1.) US IN MUST WIN IN OLYMPIC QUALIFYING
When the U.S. take on El Salvador tonight one must be reminded that this game is just as important to the Central American Nation.
El Salvador much like the U.S. over the course of two games have made few changes to their lineup that includes 5-6 players that also represent the full national team.
How about this quote: “There is no doubt in my mind we will advance,” U.S. Coach Caleb Porter
2.) NEYMAR WANT PROTECTION
In a Copa Libertadores match Santos striker Neymar complained of being targeted for physical play. Neymar went on to say the game that Santos won against Juan Aurich was more like UFC than soccer. I thought that was indoor soccer?
3.) Here is the statement issued by the Houston Dynamo on the Colin Clark situation:
“We are aware of the incident involving Colin Clark during the Seattle match.
Colin is very remorseful for his actions which were inappropriate and do not represent his true character. He has issued a public apology and he will personally apologize to the ball boy. The league is reviewing the situation to determine discipline measures and Colin and the club will be full cooperative in the process.”
On a personal thought, Clark was wrong 100 percent with his actions. My dealings with him have always been excellent and his dedication to community in Houston must be noted. He worked tirelessly on the KICK CANCER event benefitting Childrens Cancer.
Twitter: GlennDavisSoc
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Can’t wait to see how the u-23s respond now that there is pressure. I think they miss agudelo but brek shea alone can be a game changer.
If Neymar is at that point he definitely needs to move on to Europe or toughen up. Can’t stay in your own backyard and complain the neighborhood kids are too rough.
Clark was indeed wrong and a fine might be appropriate but I think that with his apology should be the end of it. Let’s be real sometimes emotions run high in sports and cooler heads don’t always prevail. Learn your lesson and don’t let it happen again. I don’t believe he is some rampant gay-basher, not to play down the seriousness of the slur.
Where are the recriminations for all these failures. The U-20s in Egypt for 2009,the loss at Guatemala in 2011 and now the Olympic failure. The U.S. had been on an upward trend but has regressed mightily. The U.S. senior squad has lost to Mexico in Gold Cups 2009 and 2011. Panama for the Gold Cup in 2011. Friendlies lost to Honduras in 2010 and Costa Rica in 2011. Now the U23 loss to Canada and the 3-3 tie against El Salvador. I am very angry with the U.S. Soccer establishment they need to get results or people will start tuning out the sport. The national team program desperately needs some positive results soon to help this fan’s confidence in the program. Why can’t these ethnic fans realize they are not going back to their native countries and become U.S. fans. I think we need to start deporting people who do not want to be Americans including a certain Mexican left back playing in the Olympics.
Dave… really ? Force folks to root for a particular team and/or deport people who aren’t fans of the team you choose to support ?
Soccer folks will support soccer regardless of the recent losses. It’s a fair weather fan who jumps ship due to near time defeats. Where would the Chicago Cubs faithful be if they had only chosen to support the teams that broke .500 ?
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
The USA U 23 folded under pressure from within and from other sides. The Coach for the U 23 promised a postive result against El Salvador. Really, talk about pin up material !! How can a coach be so stupid and this guy was one of the top college coaches. He does not know better to fire up the other side. Players were looking at the bench after a run of play in earlier matches not a sign, that they were comfortable with role on his team. The formation 4-3-3 and the players selected to be on the team clearly did not have the rt stuff.
glenn: I would like to add my observations from last nite’s game. The U.S. came back and played well as a team. Shea and some others ran out of gas (at least it appeared that way to me). If the coach was planning a lock-down, they needed to be subbed out with defensemen. 4 minutes stoppage time was allotted. Almost 4 min. + 40 seconds passed and ES scored on what seemed like a slip by our goalie. He should have been standing up but he was on his knees trying to stop that ball. the game continued to almost 6 minutes stoppage time before the ref called it. My question is: who decided that 4 minutes would be added and why wasn’t the game over at 4 minutes? The timing evidently is left up to the ref. and he can call it when he wants to. That is the only reason that I can think of because nothing else makes sense.
I am relatively new to this game and that is something I have always wondered about. It is left to his discretion and you hope that he is impartial and will referee the match that way. Is it always that way, you could have fooled me yesterday. The brutality exhibited by the ES bunch late in the game and nothing was done, seemed inexcusable. One player actually swung his fist at the face of the opposing U.S. player and nothing was done. Amazing. And the diving by the ES players. I didn’t realize that this was included as part of the game. I saw one ES player away from the action suddenly fall to his knees and comically swoon to the ground. I am sure he was given a 10 for that one. It’s a good thing these matches are refereed by men of discretion whose rulings are impartial and not one-sided. WHO AM i KIDDING!
I have come to accept the diving, poor officiating, and cheap tactics of CONCACAF. What I cannot accept is that we have players bitten, punched, and I didn’t see one teammate come to back them up. Even the players taken out just get up like they should just take it. Where is the heart, the fight, and spirit with these kids. I am not asking for a retaliation (I would have understood if they had taken a red for it) but get up and show your not going to take it, and show the ref he has to get a hold of the game before it gets out of control. Especially here on our home soil not acceptable. Mr Dempsey needs to give these boys a hard talking to. I can except defeat, but not like that. EMBARRASSING!
Is the coach allowed to change tactics, or must he play that 4-3-3 system no matter the cost. Where is this MEXICAN ball control style that is supposed to take. It was no where to be found unless the opponent was down a man.
Glenn,
What Clark did was wrong and he has manned-up to his mistake unlike other players. What is most ridiculous is that the league will selectively punish this player’s incident but not others. For example you have the embarrassing Fernandez simulation to Donovan kicking the ball into the crowd in Houston a few years ago. The latter had worse intent and we should have on video. You could argue this is part of the game but this has not stop the league from suspending our players and fans for lesser player violations and fan incidents. I will be calling some of the guys in El Batallon and/other support groups to see what reports they’ve filed to get this in writing. I also think the Front Office has been extremely weak in defending the players and fans in the last few months. I think Donovan’s incident towards iour fans and our traveling supporters being racially abused yet NOT punished should required some explaining and addressing by the league. Why is that racist incidenets that have been raised to MLS and Front Office months ago have not been addressed but this has been in less than 1 week?
Thanks.
Didn’t like what Clark said in a spur of the moment lash out at a ball boy, but I think 3 game suspension was too much. one would have been sufficient. And it been mentioned chants by the SG are laced with spanish vulgarities. Probably need to do something about that as well.