Will the MLS have someone there to sign the defectors? It's happened everytime the Cubans have played in the US recently.

All Liverpool needs is one goal. That will give them three on aggregate, with one away goal. Inter would need four goals to move forward at that point.

I just can't wait until they show the replay of Materazzi being sent off... It never gets old.

--------------- Seitz ---------------

Freeman --- Spector -- Orozco ---- Wynne

Kljestan ------- Zizzo ---------- Edu

----------------- Adu -------------------

------ Davies --------- Altidore ----------

sitruc: Order a pizza tonight. Don't miss the match.

Hello - it's me again.

On the previous post - the last comment was about the changes to the playoffs for this year: Top 3 from East and West, seeded 1-3 respectively and then 2 wild cards from the rest of the table.

The competition is Home-Home vs. the other 13 (26 games) and 4 one-off contests.

2009 will be 28 games home-home and then what, 2 games vs. your "rival".

2010 = Single Table. 15 Home-Home contests. Single Table determines everything else - playoffs should be the same if not done away with.

Return to the banter.

Joe Doc,

Unless I'm mistaken, while Spector is on the roster, he won't be available until after the group stages, as per an agreement between the USSF and West Ham.

I thought the Liverpool game was supposed to kickoff at 2:45...

Not what I want to see, but I think Nowak will put on the field.

Seitz
Wynne Ianni Orozco Freeman
Edu Klejstan
Holden Gaven
Altidore Adu

The US just went through Daylight savings time, which means that we are only 5 hours behind Italy. The game starts at 8:45 local time in Italy, therefore 3:45 here.

patiently waiting.

Inter/Liverpool is on ESPN2 beginning at 3:30 - stupid hour we lost this weekend

---------------Altidore---------------
-----------------Adu------------------
--Holden-----------------------Zizzo--
----------Edu-------Kljestan----------
--Freeman----------------------Wynne--
----------Sturgis-----Orozco----------
----------------Seitz-----------------

If Edu plays in the back, take Sturgis out and plug McCarty in at mid.

Ah...glad I asked...time machine!

Unfortunately the Reds make it through.

Possibly dumb question: Brad Guzan doesn't turn 24 until later this year. How come he's not on the roster (and thus gaining some more international experience)?

@apqjr: You're spot on, my consonant-laden friend. I remember senior Goff wrote about it this morning. D'oh!

Kamani Hill instead of Spector, I suppose?

And speaking of Spector: he's worth one millllllllllllllllllllllllllion dollars...

Altidore
Adu
Zizzo
Klejstan
Edu

Freeman Wynne
Sturgis Ianni

Rephrased: so do you have to be 23 or under, or 22 or under?

Juan-John,

Unfortunately you have to be under 23 to be considered for the team... Meaning you can't be older than 22 making Guzan ineligible.

erm.....isn't there another big game tomorrow night? I could be wrong...actually, no. I'm not.

Possibly dumb question: Brad Guzan doesn't turn 24 until later this year. How come he's not on the roster (and thus gaining some more international experience)?

Posted by: Juan-John | March 11, 2008 03:29 PM
==========================================

Guzan was born before January 1, 1985. Thus, he might as well be 33 years old. He is ineligible to participate at this stage, and he would be competing for one of three senior slots in China.

It is unfortunate that Goff's article in this morning's print version of the Post used the phrase "23 and under," when the correct term is "under 23" (as of January 1, at any rate).

I don't know why - but I'm really ready for this campaign to get underway.

Vamos United

Inter and L'pool are going back and forth quite quickly, but with few good chances

except for that one by Ibramovich - just as I type - which went wide of the far post.

zippy-zippy at half...

Very exciting, well-played match at San Siro. Operatic, even. If there were more games like this on TV, I could see this soccer/football sport really catching on in a lot of countries....

""Very exciting, well-played match at San Siro. Operatic, even. If there were more games like this on TV, I could see this soccer/football sport really catching on in a lot of countries....""

Impossible, a zero zero no goals scored game will never take off in non-communist countries. Won't happen.

Rack him.

SPOILER ALERT

Heineken commercial shows astronauts drinking beer. Must be Euro Space Agency fellows, because it's a NASA no-no.

Derek Jeter squints to read the teleprompter on the Hurricane - a baseball version of Kick Medic.

Russian mobsters drink Heineken.

Inter down to 10. Studs up tackle. Missed the name.

50 min: RED CARD! Burdisso and Lucas come together under a high ball. The Inter player is slightly late on Lucas, but both players were challenging fairly. However - amazingly - the referee shows Burdisso a second yellow. He's off, on his first game back from a six-game suspension resulting from that brawl against Valencia last season. What a poor decision by the referee.

Torres 63'

Turn and shoot.

Don't come studs up and you won't get a second yellow card.

Food is taken care of for the night...unfortunately I'm currently at a baseball game watching soccer on my phone and laptop.

62 min: WHAT A FINISH!!! Internazionale 0-1 Liverpool. Aurelio bustles clear down the left. He dinks a ball across to Torres in the centre, but it's slightly behind the striker. Torres checks and attempts to trap, but with his back to goal accidentally knocks it behind him. No worries: he spins through 180 degrees and arrows an unstoppable shot into the bottom left corner. That's this tie over, I would suggest.

Surprising dominance of the English sides over the Italian clubs in the Champions League. Beating the best club in Italy twice -- enough to save Benitez' job, no?

What is it about the Reds that they save their best football for Europe? Of course, they've had help from the refs, but they've made their luck.

The weather. Liverpool can't play well on that blessed plot, that earth, that realm, that England.

Bye Bye Inter.

Stupid hour we lost?
I don't have to use my headlamp to grill now.

Fernando Torres is quality. what a goal. somebody stop this kid!

EPL > La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A

-------------Seitz-------------
Wynne--Orozco/Spector--Freeman
--------------Edu--------------
Holden------Kljestan------Gaven
--------------Adu--------------
-----Findley------Altidore-----

Subs:
GK-Cervi
D-Ianni
D-Hill/Orozco
MF-McCarty
MF-Zizzo
F-Davies
F-Barret

(I'm assuming there are seven subs. If there are five then take away Barret and McCarty)

No Spector until the semis.

Spector or no Spector I just am still having a hard time getting past the whole no Alvarez and no Feilhaber. What am I missing here?

No Under 23s on Livefooty?

which websites offer free streaming of the u23 game tonight? Thanks

Is anyone else having trouble launching the matchtracker at ussoccer.com?

If I am leeching my internet connection, how do I access espn360?

It is now 8:15 p.m. EDT. Why are some posts to this thread stamped with later times? Are these people in PEI or something?

Nice goal by Freddy.

I don't what's up with the time stamps.

I finally got through to the ussoccer.com matchtracker. They give this starting lineup:

Seitz
Ianni/Sturgis/Freeman/Hill
Edu/Davies/McCarty/Findley
Adu/Altidore

Bench: Wynne/Orozco/Holden/Kljestan/Cervi/Barrett/Gaven

Does anyone have the Honduras-Panama result?

Boy if this US team plays like this they are not going to go to China. Period. Playing against Cuba and they can't dominate the game. These boys playing some dreadful football. The only player reasonable is Adu.

I'm looking for that right now

ESPN 360 has it live.

why is the stadium totally empty? they might as well have played on a high school field...

Is Nathan Sturgis really playing? Or did they just put his name on the gamesheet by mistake? I think I only heard his name called once in the entire half.

I agree about Kljestan for Findlay, and as much as I hate to give him another chance, maybe Gaven could help in midfield. But more than anything... Freddy really needs to take over.

Kljestan on for Altidore to start the second half.

some ibrahimovic-quality finishing right now. oy.

Barrett replaces Davies at 61'.

Burdiso's 2nd yellow was completely justified as he went in late high and with his studs up-textbook stuff, the guy is also known for being a card machine so it wasn't that surprising.

On the USA game, Adu looks pretty damn good out there, a class above everyone else on the field, Jozy doesn't look his greatest so far, but I'm sure he will step up...

Cuba scores to make it 1-1

US is playing like **** right now.

Findley off for kljestin please or anyone really, Wynne on for hill the right side is just sucking. Adu and McCarty look good. Altidore doesn't look to be taking this game seriously. No wing play for the US anything decent is going through Adu

Just went on ESPN360. The US is atrocious. There are quite few college teams that play a tighter side of soccer.

US is playing some dreadful football. If they play like this, take my word, they are NOT going to China. They can't play decent against Cuban team just forget to play with anyone else. What a dreadful. The only player noticeable is Adu. That's it. Eveybody sucks.

Oh how this team misses Benny Feilhaber in the middle of midfield.

Benny Feilhaber > Dax McCarty

seemed like they stopped playing after the first 15 minutes. And many you thought Mexico has had an awful time finishing.

Second yellow was for kicking the ball into the net after offside was called. Standard time wasting procedure and properly penalized. I knew right away it was a card, didn't know or care, that it was a second yellow. Too bad.

How did Feilhaber not make this squad? I know he hasn't played much lately but a lot of those players looked like they've never played the game before. Truly awful display. Adu had some very good balls into the box close to the end with no one there to finish.

Not only is he in another league, he's 18! Too bad I have to watch the other 21 players, too.

Well, with this close to United's game tomorrow, I think it is safe to say that United didn't get any shirt sponsor. Too bad.

pathetic

I didn't like the ref. everything was a foul to that guy.
also i think both cards to Cuba's no. 9 were very soft.

McCarty can play! He never stopped hustling. Adu was very good also. Altidore was useless. It was like they won the first 15 minutes, decided it would be an easy win and screwed it all up! Cuba's goalie looked great. Attendance maybe 1000? Very curious night.

Nice story for tomorrow's paper about the Harbour View game.

7 days to the first home match!

Nice story for tomorrow's paper on the Harbour View game.

Only 7 days to the first home match!

Remind me again why CONCACAF couldn't schedule an Olympic qualifier at RFK?!? The attendance was PATHETIC for a stadium that big.

If they had done it at RFK, how much you wanna bet there woulda been more than 10,000 people there?!? They coulda done something similar to the '96 games at RFK, or even the '84 game at Harvard Stadium, with all the Olympic hoopla and everything. So what if the temps were a little on the chilly side?!?

If not RFK, then do it at a SSS like Pizza Hut Park.

Also agree about Adu. i am very dissapointed thus far. I thought the US looked very slow in general. I felt the U-20's put on a much better display at the U-20 world cup in Canada.

Maybe there's only a high school crowd because they're playing like highschoolers...

Final sub: Gaven on for Findley at 77'.

still 1-1?

Eddie Gaven.. U.S. Soccer's answer to Harry Kewell!

Linares (the goalscorer) gets a second yellow and is tossed at 83'.

It is really depressing to watch. All Barrett done so far is fault play. oh boy.

I was wondering why my posts were showing up...

Only 3minutes of stoppage?
Final
Cuba 1 USA 1
...

Exactly what was the second yellow for?

Yikes.

El Dulce,

Waisting time... he was called for offside then kicked the ball 30 yards downfield...

Adu > Good

He was amazing tonight.

Apparently Honduras beat Panama and sits atop the group at the moment.

Linares received a 2nd yellow for playing on after the whistle (for offsides) and knocking the ball into the net. Technically a correct action by the ref but it seems pretty harsh. Especially since he seemed Cuba's main weapon and will now miss the next game (or two?).

I was unimpressed by Davies and Findley. Kljestan, Barrett and Gaven all seemed better.

Adu is better by a power of 10 than anyone that was on the field tonight. Everyone else looked Concacaf tonight.

Definitely agree that Adu was a player apart. Also pleased with Gaven's few minutes. Freeman seemed a steady player, rarely made stupid mistakes. I couldn't stand McCarty when he was playing back. A lot of rather desperate tackles. Once he moved up, he was a bit more effective, but still not Feilhaber.

Finally, Barrett should not be on the field. He was a complete thug. Rooney minus the talent.

Bad mistake to leave Benny and Robbie out of the squad

I thought McCarty hustled more than anyone tonite. Adu looked great also. Altidore was useless. Crowd was pathetic, boycotting Cuba maybe? Cuba's goalie was Man of the Match. Sorry if this is a double post, first one didnt make it.

Somebody tell Goff or one of his editors that the time stamps on the SI Blog haven't switched over to Daylight Savings...

These time stamps are all over the place. One minute they're fine, the next they're an hour or so off.

I can't go on like this...
These time stamps are totally f--king up my life.
Somebody help.
Yo are any bars showing the game DCU game tommorow night?
Summers?
Does Bailey's in Ballston have Fox Soccer Channell?
How about El Paso on Pershing?

I thought we looked slow. Adu was the best on the pitch though, agreed.

Feilhaber didn't make the squad because every coach that has seen him play in the last 9 months agrees he's out of form.

If you've seen him play well recently, please speak up. The 30 mins I saw him play for Derby a month or 2 ago were painful. He was lethargic and sloppy.

dadryan: I bet it's on at Marx cafe in Mt. Pleasant.

Finn McCool's is showing the harbour View game tomorrow. It's right across from the Marine barracks near Eastern Market metro.

Milton Reyes is on FSC playing right fullback for Motagua right now against Pachuca in the Concacaf Champions Cup (actually I'm pretty sure it's tape delayed a few hours). Also "DC fan favorite" Amado Guevara.

Pachuca vs montagu is actually a very entertaining game. The montagu fans are very impressive. Armado guevera is a human smallpox virus.

any where in arlington showing the DCU game tommorow night?

poor showing. Adu was the only player with any quality on the field. Very disappointed.

I was at the game tonight. Started out great. After 15 min, someone told the us players they were up 10 -0. Benny, arturo, and Robby not being picked, HUGE Mistake. CM was abyssimal. Flank play was found to be lacking. Dax although industrious, struggled to play anything but square and back. The majority of US players took 2 touches at least, to settle a ball. Subs by Nowak, ?able at best. Some reason Zizzo wasn't even on the bench. Game could have easily been 5-1. Cuba Keeper and #5 CB played very well. Fred Adu, a man amongst boys. Overall, the service to the forwards, speed of play, and team tactics must be better. With all peter's experience, he couldn't figure out how to expose a team that was sitting in and only looking to counter. The switch from the 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 made little sense and only seem to confuse the players. Wasn't this team just in camp for like ten days? It looked as though there was no cohesion or collective thoughts. Good thing the other two teams are about the same quality as Cuba, wait we just tied Cuba. They can't even afford warm up shirts (warmed up in game jerseys and skins). Electro shock therapy might be needed.

So i about beat a guy's a$$ tonight. I was sitting at a bar in Knoxville, TN where i live. It was $2 pint night (even included Guinness and Smithwicks) and BSPN had the highlights and he cheered when cuba score. He is not cuban. My buddy dragged me away. 'Course i was singing "Be an american sh** head" by that point. Jackass.

Feilhaber didn't make the squad because every coach that has seen him play in the last 9 months agrees he's out of form.

If you've seen him play well recently, please speak up. The 30 mins I saw him play for Derby a month or 2 ago were painful. He was lethargic and sloppy.

Posted by: JkR | March 11, 2008 11:48 PM
------------------------------------------
Is Benny in form, probably not. Is his out of form better than most others good form, I would say so. I thought against Mexico last month(feb.) he was the most effective and fluid player in the CM, drastically better than the on fire Bradley. In my opinion the most dynamic cm since Tab Ramos. Who cares if he is not playing at Derby. Obviously the coach is struggling there. He's so far in the cellar, he couldn't see daylight with a periscope. When Feilhaber plays with our A team, he is one of our best. To punish him because of a bad club situation is stupid. When Henry moved to Italy; he struggled big time, but still got called in to play for France. Juve took a loss to sell him. Arrives at Arsenal and he becomes Henry. Did we punish Landon(leverkusen), Demarcus(PSV), Kasey (Tottenham), Guch (Newcastle) or Carlos (Fulham, Current) for their club issues? So why start now with as valuable of a player. He would start for any MLS team including United, but he wants the competition of Europe. I'd rather watch Benny over Dax, Sascha,Danny,or Maurice any day.

These are the three things from the Olympic game that should be alarming:

1. Distribution out of the back: Under a tiny bit of pressure, Ianni and Sturgis would pass straight to the Cuban midfield. Freeman's crossing is horrendous, as it has been for most of his pro career. Hill at least managed to limit his turnovers to our attacking third and out wide, when there were people covering for him.

2. Forward play: Altidore seemed strangely disinterested. Davies combined a below-par effort with constant and pathetic dives. Findley seemed very uncomfortable on the wing and then, when he got as clear a breakaway as you will ever get, managed to shoot into the keeper's hands. Barrett is just not good enough, as shown by his inability to have a first touch stay within 2 yards of him.

3. Defensive midfield play: It wasn't the tackling as much as Edu's repeated turnovers when dribbling and both he and McCarty's lack of movement towards the often errant passes out of the back. If you have a teammate who's struggling to link his passes together, you move to make things easier. If your center back combo is hitting their passes too softly, you make sure you beat your opposing number to the ball. McCarty and Edu were just standing there waiting for the ball to arrive.

What are my suggestions?
- Go to a 442, dropping Davies and McCarty for Kljestan (on the right) and Gaven on the left. This will, if nothing else, get Findley into the middle, where he's more comfortable. It will also give one more outlet to our defenders, who hopefully will be able to successfully accomplish one of the game's simplest tasks (a short pass to an open man with no real pressure on).
- Consider Orozco for either Sturgis or Ianni. I will admit to having never seen Orozco play, but he's got to be better than what those two showed tonight.

I hope today is a better day.

"Eddie Gaven.. U.S. Soccer's answer to Harry Kewell!"

That analogy fits in so many ways, it makes me want to vomit all over my keyboard.

I'll never think of Gaven the same again.

Nowack, once again, is in way over his head and has thoroughly bungled the player selections, line up and tactics. He should be fired for his abject incompetence and, in the future, allowed near a pitch only to peel orange slices for JV girls half time nourishment.

why would you need to peel the orange slices? that's why you slice them!

just kidding.

3 hours until USA-Denmark in Algarve Cup. It is a great week for soccer (Cuba draw notwithstanding) with Olympic qualifiers, DCU matches, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Algarve Cup.

Is it time for a new thread? What time is it?

Poor result...but you guys need to quit over-reacting. Let's see how they do in the other games. I have faith in Nowak.

I'm not sure what game you saw but the US created plenty of chances to score. The problem was a very good (lucky) Cuban keeper and a failure of the US players to score (Choked). Was that Nowak fault...no! He put up a team that should have won. The play was a lot better in the second half. Adu was MOTH but he too missed chances that should have been converted. Fire Nowak...no not yet!

Nowak once again proving he doesn't handle big games very well. This game was pathetic...

findley, davies, and altidore were all in 1v1 w/the goalie and blew it. should have been atleast 4-1. nowak can't put the ball in the goal.

Gaven was horrible - his first touches were bouncing half way across the field.

Findley was horrible - if you cant score on a break away goal like that you never will.

Edu sucked

Adu looked to be the best player out there.

Ianni - still cant get over his game against the japan team where he and boswell got torched for 6 goals.

Hill i actually though improved somewhat as the game went on.

overall they looked like a bunch of talentless hacks. cuba was awful too.

Poor result....but you guys need to quit over-reacting. Let's see how the other games turn out. I have faith in Nowak.

This US team could still very easily get 7 points from their 3 group games.

They dominated the game but faced a Cuban goalkeeper who was on top form last night.

As was said, the coach can't help his players finish their chances on the field.

Results versus Panama and Honduras now become vital. This is a building experience for the team. My guess is that Nowak, this team, and US Soccer in general will be fine.

Yes, three points in the opener would have been great, but the group has yet to sort itself out, and I'd say this squad still has a more than decent chance of reaching the semi-finals next week.

See you in Beijing.

And yes, as someone mentioned, having these games at RFK would have been awesome. Perhaps March 2012 or 2016 will see some Olympic soccer at Poplar Point.

While Freddy was clearly the best player on the field, McCarty was one of the most fun to watch. I admire his hustle.

The USA has to improve its passing. Slow decisions about what to do with the ball led to too many passes taken under pressure. Still, they did a much better job of stringing together passes and creating scoring opportunities than did the Cubans (if you don't count that awful period in the first half following Adu's goal).

That was a pretty uninspiring performance last night. The passing was awful, and even though Adu passed great and shot pretty good, he still can't seem to maintain possession worth a darn.
Gaven was horrible in his few minutes, he was open, but has the touch of a small elephant, If he could keep the ball near his feet, he'd have alot better options.
Altidore was a big lumbering oaf and painful to watch.

I thought the 3 best players were Edu, McCarty, and Adu - it was like no one else felt they needed to help those 3 guys out.
The few times we got width, we looked good.

Saddest thing of all was the pathetic crowd, The 25 Cuban fans heavily outnumbered any US fans :-(

I'll be the first one to say it - Jozy Altidore needs a break. The kid has been playing NON-stop recently and could use a month off from football.

That said - not too happy that the Yanks laid an egg last night. The backs lost their marks and the forward runs after the first 15 minutes seemed to lack any sort of speed or creativity. Hopefully that will motivate the performances through the rest of the Group Stage.

To nameless poster. RE: Benny Feilhaber.

Dude, thank you, thank you, thank you. Benny is the man. And I too thought he outperformed Bradley in the Mexico game. Benny just plays the ball so smart. Love that kid.

"While Freddy was clearly the best player on the field, McCarty was one of the most fun to watch. I admire his hustle."
----

Yeah, the cute blonde I sat next to last night at the bar said he had some kinda interesting/weird vibe going the whole game.

Eh. I get the feeling that Feilhaber isn't playing for a reason. When he's on, he's definitely better than McCarty. But at the same time, I thought McCarty played really well. And McCarty was NOT the problem last night, so I don't think Benny would have given us a whole lot more help.

The problem was 3 breakaway opportunities that we could not convert. Altidore and Findley shot straight at the keeper. Davies doesn't like to shoot, so he decided to fall down instead. If we had 4 Freddy Adus playing in the top 4 positions, then we would have won 4-1. But until we can invent a device to make that happen, someone else is going to have to step up.

So i about beat a guy's a$$ tonight. I was sitting at a bar in Knoxville, TN where i live. It was $2 pint night (even included Guinness and Smithwicks) and BSPN had the highlights and he cheered when cuba score. He is not cuban. My buddy dragged me away. 'Course i was singing "Be an american sh** head" by that point. Jackass.

Posted by: gilbert | March 12, 2008 03:26 AM
======================

Wait a minute. They call it a "pint" in Knoxville?

You should buy your buddy a pint or tow for saving you. I'll bet that Mr Cuba-fan has at least 2 firearms in his pickup.

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