Altidore to Spain?
Rumors about Jozy Altidore have began circling again. Last time, it was Real Madrid who were reportedly interested. This time, Villareal seems to be in for the 19 year old Red Bulls striker. The La Liga team has had an excellent season, currently sitting in second place. Altidore could add to very bright future for the Yellow Submarines as they already have the talent of Italian/American striker Guiseppe Rossi. We’ll be following the story closely and will update if anything happens.
USA To Play Nigeria, Netherlands, and Japan in 2008 Olympics
Its been a long time since we’ve updated the blog. School has been a hassle, and really the time just has not been there. Apologies to those who have been loyal to this blog and have kept checking it out over the months. We’re back in business though, so lets do this thing.
The u-23 team will face Nigeria, Japan, and the Netherlands in the group stage of this summer’s Olympics in Beijing. Talk about a group of death. The Netherlands have a very tough squad and Nigeria might just be the best squad on paper in this group, as members of the team played in the 2005 u-20 World Cup and won the 2007 u-17 World Cup. What does this mean for the US? It is what it is. We will have to play well, otherwise we will be going home earlier than we anticipated. I think it is imperative that we bring a veteran keeper to this tournament(Brad Guzan? Tim Howard?) and Landon Donovan and possibly a defender(Bocanegra? Demerit? Spector? Gooch?) or winger(Beaz!) to go with the young talent already in place. I’m predicting that Nigeria and the US come out of this group, but it will not be a walk in the park for anybody. Here are the rest of the groups:
- USA, Netherlands, Nigeria, Japan
- Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Australia,
- Brazil, Belgium, China, New Zealand
- Italy, Cameroon, South Korea, Honduras
And that’s that. What do you guys think?
USA vs Poland
The United States will play a friendly against Poland tomorrow in what should be another game for Bob Bradley to experiment with his squad. It will be interesting to see who plays and who doesn’t based on players’ club statuses. Carlos Bocanegra has found a pretty comfortable seat on Fulham’s bench and hasn’t played much since landing there. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he were to move on in the summer. This could be good for him if Fulham goes down. He has proven that he has what it takes to defend in the fast pace of the Prem and has a pretty good scoring record on set pieces. Even with this, it is hard to see Bob Bradley not starting him.
On the other hand, I don’t see Feilhaber starting. He might not even play. Since his move to Derby, he has essentially dropped off the face of the earth. It amazes me how a player can start to break into a German side that should be in Europe next year and then get completely frozen out at lowly Derby. With the absolutely terrible team they have, how bad could he be performing in training to not get into the team? There has to be something that we don’t know, and with the statements from Bob Bradley coming out, there’s a good chance he’s got an attitude problem. When asked about Feilhaber’s lack of playing time at the club level, Bradley responded with, “He has to grow up. He has to mature as a player. He has to understand, day in and day out, how to earn the respect of the people he plays with.” Sounds fishy to me.
I would expect Eddie Johnson to get some playing time, and maybe a smart. He’s been playing and performing decently for Fulham, though he has yet to score. The usuals (Donovan and Dempsey) will play their part, which would be good for Dempsey as he has been out of the Fulham team for the last couple of games. I’m not worried for him, though. It seems like he’s burned out a bit. It’s his first full season in the harsh conditions of England and I think his fitness is not quite where it needs to be yet.
As for Poland, they have been on good for recently. They may play with their squad a bit to try to work out kinks before Euro 2008. I expect a pretty exciting game. We’ll be back with a review after the game.
USA Roster Vs Poland Announced
The roster for the USMNT match vs Poland has been announced. It goes as follows:
GOALKEEPERS: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)
Decent lineup. Not much to complain about really. No Adu, or Altidore, as they’re being rested after getting the US to the Olympics! More on that tomorrow. Anyways. its good to see Benny Feilhaber back in the fold. Hopefully he’ll get some minutes that will impress an MLS club enough to buy him this summer. Also good to see Brian Ching and Cory Gibbs, both of whom have had injury issues. Based off of this roster, I’d say the US can pull off a win, if they play up to their standards. Another thing to keep an eye on is how Eddie Johnson has improved since his move to Fulham FC. Will we see a new, more aggressive Johnson, or the same, timid, forward who looks to pass back before going forward. We shall see. The game will be shown Wednesday at 3:30 on FSC.
Beckham Recalled To England Squad, Dynamo Knock Off CSD Municipal
Beckham Recalled To England Squad
LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham was recalled to the England squad today after being passed over in new England manager Fabio Capello’s first squad callup. Beckham is seeking his 100th cap as an England international, and hopes to suit up for the Three Lions when they take on France in Paris on March 26.
What does this mean for Becks? His fitness has been an issue ever since Capello took over the squad, so for him to be called up, he had to have been fit enough to impress Capello. Having said that, I’m not sure if Beckham starts. Theo Walcott has looked pretty good for Arsenal lately, and I could see Beckham coming in during the second half, getting his cap, and being done with it. I hope it doesn’t turn out like that, as Beckham is still England’s best winger. Anyways, congratulations to Beckham on this, and hopefully he’ll reach his goal, and come back to the Galaxy ready to start the season.
Houston Dynamo Advance to Semi’s of Champions Cup
Dwayne De Rosario scored 2 goals as the Houston Dynamo defeated CSD Municipal 3-1. The Dynamo advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The 2 teams played in a scoreless draw in Guatemala last week. The Dynamo will play the winner of Thursday night’s game between Atlante of Mexico against Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica. Highlights can be seen here.
DC Crushes Harbour View
DC United eased past Jamaican side Harbour View in the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup quarterfinals last night. Last year’s MLS MVP Luciano Emilio and Devon McTavish both scored a brace. Fred finished off the rout with a goal at the end of the game. The aggregate total was 6-1 after the teams tied in Kingston. DC United will face either Pachuca or Matagua (who are playing tonight).
Highlights can be seen here.
Across the pond, there are rumors that David Beckham will be receiving his 100th cap for England when they face France next week. After scouts watched Becks play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Dallas, they declared that he was fit enough to be in contention. If recalled, it would be his first reunion with ex-coach Fabio Capello since the controversy of their days at Real Madrid.
USA Olympic Qualifying
Well, so far its been a somewhat disappointing few games for the US. They haven’t lost yet, but their games haven’t been much fun to watch, with a 1-1 draw with Cuba, a 1-0 win over Panama, and a 1-0 win in stoppage time against Honduras telling the story of a team that just right now lacks a killer instinct. I’ll leave you with a few thoughts from what I’ve seen so far.
1. Paging Jozy Altidore, paging Jozy Altidore: For the 18 year old Altidore, is this to be expected, at least for the time being? You could say so, given the fact that he is only 18, playing on the u-23 team. He has also been deployed as the lone striker for the 2 games he played in, so that’s probably a cause for his lack of production He was much better in the Panama game than he was against Cuba, but this cannot be the case against Canada. Altidore needs to put his stamp on the game early, and show what he is capable of. I can’t stress how important going to the Olympics is for the United States. Failure to do so would be a terrible loss for US Soccer, and could potentially see the end of Peter Nowak as the u-23 team coach.
2. No Michael Bradley: In watching these games, doesn’t it just seem like the US is missing something from its midfield. That would be 20 year old Michael Bradley. Bradley, who has been phenomenal at SC Heerenveen this season, would provide a bite to the midfield that seems to be lacking, and also the potential to score goals, as he has done with Heerenveen this season.
3.Who would the US bring to Beijing that is over 23? This is me thinking ahead, but who would you take the Beijing if you could have your pick of the senior team that was over 23? Of course, Landon Donovan would make the list for me. But then who else? Would you bring an Eddie Johnson, someone who could potentially play next to Altidore? How about Tim Howard? Clint Dempsey would also have to be in the mix as well.
The next qualifying game is Thursday at 9 pm against Canada. It will be shown on both ESPN Deportes and Fox Soccer Channel. Let’s go get em USA!
Amado Guevara close to joining Toronto FC
Former MLS MVP Amada Guevara is close to joining Toronto FC after sources confirmed the news to ESPN late last night. Guevara, as you may or may not know, has spent 5 years in MLS playing with the then MetroStars/NY Red Bulls and Chivas USA before being loaned out to CD Motagua after a falling out with Chivas.
If and when this move goes through, it will be quite the coup for Toronto as they now have a potential superstar attacking midfielder to go with 2007 Rookie of the Year and US international Maurice Edu. But the key word here is potential. Guevara has been immature in the past, and while he has said to have become more mature over time, he will only be good to Toronto if he plays the way he is capable of playing. With the system Toronto runs, a 4-5-1, Guevara should thrive, provided the effort and commitment are there.
The Return of the King (Of Fulham)
Let me start out by apologizing for not having updated in a while. I’ll put a little something up tonight about recent events, and we’ll resume normal everyday service tomorrow.
Brian McBride only made his comeback a couple of weeks ago, but has already started to show how important he is to Fulham. With his return, and that of Jimmy Bullard, Fulham look a completely different side. They beat Everton on Sunday thanks to a McBride goal in the second half for their first victory in 27 years. Now they are only 3 points from safety, and may be looking to move up the table. Not only has McBride been performing well, but Eddie Johnson has started to see regular playing time with the team, and had some good opportunities against Everton. I can see him getting off the mark soon.
Back Stateside, the Superliga has announced it’s groups for the upcoming competition. DC United, Houston, Atlante, and Chivas Guadalajara are in Group A. Group B consists of Chivas USA, New England, Santos Laguna, and Pachuca. It should be a pretty good competition, but expect some teams to show a little bit of rust.
Lastly, the United States Olympic Qualifying team has been doing poorly. They’ve won a few, but have not impressed at all. We’ll have more on that tomorrow….
USA To Play Argentina June 8th, 2008
The USMNT will play Argentina on June 8, 2008 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. What a game the USSF has planned. Argentina is the # 1 team in the world, and we’re lucky to be playing them. What does it mean? Its a chance to test our team against one of the best teams in the world. Argentina should field the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Riquelme. World class talent. For us? We’ll be seeing players like Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. The question is, will we see players like Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore? One would hope so, but with the Olympics this summer, and WC qualifying beginning right after this game, perhaps not. It will be something to keep an eye on.