The UNITED STATES will take on Sweden today(5:30 Eastern on FSC and Galavision) from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
The lineup will clearly look alot different than what the U.S. will trot out on February 11th against Mexico in the open match of the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying.
Despite that this game is another opportunity for players to impress coach BOB BRADLEY.
Eighteen will be picked to play tonite after the long January camp and BRADLEY has seen 70 players at least once during his tenure. Seven players are looking for their first cap at this level tonite.
The MLS based squad is led by BRIAN CHING who has 32 caps. Of course with SACHA KLEIJSTAN flying back after a trial with Celtic one must assume he will start or get signifcant playing time. Who do you want to see in the mix tonite getting a good run for the United States?
LANDON DONOVAN continues to score in friendly matches for BAYERN MUNICH. DONOVAN hit for a late pair against MAINZ .
USL 1 looks to be going to a home and home set-up to determine their champion next season. I like it.
What does your soccer day look like today?
Danish Inspirations
Fiesta Mart
Houston Web Design
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute
SportTalk 790
Zukowski, Bresenhan & Sinex, L.L.P.
According to USsoccer.com the game is 5:30p Pacific Time. That means 8:30p Eastern Time, 7:30p Central Time.
USA/Sweden is the headliner with San Luis and Pachuca on the undercard.
I don´t care about Landon scoring in friendly games, I still want to see what he will do in league games, not because I think scoring in a friendly means nothing, I will try to explain myself.
Landon´s quality should not be question, he is a great player, like him or hate him (I personally don´t like him much) he is probably the best US player past and present, maybe a lot better than players already playing in Europe.
Landon´s problems in his previous quests in Europe had to do with his mental strength, for some reason he has never been (in my mind, this is just my opinion) success hungry, doesn´t want to prove anything, doesn´t care about playing with the best of the best.
It seems as if he was content with being the top MLS player, he seemed pretty comfortable with being the best in our league without even trying, happy to be the big dog in the US without the need to do the hard work.
Another mental problem in my mind is the fact that you can tell he doesn´t like the responsability of being in charge, the responsability of being the leader of being the guy people turn to look at to turn the team around, but for some reason, even if he doesn´t like that responsability in club competition, he turns into a different player when playing for his National Team, he becomes a leader, he doesn´t just accept the responsabilities in NT competition, he seems to want the responsabilities.
That is why him scoring in friendlies tells me nothing, I always knew he was good, every soccer neophyte can see that, I want to see what mentality he will have during regular competition games, what Landon will be see during competition games?, the MLS Landon? Or the USNT Landon?, if we see the USNT Landon he will not be back for many years, I hope we don´t see him in MLS for a lot of years, he should be in Europe, if he comes back very soon, he will only have himself to blame.
Jarrambide, the mental toughness and desire is what many of us questioned with this trial and if he could make it. Right now what is impressing Bayern Staff and Players the most is not that he has scored in Test Matches but that he has been doing and saying all the right things to prove his desire to play there. As of right now even if it means riding the bench and coming in as a Sparkplug. Will that last? I cannot say but by all the German Press Accounts and training observations I have read from people on the ground it seems to positive so far. The biggest question that seems to surround a potential deal is if he is truly worth the 10 Million (US) that MLS is asking for. Now since Uli is a pretty good business man I could see him saying something along the lines of: We will give you 7.5 and throw in a US Tour this Summer (or whenever) which will get people in the seats, allow Bayern to sell a bunch of Donovan Jersey’s and further their brand. BTW, since that would also fit into the MLS/DFL cooperation business model who knows what that could bring to the table. To early to tell for sure, but if he has some measure of success in the German Cup and League Games during his trial period I would think an offer will be forthcoming.
Fair play to Donovan. He’s performing better than I expected but to be fair, banging friendly goals against Bundesliga 2 sides is vastly different than scoring with a Torsten Frings boot in your ear. I’ve been a critic. He’s passed the first test. Let’s see if he makes it past the next hurdle.
As much as I hate him (as a Galaxy player, not as an USMNT player) I want Donovan to succeed for the reasons Offebacher mentioned. While football is growing in America, the ongoing Beckham fiasco has been a PR black eye thus far on the heels of the Freddy Adu hype-slash-bust. MLS and American soccer could use a fresh “MLS star makes it BIG overseas” story before the World Cup. We need something bigger than Deuce or Tim Howard to further build some momentum for 2010. Personally I think it will come w/Altidore if he gets the playing time but all the better if Landon beats him to it.
With all due respect to Chung and McBride, imagine the thought of going into a World Cup with two legit international forwards for a change?
Correction, that was supposed to be CHING and McBride.
Donovan is in the best form of his life. Contrary to some views, I feel he has worked very hard to perfect his game. Two years ago I would agree he was an underachiever but this past year he has seemed to take his work ethic to new height. He doesn’t give up on runs, fights hard for balls (given his stature is an impressive feat) and scores in bunches. He seems more confident than ever and if he isn’t working hard, I don’t know who is. I say all this as a USMNT fan, not a Gal or Landon fan. I say give credit where it is due. I don’t think he will be coming back to MLS which is unfortunate for the league.
I would like to obviusly see all of the Dynamo players getting looks tonight, especially Holden. I mean that realisticaly as well, they give some of the best chances to win. Sacha will get the nod. I want to see Wynne out there because I think he will prove a valuable back for us. Kenny Cooper will get the start hopefully. He should have been in heavy rotation for us years ago. I would also like to see Robbie Rogers.
My soccer schedule today is a good one thanks to having the day off work. Man U vs Tottenham first (Come on you SPURS). Then Kettering Town vs Fulham (Come on you DEMPSEY). Then my big one U.S.A. vs Sweden. FA Cup then National team. A pretty good day.
Holden suffered a minor injury in training, i read on the MNT blog. Unfortunate. Otherwise hopefully we would have seen him. How about Sacha Kljestan’s hat trick (with help from Brian Ching)?
Will the level of respect for the US game really improve with stories like “American star goes to Germany and does X?”
Unless X is become a league leader, the answer is no.
Because it takes a ton to become a transendantal figure from a minor sport. Look at how good Tiger is. Or Mia Hamm.
US Men’s National soccer, nor MLS have a talent like that.
Dave you clearly have no true understanding of the game. You are used to Americans being the top athletes. Soccer is a game in which we are playing catch up. It is a sport that bleeds passion pure and simple. Win or lose you support your team and your players. The fact is we may never have a world leading top goal scorer but thats not what this is about. Success for the soccer fan is measured in effort and passion. Clearly you do not understand that. You look at it as an equation of X+Y=success. That is not what this sports mean to the true fans. We will love our boys in defeat as wel as victory.
Further what ‘minor sport’ are you referring to? Tiger plays golf, a major sport. Mia Hamm played soccer, the sport you are referring to as minor I believe. What is your point here? I don’t follow your logic.
Your first paragraph is an example as to why MLS will remain a lower level sport in the USA, because it will only appeal to soccer fans, and not to the broader American community. What I was saying is that most Amerian media and non-hard core fans do not see it as a positive to lose talent. That is seen as a weekness.
MLS is a minor sport in the American landscape, as is golf (Golf’s TV ratings and round attendance aren’t that good and are topped by the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, College Football, College Basketball, Minor League Baseball and possibly MMA).
My point is that non-soccer fans will not give the sport a chance due to Donovan being an adequete Bundesleaguer. My point is that I don’t want MLS to be like an indie band that me and a dozen friends follow.
Dave Clark, I liked your indie band analogy but allow me to point out that the main difference is that our indie “band” (being football) is The Beatles.
While attracting new fans is important, there are enough soccer fans in the United States right now to maintain steady growth and popularity. The question then becomes how do you attract and more importantly RETAIN new fans? Because football is so enormous and different than any other “major” sport on our landscape, its OUR JOB to mentor new fans. We can’t expect them to blend into football through American osmosis like they have with throwball and steroidball. Let me explain.
Football’s storied history and tradition by and large don’t reside in America so “non-soccer fans” can enter the sport in one of two ways. They can dive right in as a raw novice American MLS fans and that’s it, OR, they can invest their time and effort in learning the sport, its origins, history, current leagues and players, and its evolution all the way up through MLS. Both can work but which approach do you think is more likely to trigger that natural tribal instinct we see in the game’s great cathedrals and hook them as a lifelong fan?
In the first scenario, you’re probably right about non-soccer fans not caring (or appreciating) Donovan in Europe but one clearly sees that under the second scenario, it makes all the sense in the world. From this perspective, it is as important that American footballers and American football succeed abroad as they succeed in America alone. The NFL, MLB, and NBA have enough singular American interest to succeed on an island but short of the Super Bowl and playoffs, they simply aren’t relevant worldwide. Major League Soccer will never have that luxury so like it or not, its success and the success of American soccer will be measured against the world game.