsea' waited to commit his future to the wildly successful club, we began to wonder what else he could want, other than more money. Even nice-guy Gareth Barry turned out to be disingenuous, since his only stated reason for leaving was a lack of Champions League football, and then left a club that almost achieved those ambitions while moving to one that hasn’t yet proven anything abroad. It's not awful that players want better wages, but it’s disheartening when some totally abandon their loyalty and competitive instinct to achieve it.

However, we've started to unfairly generalize every transfer to 'rich' clubs as motivated by greed. Despite making the same move as Adebayor, shouldn’t Kolo Toure be able to escape a broken relationship with William Gallas? If Carlos Tevez feels like he wasn’t shown enough respect or playing time at Manchester United, can’t he choose to go somewhere else and find playing? Joleon Lescott has been portrayed as jumping the Everton ship, but if he feels that City's goal of the Champions League is something that his current club isn’t working towards, isn't it natural for him to look after his own career? In the end, money isn’t a deciding factor in leaving, only in deciding where to end up.

The David Trezeguet saga perfectly summarizes why these perceptions are flawed. He's a legend in Turin, and yet after their busy transfer season, Juventus told him that he would likely play limited minutes this year. Seeking consistent playing time before the World Cup, he asks for a transfer and finds out that AC Milan might be interested. Juventus, understanding that it’s a bad business decision to equip a rival with a needed resource, refuses to sell him. All of these are sound business decisions, on both sides.

What rings hollow then is Trezeguet’s explanation for staying, that he decided a move would be “a betrayal of the fans". Since he had totally endorsed this exact possibility just days earlier, it seems more likely that this was a gesture to placate the fans upset at his original statement. Which begs the question: why are players frequently berated for looking after their own careers as professionals? “The fans’ passion is irrational” is the obvious answer, but outside the terraces and pubs, nobody ever seems to back the players, even in the media. It’s an issue confounded by the fact that clubs make the same business-like decisions without much criticism. In the end,

the double-standard creates too much pressure on players to make lame excuses.

Just ask David Beckham, one of the most honorable men in football. He’s caught balancing his World Cup ambitions with the anger from his club’s supporters. His recent ESPN interview is incredibly revealing, as he gives still-happy-to-be-here answers while telling stories about goodwill gestures towards fans. It’s meant to convey that he understands why the fans are angry, and that he wants to make nice. But to see the most revealing response, watch his failed attempt at smiling at the very end of the interview. In that moment, his pain at feeling the fans’ negativity is so open, because he’s giving of himself in spite of his World Cup dream, and yet he’s learning that it will never be enough for them until he completely abandons his personal ambitions.

For better and for worse, soccer has become more corporate in the last 20 years, to the point where another Giggs, Raul, or Maldini will be rare. Beckham doesn’t need to do this juggling act: he’s famous enough that he could decide to abandon America. He would still make millions, and multiple European clubs would still be happy to sign him. Beckham could force a move, and that would certainly help his case for 2010, but he stays because he feels like it’s his duty. As fans, we can’t be so quick to put him, or any other player, in a position where they have to choose so absolutely between the two. From experience in the real world, we know how that will end.

Video of the Week - Ray Hudson

2009-08-02T11:19:00.001-07:00

For this Sunday's Video of the Week, take a listen to Ray Hudson, the most entertaining color commentator anywhere. It's great that ESPN now has coverage of La Liga, but if that means we hear less of Ray Hudson on Gol TV, it'll be a shame.

The wealth of soccer on Sunday proved American interest. Sort of.

2009-07-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Soccer featured prominently on U.S. television on Sunday afternoon, as a high-profile tripleheader was shown over two channels. At 3:00, a second-string U.S. national team battled Mexico in the Gold Cup final on Fox Soccer Channel, while ESPN then showed the last two games of the inaugural World Football Challenge, featuring the Milan derby at 5:00 and Chelsea-Club America at 7:00. I probably wouldn't have moved from my couch once all afternoon, except I had scored sweet tickets to the AC-Inter game a couple months ago, planning to watch the others afterwards. While your final opinion of the games probably depends on your loyalties, the coverage afforded to each game clearly shows the priorities of American viewers, and it shows some worrying trends for the immediate future of American interest.

By now, you've undoubtedly read about the drubbing the USA got at the hands of Mexico in the Gold Cup final, and the media reports pretty much tell you the whole story. With young prospects like these, it's often pretty simple. Up until the final, their superior talent had sufficed for winning games, albeit often while getting their act together at the last opportunity. But of course, when you face strong competition like Mexico, you can't simply rest on a good pedigree,

you also have to play cohesively and incisively. As the USA practically refused to take the chances offered, Mexico finally converted a 57' penalty to blow the gates of U.S. inexperience wide open. As they say, the rest is history.

The media absolutely should be this critical anytime the USA loses, and especially so when they lose this comprehensively, but not everything is as bad as this Gold Cup indicates. Most obviously, the final showcased the future stars of such superclubs as Arsenal, Tottenham, and Villareal... playing for Mexico, against the "finest" of the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew. This was our second-string squad, did we really expect anything different? Giovani dos Santos grew up at Barcelona, what the hell is Jay Heaps supposed to do to him?

A win (or not losing by 5 goals, for that matter) would have been nice, but the USA did what it intended in this tournament: evaluated the prospects of the team's future leaders. Stuart Holden's dynamic play and Troy Perkins' solid positioning indicate their bright futures, and judging by Holden's post-game tears, these guys are now committed to working even harder for the cause. Kyle Beckerman continues to imitate Xavi, able at this level to totally control a game's pace and unlock defenses. Meanwhile, Logan Pause hasn't demonstrated any reason to be on the field, while Robbie Rogers knows that he may want to find some sort of killer instinct or, you know, crossing ability whatsoever. We may have lost humiliatingly, and this blowout certainly restokes the rivalry, but it's not like the U.S. National Team suddenly took a giant step backwards.

At 5:00 was the Inter Milan - AC Milan clash, where I sat with 3 of my buddies in some great second tier seats. Even though the game and its crowd got strangely stale occasionally, the game was still amazing to attend, since these teams are so much more skilled and exciting than the only live alternative for Americans, the error-prone MLS. Plus, a fairly standard result was made more intriguing by signs of how each team has dealt with major departures.

Inter's ability to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic was much clearer on the day, since new signing Diego Milito scored both goals in the 2-0 win. Despite losing two of their best strikers in Ibrahimovic and Hernan Crespo, Inter have pulled off two swap deals to maintain a stellar offensive presence through Milito, Thiago Motta, and the missing Samuel Eto'o. As opposed to an attack that looked static last year whenever Ibra had a bad day, Inter's multi-faceted offense looks positively dynamic this year. Moreover, they even made money out of all of this, mostly due to the ice-cold €45 million that came with Eto'o for Ibrahimovic. Inter have been shrewd players in this summer's market, selling high and buying low to maintain a strong squad.

AC Milan took a different approach to Kaka's departure, relying on a previous buy to rediscover his genius. Much has been written about Ronaldinho's inability to play with Kaka for Milan, and so now that Kaka belongs to both Jesus and Real Madrid, we're starting to see signs of the bucktoothed one's reemergence. With a couple of brilliant balls through, he showed that his singular vision has not left him, but whether his body can keep up is another question. He lost possession much more often than he did three years ago, and as my friend George remarked during the game, "I love watching him, but I'd be a nervous wreck if he was on my team." Then again, such things are

much easier to fix than mental lapses, and after all, it is still their preseason. He probably won't reach the dizzying heights of his world-dominating peak, but Milan is hoping that we could yet see those trademark free-kicks on a regular basis once again.

It's also worth mentioning briefly, I don't currently see anyone nearly as effective for Milan as Paolo Maldini was. Status as a club legend aside, he was a top-notch defender to his last minute for them, and nobody that they've bought seems good enough to take his place in the back. To the certain dismay of most Americans, Oguchi Onyewu looks out of his depth at the moment, getting burned on the first goal by Diego Milito, and Thiago Silva hasn't yet proved his ability to adjust to the pace of Europe either. While Inter seems to have already found offensive flow with their replacements, Milan's plan to recover from their departures is riskier at both ends of the pitch.

Chelsea and Club America concluded the tripleheader at 7:00. It was the deciding match of the World Football Classic, though judging by Chelsea's lineup, Carlo Ancelotti wasn't informed. Their starting lineup was partially comprised of young players such as Michael Mancienne and Sam Hutchinson, combined with some experienced steel such as Michael Essien, most of whom needed the extra games after spells on the sidelines last year. Fortunately for us viewers, the absence of some key Chelsea stars actually made this a more entertaining, balanced matchup.

Still, even the backups demonstrated eventually why its the entire team's mentality that makes Chelsea a feared squad. Their defining characteristic is often their power, a blend of size and speed that just wears down opponents, and this characterstic was evident in their victory. Defensively, Chelsea's defenders knocked the Club America attackers down often, as if just to prove that nobody would get by them untouched. It's a tactic often criticized by those such as Barcelona, but one that is inarguably effective. Offensively, constant set pieces proved their superior strength in the first half, and both goals in the second half showed that they frequently shrug off defenders to continue flowing moves, despite confrontation. Chelsea's mentality is why they won this preseason tournament.

So ended the World Football Challenge, part of an exciting Sunday tripleheader. Interestingly enough, did you notice how much coverage each event has gotten over the last week? The Gold Cup crowns the champion of our region, awarding bragging rights in our fiercest rivalry as a soccer nation, and yet America paid much more attention to the European preseason. Even I almost forgot that the final was on Sunday, so sparse was the coverage! All of this indicates that most of us prefer to follow European soccer, even over our own national team. This certainly makes some sense, given that people typically watch the highest quality entertainment available.

However, all of that changes once money becomes a factor, and soccer isn't yet popular enough for most people to subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel. All of that media coverage of the WFC was because ESPN was broadcasting the games, and as a popularly subscribed channel, people watched. The Champions League on ESPN has received similar advertising in recent years, and as such received similarly improved ratings. But, now that it's moving to FSC, how many people are going to pay the extra money to watch? My bet: not many that haven't subscribed already, and people are naturally going to veer away from the sport as the quality offered declines. Yes, ESPN softened the blow by picking up La Liga, but people are much more likely to watch if two world-class teams are playing, rather than just one. If you're skeptical about that, consider how likely you are to tune in to Real Madrid v. Sporting Gijon for 90 minutes.

Sunday showed that there is plenty of great soccer on American TV, and that there are plenty of people willing to watch it. But as with most things, money often divides those two truths, and television money is threatening to drive a wedge into soccer's growing popularity in America.

Video of the Week - Ronaldinho red card?

2009-07-27T21:23:00.001-07:00

Starting a new feature here on The Searching Cross, we have the Video of the Week! Every Sunday, the Video of the Week will shine the spotlight on a goal, player, or event that made waves in the last week.

This one was just plain hilarious, during the scrimmage between AC Milan and Inter Milan on Sunday in Foxboro, MA. There was nearly a mass riot before the referre corrected himself, but the crowd ended up laughing it off with Ronaldinho. Great to see that the bucktoothed genius just might be back to his old self.

Sir Alex Ferguson epitomizes the team mentality in Ronaldo's wake

2009-07-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Losing a loved one is hard. You grow and flourish with them, enjoy the best of times with them, and get used to having them in your life, so much so that you can't imagine life without them. Then they're suddenly gone, and for a long time, it seems like nothing can replace them. Though Cristiano Ronaldo likely does not feel this way about Manchester United (or, hopefully, about certain other recent associations of his), many loyal Red Devils surely hold such pangs of abandonment for him. But while the media view his departure in the same replacement-seeking way, Sir Alex Ferguson has shown in the past that he places a much higher value on the chemistry of the team.

When any superstar leaves, the media focuses on finding one player who fills the void. It's the natural response: "Who's going to

replace all of those goals?" Superstars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Karim Benzema, and Franck Ribery were all linked to perform the same functions as the departed Portuguese. The thought is so prevalent that it creeps into any related story, as the BBC demonstrated in mentioning "Ferguson (trying) to replace Cristiano Ronaldo" in their article on the transfer of Gabriel Obertan. Of course, such wording is mostly used to neatly summarize the issue, but to the public it portrays offseason changes as a player-for-player process, which influences the expectations of supporters.

In simplifying this, the media ignores similar precedents. In 2003, David Beckham left for Real Madrid after finally getting sick of Beckham's celebrity status impeding his duties to the team. However, nobody was brought in who was already considered a star at the time, as Sir Alex preferred to leave the scoring load to the increasingly rampant Ruud van Nistlerooy. (Louis Saha would be bought in the winter, but only once Ferguson realized he needed another goalscorer in the short term.) Beckham's successor was indeed bought during that offseason, but he was a prospect who then adjusted to Ferguson's team-first philosophy. Only at that point did he become a superstar, in the United mold. He took the number 7 shirt in Manchester, you may have heard of him. Think he moved to some team in Spain recently.

Likewise, in 2006 Ruud van Nistlerooy demanded a transfer after becoming increasingly frustrated with the dwindling number of playing opportunities on offer, and he got his ticket to Real Madrid. The blame for Ruud's frustration is a whole other matter entirely, but once it was clear that he was gone, Fergie saw the opportunity to liberalize the goalscoring responsiblity. Aware of the fact that United had become too dependent on feeding the ball to Ruud in the box for goals, he bought Michael Carrick to spread opportunities around the team, as well as Patrice Evra to give the backline some offensive tooth. This opened up the field for the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney to unleash their talents, and thus Sir Alex succeeded in molding the free-scoring squad of the last three years.

From these stories among many, we can see one undeniable truth: Ferguson understands the necessity of blooding players into the team over time. Great United teams have always had star players such as Beckham who developed at the club, mainly because on great teams, star players will inevitably emerge and attract more attention than anyone else, for one reason or another. However, Sir Alex knows that such stardom must develop organically at the club in order to serve the team's purposes, rather than players being imported as colorful but ultimately unfit puzzle pieces. His managerial career demonstrates his philosophy that even the greatest players in the world cannot always succeed without the almost telepathic support of the team, forged in the experience of growing up within the club.

Just as importantly, Ferguson understands that if a player no longer fits within the team's ethos, it is time for him to leave, no matter his talent. Beckham left because his celebrity got in the way of his duty, a phenomenon that can exist in the Hollywood 2.0 of Madrid, but not in the tunnels of Old Trafford. Van Nistlerooy left because Ferguson decided that his style of play seemed to dictate the team's approach, a situation he may have created but ultimately disposed of, much to Ruud's unhappiness. Games are determined by more than just the sum of individual talents; the players must augment and understand each other, and Fergie's greatest talent may be in mastering this

conception of 'team'. It is why players such as Juan Sebastian Veron and Dimitar Berbatov have had difficulty at Old Trafford, why Real Madrid's first 'galactico' policy largely failed, and why there is no guarantee of success this year for the new breeds of galacticos at Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Ronaldo's departure is admittedly different than those of Beckham and van Nistlerooy. On their departures, Ferguson expressed that the latter two were hurting the team and benched them accordingly, but Fergie is clearly pained at losing who he calls "easily the best player in the world" and "streets ahead of them all". The other two were pushed out of Old Trafford, while Ronaldo could have stayed in Manchester as long as he liked, but eventually had to drag himself away to chase his "boyhood dream".

Nevertheless, a departure is still a departure no matter the story behind it, and the method of rebuilding remains the same. Once again, Ferguson has opted to develop a long-term successor in Obertan, virtually an unknown before this transfer. In the meantime, he has recruited Antonio Valencia to fill the role of pacy winger. Given the Ecuadorian's goalscoring record however, Ronaldo's goals are now more likely to come from established sources, as Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov seem likely to pick up some of that slack, with increased opportunity for Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda, and the rescued Michael Owen. In their preseason in Malaysia, Owen has particularly demonstrated a knack for scoring crucial goals, a role that had previously fallen to Ronaldo and the departed Carlos Tevez. Thus, at least until Obertan is ready, Fergie seems content that Ronaldo's many former roles are now spread throughout the team.

As many of us mourn the loss of CR7 and the rise of CR9, accustomed to focusing on one leading light, we may naturally reach out to find another star for our adulation. While an Ibrahimovic or a Ribery could have potentially fit into the team well, Sir Alex knows that such gambles are pricey, and not as dependable as the method he has used to make Manchester United the best team in England. It seems to be a cold, loveless method, but in avoiding a focus on replacing individuals, Ferguson defines his legacy by constantly working to retain the concept of team, more lasting and loved than any one player has ever been and will ever be.

From the stands, the USA's inexperience seemed to impede their potential against Haiti

2009-07-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the priviledge of sitting in Row 12 of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, for the USA's 2-2 draw with Haiti to conclude the group stage. Part of a tripleheader including the Revolution-Wizards MLS game and Honduras-Grenada Gold Cup tie, an absorbing match intimated a bright future for a few young stars, but showed that this U.S. second team needs more experience in matches such as these to be steadier and ready for more quality opponents.

After a miserable scoreless draw between the Revolution and Wizards of MLS that almost exclusively featured unsuccessful balls sent over-the-top, the national teams took the field. At just over 24,000, the crowd was somewhat disappointing, possibly due to being split fairly evenly between Americans, Haitians, and Hondurans. The biggest cheer during the introductions was reserved for Jay Heaps, a native of nearby Longmeadow, MA, and ironically enough, scattered boos were heard for Stuart Holden, longtime nemesis of the hometown Revolution as a key member of the Houston Dynamo. But by the final whistle, his contributions would prove vital, while Heaps would epitomize most of the rest of the U.S. squad in struggling with inexperience throughout the night.

From the opening kick, the U.S. looked dominant in possession, and good build-up play led to a perfect opening goal. Holden played an incisive ball through to Davy Arnaud, who finished expertly just past Haitian keeper Jean Dominique Zephirin into the left corner. Though he didn't receive any clear-cut chances the rest of the night, Arnaud played well overall, threatening the Haitian defense effectively in addition to scoring his first goal for the national team.

The U.S. showed a clear superiority in talent for the remainder of the first half, but they often got in their own way with mistakes that created unnecessary chances for Haiti. Holden represented the pick of the Americans' first-half offense, highlighted by a wonderful long-range volley in the 25th that dipped and struck the bottom of the crossbar, dropping in front of the goal line by inches. Numerous other chances in front of goal narrowly missed the frame, as the American offense was rarely in doubt.

However, the side's inexperience manifested mostly in defense. Defenders often looked unsure of themselves when dealing with men pressing forward, evident in Parkhurst's foul and subsequent yellow card in the 30th minute. Luis Robles showed the same lack of confidence, as his tentative parry of a saveable Fabrice Noel shot continued goalbound before he scrambled back to knock it away just in time.

Haiti punished this tentative approach swiftly after the second-half restart. Flying down the wing, Leonel Saint-Preux made an absolute mockery of defender Jay Heaps before firing a cross to the far post for Vaniel Sirin to finish with a stooping header. While Heaps looked totally lost trying to defend the deceptive winger, some of the blame undoubtedly falls on Parkhurst for uncharacteristically drifting from his mark during the play.

Further mistakes by inexperienced internationals led to the second goal, as Robles came out late and failed to effectively call off Jay Heaps. The native New Englander cleared the ball poorly to Mones Chery, who unleashed a thunderbolt into the left corner as Robles rushed back fruitlessly. While the shot would have been unstoppable even with perfect positioning, the chance itself was created by Robles' defensive temerity in hesitating to come out, along with Heaps' unfortunate clearance. Indeed, most of the Americans' problems came from players' inexperience with the national team, as the game's chief offenders were Parkhurst in his 7th national team appearance, along with Robles and Heaps in their debuts.

However, it is telling that the fightback was also led by a player with little international experience. Though Charlie Davies and Brian Ching brought experienced pressure and finishing ability when they were introduced as subs, they simply provided the threat of a conclusion to Stuart Holden's wonderful playmaking ability. Holden never missed a tackle, rarely lost possession with his masterful ball control, and created numerous chances for the entire team, aided by pinpoint passing from the ever-improving sub Kyle Beckerman.

For the rest of a scintillating second half, the teams went back and forth creating chances, but each team succesfully countered the other's blows. The USA had improved drastically at defending the runs from Saint-Preux and James Marcelin since the beginning of the half, no longer looking shockingly out of their depth. Meanwhile, the Haitian defense held strong, turning away numerous American chances, including one bold and selfless dive to block Davies' skilled chest trap and volley. Though the back-and-forth nature of play slowly gave way to desperate U.S. pressure, their unbeaten record in Gold Cup group play looked legitimately threatened as time dwindled away.

Yet Holden had been the sole player the USA could count on all game to give the team what it needed, whether it was a defensive stop or a controlling presence, and his 30-yard rocket did not disappoint the Americans' need for an equalizer. His strike in the second minute of injury time was both beautiful and powerful, taking his tally to 2 goals for the tournament, and indeed for his fledgling international career. Given his total control over the match and importance to this Gold Cup squad, he will certainly not lack more opportunities in the near future.

Holden's assurance and dominance were rarely found in the rest of this relatively novice team, but the good news is that such nervousness is the result of a collective lack of experience, which disappears more and more with every important contest like this. Their skill was evident in most of the USA's offensive play, and since mistakes are natural while adjusting to the international pace, nobody should believe that this was the best that this group has to offer. As Holden proves, the future is somewhat distant but brilliantly positive.

So close, and getting closer

2009-07-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

For a tournament where the United States played the best soccer in its history and got more people to care about the national team than ever before, there are surely millions of Americans disappointed at the conclusion of the 2009 Confederations Cup. The closer you come to winning, the harder it is emotionally to lose, and this is a heart-wrenching loss for the entire nation. However, “no pain no gain” is a favorite saying of many fitness gurus, and the pain of this loss can be the beginning of an extraordinary period of development for the US National Team.

The Americans surely heard every doubter’s claim that their performance against Spain was a fluke, and the first half against Brazil was their response. The USA bossed play from the beginning, and the first goal by Clint Dempsey was deserved, his deceitful redirection fooling Julio Cesar in the 9th minute. Thereafter, the Americans kept possession and worried Brazil with high-octane offense, and any minimal Brazilian pressure was masterfully dealt with by the American defense, marshaled by Tim Howard in one of his best ever displays. The second goal was a reward for their continued aggression, as beautiful play between Davies and Donovan demonstrated how their pace troubled the Brazilians all night, and resulted in a wonderful 26th minute finish by the captain. A third goal would’ve put the night away when a cross floated in for Jozy Altidore shortly afterwards, but the 19-year-old inexplicably failed to continue his run towards goal. Some late Brazilian pressure ended the half, but the Americans were still dominant overall.

Unfortunately, the end of the first half was all too indicative of how the second would go. 40 seconds from the whistle, Luis Fabiano received a pass at the top of the box, and despite Jay DeMerit’s good positioning, the ball found its way through his legs and past Tim Howard. Constant Brazilian attacks would have found the equalizer shortly thereafter, if not for the unflinching Howard, who showed that he is world-class with save after brilliant save. He can even be credited for preventing the would-be (should-be?) goal by Kaka in the 60th minute, as he never gave up on the ball and punched it out before the linesman could see that it had crossed the line. The U.S. couldn’t ride Tim Howard forever though, and Luis Fabiano’s headed goal in the 73rd was followed by one in the 84th minute by Maicon. The winner came off the 9th Brazilian corner after an entire half of offensive pressure, showing that while the U.S. put in a fantastic defensive display in the first half, it takes a full 90 minutes to win against the best.

In some ways, there are positives to losing the final. A win would have papered over the cracks of a less than flawless tournament, a misleading conclusion to inflate American egos. The destination ahead, World Cup 2010, is more important, and victory over Brazil would have convinced many that we are ready to win next year. Team USA and its fans would have preferred a championship here, of course, but when the team's strengths are gloriously prominent and the weaknesses painfully obvious, the entire nation knows where the team must improve in the coming year. Rest assured: despite ultimate disappointment, America has learned much that can finally solve the 20-year riddle of the US National Team.

Our four-pronged attack causes opposing defenses fits
The best decision that Bob Bradley made this tournament was to insert Charlie Davies into the lineup and shift Dempsey and Donovan out wide. When the three of them are on the pitch with Jozy, opposing teams have great difficulty in containing the athleticism and pace of all four players. The dam always busts somewhere, and the team has benefitted from multiple goals in all three games where this strategy is employed. Conor Casey isn’t

good enough in possession to be considered our first sub when Brian Ching is healthy, and his return will aid the team in closing out games with a lead.

The midfield is crowded, but basically settled
The wings are mostly decided, as playing Donovan and Dempsey essentially as wingers causes the most problems offensively. It’s also worth mentioning that as long as we aren’t in desperate need of wing players, DaMarcus Beasley shouldn’t be selected until he proves his talent again at club level. The middle is where things get crowded. Ricardo Clark is usually selected as an incredible defensive presence, with Sacha Kljestan as his immediate backup. Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber are both playmakers who can change the game with one brilliant pass, and both are easily good enough for inclusion. Bradley has been the choice mostly on his superior defensive play, but he showed a propensity for bad tackles against Spain, so Feilhaber should always be in the squad.

Our back four is set
If the resolute display against Spain didn’t prove it, the dominant first half against Brazil should: Bocanegra, DeMerit, Onyewu, and Spector are the best back four that the USA has. On the wings, Bocanegra and Spector have pace that they can exploit while remaining defensively responsible, and both can whip crosses into the attacking third. In the middle, Onyweu and DeMerit proved that they win every ball in the air, and their positioning while man-marking is impeccable. Their fitness needs to improve, as that was the major factor behind a disastrous second half against Brazil,

but when they have wind, the back line proved nearly impenetrable.

We rely too much on Tim Howard
As amazing as he was throughout 180 minutes against Spain and Brazil, nobody should expect any keeper to sustain that type of form over an entire tournament. The point isn’t that Tim Howard isn’t capable of playing at his best for that long, it’s that by approaching a game expecting such brilliance, the team is just begging to leak goals. Opposing teams can’t be allowed as many shots on goal as they’ve gotten in the last two games.

The U.S. has the talent to win a major championship
The USA beat the former best team in the world, and nearly beat the new one. Moreover, neither was a fluke, and the “nearly” would have been removed if not for an exhausted team. This team had the talent to win the Confederations Cup, they just didn’t have the energy. A World Cup run is more exhausting indeed, but it is much easier to get players in shape than it is to develop their talent. The USA just proved itself capable of going toe-to-toe with the two favorites for 2010, and with this nucleus of talent, the USA can definitely challenge for major honors, starting next year.

The U.S. isn't consistent enough mentally to win a major championship
The USA was mentally sharp for 225 minutes of Confederations Cup play, from the opening whistle against Egypt to the halftime whistle against Brazil. While these are proud results to cherish for Americans, if the team wants anything more than occasional results, the players need to stay aware for the other 225 minutes, instead of just going through the motions when they get tired at the ends of games. Key moments include not closing down Giuseppe Rossi on his equalizer, not marking Maicon on his opener in the group stage, DaMarcus Beasley’s horrendous missed touch that led to Brazil’s second goal in the group stage, and poorly marking Lucio on his winner in the final. These opposing players are good, but the USA has proved that as a team, they are just as good. There are no more excuses.

Bob Bradley isn’t exempt from the above criticism
If a team isn’t disciplined, it’s most likely due to their coach not instilling discipline. This is a vague criticism without much proof, but it’s nobody else’s responsibility but Bob Bradley’s to ensure that his team doesn’t make those

mistakes consistently. More troubling is the occasionally terrible game management that Bradley showed during the tournament. The biggest mistakes, in chronological order: sticking with Beasley for way too long despite his miserable showing against Costa Rica, taking off Jozy against Egypt when we still needed a goal, and most importantly, putting on Bornstein and Kljestan in the final. Feilhaber and Jozy were gassed, but putting on a 5th defender and a guy who got a red card the last time he played this team were not solutions at all. To clarify, Bob Bradley is absolutely the right coach for this team and he should not be fired, but he has to manage the team better in pressure situations.

This team isn't content with anything less than total success
Second place is the best that the U.S. has ever done in a FIFA tournament. No American gave a shit about that at the end of the final. From the heartbroken faces at the whistle, to Dempsey crying after receiving his runner-up medal and Bronze Ball, it’s clear that nobody is satisfied with anything less than winning. Donovan articulated it best, saying that "We're at the point where we don't

want respect, we want to win.” This team wants everything it can get its hands on, and now it knows that such success is achievable.

Americans will care about soccer if the national team performs like this
Though it's hardly scientific, if you took a look at your Facebook before, during, or after the final, you’d see countless friends of yours who don’t usually care about soccer, saying “Go USA!” or something similar. It’s about more than just soccer: Americans are proud of their country, and the patriotism shown towards the national team is something that MLS can never replicate. The Confederations Cup put soccer all over ESPN, CNN, any news outlet you can think of. Generations of young Americans are affected by all of that coverage: it affects their choices of sport, their opinions on sport, their desires for sport. The growth of soccer as a recognized sport in America starts with success like this.

Always Believe, or Why I Fear Being a Journalist

2009-06-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

At the kickoff of the USA-Egypt game, you know what I wanted to write? I was going to call out Bob Bradley for playing almost all of the starters in the "last" game against Egypt, instead of giving younger players like Freddy Adu a chance to prove themselves on a grand stage. I was going to make a case that Bob Bradley grossly mishandled multiple aspects of this tournament, continuing in the opportunity-squandering tradition of Copa America 2007. In short, like many Americans, I wanted some kind of change, in coach, players, and tactics.

I wasn't trying to condemn us as a soccer playing nation. I honestly thought that this was the best move going forward, that the team from the first two games was too far away from succeeding in a major tournament. I assumed that our best chance of developing as a national team was to focus on the next generation. I gave up.

Want to know where I was during the first half of the Spain game? Working.

Understandable, I couldn't get off from work on short notice, so I taped the game and ignored all updates. What baffles me is why I decided to then go to a museum, instead of rushing home to watch the game as soon as possible.

I guess I was in no rush because while I was eager to see my team play the world's best, in no way did I ever think we had a chance at actually beating them. I just wanted to analyze how we played against such quality opposition, almost as an academic exercise. I gave up.

You hate my attitude by this point, right? Think I refused to have faith? Well, you're right, and about more than you think too. You couldn't find an article before Egypt-USA that didn't mention opinions such as how our "slim hopes" had "likely ended" and how the team was "regressing before our eyes". You could barely find anyone who, however bullishly or misguidedly, had confidence that the United States would find a way to win against Spain. Sure, we hoped. I hoped against all hope that we could pull one out, dreaming of the greatest result anybody has ever seen by the Stars and Stripes. But nobody even gave their own hopes credibility or possibility, "knowing" by common sense that we dreamt foolishly.

The rest of the media and the nation gave up on our team. I was wrongfully more critical of the past out of sheer exasperation, but our expectations for the future were all the same: the U.S. has no shot. It wasn't just me: we all gave up.

Except for the nationals themselves, of course. You won't find a quote from one of them that even hints at any lack of self-belief. Of course, they're trained not to give anything but positive indications, but before the game you could even hear the resolution in their voices and words. They believed that their efforts were worth something, not only morally but practically, giving them the ability to succeed. Witness Landon Donovan: "Good team, big challenge, looking forward to it... We're gonna go for it."

As journalists, it's our job to analyze the big picture, to see every aspect of an issue and come to a conclusion. In this case, the correct conclusion was that Spain were heavy favorites. It is, however, a shame that the very job description makes few allowances for that confident, brash, human emotion of self-belief. Objectively, there is no way in journalism to justify such a fanatic outlook in the face of such an immense task. But

undoubtably, it is that very attitude that propelled the USA to its shining hour.

If Michael Bradley seemed like he was a bit unthankful for the result handed down by Brazil when speaking after the Egypt game, we should forgive him. "All the fucking experts in America, everybody who thinks they know about soccer, they can all look at the score tonight and let's see what they have to say now," he said at the time. "Nobody has any respect for what we do, for what goes on on the inside, so let them all talk now."

He couldn't have known that his statement was premature. He couldn't have known that it would have been the perfect response to the world media after a victory over Spain that will give everyone pause before writing off the U.S. again, a victory that could be the first step towards world recognition and respect. No, the U.S. didn't know that at the time. They just believed it.

Maybe as fans, we should all put aside probabilities and analysis, and just start believing. After all, that's what the U.S. team did, and look where they are now.

Wow. Go USA!

2009-06-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well, go ahead and call me an idiot for assuming that the "nearly impossible" meant "impossible". I plan on writing a full retrospective about the team once the tournament is over, but let me just say it now for immediate effect: this team has unbelievable heart. The fightback against Egypt definitely ranks as one of the best "I can't believe this is happening, but I love it" moments in recent memory. This spirit doesn't solve all of our problems, but it is almost indescribably beautiful to watch such an intangible quality at work.

I'll leave the team summary to the retrospective, but let me write one sentence each about individual players from this game. In no particular order:

Charlie Davies has the scrappiness needed in front of goal to play at this level.

Clint Dempsey should focus more on simple play than his fancy tricks.

Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber are the two best playmakers that the USA has.

Landon Donovan still has the pace and skill to make things happen, but he needs to be more selfish in front of goal.

Conor Casey has no place on this team when Brian Ching is healthy.

Ricardo Clark has proven that he is vital to this team as a holding midfielder.

Freddy Adu needs a chance to prove himself on a bigger stage than underage teams and CONCACAF games, which he'll only get by playing regularly at club level.

The backline has incredible depth, and is capable of competing with the world's best when focused.

More than anything else, the team as a whole needs discipline in order to be a contender.

More to come after the next rounds.

Confederations Cup, Round 2

2009-06-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on round 2 of the Confederations Cup:

--- Fantastic display by the Iraqis against Spain. They kept an excellent defensive shape the entire game, and they were able to attack without sacrificing on the back end. Spain’s still the best team in the world and created multiple chances, but the Iraqi keeper was in otherworldly form to keep his team in it. In the end, one defensive lapse cost them the game, but credit to Iraq for frustrating Spain throughout.

--- South Africa-New Zealand was like an MLS game: lots of pace made it exciting, but sometimes the lack of skill was comical. There were occasional flashes of brilliance, like Glen Moss’ save on Bernard Parker while the score was still 1-0, but all of the key moments seemed to happen through fortunate touches and deflections, even both goals. And this doesn’t even account for the ridiculous miskicks and frequent dumb offsides. The end-to-end style of the game was fun to watch though.

--- Siphiwe Tshabalala might be the most enjoyable name to hear on air. At the very least, this is one thing that the South African team brings to the table next year.

--- Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth are two of the best commentators we have broadcasting in the U.S., especially when they work games together. They always know their subject matter well, they’re consistently entertaining and emotive, and they’re not afraid to express an opinion when necessary. They’ve even been around for so long that they show an eye-opening historical perspective, such as their commentary during Egypt-Italy on the history of Coca-Cola Park and its place in South African political history. Adrian Healey and Andy Gray deserve mention as the other great commentators of today, as does Ray Hudson for sheer entertainment value, but the substance of Rae and Smyth broadcasts is nearly unmatched.

--- Make no mistake; this is Giuseppe Rossi’s tournament. His rampant display against the United States was aided by poor American defending, but he showed against Egypt that he’s always dangerous from anywhere on the pitch. Despite the fact that the whole American-Italian angle is being played up way too much, this might still be his emergence as a quality striker. Here’s hoping Manchester United take up their buyback option.

--- What a great game between Egypt and Italy. Both teams had exciting spells with the ball, but while Italy took most of the chances, the final result came down to defense. On one end, Italy made one defensive mistake at the end of the first half, and Egypt took advantage with a well-headed goal. On the other end, the defense never broke their shape, and Essam El Hadary was absolutely fantastic in goal with at least 5 lead-protecting saves in the second half. Egypt owes their victory to him.

Every team except New Zealand has something play for in the third round, even if teams like Brazil and the U.S. are unlikely to move from where they are. Regardless, a spot is open in both groups, so good news for everybody: the third round should be exciting throughout. Watch this space.

USA-Brazil, Live Diary

2009-06-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

The U.S. plays Brazil today in a must-win game, to retain any chance of advancing in the Confederations Cup. Meanwhile, Brazil looks to seal their passage into the next round with a win. Here are my thoughts on the game, updated live in diary form:

0': Brazil has looked so good recently. Aside from one two-minute lapse, they were in great form against Egypt, so this is going to be very difficult for the U.S. to shut them down while creating enough chances for a goal. I have yet to see any American show a defensive display that can stop Kaka, and that might be the key to the game. We can do it, but it's going to take a breakthrough performance.

0': I like the choice of Kljestan in the middle to account for Ricardo Clark's absence. He's creative enough to keep pressure on the offense, but there will be few sacrifices defensively. Great choice.

5': Where's the foul there? If this creates any problems, the U.S. has legitimate complaint.

7' (U.S. 0-1 Brazil, Felipe Melo 7'): And of course, a poor officiating decision makes us pay. Unbelievable that we're already behind, but aside from the initial decision, I'm not blaming the refs. No way somebody of Spector's caliber should ever let Felipe Melo get position on him, even if the delivery was absolutely beautiful.

11': Well, this free kick looks familiar, it's basically the exact same spot. If we keep giving these away in dangerous positions like this, we're in for a long night. Good low cross by Brazil, they're still threatening.

20' (U.S. 0-2 Brazil, Robinho 20'): Woah, what a goal. Terrible missed touch off our corner, but let's give Brazil credit: that counterattack is why they're Brazil, and we're not. Brazil has been rampant the entire game, and the U.S. is playing no part. This game, and the tournament, looks to be already past us.

24': These couple of lost TV signals worry me. One of the biggest pre-tournament worries was that there wouldn't be sufficient power to service all of the television crews, lights, and everything else. Dunno if that's the reason here, but if this keeps happening here with 8 teams, I worry for the 32-team version. We can't have a repeat of Germany-Turkey from Euro 2008, I'm still pissed I didn't see those goals.

25': Alexi Lalas: "DaMarcus Beasley is having a bad game thus far." I could've told you that 30 minutes ago, he doesn't have the stones for big games.

35': Onyewu picks up a yellow card. They just showed the Brazil bench, and I can't see a single player there who wouldn't be starting for us. Brazil is still bossing the game.

42': We're finally seeing some decent offensive play by the U.S., but the final touch is just not threatening on every cross and ball through. And we're still playing way too loose defensively, Beasley is atrocious right now, even JP Dellacamera says so. The U.S. is fortunate that Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo missed their chances.

Halftime: U.S. 0-2 Brazil. The announcers discussed a great point at the end of the half. In the tournament, the U.S. ranks 1st by a long shot in long balls played, but well behind the leaders in passes completed. It's really showing here, it seems like the U.S. plays it forward in the air every time they have the ball, and as fast as Donovan and Dempsey are, it's so easy for the Brazil back four to clean that up. Take a little more time on the ball, keep possession, and be patient. It might be the only way to keep players like Kaka off the ball, because they're the ones tearing us apart right now.

46': Conor Casey in for DaMarcus Beasley, thank God. Back underway.

51': The U.S. is already looking better. No more long balls to be found, and the build-up is creating chances on the ground. Conor Casey is still giving the ball away 50% of the time as always (1-for-2, with a poor chest trap), but it's his great ball back that gives Jozy the best chance of the game. Reasons to be optimistic.

56': Dellacamera discussing the Vuvuzela, and... hold on.

56': Kljestan gets a red for that tackle? I have two problems with this. A) Worse tackles have received only a yellow, even within this tournament. It's a dumb challenge, and I understand that it's the referee's discretion, but the U.S. is getting the shaft from officials on every single marginal decision. You can see it from the Onyewu foul that led to the first goal, right down to this red card. It might be the U.S.' reputation for physical play or what, I don't honestly know. Yes, I definitely have some leftover bitterness from the Italy game when saying this, but it was evident in that game, too. Part B of this thought in a little bit.

61': Feilhaber for Altidore? What are you trying to do, stem the bleeding? If you lose, it doesn't matter how much you lose by, you're still out! Just go for the win, bring Feilhaber on for somebody else! Bob Bradley continues to make poor substitutions, and it is positively killing the U.S.' chances. So frustrating.

62' (U.S. 0-3 Brazil, Maicon 62'): Great play in the box by Brazil to create that chance for Maicon, and an excellent finish. Obviously, the red card basically led to this point, but the tactical shift by Bradley to sink back is letting Brazil take back the entire run of play. Nothing but pride left to play for now.

68': OK, part B from that thought on Kljestan in the 56th: I don't know if the official was just attending to Ramires first, but it was such a late red card, he seemed to give it just because Ramires went off injured. Shame that this influenced the decision. Thinking it over, I'm starting to understand that the referee's position is absolutely defensible, but I still think it's harsh on a player who is clearly going for ball, and who hasn't had a bad tackle to that point. This goes for the Clark tackle too: soccer's a quick and rough game, players sometimes mistime their tackles, so you shouldn't send somebody off for an unintentional bad tackle at the first offense.

75': Dempsey plays around with fancy turns way too much. It's pretty to watch, but he nearly always loses the ball when he starts down that road. This is coming from one of his biggest fans: for the sake of possession, he needs to stop.

83': Great rip by Feilhaber off the bottom of the crossbar, this is exactly why he needs to be in the game from the beginning. Still should have come on for someone other than Jozy though.

89': And another one off the crossbar, this one a header from a corner by Casey. At least the U.S. is still going forward, even if nothing's at stake anymore.

90': Meant to say this back in the 56th before the red card, JP Dellacamera was talking about the vuvuzela horns that are omnipresent in the background. Apparently they're giving these away for free in the stadiums? I'll keep saying it, those things drown out all typical chants and noise that you typically associate with great soccer atmospheres. Good to hear that communications companies are getting upset, and they're trying to have them banned from the World Cup.

90'+3: Final whistle, U.S. 0-3 Brazil. The U.S. gets totally outclassed from the opening whistle, and key lapses on defense and in possession lead to goals for the Samba Boys in the first half. Much better play in the second half from the Americans, but the red card to Kljestan leaves them playing a man down for the second consecutive game, ending any hopes.

As I said after the Italy game, it's a matter of discipline. We absolutely must stop making the dumb mistakes we continue to make, which in this case were poor man-marking and missed touches off our own corners. Our tackling decisions are included in that. As much as I will always say that these two red cards in this tournament were harsh, if that's the way the World Cup will be called, we have to stop whining and adjust, myself included. Neither was necessary to prevent a goal, they were simply attempts to make up for lost possession, and that is the biggest indictment on our decision-making.

Right now, the biggest obstacle to our development isn't our physical skill, it's our mental awareness. This tournament is past us, but we need to start correcting this weakness as soon as possible, against a tricky Egypt side.

Questionable calls, occasional errors, and an expatriate doom the U.S. against Italy

2009-06-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

My running thoughts on the U.S.-Italy game, not exactly in diary form:

--- First 30 minutes looked dead even, with equal possession and maybe Italy blowing a couple chances they could have had.

--- The red card against Ricardo Clark still baffles me. That was Clark’s only poor challenge, it was unintentional, and Grosso only got a yellow after intentionally elbowing Donovan two minutes later. Hell, Chiellini didn’t get even a scolding on the penalty, and he was the last man! I honestly can’t see a single way this can be justified, and believe me, I’m trying. Horrendous decision.

--- There were plenty of reasons to be optimistic at halftime, but the 1-0 was misleading. The U.S. had been riding their luck before the first goal, notable examples being the early shanked header by Legrottaglie and lucky offsides on the Bornstein own-goal. Italy had the better run of play, and it showed in the second half.

--- Jozy Altidore is the best American chance at developing a world-class striker, but at moments like his early touchback to Donovan in the box, he shows that he’s got a ways to go. More than the missed touch, his choice to give up a goal-scoring chance shows a worrying reluctance to shoot. He’s only 19, but with his increasing national experience, age can’t be an excuse for much longer.

--- Ugh, JP Dellacamera: “Everybody remembers Zambrotta from the World Cup, with the Zidane incident.” Uh, no, that was Materazzi. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks the higher-ups should have their facts straight on one of the single biggest soccer news stories of this decade.

--- Wow, what a strike by Rossi. I have no problem with Rossi playing for Italy, even if I wish he had decided to play for us. If you can come in and score that first wondergoal for Italy in a major tournament, go right on ahead. God knows you have a better chance of winning major tournaments that way, so from a professional standpoint, more power to you.

--- When we’re down a goal in the 72^nd minute, why in HELL are we taking off Feilhaber, both one of our best playmakers and defenders, for Beasley, who got totally emasculated against Costa Rica a couple weeks ago? I’d love to hear Bob Bradley’s explanation for that.

--- I give up. How is it not a penalty to jump on Donovan’s back as he’s going up for a header in the box? This decision infuriates me more than anything else, because there is no doubt in my mind that if that’s called correctly, we stop pressing forward and this ends 2-2. If this game doesn’t deserve to be looked at by FIFA, I don’t know what does.

--- I love Charlie Davies because I watched him in high school, but in that situation, Jozy puts that 90^th minute header away. Unfortunate.

Despite some of my criticisms, the U.S. played a good game overall. Some terrible decisions went against us to kill off most of our chances, and we gave them a couple opportunities ourselves, but we did very well with 10 men for an hour. The main problem is our habit of making a couple of dumb mistakes per game, such as Onyewu’s indecision on the second goal. If we want to beat the best (and this shows that we can), these types of errors must stop, because the best teams will make you pay. The game against Brazil should show us how far we might progress towards that aim.

At the Confederations Cup, the action takes a backseat to the hints of the 2010 Experience

2009-06-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

The Confederations Cup is a godsend this time of year. I mean, as much as I love MLS, there is almost nothing to watch once the season ends, and regardless, I’m ecstatic about any excuse to get some of the world’s best teams together (and New Zealand). Plus, this is saving us from hearing exclusively about Ronaldo, Ribery, Tevez, etc. over the next month.

Let’s just clarify something: a lot can happen in a year, and in no way does this tournament definitively predict anything. Certainly, the 8 teams show how they react to the big stage, and the more high-profile matches are excellent previews of what could come, but that’s the thing: we have no clue what’s going to happen. These teams might lose form, or not even make it to 2010, like Egypt is threatening to do in Qualifying. There are clearly other teams outside the Confederations Cup who look like strong candidates, like England and the Netherlands. Matches like France-Brazil from 2006 are why the World Cup is always so enthralling: forget how teams have been playing recently, anything could happen.

No, the tournament’s biggest upside is the overflowing excitement that it creates for the World Cup. Seeing the culture in South Africa gives some of the best indications we could have received: that 2010 will have few logistical problems, and that it will have one hell of an atmosphere. In other words, the 2010 Experience is going to live up to expectation. Those damn horns in every stadium are going to get obnoxious, but with all that national pride in every stadium, atmospheres like the ones we’re seeing certainly send chills down your spine. Get excited. The countdown to the World Cup is on.

Random thoughts from the first round of games:

· --- I don’t care who you’re playing, a hat trick like Fernando Torres’ deserves a hearty standing ovation. Better teams would have fallen to the strikes he produced.

· --- Funny how Alexi Lalas sounds disappointed in their performance when he says at halftime that “for New Zealand, it’s basically over”. Wasn’t it basically over when they, you know, arrived? I understand that anything can happen in this wonderful sport, but come on, no team wins that gives away a 5^th goal through the last defender’s legs.

· --- Goals like Kaka’s first one make him worth 56 million pounds. No way the Egypt defenders could have done more without bowling him over, he had that ball within 3 feet of him the whole time. Incredible.

· --- Discussing it at halftime of Brazil-Egypt, you have to love how American commentators want to make it seem like Conor Casey is doing a great job as the U.S.’ supporting striker. Holding the ball up for others is necessary to allow others to get upfield, but it’s not very helpful when you lose the ball half the time. We need American commentators who don’t feel obligated to be ridiculously optimistic about almost everything American.

· --- Brazil-Egypt was a perfect advertisement for soccer. It had everything to excite the mainstream crowd: pace, skill, power, superstars, goals, controversy… in other words, everything Iraq-South Africa lacked.

· --- I love the way Egypt plays. Their style is much more European than African, possession-based without sacrificing attacking spirit. If they can snap out of their qualifying funk, 2010 will be more entertaining for it.

· --- As always, Mohamed Aboutrika is showing that he is an unbelievable playmaker, and frankly it’s a shock he hasn’t played in Europe. As the story goes, he stays in Egypt because he is satisfied playing in his homeland, and he feels no need to chase glory in Europe, but it’s a shame that the world misses out on seeing his skill regularly.

· --- Ahmed Al Muhamadi only has himself to blame for that ending. That’s why you stand on the far post on set pieces, not just near it. Pitiful display of sportsmanship too.

· --- There is way too much to talk about in the U.S.-Italy game, it’s getting it’s own separate post.

Should be an exciting second round of games, with most of the semifinalists to likely be decided. You’ll be sure to hear from me.

Welcome to The Searching Cross!

2009-06-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hello, welcome to The Searching Cross, a soccer blog from an American perspective! This is one fanatic's way of expressing his informed opinions on world soccer. As a Manchester United fan from the USA, I have my biases, but I refuse to let them stand in the way of an honest portrayal of the beautiful game and its events.

My mission is to provide an entirely new point of view on world soccer, seeing a need to expand the often-rehashed opinions available to American fans of the world's game.

Hope you find it worth reading!