The Big Blue Wrecking Crew

I'll start it off by saying that this Germany vs. Australia game is incredibly impressive. Before the World Cup, the Germans weren't thought of seriously to do anything but after watching them here, they are playing VERY impressively. Especially their young striker called Ozli, a Turkish-German player who looks to be in his young 20's. Great game.

And, continuing for us here in the US, our US team looked VERY good against the English, a team that looks to be a favorite to win the entire thing. The US stood their ground, they weren't too intimidated by a storied team like England, and fought closely with them. Let's just hope that Tim Howard can continue to play with the Yanks. I have to say, of all the goalies that I have seen so far, Tim looked very very good. So for Americans who don't know what the appeal to soccer is, watch the national team, they are really something to be proud of. USA USA USA!

Y les deseo buena suerte a mis hermanos de Honduras, siendo Salvadore;o, les deseo lo mejor en el Mundial.

[quote]

JamesMiranda:

And, continuing for us here in the US, our US team looked VERY good against the English, a team that looks to be a favorite to win the entire thing. The US stood their ground, they weren't too intimidated by a storied team like England, and fought closely with them. Let's just hope that Tim Howard can continue to play with the Yanks. I have to say, of all the goalies that I have seen so far, Tim looked very very good. So for Americans who don't know what the appeal to soccer is, watch the national team, they are really something to be proud of. USA USA USA!Well, let's hope Slovenia has gotten it out of their system. I don't think England will have much trouble against Algeria and that puts a lot of pressure on USA.

[quote]

bigblaster:

Well, let's hope Slovenia has gotten it out of their system. I don't think England will have much trouble against Algeria and that puts a lot of pressure on USA.

Same here. I was very nervous for our boys because in my opinion, their hardest match was going to be against the English. Slovenia shouldn't be too hard for the US, and Algeria...well, let's just say that I expect the US and England to qualify for the next round.

Slovakia got very lucky. The Algerian GK could give Robert Green a competition for biggest goat in this World Cup. The Slovak goal was nearly as cheap as Dempsey's, yesterday. Did like that the Ghanan side got three points today. I would've loved to see Essien play against the German side, but it is not to be.

Let's face it, we were very lucky that England is missing both Rio Ferdinand and Becks. We are even luckier that Wayne Rooney was ignored by his teammates. I will take Frank Lampard's weak ass shots all day long if Rooney never gets a touch.

Geez, it looks like the Roos didn't even show up. 4-0 is ugly. This German side is not that good, at least not at the level of Spain, Italy or Brazil. Anyone else worried that Howard might have a broken rib? I am not, that much. Hahnemann and Guzan are still much better than any other GK in our group.

I am so sad that we did not go to South Africa, right now. My cousins were at the game and said the American fans were fun. We had tickets for the match between Brasil and Korea and I am sad I cannot be there. My cousin says it was freezing out so I wonder how we will do in the cold. I was planning to be at that game in my skimpiest Brasil stuff, but I am glad I am not, I might freeze to death. Cannot wait for Tuesday. We are going to kill Korea. Chris thinks Spain will win, but he knows nothing. Brazil will rule.

Wow, I kind of feel bad for the Socceroos, I had really high expectations for them after their last showing in the last world cup. They weren't supposed to be eliminated by the Italians, I still don't think it was a penalty. So, naturally, I thought they were going to put up more of a fight against the Germans but they never showed up like Torg said. I still think they make it to the 2nd round because the rest of their group just simply isn't that good, but we'll see. Tomorrow's games will definitely be really good. We get our first look at the Dutch, another team that is considered to be a favorite to win the Cup.

[quote]

JamesMiranda:

Y les deseo buena suerte a mis hermanos de Honduras, siendo Salvadore;o, les deseo lo mejor en el Mundial.

Ahhh, muchas gracias James! Lo vamos a necesitar.
I'll be up at 4:30 AM Wednesday to watch the game before heading to work. Still debating if I want to go Rincon Chileno on Melrose to watch it there and have some platano frito con frijoles y mantequilla. They will have both Chilean and Honduran breakfast.
I wore my Honduran blue jersey to the Dodger game today. I wore my USA jersey on Saturday.
I'll look for a place to watch the USA game on Friday morning when I am in Boston. I arrive in Boston about 6:30 AM.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com

Huge Upset! I could not believe how badly Cameroon did with the set pieces. They had the bigger players, the better pace, but couldn't pass worth a damn and had no idea what to do when the ball was in the Japan end. Gotta think Japan has a leg up on the next round, but they still have to beat the Danes. No one is beating the Dutch in this group. Cameroon could be in some serious trouble with matches versus the Dutch and the Danes left. I am still shocked at how few touches Samuel Eto'o got. Just like England, the Cameroon side forgot who their best player was until the very end. Now, to kill some time until the next match.

- What? A previously lackluster German side showed up at the World Cup ready to play? I'd be shocked, but it's the bloody Germans. When don't they show well in a World Cup? They had no right getting to the semifinals in 2006, even on home soil. They should've never made the final in 2002. Hell, the last time I think they underperformed was in 1994 when they lost out to a magical Bulgarian side that was playing out of their skins at the time. Germany... they really do know how to step on the gas. :)

- I actually think that Australia is in for a rude awakening in the near future as their switch out of Oceana and into the Asian qualifying group was done solely to get an easier qualifying path into the World Cup. In doing so, it's masking their inherent deficiencies. They aren't nearly as good of a team as they were four years ago as they've had no youth come into the side and they were already an "experienced side" in 2006. It's an aging side with a bunch of players made out of crystal and no Guus Hiddink to guide them to upset victories.

- Both England and the USA should go through from their group, even with Slovenia lucking their way into 3 points against Algeria. I was shocked at how horrid both of those sides were in their match yesterday. Truly the poorest quality football match of the entire tournament so far. France v. Uruguay was just boring. Algeria v. Slovenia was truly wretched, both boring and brutal to watch. The Algerian side should be wearing aprons and balaclavas as part of their uniform because they are truly nothing more than a bunch of butchers and thugs vaguely attempting to play something akin to football, but looking like they'd be happier injuring someone. Slovenia is equally as weak, but at least they're attempting to do something.

- Ah, Cameroon... still living off of the glory of their upset of Argentina back in 1990... in the year 2010. Yet another piss poor display from Cameroon, which is nothing shocking since just about every African nation has failed to live up to the hype since they "put African football on the map". This has been the hallmark of all the African teams since Cameroon in 1990. Remember how no one was supposed to want to face Camerooon post-Argentina? They haven't done shit since then.

- Will the Ivory Coast be the "next Nigeria"? A team that everyone is supposed to not want to face because of how "dangerous" they are, but which never lives up to the hype? Nigeria's Super Eagles won the Olympic gold medal in 1996, got lots of press about how they were going to finally be the African nation to make the big leap into a true world football power and then proceeded to do squat since other than continually disappoint. Now it's the Ivory Coast's turn to see if they can take a bunch of talented individuals and do something with it.

- I am almost 100% positive that a goalkeeper is going to score a goal in this tournament off of a long, blasted goal kick. The ball just explodes off the turf after any long, floated pass. Some keeper is going to misjudge that and watch the ball balloon over his head and bounce into the net. Because of this the teams that do best will be those that play the ball on the floor for the most part as it's the easiest way to control such a squirrely ball. Guess that means that England will yet again go out in the quarterfinals on penalties since they have some of the worst ball control and short passing in a side that is expected to do something in this tournament. That does not bode well for them in the future.

- I can't wait to see the Brazil - North Korea match just for the post-match reports out of North Korea trying to explain how their glorious football warriors were robbed by a conspiracy of FIFA officials, the US government and South Korean spies. Oh, that's going to be choice.

- Most shocking thing I've seen in the tournament so far... the ball control and passing of the USMNT against England. I watched that match while listening to the BBC radio commentary and the entirety of the BBC was appalled that the English were getting completely overrun in the midfield, out-passed, out-moved and just out-played by the US. As a matter of fact, they're still talking about it on Monday morning in discussion after the Cameroon - Japan match. This is something that bodes well for the USMNT. They aren't the most talented team in the tourament, but I think they might have the best team spirit and ethos about them. Colour me pleasantly surprised.

Ah, another 3.5 weeks of fun to go in the summer of fun as the World Cup runs into Wimbledon which runs into the Tour de France. Baseball is such an afterthought until the end of July.

Grabby - Cameroon flattering to deceive is nothing new. They do it all the time.

Japan is a nation that is pretty analogous to the US. They started their own league in 1993 which became a place for homegrown players to get quality matches under their belt while also being a last payday for foreign stars right before retirement. It allowed them to learn to become professionals and to improve the overall quality of their national team and eventually start to send players over to Europe to play in the bigger, more quality leagues.

I think both Japan and the US will "surprise" folks who are still thinking that both nations are footballing backwaters while continuing to overrate every African nation in the competition.

[quote]

EvilEuro:

Grabby - Cameroon flattering to deceive is nothing new. They do it all the time.

Japan is a nation that is pretty analogous to the US. They started their own league in 1993 which became a place for homegrown players to get quality matches under their belt while also being a last payday for foreign stars right before retirement. It allowed them to learn to become professionals and to improve the overall quality of their national team and eventually start to send players over to Europe to play in the bigger, more quality leagues.

I think both Japan and the US will "surprise" folks who are still thinking that both nations are footballing backwaters while continuing to overrate every African nation in the competition.

I have the same feeling. Japan plays well within their abilities and even their forwards mark hard. I think they might surprise the Dutch....for one half, but the Dutch are the cream of that group. I am interested to see the Ivory Coast, though. I love watching Drogba play, but with the arm in a cast, I have to wonder if that will be a target to slow him down. What I saw of Ghana was impressive (especially without Essien), but the Serbians gave them the game by never coming out of their end. I think we will take our next two matches as long as we don't play at the level of the Algerians or the Slovenians. If I am England, I am worried though. Like Kobe, the English side needs to make sure Wayne Rooney gets plenty of touches. If they continue to ignore him, they will struggle as they look like the least athletic English side I can remember. Geez, when did Lampard and Garrard get so old and slow?

I am very interested in the Paraguay-Italy tilt. The Azurri are looking plenty old and the Paraguayan side has a fine young player in Lucas Barrios. Saw him, on Direct TV, play for Borussia Dortmund and he looks like a player to watch. While my wife is saying that the Brazil-North Korea match will be the best of the day, I am thinking that tomorrow's Ivory Coast/Portugal game will be the most exciting. Just to see Drogba and Ronaldo on the pitch together should be worth the price of admission.

GOAL! PARAGUAY!

E-GK, Tied at one. Geez, this game is ugly. It ain't just the rain, neither team is showing any style or purpose.

Given the lack of talent on New Zealand and Slovenia, I think it is safe to say that Paraguay and Italy will easily advance, although neither played that well. I know Italy never plays until it reaches the knockout round, but this was pretty bad and I wonder if they have it in them to pick up their game to advance past the next round.

I think I'm going to buy a horn, even though I am no longer able to hear it after just a couple of games....

Wow, North Korea putting up a fight.

The air is blue with profanity about Brazil's performance, so far. Herself is in complete pout mode and if North Korea pulls a clean sheet out of this game, she will be calling for Dunga's head on a stick. Even her beloved Kaka is getting some verbal abuse.

GOAL!

GOAL! 2-0

Can't wait to hear the North Korean state run media spin this game. If the last World Cup was any indication, there will be wide-spread accusations of cheating and collusion by the imperialist dogs of FIFA. C'mon, how seriously can you take a side who has to pay for Chinese nationals to come to South Africa to cheer for them?

The North Korean coach is now not going to be in front of the firing squad. I know he is the most grateful man on the pitch. 2-1.

Spain is really pissing me off.

I am not happy, but this is a huge upset. I doubt even the Swiss thought they had a chance against Spain.

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

I am not happy, but this is a huge upset. I doubt even the Swiss thought they had a chance against Spain.

That was HUGE! Everyone was cheering for the Swiss at UPS. Even I have to say that I have a smile on my face.

However, I do feel a little sad for Honduras. I'm glad to see that our Latin-American nations, for the most part, are well represented in the Cup, but I really wanted Honduras to do well. Good luck to them.

Hate to say it, but I think that CONCACAF ought to lose a slot in the World Cup. CONCACAF, beyond the US and Mexico, is about as weak as any of the other confederations outside of UEFA and CONMEBOL. That CONCACAF has 3 guaranteed slots plus the fourth place team getting a chance via the intercontinental playoffs is a little ridiculous. I understand wanting to have Honduras do well, but they're woefully short of the quality in the Mexican and USMNT sides. Costa Rica was the team in the playoff this year against Uruguay and I don't think they were anywhere near a World Cup Finals quality side.

If CONCACAF lost a guaranteed spot and had 2.5 slots instead of 3.5 I wouldn't be the least bit upset.

[quote]

EvilEuro:

Hate to say it, but I think that CONCACAF ought to lose a slot in the World Cup. CONCACAF, beyond the US and Mexico, is about as weak as any of the other confederations outside of UEFA and CONMEBOL. That CONCACAF has 3 guaranteed slots plus the fourth place team getting a chance via the intercontinental playoffs is a little ridiculous. I understand wanting to have Honduras do well, but they're woefully short of the quality in the Mexican and USMNT sides. Costa Rica was the team in the playoff this year against Uruguay and I don't think they were anywhere near a World Cup Finals quality side.

If CONCACAF lost a guaranteed spot and had 2.5 slots instead of 3.5 I wouldn't be the least bit upset.

I couldn't agree more. When quality sides like Sweden, Ireland and Russia are looking in from the outside, along with Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, there is something not right. No one from FIFA can tell me that New Zealand, Honduras or Algeria have any right being in the World Cup ahead the sides I mentioned and I suspect a few others.

I love seeing the French lose.

They shouldn't have even been there anyway. The BBC had all sorts of Irish phoning and texting in saying how vindicated they felt that a team in green was putting the French to the sword.

And congrats to Raymond Domenech for yet again proving that if you set your team out to get one point the odds are that you'll lose all three. I hate managers that play for draws from the get go and don't play to win.

At least the Mexican manager was positive with his substitutions. And I swear, I'm sporting wood over Javier Hernandez. He's going to be the best little poacher to hit Old Trafford since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

I missed the Mexico win, but I am gonna watch it on replay, tonight. Geez, Nigeria is just plain awful. The Greeks had little reason to even get into the Cup and they beat the Nigerian side badly. Of course, that red card at the twentieth minute was universally stupid. Almost as bad as the South African goalie getting sent off. Anyone else gonna be up at 4am to watch the US play?

I thought the US game was at 6:30.

[quote]

bigblaster:

I thought the US game was at 6:30.

I was looking at that schedule we had printed for our planned trip to the RSA. Got screwed up in the time change.

Anyway, got to watch the second biggest upset of this World Cup as the Germans looked lethargic in losing to the Serbians. I hope this isn't a sign for the rest of the day. We have to come to play and want it more than the Slovenians.

Why are the Slovenians wearing Charlie Brown's shirts?

Well, got to watch 5 minutes of the match. Time to shower and head to work. GO USA!

Geez, both Onyewu and DeMerit are getting shown their asses with their lack of speed. Down 2-0, but we should have at least one goal if Donovan wasn't afraid to get dirty. I am still trying to figure out why Bradley continues to play Findley, the guy doesn't have a clue with the ball and it looks like he is running in slow motion.

COACH'S SON HAS GAME! 2-2

This referee is a total clown. Edu's goal disallowed, but I can't see why.

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

This referee is a total clown. Edu's goal disallowed, but I can't see why.

Because this ref is even more crap than the ref in today's first match.

And I had been so happy with the refereeing in the World Cup so far... until today.

This ref is pretty much gay for life now.

The ref made an awful call. Still, if the US had played all 90 minutes instead of only showing up in the 2nd half, they would have won. Giving up those early goals is becoming a bad habit for the US.

I agree with Grabs that Finley has no place on this team. And why did Bradley wait until the 80th minute to bring in Garcia? Should have been in there at the half.

It's going to be difficult moving on at this point. I don't see England losing to Algeria his afternoon. The best thing for us would be for England to get a draw against Algeria and then lose to Slovenia next week. Otherwise, the US goes home early.

Germany lost?!

[quote]

EvilEuro:

Because this ref is even more crap than the ref in today's first match.

And I had been so happy with the refereeing in the World Cup so far... until today.

This ref is pretty much gay for life now.

I would love to know what the call was on Edu's non-goal? I saw Bocanegra getting tackled, I saw Altidore getting mugged and it looked like Bradley was getting raped by the guy marking him and he didn't see any of that, but somehow called a mystery foul on an unknown player. I hope FIFA sends the clown back to Mali. I mean, I can see the second goal by Slovenia going through, it was not an overt off-side and the camera angle sucked, but he should've sent off a couple Slovenians for the some pretty obnoxious fouls.

Thankfully, Findley has to sit when we play Algeria. He is nigh upon useless. Then again, so was Onyewu. I know he is still recovering from the knee thing, but he was getting his ass handed to him all game long. I would not mind seeing Gomez play more. He brings a ton of energy to the US side. We still need a big victory over the Algerians and hope that England can crush Slovenia. Of course, it would be nice if Algeria can muster a tie with the English, that would put us a leg up as all we would have to do is beat Algeria as the outcome of the England/Slovenia match will only affect us on who we play in the knockout round.

[quote]

Westsidedodger:

The ref made an awful call. Still, if the US had played all 90 minutes instead of only showing up in the 2nd half, they would have won. Giving up those early goals is becoming a bad habit for the US.

I agree with Grabs that Finley has no place on this team. And why did Bradley wait until the 80th minute to bring in Garcia? Should have been in there at the half.

It's going to be difficult moving on at this point. I don't see England losing to Algeria his afternoon. The best thing for us would be for England to get a draw against Algeria and then lose to Slovenia next week. Otherwise, the US goes home early.

I still think Slovenia needs to get a tie against England to punch their ticket to the next round. If we beat Algeria by two goals and England gets a win over Algeria and ties Slovenia, Slovenia goes home. Of course, if England beats Algeria and loses to Slovenia, we are in as long as we beat Algeria. Goal differential is the thing. As we are even, at this point, we are in good shape. Slovenia is plus one, right now, but their hardest test is their next game, while our easiest test is next. That goal that the ref stole from us will play huge, next week.

How awful is England? They didn't even get a good shot at the rookie Algerian keeper. This is the best news the US could get short of FIFA changing the referee's decision on Edu's goal - yeah, that will never happen. If they wouldn't change Henry's blatant hand ball, they sure as hell won't change the ref's piss-poor call on that goal. Still, we beat Algeria, we advance - can't be any simpler. And just because I don't like Slovenia's comments after the game, I am going to cheer hard for England, next week, also.

I have to say England really misses Beckham and Ferdinand. No imagination on offense, terrible corners and they played down to Algeria's level. Like I was thinking at halftime of the US game, a trainer is going to get fired from this group. I just thought it would be Bradley with the US offering Klinsman all the money in the world to take over.

This is the best news I've heard all day.

Now all we have to do is beat Algeria.

And replacing Bradley with Klinsman would be a dream. I never understood why he didn't become the US head coach. He spends half a year her in SoCal every year. It was a match made in heaven.

[quote]

Westsidedodger:

This is the best news I've heard all day.

Now all we have to do is beat Algeria.

And replacing Bradley with Klinsman would be a dream. I never understood why he didn't become the US head coach. He spends half a year her in SoCal every year. It was a match made in heaven.

Money! Loads and loads of money. If Bradley can get the US to through the next round, he will be golden. Not ecstatic about it, but he is better than Arena, Sampson or Milutinovic. Of course, that is not saying much. I remember, back in my college days when they offered the job to USF coach, Steve Negoesco and he told them when they were serious about developing talent, he would talk. Some thirty plus years later, it looks like they finally got serious.

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

How awful is England? They didn't even get a good shot at the rookie Algerian keeper. This is the best news the US could get short of FIFA changing the referee's decision on Edu's goal - yeah, that will never happen. If they wouldn't change Henry's blatant hand ball, they sure as hell won't change the ref's piss-poor call on that goal. Still, we beat Algeria, we advance - can't be any simpler. And just because I don't like Slovenia's comments after the game, I am going to cheer hard for England, next week, also.

I have to say England really misses Beckham and Ferdinand. No imagination on offense, terrible corners and they played down to Algeria's level. Like I was thinking at halftime of the US game, a trainer is going to get fired from this group. I just thought it would be Bradley with the US offering Klinsman all the money in the world to take over.

Hey torg, where'd you hear that Klinsmann would replace Bradley?

[quote]

JamesMiranda:

Hey torg, where'd you hear that Klinsmann would replace Bradley?

Just my personal preference. When the US gave Arena the boot, Klinsman's name was the top of the list to replace Arena, but we couldn't come up with the cash and perks to make him sign up.

The day the USSF hires someone like Klinsmann is the day you know they're truly serious about revamping player development.

The whole reason he didn't get signed after 2006 was that he wanted more control of player development. The real killer in the deal was that Klinsmann wanted some of the USSF's sponsorship deals pulled as he felt they were also hindering player development.

USSF does not want someone who is involved in the entirety of player development from the coaching and business sides. It's an organization that, at the top, is run by people who have never played football and don't want anyone trodding on their little kingdom. Sounds similar to the English FA in terms of their beaurocratic inneptness.

Still, USSF does some things very well, the most important of which is using meaningless friendlies to blood younger players into international play and thus earning them the caps needed to get them work permits to play overseas.

But that's about all they do right. At least this year they didn't force the USMNT manager to take a bunch of meaningless, underqualified MLS-based players simply because they wanted to increase the profile of the MLS.

Wow! England put on a display of "shocking" that was so bad it astonished me.

You know you're in trouble as a team when the person who delivers your best set piece deliveries and crossed balls into the box for your forwards to deal with is 34 and on the bench with a torn achilles tendon (David Beckham). You know you're in more trouble though when your second best person at providing service to your forwards is actually your top goal scorer (Wayne Rooney).

Emile Heskey is nothing more than a glorified donkey. Built like a brick shithouse, but apparently with wheels on the bottom of his boots instead of cleat studs, he's constantly falling over and looking around with a look on his face wondering how it possibly could have happened. Why he's playing as the target guy with Rooney is beyond me.

Rooney is perfectly fine playing up on his own. Of course, he needs some sort of service to provide the ball to him and neither Aaron Lennon nor Shawn Wright-Phillips know how to clear the first man on a cross from either the wing or a corner. Steven Gerrard would be much better suited playing in the hole behind Rooney and instead shunted out to the left wing where he is not able to provide proper width. England haven't had a proper left wing player since 1990. That still hasn't changed.

Why they're playing a 4-4-2 in the World Cup when they basically played 4-5-1 all throughout a very good qualifying campaign is beyond me. But yet again, the pressure of the English press seems to have gotten to them. Nothing like being booed off the pitch by your own fans. And then being ripped by your own media and fans when the players call the fans out for doing such.

Truly a horrid display... but to be expected from a team that has no depth once you get beyond the first 11... and they're not even that deep.

And yet they still have hope. So long as both they and the USMNT win their final matches then both England and the USMNT advance. So at least both teams still hold their fate in their own hands.