US Wins Group, VoF Confirms Guadeloupe a Nation
Everything is going exactly as planned for the US Men's National Team. Coach Bob Bradley spread the minutes around to great effectiveness during the three group stage matches, the US won all three matches and did so without conceding a goal. Tonight's match against El Salvador - a 4-0 victory - was the strongest showing of the stage as the US looked dangerous in the attack all night and the defense put in its best effort thus far.
Mexico, the co-favorites to win the Gold Cup have dropped points in this stage and could fail to win the group and end up facing the US in the quarterfinals by placing 3rd. The fact that the US faced considerable criticism for a disappointing opener against Guatemala and another okay showing against T&T is a testament to fans' expectations of the national squad in America. The sport has come a long way regardless of what the naysayers will have you believe. And if they maintain tonight's impressive form the remainder of the tournament there will be no doubt that they have created a mountain for Mexico to climb if they want to regain the regional power status they once held.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. For me, the stand out players in the group stage were Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley and Frank Simek. An argument could be made that Taylor Twellman was just as superb as any player that saw the pitch. But I still am not convinced he is anything beyond a great MLS player.
Dempsey, Howard and Beasley have displayed the steadiness and confidence you would expect from players that have just finished a season against the top talent in the world and are now facing, well, CONCACAF competition. Bradley played for a solid Herenveen in the Dutch league and Simek for Sheffield Wednesday in the English Coca-Cola Championship. Both players have got to be catching the eyes of bigger clubs.
Some questions to ponder heading in to Saturday's quarterfinal (opponent TBD):
Will the US find goals when the level of intensity from the opposition picks up?
Can Simek, Bradley and Benny Feilhaber continue to make attacking runs that gives the US an additional threat?
Does Landon Donovan have the ability to take a decent dead ball? Do we have to tolerate his pre-penalty kick antics?
Can Gooch Oneywu go 90 minutes without getting carded?
Finally - How does Christian Miles continue to get on TV for Fox Soccer Channel?
Mexico, the co-favorites to win the Gold Cup have dropped points in this stage and could fail to win the group and end up facing the US in the quarterfinals by placing 3rd. The fact that the US faced considerable criticism for a disappointing opener against Guatemala and another okay showing against T&T is a testament to fans' expectations of the national squad in America. The sport has come a long way regardless of what the naysayers will have you believe. And if they maintain tonight's impressive form the remainder of the tournament there will be no doubt that they have created a mountain for Mexico to climb if they want to regain the regional power status they once held.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. For me, the stand out players in the group stage were Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley and Frank Simek. An argument could be made that Taylor Twellman was just as superb as any player that saw the pitch. But I still am not convinced he is anything beyond a great MLS player.
Dempsey, Howard and Beasley have displayed the steadiness and confidence you would expect from players that have just finished a season against the top talent in the world and are now facing, well, CONCACAF competition. Bradley played for a solid Herenveen in the Dutch league and Simek for Sheffield Wednesday in the English Coca-Cola Championship. Both players have got to be catching the eyes of bigger clubs.
Some questions to ponder heading in to Saturday's quarterfinal (opponent TBD):
Will the US find goals when the level of intensity from the opposition picks up?
Can Simek, Bradley and Benny Feilhaber continue to make attacking runs that gives the US an additional threat?
Does Landon Donovan have the ability to take a decent dead ball? Do we have to tolerate his pre-penalty kick antics?
Can Gooch Oneywu go 90 minutes without getting carded?
Finally - How does Christian Miles continue to get on TV for Fox Soccer Channel?
posted by Anonymous at 8:22 PM
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