One thing was really clear for the United States.
When manager Bob Bradley brought on Charlie Davies and Benny Feilhaber for Freddy Adu and Logan the United States became a different team.
The timing of the substitutions were correct as well against a fatiguing Honduras and the two players did much to lift the tempo, provide a creative edge that led to two great goals.
The first goal scored by Santino Quaranta was a beauty that involved wonderful circulation of the ball ultimately bringing in Quaranta at the top of the box who smashed in his finish.
THe moment was a great one for Quaranta who recently became a father and has had addiction problems which he seems to have under control.
I couldn’t help think what was running through his mind when he soaked up the moment and took a bow.
Brian Ching headed home beautifully the second goal off a great cross from captain Steve Cherundolo. Next up for the U.S. is Haiti. Freddy Adu will not play anymore in the Concacaf Gold Cup and is heading back to Benfica in Portugal due to a prior arrangement.
One always wonders in situations like this with Freddy Adu currently if players are given opportunity to play themselves OFF the team. What did you think of Adu’s performance.
Mexico takes on Panama at Reliant Stadium on Thursday in a match that should draw between 40,000 and 50,000. Don’t miss it and grab your tickets at FIESTA TICKETMASTER outlets!!!!
SOCCER MATTERS WITH GLENN DAVIS a new soccer program on FOX SPORTS HOUSTON debuts Saturday July 18th at 9AM and will re-air three times during the week!!!
Don’t forget the Dynamo this Saturday on KHOU 11.2 as the “Orange” invade Qwest Field in Seattle to take on former ARSENAL star FREDDY LJUNBERG.
Danish Inspirations
Fiesta Mart
Houston Web Design
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute
SportTalk 790
Zukowski, Bresenhan & Sinex, L.L.P.
Sadly due to economic difficulty…I will have to miss El Tri game…I was going to go with my dad but one thing led to another and now I will not witness my nation play live…I guess there is always TV and at least I still have my health…well can’t always get what you want in life right? Well at least the Bars and Stripes played a good game congrats to my boy Ching!!! Looking forward to your show Glenn…planning any surprises…well I guess everything is going to be a surprise since it is the first show!
Entertaining game last night at RFK. Very fitting that “Q” scored and you could not write a better story if you tried. Glad to see Brian get a goal as well, while not all US Fans agree that he should play tell me who else works this hard?
Tonight should be fun as well, can the “Loupe” continue its run? Can El Tri put on an impressive show or will they struggle again? Looking forward to a festive atmosphere at Reliant.
Glenn, is the El Salvador – Colombia Friendly in August scheduled for Robertson?
Good win for the US. I belive those changes made were well done, but I would have made 3 changes rather than 2. The first being Robbie Rodgers, who sux badly and bring in Holden. Why did Holden not play? Rogers first 6 crosses had no air under them and were cut off and he was very inaccurate the whole night. Adu continues to not impress. If he struggles against the Honduras B team its not hard to figure out why he rides the bench in Europe. Why was Paco Torres not included in the squad. I would not be surprise if he is frustrated with a lack of playing time.
Hey Offebacher I was wondering the samething I mean I heard about the friendly and it being held in Robertson but I cant seem to be able to find any more info on it…I mean since imma miss Mexico’s game today I was hoping to try to catch that El Salva game…I mean I’m Mexican and a long time football fan but I guess I want to enjoy any kind of top level football….
Dynajoe,
Paco Torres was left off the squad like a lot of European players. He needs this time to rest and prepare for the upcoming Mexican league season. Though, I agree that he cannot be happy with the lack of playing time with the national team. Why isn’t he playing more? Its a good question and I hope that Bob Bradley has a good answer. Someday soon, somebody will ask him that question.
El Salvador & Colombia are scheduled for August 7th at Robertson. Ticketmaster says that tickets will be available at 5:00pm today. It will be a fun night for the Salvadorian and Colombian communities here. They don’t get to see their national teams play in person very often here. Colombia may have last been here in Houston in 2005 (beating Mexico in the Gold Cup). I can’t remember the last time El Salvador was here.
Hi Offebacher, Leo, and anyone else interested,
I found the El Salvador/Colombia match info on the ticketmaster website (www.ticketmaster.com). Run a search for Robertson stadium and the match should be listed for August 7th. I couldn’t find any info about ticket prices but they should be available later today.
Hope that helps
Thanks Jon!!!!! Wow tickets range from 25-45 bucks…not bad for national team play…that an considering any seat in Robertson has a good view!!!!!
Bradley addresses Torres lack of playing time in a July 3 post article on soccer by Ives. Agree or disagree, you can read what the coach had to say.
copy and paste the web adress below and the story should be the 5th one down. “Bradlye discusses Torres”.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/07/page/3/
Hope this helps.
Adu had an awful game. He looked slow and out of shape. Benny Feilhaber is far and away the best attacking mid-fielder in the U.S. player pool right now.
Adu looked bad. Bad passes and all his runs with the ball were two steps too many.
Ching had a goal and played a key ball for the other goal, yet US soccer fans have already been calling for him to be replaced. Are we going to start this again? Will Ching’s value ever be appreciated?
You can’t teach speed and that’s why Davies was so good last night. It’s like when the Dyanmo bring Ashe off the bench late in the second half. He’s always much much faster than the tired defenders. Lando’s got some speed, but the US has been lacking overall team speed.
Doug, you’re right. You can’t coach speed and team speed is a most leathal weapon. Davies brought the speed but he also brought drive. I loved his challenge on the keeper and it almost worked. Tino is a good story and I hope it pans out for him. We’ve all tripped and fallen on that path through the woods we call life. You just have to get up, dust yourself off and keep going.
One thing that I love guys, is all the debate on who should get the call for mid in SA2010. I remember a time, not so long ago, that if we could put four quality midfielders on the pitch it was a wonderful thing. Ahh.. depth. Aint life grand!
It’s a shame Ching was so unlucky last night. He had some good looks.
I’ll be watching it on TV with you tonight Leo. Good Luck.
Glenn,
Just got done watching the Mexico/Panama game, and all I have to say is this:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!
I am predicting a 3-1 win for Guadaloupe on Sunday!
I ended up going to the Mexico-Panama game…its 2 AM just got here…going to write long comment on game…i ended up going by the grace of god…thanks to a friend getting me an amazing ticket….expect a comment about the game coming from a Mexican Fan that is realistic…good night!!!!!
Adu has continued to show his limitations…
Ching outshines Conor Casey any time he’s on the field. He’s shown his value over and again.
I believe that Bradley is giving Rogers and others chances to step up, and as long as we get the result I would agree with him. Holden is the better player, though!
Its a shame that ESPN and others continue to ignore our national team.
I’m dying to see what everone has to say about last night. The soccer haters are out in force on Chron.com
I was at the game last night. I am Panamanian and proud of the way “Los Canaleros” performed last night. Panama’s style is a rough and tumble affair with lots of hustle, physical contact and a touch of flair and creativity. We are a small country of 3 million people but we took on the giant(or so they think)and demonstrated some class and grit. We have quality not quantity.
Aguirre’s unsportsmanlike display was deplorable. He does not have the class to accept the tie so he kicks “Paton” Phillips. What a loser!! Accept the fact that you cannot impose your will on other CONCACAF foes and play like men. Your supposed superiority should come from superior tactics due to your pro player numbers not your superior number of raucous and bottle throwing fans or altitude(Azteca).
The lack of security at Reliant was scary. It would not have taken much for this to turn into a “LIttle Big Horn”. We Panamanians(5,000+) would have been like Custer and his boys and the Mexican fans(42,000+) would have been the entire Sioux nation slaughtering us. That is why in other places they separate the opposing fans. Something for thought Promoters!!! The disrespect was impressive. We almost all had to fight for our girls and ourselves. We will see you in the semis VATOS.
CAUTION: LONG POST…READ AT OWN EXPENSE
I am a Mexican and I love football with a passion. There is a saying, “The Mexican that doesn’t love football is no Mexican,” and I take that to heart. I’ve been a fan all of my life, and this has included the days when the National Team was not show on regular television and one had to go to a bar to see the game in closed circuit television. My earliest memory was my mom telling me to go to sleep during a CONCACAF Championship game and my dad telling her to let me see the trophy presentation, so my earliest football memory was one of glory with my nation. There is an understood agreement among family members and that is that we often insult our own family, but if somebody insults them or criticizes them we protect them. This I have often applied to football, I can insult my team in the worst ways among fellow fans but as soon as somebody else does it that isn’t a fan: it gets personal! However, this shall not be the case this time and I will criticize my team in front of a bunch of no good USMNT Fans (I kid…). Mexico has often been deemed the CONCACAF Powerhouse, but for what reason? We have never won a World Cup, the only reason I can even agree with this is because we have won the Confederation’s Cup and gotten a couple of second place finishes in Copa America. I guess if you go by history and are forced to name a powerhouse it would be Mexico, but let’s be honest there are no “powerhouses” in CONCACAF. I went to the game yesterday sat on the field level, around the half way line, and behind the Mexican Bench. Mexico started off playing well, I cannot say that they played amazing football but they started off well considering recent games. In the ninth minute Giovanni Dos Santos made a beautiful pass and Sabbah scored. After those initial nine minutes however the Mexico of recent times returned and worse than ever. Panama had us (Mexico, you know us fans we feel a part of the team) against the ropes, it seemed like Blas Perez (Ex-Pachuca) was going to get a nice cross in any given moment and score a goal against us. Four minutes after the goal Blas Perez crashes against Goalkeeper Ochoa in what seemed like an aggression worthy of at least a yellow card. The Referee being from CONCACAF does nothing, and so the game starts getting ugly. I remember telling myself the Ref should have done something because now Mexico is going to take things to their own hands. As soon as I said thought that Torrado (Mexican Captain) slides in pretty hard against Blas Perez in a move that could’ve been worth of a red. He however had gotten carded before and the Referee being from CONCACAF didn’t have the personality or attitude to give him at least a second yellow if not a red. Later, my other thought of Blas Perez receiving a nice a pass and scoring came to be, and he scored a goal that Ochoa (GK) could’ve easily handled considering the ball bounced twice in the 5 yard box. The game seemed to have calmed down after that however. Panama kept on attacking and Mexico kept on defending, in the 45th minute a fight broke out in the field after a foul and Noriega from Mexico goes to the showers along with Gun from Panama. After that I knew it would be a horrible performance for Mexico, because I had a feeling Panama would try to defend the 1-1 draw and oh boy was I right. In the second half Mexico tried attacking but Panama just defended. All of this seemed to frustrate Aguirre, Mexico’s Head Coach, and I understood why Mexico had turned into a one trick pony. Every single play took place with Medina on the left side of the field; of course the Panama team could see this too so they just defended that side a little tighter, and it worked like a charm. Aguirre a good 15-20 minutes of seeing this subbed out Medina and put in Barrera, that young player brought in some new ideas and stopped crossing the ball and instead actually confronted defenders and made some pretty dangerous plays. However, Mexico lacking any real strikers couldn’t even put the ball in. All of this led to the incident with Mexico’s Head Coach in around the 80th minute, Phillips from Panama had lost a ball that had gone outside. Mexico’s Coach Aguirre says that he meant no harm by it, but he extended his leg and it grazed Philips. Now Aguirre said that he was merely trying to stop the ball because it had gone out of bounds, which is something that we see players and coaches do all the time. I do not buy this though, because I as a Pachuca fan know Aguirre better than any other type of fan in the world. Aguirre led Pachuca to their first championship in 1999 and to the final in 2001 which led him to get the Head Coach position for Mexico in his first run. As Pachuca’s coach he had a temper that few others have had. He’ll curse during interviews, he’ll curse at players, and well anybody that he feels like. As a player for America he was often in fights (or so I’ve heard) so none of this surprises me. Aguirre received a red card and left the field after a short while, however the Philips, the Panama player, had also received a red card for pushing Aguirre after the leg extension/kick. While I was in the crowd, the crowd was getting restless because it took the referee 10 minutes to get the player out of the field. After the first seven minutes people started throwing things at Panama’s players and into the field, and this only seemed to make the Panama players argue that the game should be stopped, which in turn angered the fans around me and they threw more stuff into the field. It was a horrifying loop that went on for ten minutes. The game got restarted but the damage had been done the Mexican and Panama Teams were clearly not even in formation anymore and the Panama team really only cared about having the game end in a 1-1 draw. Every player wearing a Panama jersey was defending and as football goes a foul was committed. Omar Bravo kind of pushed Blas Perez but not a hard push, but Perez threw himself to the ground and just stayed there. Perez asked for assistance and so it was given, he was carried out on the stretcher. The fans felt that and knew that he was just trying to break the rhythm of the game so more cups full of coke and beer and God only knows what else were thrown at Blas Perez while he was on the stretcher and right in front of me I saw the Paramedics drop him from the stretcher after getting hit by coke and beer. All of this led to another 5 minutes of wasted time and more arguing from the Panamanian players in support of the game getting ended. The crowd again grew restless and fights started breaking out around me between Panama and Mexican supporters. The game was restarted and ended after around 3 or 4 minutes, and the full time was clearly not aggregated. If I had to put blame on a single person it would be the referee for not being able to control the game, but the fans in the stands that decided to take the side of violence also did not help the cause. Mexico showed a weakness that has been apparent for years: if a team goes against Mexico and plays counter-attack football Mexico will lose or go against the ropes. Mexico cannot score when other teams decide to all out defend. Aguirre also showed his weakness as a coach and now I know why he was fired from Atletico Madrid; he played a 4-4-2 against a team playing a 4-4-2. Mexico has the talent to play any formation and with the players on the field a 5-3-2 would have worked perfect. This would’ve allowed two defenders to help out the midfield and thus overwhelming the Panamanian midfield, which would’ve led to more balls won. Giovanni was playing a good game, the only one that did well, and he could’ve gotten just a little behind the two forwards and played as a loose “10” ala Donovan. It seems like a simple solution that would not work because a mere fan is stating it, but trust me it would’ve! As a long time football fan I know that a 4-4-2 going against a 4-4-2 makes for some pretty clogged up midfields with nobody gaining much ground. Come August 12th and remembering my shaved head bet, I still have not lost hope and I still believe that the USMNT will not beat Mexico on the holiest of grounds, El Estadio Azteca! I guess I am but a hopeless soul that will never learn.