Home team has the crowd disadvantage in a USMNT game, and it's not us.........bizarro world.

6/3/2012 7:19:27 PM

Hey America, where's Waldo?

6/3/2012 7:25:00 PM

That's right, best chance so far to Canada.

6/3/2012 7:34:21 PM

If Castillo scored there, he should have walked off the field and quit the sport.

6/3/2012 7:37:32 PM

That shot from Castillo reminded me of Super Dodge Ball for NES.

6/3/2012 7:49:40 PM

boring stuff. absolutely nothing in the final third so far

Pleasantly pleased by Castillo though

6/3/2012 7:54:52 PM

bullshit foul call there. should be 1-0 Canada.

6/3/2012 7:55:53 PM

That is some ugly play. If we're gonna just smack the ball around in the back all game then at least throw it up the field now and then.

6/3/2012 8:07:23 PM

canada is gonna get a cheeky goal here in the final 5, i'm afraid.

6/3/2012 9:00:37 PM

This is classic inconsistent US soccer. Nothing to see here folks.

6/3/2012 9:04:41 PM

hahaha...how did he miss that?

6/3/2012 9:08:14 PM

So the world's got to be shaking in their boots, no?

6/3/2012 9:10:36 PM

Brazil-Mexico made that game look like a youth league game

jesus

6/3/2012 9:18:16 PM

Quote :

"Hey America, where's Waldo?"

LOL!

6/3/2012 10:07:59 PM

Don't know how many people know (or care) but Eric Wynalda is a part of an amateur team that beat the Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup last week and I was reading an article about them and came across some pretty awesome quotes that are relevant to the USMNT and soccer in America in general.

Quote :

""The one thing this country never does is they never play the game they’re in,” says Wynalda, whose day job is as a studio host for Fox Soccer. “They’re so worried about playing according to a blueprint. We’ve sucked the creativity out of players by telling them this is the way the game’s going to be played, and you have to do that. “We find talent and we start coaching them, and that’s when we start ruining them.”"

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/03/amateur-team-bringing-american-soccer-its-knees/

It's the reason I like Klinsmann over Bradley. It's pretty obvious he puts out our best players out there with general guidelines but wherever Donovan and Dempsey and our best players end up during a game is what our formation is. More good reading, which I'm sure most of yall saw on grantland...

Quote :

"Under the domed, doomed gaze of Bob Bradley, the USMNT often seemed to be raising its ceiling by small increments while focusing on the parts of the game that are supposed to raise the floor: organization, defensive cohesion, stamina, muscle, heart. Klinsmann seems to have decided — spectacularly if not wisely — that the floor is actually a boring place to be, and that what we really ought to do is focus on technique, creativity, and speed, push the ceiling up into the exosphere, and let the ground take care of itself. Party on the roof!"

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7996322/is-us-men-national-soccer-team-making-progress-new-coach-jurgen-klinsmann

6/5/2012 12:50:41 PM

We back, and it counts.

Antigua's keeper is only 5'8.

6/8/2012 6:46:59 PM

LOL we are so bad. And.....Gooch....

6/8/2012 8:50:04 PM

it's time to say goodbye to Gooch forever

my god has he lost it (and he never had much "it" to begin with)

6/8/2012 8:53:11 PM

Agreed. Altho at one point I really thought he had potential :/

6/8/2012 9:00:54 PM

I think we all did. he had the physical tools but never quite got there skill-wise.

that 2006 World Cup killed him (that and the knee, obviously)

6/8/2012 9:05:57 PM

Boyd is now cap tied.

6/8/2012 9:07:06 PM

^^for sure. And yeah I didnt mean for it to sound like i had an atypical outlook on him when he first was getting playing time for us.

[Edited on June 8, 2012 at 9:15 PM. Reason : ]

6/8/2012 9:15:26 PM

no 2005 Gooch was legit as fuck. he's way past it now but at his peak he was one of the most dominating center backs we've ever had

6/8/2012 9:35:46 PM

Ironically I believe the national team peaked with the 2-0 win against Mexico to clinch the 2006 World Cup berth back in late 2005. From there on, it was downhill. Great American soccer in the runup to that was always about having a midfield that would bend but a back four that would never break and then phenomenal goalkeeping from Kasey Keller. Howard is a great goalie at the club level, but when it comes to putting on the national team jersey, Keller was just better on that front. And our back four has digressed mightily. In the last round of qualifiers you saw it where every game our opposition would score on this. In the '05 Hex, in the first 7 games we went 6-1 after which point we had clinched the WC berth, we had only allowed 3 goals total, at which point they put in the B-teamers, we lost to Costa Rica down in San Jose 3-0, and I feel like we were never at that level again (certainly weren't in the '06 World Cup). Compare that to the '09 Hex where we were 4-2-1 and let up 9 goals by the same point, with teams like El Salvador tying us 2-2.

And vault forward to tonight, first 30 minutes Antigua did nothing. Second half they were outplaying us and running more. And all we had to show for that first half domination was a goal off a corner and a penalty, nothing from run of play. Yeah, Antigua bunkered, but they were leaving plenty of openings. And then the one goal they did score, really Gooch? I understand we've lost two left backs recently and if Torres is gone, geez what the hell is our back four going to look like for Guatemala? Our back four from 2005 with the exception of Bocanegra is long gone, at least when it comes to form. Even when all the defenders were healthy we still didn't have a left back, and now we're injuring them left and right. I saw Parkhurst on the bench, I've not paid too much attention lately, but unless he's improved in form I've never thought too much of him.

And then you look upfield and the players played like they were disinterested. Guatemala and Jamaica, we're still better than them, but they would not be near as forgiving as Antigua were. Guatemala especially, they're hell to face with how dirty they play the game, and it's in Guatemala City. This is the easiest game they'll have for the next year and a half just looking at opponents and they were far from impressive.

[Edited on June 8, 2012 at 10:26 PM. Reason : /]

6/8/2012 10:15:03 PM

^I think the last hex was tougher and that was part of the reason we didn't go 6-1-0 in the first 7 games in 2009. Some of these other CONCACAF nations are getting better.

6/8/2012 10:37:07 PM

The last hex was a lot better but our defense has declined greatly, and that defense was what always opened things up for our midfield and forward(s) to play.

6/8/2012 11:30:19 PM

Fuck this "at club level" idea. Keller was a better goalkeeper than Howard, period.

6/9/2012 1:54:22 PM

The next game is PPV only.

http://www.ussoccer.com/live/wcq-tv-faq.aspx

6/9/2012 8:13:05 PM

Any bars that are going to buy this?

6/9/2012 8:36:08 PM

^ find a Hispanic bar Guatemalans frequent

6/10/2012 12:23:00 PM

You could maybe get lucky and pick up a semi-good feed at http://www.justin.tv

6/10/2012 2:38:40 PM

yeah, anyone find a bar? although i wouldn't pay $10 cover

6/11/2012 5:46:33 PM

would be surprised if there wasn't a stream up over at firstrow

6/11/2012 8:57:27 PM

It might not be in English but there will definitely be something.

6/11/2012 9:10:19 PM

I'd pay $10 if I could find somewhere close

USA-Honduras last cycle at that Honduran restaurant was a lot of fun

6/11/2012 9:21:43 PM

Anyone have a link?

Oh and I just found this on Big Soccer...

http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/us-guatemala-streams.1946080/

People will be posting links in that thread.

[Edited on June 12, 2012 at 9:28 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2012 9:20:51 PM

Got 5 people so $6 each

6/12/2012 9:44:15 PM

http://www.thefirstrow.eu/

6/12/2012 9:59:55 PM

^ yeah that's where I'm watching

6/12/2012 10:02:31 PM

DEUCE

6/12/2012 10:44:21 PM

Dempsey with that sexy finish

6/12/2012 10:44:34 PM

hell yes!

what a composed finish. he's the fucking man.

[Edited on June 12, 2012 at 10:53 PM. Reason : Dempsey]

6/12/2012 10:44:57 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL El Salvador Tied 1-1 with Mexico right now. I'm watching reruns of Euro Cup on ESPN3, the US game on that feed you guys posted, Panama vs Cuba on ESPN3, and Mexico on Telemundo!

[Edited on June 12, 2012 at 11:01 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2012 11:00:10 PM

damn dude. soccer sucks

6/12/2012 11:00:43 PM

Panama wins 1-0

6/12/2012 11:05:46 PM

Goal Mexico!

6/12/2012 11:14:25 PM

Guatemala making all 3 subs at halftime... I will lol if there's an injury

and ^ I'll be pissed if Mexico doesn't advance to the Hex

6/12/2012 11:15:57 PM

^2-1 Mexico final. You can't lose either way. If Mexico is eliminated then great, but if they advance then we get to renew the rivalry,

6/12/2012 11:27:33 PM

We are really bad.

6/12/2012 11:32:07 PM

No we aren't.

6/12/2012 11:33:05 PM