After a disappointing 1-1 result against Cuba the U.S. under 23 Olympic squad is under heavy pressure to get a result against Panama tonite at 7pm on the FSC.
I am reserving judgement until the final two games are playing but if Cuba was a measuring stick of where we are which fairly or unfairly these games become it is worrisome.
The squad was slow and sluggish and did not look sharp for vast stretches of the match.
Lots of MLS pre-season and travel amongst these players could be considered. Did Peter Nowak push this squad to much physically like he did when at DC United ?
NBC who are carrying the Olympic soccer games must be holding their breath.
*The Dynamo will be grouped in the Superliga with Chivas, DC United and Atlante.
Pachuca was originally in the group but lets just say some “concern” about this being the “group of death” arose. I love seeing the Dynamo get a shot at Omar Bravo. Sergio Santana and Jonny Magallon Chivas.
*The return leg of the Dynamo vs. Municipal will be on Wednesday the 19th. Rest assured that Guatemalan fans living in Houston will come out in force for this one. Do you get the sense that most don’t understand the importance of the Concacaf Champions Cup for MLS teams? Little coverage about the Dynamo in Guatemala was in the English media today.
*I invite you to join me at the Stags Head Pub every (with an occasional Tuesday) Monday from March 24th for 13 consecutive weeks for the live broadcast of “Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis” on 790 The Sports Animal from 7-9pm. Dynamo players and staff will be in attendance live at these events plus great giveaways and of course the best in soccer talk at the Stags Head Pub.
We appreciate that Stags Head Pub have gotten behind the sport of soccer, the Dynamo and soccer in the media.
Stags Head Pub is located at Sheperd and 59 in the Sheperd Plaza. They have hosted World Cup events in the past and Stags Head Pub was a presenting sponsor of the U.S./Mexico international match recently.
Glenn,
A few thoughts:
1) I was pleased with the Dynamo performance last night, even if it did not result in any goals. Movement was decent and the combination play was pretty good for early in the season. Some are down on Corey Ashe but if he can work on his crosses and continue with good defensive support, I think he will be very valuable this year. Wade Barrett did look like he had his hands full and maybe a bit sluggish - I hope he has not lost a step. One thing to watch this year with the Dynamo is that most of the core players are getting up there in terms of their prime soccer age and might not have the best legs anymore for every game.
2) As far as English language coverage, I was disappointed that the Chronicle had only a smaller AP-type article and no quotes. My guess is that with all of the college BB, NBA, MLB, etc. and other stuff going on that they have Bernardo working on multiple things. It was also a little later of a game than usual. I hope we get better coverage for the return leg.
Unfortunately, it does seem that events that are only on FSC or GolTv do not get the same mainstream credit as being a big event as something on ESPN.
3) On the Olympic squad, we got a result out of the Panama game and are pretty well assured of going thru (unless Cuba wins and beats us on goal differential) but our inability to finish and separate from opponents on the scoreline always seems to exist for US soccer. I thought the lineup tonight worked better than vs. Cuba. I am surprised Cuba held Honduras scoreless for so long.
The interesting question will be if the US & Mexico can avoid each other in the semis.
4) I think Dynamo fans need to circle the Chivas Superliga game on the calendar in advance - this is going to be a big event for soccer in this town on both the MLS and FMF sides
Comment by JJ — March 13, 2008 @ 9:53 pm