Some of you are not giving crouch nearly enough credit. Obviously he is good at scoring goals out of the air (which is gonna give England a much needed boost with its very talented crossers), but more importantly, the man has a knack for grounding the ball, give and go's, and one-time touch passes (especially for someone as 'gangly' as him). Considering Owen's style of finding seams withought the ball, it wil be a huge plus (and from what I hear over here, Owen will be starting all 3 of the friendlies and should be close to 100 percent by the time the 1st game starts).

As for rooney, we'll see as it goes. Depending on the x-ray in two weeks, we could (like Kilj said) see Sven naming Defoe in his place (although I wish it would have been Bent)

And Walcott.... well no one really knows what to expect here. I will say this, Sven was talking about pace quite a bit in the press conference and this Kid is actually faster than Henry. And from what most people have seen, he is good at finding the net. Moreover, apparently he is extremely confident for a 17 year old, so hopefully he will be ok as far as pressure goes.

I just wish Wenger's stupid ass would have used him on the squad (at least a bit), so the kid could have had some real comp. before all of this)


p.s. UEFA cup final tom. night (middles v seville)
FA cup final this saturday (pool v West Ham)
Champions final next Wednesday (17th) (Arsenal v Barca)

in case anyone needed reminding.

5/9/2006 4:37:38 AM

ooops....

make that 2 friendlies

5/9/2006 6:00:01 AM

go barca, and hammers

[Edited on May 9, 2006 at 2:50 PM. Reason : h]

5/9/2006 2:49:20 PM

anybody else watching this uefa cup final?

it showed highlights of the quarter/semi runs that boro had, 4 goals in both 2nd legs to advance 4-3, fucking crazy

5/10/2006 3:04:04 PM

guess not, 3-0 sevilla if anybody cares

5/10/2006 4:29:33 PM

Wow, Sevilla four nil at full time. I thought Middlesbrough would do better than that.

Well, McClaren is now off to coach England. You think this game made their fans happy?

5/10/2006 9:47:32 PM

Should've been 1-1 late though, Viduka missed a point blank volley that I thought for sure would've made for a good ending

but yeah, the last 10 minutes or so were horrible

5/10/2006 10:00:58 PM

24 days 9 hours 32 minutes 10 secs away...

5/16/2006 2:27:57 AM

it's comin up, i'm excited

alot of waking up at 3am and lots of sleeping at work

5/17/2006 11:50:05 AM

I definitely can't wait... I'll be in Germany for part of the first round.

Partying it up in London the evening England plays their first match.

Then we're going to go to Gelsenkirchen for the US-CZE match, but we'll probably be stuck in the fan zone watching it... We'll be hitting up probably a couple other fan zones throughout the first round, depending on how our travel arrangements turn out.

5/17/2006 12:13:34 PM

Quote :

"it's comin up, i'm excited alot of waking up at 3am and lots of sleeping at work"

What country are you in?

5/17/2006 12:14:14 PM

21 hours 21 days 22 minutes away...

5/18/2006 4:17:43 PM

i'm in the US

5/18/2006 5:19:01 PM

^none of the games will be on at 3am, in fact, they wont be that bad this year, unless you happen to work an 8-5 type job, in which every game will be played while you are at work

5/19/2006 12:22:23 AM

okay, that's good then

last world cup i lost alot of sleep, but it's worth it. dont' feel bad about callin me out either, now i know...

5/19/2006 3:29:05 AM

Friday, June 9, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 9 12:00 ET Germany v Costa Rica Match 1 Munich
Jun 9 15:00 ET Poland v Ecuador Match 2 Gelsenkirchen

Saturday, June 10, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 10 10:00 ET England v Paraguay Match 3 Frankfurt
Jun 10 12:00 ET Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden Match 4 Dortmund
Jun 10 15:00 ET Argentina v Ivory Coast Match 5 Hamburg

Sunday, June 11, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 11 09:00 ET Serbia & Montenegro v Netherlands Match 6 Leipzig
Jun 11 12:00 ET Mexico v Iran Match 7 Nuremburg
Jun 11 15:00 ET Angola v Portugal Match 8 Cologne

Monday, June 12, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 12 12:00 ET United States v Czech Republic Match 10 Gelsenkirchen
Jun 12 15:00 ET Italy v Ghana Match 9 Hanover
Jun 12 09:00 ET Australia v Japan Match 12 Kaiserslautern

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 13 15:00 ET Brazil v Croatia Match 11 Berlin
Jun 13 09:00 ET South Korea v Togo Match 14 Frankfurt
Jun 13 12:00 ET France v Switzerland Match 13 Stuttgart

Wednesday, June 14, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 14 15:00 ET Germany v Poland Match 17 Dortmund
Jun 14 09:00 ET Spain v Ukraine Match 15 Leipzig
Jun 14 12:00 ET Tunisia v Saudi Arabia Match 16 Munich

Thursday, June 15, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 15 09:00 ET Ecuador v Costa Rica Match 18 Hamburg
Jun 15 12:00 ET England v Trinidad & Tobago Match 19 Nuremburg
Jun 15 15:00 ET Sweden v Paraguay Match 20 Berlin

Friday, June 16, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 16 09:00 ET Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro Match 21 Gelsenkirchen
Jun 16 12:00 ET Netherlands v Ivory Coast Match 22 Stuttgart
Jun 16 15:00 ET Mexico v Angola Match 23 Hanover

Saturday, June 17, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 17 09:00 ET Portugal v Iran Match 24 Frankfurt
Jun 17 12:00 ET Ghana v Czech Republic Match 26 Cologne
Jun 17 15:00 ET Italy v United States Match 25 Kaiserslautern

Sunday, June 18, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 18 09:00 ET Japan v Croatia Match 28 Nuremburg
Jun 18 12:00 ET Brazil v Australia Match 27 Munich
Jun 18 15:00 ET France v South Korea Match 29 Leipzig

Monday, June 19, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 19 09:00 ET Togo v Switzerland Match 30 Dortmund
Jun 19 12:00 ET Saudi Arabia v Ukraine Match 32 Hamburg
Jun 19 15:00 ET Spain v Tunisia Match 31 Stuttgart

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 20 10:00 ET Costa Rica v Poland Match 34 Hanover
Jun 20 10:00 ET Ecuador v Germany Match 33 Berlin
Jun 20 15:00 ET Paraguay v Trinidad & Tobago Match 36 Kaiserslautern
Jun 20 15:00 ET Sweden v England Match 35 Cologne

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 21 15:00 ET Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro Match 38 Munich
Jun 21 15:00 ET Netherlands v Argentina Match 37 Frankfurt
Jun 21 10:00 ET Iran v Angola Match 40 Leipzig
Jun 21 10:00 ET Portugal v Mexico Match 39 Gelsenkirchen

Thursday, June 22, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 22 10:00 ET Czech Republic v Italy Match 41 Hamburg
Jun 22 10:00 ET Ghana v United States Match 42 Nuremburg
Jun 22 15:00 ET Croatia v Australia Match 44 Stuttgart
Jun 22 15:00 ET Japan v Brazil Match 43 Dortmund

Friday, June 23, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 23 15:00 ET Switzerland v South Korea Match 46 Hanover
Jun 23 15:00 ET Togo v France Match 45 Cologne
Jun 23 10:00 ET Saudi Arabia v Spain Match 47 Kaiserslautern
Jun 23 10:00 ET Ukraine v Tunisia Match 48 Berlin

Saturday, June 24, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 24 11:00 ET 1A v 2B Match 49 Munich
Jun 24 15:00 ET 1C v 2D Match 50 Leipzig

Sunday, June 25, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 25 11:00 ET 1B v 2A Match 51 Stuttgart
Jun 25 15:00 ET 1D v 2C Match 52 Nuremburg

Monday, June 26, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 26 11:00 ET 1E v 2F Match 53 Kaiserslautern
Jun 26 15:00 ET 1G v 2H Match 54 Cologne

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 27 11:00 ET 1F v 2E Match 55 Dortmund
Jun 27 15:00 ET 1H v 2G Match 56 Hanover

Friday, June 30, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jun 30 11:00 ET Winner Match 49 v Winner Match 50 Match 57 Berlin
Jun 30 15:00 ET Winner Match 53 v Winner Match 54 Match 58 Hamburg

Saturday, July 1, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jul 1 11:00 ET Winner Match 51 v Winner Match 52 Match 59 Gelsenkirchen
Jul 1 15:00 ET Winner Match 55 v Winner Match 56 Match 60 Frankfurt

Tuesday, July 4, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jul 4 15:00 ET Winner Match 57 v Winner Match 58 Match 61 Dortmund

Wednesday, July 5, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jul 5 15:00 ET Winner Match 59 v Winner Match 60 Match 62 Munich

Saturday, July 8, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jul 8 15:00 ET Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 Match 63 Stuttgart

Sunday, July 9, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH VENUE
Jul 9 14:00 ET Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 Match 64 Berlin

5/19/2006 6:54:40 AM

Viva Italia!

5/19/2006 8:16:14 AM

According to Sky news this morning, The Sun newspaper here in England is reporting that, amazingly, Rooney will be ready for the first World Cup match-up against Paraguay. They claim that his latest x-ray has shown progress that is 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule.

I really hope this is true...

then again, it is The Sun

p.s.

I don't know if they will show it in the States, but Leeds and Watford play for a place in the P-League tomorrow afternoon. Championship playoff finals are usually very good games considering so much is riding on the win.

[Edited on May 20, 2006 at 5:56 AM. Reason : fffff]

5/20/2006 5:43:51 AM

Rooney!!!

5/20/2006 7:59:38 PM

Is it just me, or is group D the most intriguing in the whole field?

I mean, you've got Iran, and you know the US's history w/ them, not to mention the world isn't too high on them right now.

Then you have Mexico, the US's cheif rival and possibly a breakout team.

Then you have Portugal, and who knows how they'll do this time.

Then you have Angola, who hates Portugal's guts going way way back to colonial times and the war of liberation in the 1970s.

5/20/2006 8:17:24 PM

2 exhibition matches this week for the USA

tomorrow vs. Venezuela and thursday vs. Czech Republic i believe...

should be playing a majority of the team this week.

Tab Ramos still representin NCSU!

5/22/2006 2:46:09 PM

I dont think they would play the Czech Republic Thursday.

they do open up with them on June 12.

I have seen some crazy scheduling before but this would be dumb.

5/22/2006 2:59:23 PM

Tomorrow vs. Morocco
Thursday vs. Venezuela
Saturday vs. Latvia

5/22/2006 3:06:29 PM

^wrong

TUESDAY vs. Morocco
FRIDAY vs. Venezuela
SUNDAY vs. Latvia

all on espn2 at 7pm

and kevin youre retarded...they are friendly matches and no we dont play czech until june 12 in the world cup, then italy and ghana

[Edited on May 22, 2006 at 4:17 PM. Reason : i hate when people pretend like they know soccer]

5/22/2006 4:16:13 PM

as do i

5/22/2006 4:20:47 PM

soccer is gay

5/22/2006 11:44:43 PM

GOOD POINT, BUSTER

5/22/2006 11:45:52 PM

^^^^ Forgive me for not knowing the exact days/dates of our ridiculously stupid "tuneup" schedule.

5/23/2006 1:21:27 AM

i wasnt really getting at you, the guy before you

5/23/2006 10:17:31 AM

anyone know of live streaming for the games yet?? im thinkin of bringing a portie tv to watch games on abc, but cant do that for espn. tried espn360, wont work with isp for work

5/23/2006 10:59:52 AM

US-Morocco tonight at 7 on ESPN2, here's the starting lineup which looks pretty damn good to me

5/23/2006 6:29:47 PM

And Reyna limps off once again.. surprise surprise

5/23/2006 7:36:42 PM

It's just a friendly, but I don't think Arena can risk starting him during the World Cup. You can't risk a sub only 20 minutes in in a game.

[Edited on May 23, 2006 at 8:06 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2006 8:06:04 PM

i got tickets today!!!!!!!!

5/23/2006 8:15:38 PM

is it just me or is anyone else not impressed with Dempsey? He looks really lackadaisical.

^tickets to what?

5/23/2006 8:56:09 PM

now the whole world is laughing at us now for losing to morocco at home with our pretty much real team

5/23/2006 8:59:38 PM

yeah we looked pretty bad.. if thats what we're gonna play like we have no chance of getting out of our group. Offense did come to life at the end a little but we couldnt finish.

5/23/2006 9:02:11 PM

i give us a c- for this game. i knew we were gonna give up something shitty at the end of the game because we pushed forward so much...

5/23/2006 9:08:30 PM

Last three home losses (for team comparison and length of time)

May 2005 Friendly - England
2003 Gold Cup - Brazil
February 2003 Friendly - Argentina


USA didn't look good. Our attack in qualifiers looked suspect against everyone not named Panama or Grenada. Tonight proved too tough a nut to crack and that's something the USA needs to get better for. Thankfully, it's just a warmup friendly and they'll improve in a month's time.

5/23/2006 9:18:30 PM

i think the only time we looked good was with convey in the game... i really think he should be in the starting 11.. he gives us alot of pace and he's really good off the dribble

5/23/2006 10:05:32 PM

Quote :

"^tickets to what?"

to the World Cup!!!

5/24/2006 10:02:49 AM

must be nice.. to all the games or just US games or what?

5/24/2006 10:03:58 AM

yep put convey in...

5/24/2006 10:06:13 AM

where are all the people talking up how AWESOME the USA is now??

5/24/2006 12:01:36 PM

^^ sarcastic?

5/24/2006 5:05:53 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=368744&cc=5901

cant believe it hasnt been posted yet, but Reyna is out for the next 2 games even though the MRI came back negative

5/24/2006 5:09:31 PM

^^^^^^NIce

I have tickets to the Ivory Coast vs Serbia Montenegro game. I got those in a lottery of sorts so I didnt get to pick the game. I stoked that I get to see the Ivory Coast cause they are nasty with Drogba, Toure, emboue and a few others.

What city is your match in?

5/24/2006 6:24:58 PM

eboue

5/24/2006 6:27:19 PM

^^ should be an offensive game... that's awesome

5/24/2006 7:10:48 PM

the closer we get to the Cup, the more I think that we should make a conscious effort to have big turnouts for our soccer games next year at State. We need to organize cheering sections or something.

5/24/2006 10:31:44 PM