Praise for Sunil Gulati and US Soccer for scheduling that Friendly vs Ecuador!

He must be PSYCHIC!

US is not Serbia-Montenegro;

Prior to Wednesday's Draw, CONMEBOL announced today that the USA will be in a group with Argentina and face them on June 28. In addition, CONMEBOL announced that Mexico will face Brazil on June 27 and the host Venezuelans will open the tournament on June 26 against Bolivia.

According to USSoccer.com, USA and Mexico got to pick their groups. Essentially, 5 of the 12 teams were preselected. Almost like a Russian election.

Whatever the draw would have been would be tough for the US unless they drew Bolivia in their group, which never would have happened.

Remember, the US can still qualify for the second round as one of the two best third place teams if it comes down to that. Getting Argentina out of the way will help that considerably knowing what they will need after what will probably be an opening match loss to Argentina. Argentina won't be putting up a B side like they did in 95' against us. They will be ready.

I do like it when the US is in an underdog position and I'm willing to bet to a man every single media member south of the Keys will pick the US as the 4th place finisher in their group.

Bring it on.

Well, this has the potential to be a very ugly experience (which long-term, may not be a bad thing). Here's why:
1. In Venezvuela: I don't think we'll have fan support or even a neutral stadium in any match we play.
2. Potentially with a new coach: imagine Houllier or Queiroz facing teams they're unfamiliar with, with a team he's unfamiliar coaching, in new stadia. Only Pekerman (if he's still in the running) would have some familiarity (and that's only the opposition).
3. Given the "fixture congestion" (ie: MLS running while the U20 WC, Gold Cup and Copa happen), it's highly unlikely you'll see more than a few (if any) players appear in any 2 of those tournaments. So...if Donovan does the Gold Cup, assume he's not in the Copa. If Adu does the U20 (as you have to assume he will), then he's likely out of the other two. Ditto for Cooper or Howard or many other players that would be good to vet in both tournaments.

In the end, it may be a valuable learning experience for us and we may get 3-4 players who gain a lot from playing on the road. But I suspect we'll get our butts handed to us for the 3 reasons mentioned above. As for finishing as one of the top third place teams, I don't think our group encourages that. The likelihood of a big loss to Argentina is good. I think it's more likely that someone like Bolivia (in a weaker group) will end up with a better goal differential.

This is going to be a very exciting summer! I'm glad the US didn't get into Group A...I want to see us play well and get used to playing tough teams. It will only make WC games less daunting.

this is a good draw for the US - finally some real opposition - the US skated by on bogus ratings from concacaf play which led to terrible wc performance -

Yeah, how about that random draw, huh?

With a draw against Argentina in the opener, we will advance. If we lose to Argentina, we might be screwed.

It will be awesome to test the MNT against the Albicelestes! Do you all think we can beat Paraguay and Columbia? I like our chances. As for advancing, I agree that if we draw Argentina we can do it. The Mexico win was a skay win. So Steve, what do you think the chances are that the MNT can draw Argentina?

My thoughts, I did not know you could do HTML in these comment boxes.

5 of the 12 teams were not pre-selected into groups. 12 of the 12 teams were pre-selected into groups.

I love it. To be the best you gotta beat the best. I don't want to play Guatemala and Poland and Denmark anymore. I want to play the best. The Argentina game will be intense...

Well...the draw was in Venezuela...so why should we expect anything less than a rigged draw!!!

Is the tourney in Venezuela also? I wonder if Chavez will try and screw things up for the US...grandstand a bit.

Should the US be concerned with security?

This great for USMNT. They need to get into tournaments like this to prepare better for the WC. Win, lose, or draw, this is a good thing for USMNT.

Don't worry about security in Venezuela. Chavez hates Bush and this administration, but has openly said he harbors nothing against the American public. He's still an a-hole, but I don't think he'll allow anything will happen to our boys.

Should be able to get by Columbia and maybe Paraguay.

Don't worry about security in Venezuela. Chavez hates Bush and this administration, but has openly said he harbors nothing against the American public. He's still an a-hole, but I don't think he'll allow anything will happen to our boys.

Chavez is still upset with Bush's support of the 2002 Coup.

I agree with the above comment on the anti-Bush sentiment in Venezuela, but the population does not necessarily strike me as anti-American (like most of the world nowadays, really). I don't see the environment being more toxic than our normal trips to Mexico and Central America. And these guys are used to playing road matches at home, they should thrive on it by now. The crowd was 80-20 for Mexico in Arizona and look what happened... again!

I'm all for playing in this tournament and always have been. Despite the screwy draw, MLS season, Gold Cup, etc. In my opinion, thrashing Argentina in 95 was the match that really put the US on track for the progress to come in the last decade (yes, even more so than the World Cup in 94). We showed there that we could actually attack a world power, not just play 10 men behind the ball (like Milutinovic had us play in 94).

Add my name to the list of people who think this is a great tourney to be in, and a great draw. What good would it do us to be in group A? Slapping around some nobodys is not what we need, a la Denmark B squad, Guatemala, etc. We need quality opposition, regularly, and we need to know where our game is lagging, because WC 2006 certainly showed us it was.

The US team should be fine both on the pitch and off.

As far as I can tell, we'll never get to play Panama or Guatemala in a World Cup Final, so let's play the best over and over again.

For those interested in a great book about soccer and politics . . .

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
by Franklin Foer

Security won't be a problem; this is a sporting event, not a political rally (well, let's hope not).

Yes, USA participation is first and foremost; Copa is the third most important tourney (behind World Cup and Euro). They certainly have a chance to advance -- even if they lose the opener vs. ARG, they could get a win and a tie, or a win and loss with decent goal diff., to advance.

We really are a country full of nervous nellies aren't we? People worried about the Big Bad Wolf Sanchez and the security of the US team. Of course, the State Department has gone to the trouble of issuing a warning to Caribbean travelers this spring to watch out for the Cricket World Cup! So a warning on Venezuela is sure to come for Copa fans.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3113.html

Vacationers beware of stray yorkers and rowdy tea intervals!

Soccer is a minor sport in the US and Hugo "Simon Bolivar" Chavez will do his utmost to embarrass the Bush administration by being very hospitable to the US Team. He will highlight the lack of recognition that futbol receives in the US because (1) our anti-Latino immigration policies prevent the growth of the most passionate fan base, (2) our failure to increase the minimum wage for so long has ensured that Latinos can't afford tickets, and (3) Bush does [something bad] that leads to [something bad] for the people of Cuba. I'm being sarcastic, of course, but Chavez is really quite predictable.

This rocks; I hope the stadiums are packed with anti-US fans and that we face Brazil and Mexico at some point. Who really cares if we win it, we need to have tough games in tough places so going to Mexico City and whereever else during WC qualifying will be like a walk in the park.

Can someone explain the schedules / importance of the Gold Cup vs. U-20 vs. Copa. Is it:

Copa - South American Cup with two invited countries from the north ?
Gold - Concacaf teams only?
U-20 Cup - world cup for the U-20s?

How do they order in importance? Would it be that hard for players to play in more than one of these? thanks.

Crap! I think I just wrote his opening address.

Count me among the ranks of people who welcome this hard draw. If we wanted to play lousy opponents, we could arrange that; it's not difficult to get a place on some of the CONCACAF minnows' dance cards. We entered Copa America in order to play some top-notch competition, and it looks like that's what we're going to get.

Steve, based on the day and time of this post, I'm assuming you wrote this entry using your Blackberry at the very expensive restaurant where you took your lovely bride for dinner?

ESPN is reporting that the US will most likely send a "B" team to the Copa America. Are all the people at the USSF on drugs!!!!!!!!!!! How can we field a team of second tier Americans against perhaps the most gifted and skilled competition that we have ever faced. We need all of our big guns for this tournament. WHO CARES ABOUT THE GOLD CUP!!!! If we lose the Gold Cup using a "B" team rather then using our "A" Team, that just shows us that we are not as far along in the development of soccer as we thought we were. Besides Mexico and maybe Costa Rica, there is no signifcant competition in CONCACAF. If I was Sunil Gulati, I would field a team of all MLS American All-Stars to play in the Cold Cup, and send a team full of European Stars to the Copa America. We will finish 5th in the Copa America. If Josy Alidore plays, I can see him becoming a world star. He is brillant, and I don't care if he plays for the Red Bulls. I give him mad props. Shows a lot more promise then Freddy.

In fairness to the report of sending a "B" team, that's what a lot of the South American big boys do in essence. The importance of Copa has reduced over the last few tournaments, sadly.

I think Copa and Gold Cup should just merge, making it a tournament that could elevate itself to the level of the European Championships. But I'm sure that the blazers in CONCACAF want the US to stress their own federations tournament over someone else's. To us fans, it's about the competition - to federation's it's simply about the money.

Kev,

There's one way to ensure that the boys below the equator will take the Copa seriously: have the US win it. Nothing, and I mean nothing, enrages our spanish-speaking neighbors more than having the gringos waltz away with their silverware. So let's go, win it and MAKE the tourney matter to them.

Hey Big Chop, the US has never beaten Bolivia.

Hey Chico, didn't the US beat Bolivia at the World Cup? Oh that's right, Bolivia didn't make the draw...again.

Hey grutos, put USA in the South American Qualifying, and I don't think they qualify...you better hope they never merge the continents...

Hey grutos, put USA in the South American Qualifying, and I don't think they qualify...you better hope they never merge the continents...

That's right they didn't make it. They have to qualify against Brazil and Argentina not Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.

what are all you white boys talking about
hear we all know USA suxs and they are not going to make it pass the first stage and the winners are going to be either brazil, argentina, mexico, so stop talking about oh usa has a chance well they dont