Amazing turn-around. The U.S. on the brink of elimination from the Confederations Cup and fans calling for manager Bob Bradley’s head.
Wins over Egypt and #1 ranked Spain and a “game” loss to Brazil 3-2 in the final boosted the optimism of U.S. fans.
Well the performance of the so called U.S. “B” squad has been impressive in the Gold Cup.
The United States defeated Honduras 2-0 last night with help from players with Texas connection.
*Central defender Clarence Goodson formerly of FC Dallas scored on a header off a Stuart Holden corner kick on the stroke of halftime that was a game changer.
One thing to note here is that Honduran forward Carlos Costly was the man marking Goodson. How many times do we see strikers come back to defend set pieces and corners against an opponents top threat in the air. Strikers are not generally your best defensive headers of a ball and markers yet we repeatedly see this happen even at the international level.
Huge goal that changed the game.
Incidentally the late first half push was ignited by Holden.
*Ken Cooper Jr. scored in his second consecutive game and is making a push to get noticed as a striker. Brian Ching and Stuart Holden helped to set him up making it a Texas connection. Ironically these players will meet in the near future at Pizza Hut Park in MLS play.
Overall it is great to see the energy that these roster is bringing to games representing the United States. Application and effort are certainly not missing and this group see these games as an opportunity to impress a coach and get to a World Cup.
MEXICO
It took penalties but Mexico got past a stubborn Costa Rica after Miguel Sabah totally blew a penalty kick. Guillermo Franco scored on a rebound in the 88th minute and Mexico thought they had it won but Froylan Ledezma scored in the 90th minute to remarkably tie the match. El Tri’s most dangerous player was Gio Dos Santos who now is expected to produce this type of form in the final against the U.S. this Sunday afternoon at 2 cst at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The U.S. will need to deny him space and time .
What are your thoughts on these two Gold Cup matches? Is it the U.S. or Mexico on Sunday and whose stock has risen on either team in the pecking order?
DYNAMO coming on home…..It has been a long ardous road trip for the Dynamo but they will be back to home sweet home this Saturday night to take on the NE Revolution.
All Star Shalrie Joseph leads in the Revs who need points and have also like the Dynamo have been hammered by injury.
Lots of concern around the Dynamo and injury after Richard Mulrooney has had surgery on his knee and Eddie Robinson still a ways off to getting fit.
Another make-shift lineup for manager Dominic Kinnear in the offing. Get over to HoustonDynamo.com and support your squad Saturday night!
Then catch the Gold Cup on Sunday……now that is a great weekend. Live soccer to go along with a great match on tv.
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You said, “The U.S. on the brink of elimination from the Confederations Cup and fans calling for manager Bob Bradley’s head.” Yeah that may have been true for some fans but I find it hard to believe that many who either played soccer in their past or watch soccer/futbol religiously have ever thought Bradley deserved to be fired. He is a hug step forward from Bruce Arena. We have played all the tough international teams, including Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany etc which is something we needed to be doing if we ever really thought the US was going to go anywhere in the world cup. This calling for his head have not in my opinion looked at his body of work. He has turned a team which lacked depth into a team which has depth, just look at the players that currently winning in the Gold Cup. He has brought a bunch of young players into the team and now we are seeing that they play with confidence and for the shirt. Alot of this has to do with the fact that he was the Men’s under 21 (or 23) national tam coach and has had a chance to be around many of these young players but I would also be naive to not to have notices how much improvement has happened in US youth soccer, college soccer and the MLS. It has taken decades to get here but now I believe the US soccer sport truly has a spine of fans and players.
I am glad you mention the effort of the players they certainly deserve it and it has been an added bonus to see two of the Dynamo players play well (Ching, Holden). I think overall many of the players have been very solid but I have been really impressed with Holden, Beckerman, Marshall and Perkins. Not to say the other players have not done well, they clearly have but these players have stood out. Robbie Rogers on occasion gives the US a true Winger, which I am not sure they have on their first team roster with the likes of Dempsey or Beasley. They have had players like Bobby Convey in the past who represent a “winger” type however. I thought jay Heaps effort last night was crucial especially in the closing minutes. Really a great team win for the US.
I did not get to see the Mexico game and I hope that the final is without shenanigans which usually accompany a Mexico games lately. Hopefully it will be incident free, it is a big game for the Mexicans whereas the US can feel relatively pressure free with the line-up they field. I am looking forward to it.
Glenn- Your Dynamo boys looked outstanding last night in Gold Cup play.
Ching his usual hard nosed game, give his body up for the team play. As for Holden his game has improved dramatically from start of MLS season. His confidence,poise, and field presence are noteworthy.
One last note on the Beckham incident in LA. The sound of silence from MLS disiplanary committe is deafening. Can you imagine if it had been say Craig Waibel, or Shalrie Joseph, or any other MLS player that went to edge of field, got into verbal exchange with a fan and challenged fan to come down to playing surface?
Player would be suspended and fined. But we don’t want to upset ” Beck’s” do we? or lose him for any of the handfull of games he’s consented to play here.
A travesy !
Highlight of the night:
Costa Rican coach taunting the Mexican fans after the equalizer in the 93rd minute, then having to run under the protective bench to avoid being hit by cups! Classic behavior by Mexican fans!
Holden might have punched his ticket to the 2010 WC after his performance in the Gold Cup. I think this might change his thinking about moving overseas after this year because if he goes to another league and doesn\’t play then Bob Bradley might not put him on the roster.
I think this might benefit the Dynamo greatly by signing another deal. We will see.
The US eliminated a second rate Honduras Team…Mexico eliminated a Costa Rica that has almost all of their starters…Honduras number 3 in WC Qual…Costa Rica number 1….hmm….Mexico really had it more difficult…and don’t insult our fanbase because well at least we have a real fanbase!!!!! Let me see, Mexico can fill Cowboy’s Stadium in visiting games…US can barely fill Crew Stadium….We Rock….
But just don’t call us classless don’t insult me a real fan with others that ruin games…because then i will have to start insulting y’all for not even having real football fans and just treating the world sport as a little more than a hobby!!!!
Dynamo will win tomorrow!!!!!!
Whatever dude…anyway, great games. The USA game was just great. Costly made me nervous. That guy can score, fortunately and thanks to a mr Perkins he didn’t. I think the most obvious stock riser has been Holden. But quietly beckermans stock went up during this tournament. Robbie Rogers is having a great tournament as well. Mexico/costa rica. I knew it was just a matter of time before costa rica tied the game. Mexico blew too many chances to get ahead. Franco couldn’t keep up with gio dos Santos. Where the hell was Omar bravo!? That’s who needed to be running besides gio out there. All of gios passes flew rigt by Franco. I think gio is getting his game back. What about my champion pumas players? 3 of em. Barrera, Castro, and Efrain juarez? Barrera played great. Made good runs, nice passes. Hopefully he gets more calls playing that way. Off topic, my champions had a Bad pre-season…I don’t feel a back-to-back again like in 04…
Leo, dude, please, give it a rest, you are doing exactly what you are criticizing, you are becoming what you hate, post after post I see a chip on your shoulder.
If you really love soccer, you would want this sport to really grow in this country, if you are not ungrateful, you would want the NT of the country you are living in to do well and to win except when playing against your NT.
My father told me when I was a little kid and moving to Mexico “our family has no ungrateful members, love the country that is welcoming your family”, when I moved here a few years ago, he reminded me that Arrambides are not ungrateful people and to do the same with my new host country without forgetting my previous host country.
I am giving you that advice, be grateful with your host country, don´t even pay attention to classless fans that like to turn soccer talk into politics and fill their comments with prejudice, just like you are sure most Mexican fans are not like those hooligans, you should give US soccer fans the same benefit, most US fans (and most US citizens) are not like that.
Don´t become what you hate, just talk about soccer and enjoy a great game, root for Mexico, be happy if they win, be sad if they lose, but don´t worry about a few pseudo soccer fans spitting their hate, soccer is universal and in the end, it binds more people around the world than the people it splits.
Got to disagree with you glen, this is no more than a c squad for the our usa boys. stu looked great was dissapointed with rodgers, davey a., and pause. Leo if your mex. boys cant beat this usa c squad they dont deserve the tremdous support they get, and it is getting better one day may take another 200 yrs but one day we will have more supporters in our own country than mexico.
usa wins 2-1
FOREVER RED WHITE, AND BLUE
I acted that way in order to show the dude that called us classless what he was like…
I traveled the world with the Merchant Marine and always took a soccer ball with me. The game unites so much more than it devides.
Costa Rico came to play and it was a joy to watch an entertaining game. El Tri has a good side and we\’ll have a mixed crowd at my house for tex-mex and futbal. Needless to say, I\’ll be wearing the ol\’ red white and blue!
It\’s gunna be a good match!
After the shame in Houston and what was televised last night in Chicago, WHEN WILL FIFA ACT on beer cup throwing Mexican Fan? I am reminded of events leading to the 1985 Heysel Stadium Tragedy where hooliganism resulted in a shooting death and following stadium riot responsible for 39 more deaths. FIFA cleaned up the British Hooligan and now needs to clean up the Mexican Hooligan.
Leo, take Michael for example, even tough I hate beer throwing pseudo fans, the guy is exaggerating, you can tell he probably is using soccer as an excuse to send his hate message, his analogy doesn´t work, he has not been to soccer games around the world and certainly has no idea what a hooligan is.
Having said this, if you decide to answer the guy by trying to attack US soccer fans, you would do many wrong things:
a) Accusing every soccer fan of being ignorant, hateful and clueless like Michael, they are not, the majority of fans are cultured, friendly and embracing bunch.
b) Turning into Michael, you would have no moral ground to get angry at comments like his, you would stop being a real soccer fan.
c) You would be giving him what he wants, trolls feed on reactions, they need people to get angry and try to answer them in the same manner, they love people getting angry.
d) You would be giving him a reason to keep visiting Glenn´s blog.
Wow, Michael that is some strong medicine right there. While I hardly condone anyone throwing anything on the field (or at anyone else for that matter) equating folks that throw their 8 dollar Beers with the things that happened at Heysel is ridiculous.
Should be an entertaining Gold Cup Final and I think that Leo and I can agree that we hope it is a quality match between the two sides. Will see if we can get the folks at the new Dallas Stadium to put it on for us before the WFC match.
Dynamo finally coming home, seems like forever since we had a home game. Let’s make the Rob rock and welcome the boys back in style.
Yeah whoever wins or loses this sunday is really the least of my concern…i just hope for a quality football match, which is what i expect and i believe the final should’ve either been held here in Houston or Dallas…All of this is just a taste of what will occur in the biggest football match of the year…August 12…let’s all hope for the best and may the best team win…and I apologize for my generalizing…
Actually I have been to soccer games around the world. I ran for my life at Heysel Stadium in 1985, left a game for safety in 1987 at San Siro Stadium and sat pleasantly among Argentinien fans at the Cotton Bowl at World Cup 1994 who felt no need to be unruly. Those that think that a Soccer Hooligan Tragedy cannot happen in the USA are naive and misinformed. FIFA should impose sanctions from what has been seen during this Gold Cup. No need to shoot the messenger or throw beer either…
Glenn – your comment regarding Cooper getting noticed as a striker is a bit overblown when just considering his Gold Cup results. Sure, he’s got the best goals-to-playing-time ratio but let’s be honest, his two goals have basically been gifted to him. Sure, his effort heading into the penalty area earned him the PK in the Panama game but he needs to do better in the run of play. Last night’s goal against Honduras was a sitter and more a statement of the creativity of Holden and Ching than it was the finishing of Cooper. Not saying that Cooper ISN’T a good player but one cannot draw any conclusions, IMO, from his limited play time in the GC.
To Chuck:
K.Cooper has the build to be a descent striker…is he Euro worthy? No. Would I want him in the Dynamo? Maybe, if he was willing to take a paycut and sit in the bench and only come in whenever we were in need of a natural striker.
Leo no offense, but Cooper is better than both Kamara and Ching combined, the bottom line is GOALS SCORED!
He hasn’t performed to his level, but on his 2 sub appereances he has scored, now the question is who is the 3rd striker in our USMNT?
I think is obvious that Jozy and Davies are the present and everything as far as the future, I hope we are talking about how hard it is to get both of them tired from long european seasons with great teams that went deep into the Champions League when Brazil 2014 rolls around, but honestly the 5 guys in the pool right now are Jozy, Davies, Ching, Cooper and Casey, I think Casey showed he is not an international level type of player, I’m willing to give him some more looks but honeslty he already got what 4 starts or 3?
Okay here’s your warning, this is a looooooooong post so read the rest at your own risk, is directed at Leo and is in depth about Mexican fans antics and the way their entire national team organization has behaved!
Cooper needs at least 2 starts with the big boys to see how he performs!
Leo as far as the classless commnet, I will never be ignorant to say that ALL Mexican fans are that way, but I will tell you this much!
I have witnessed and there’s plenty of video evidence to go around from the last 5 or 7 years that when it comes to the Mexican national team or a team with a big crowd such as America, Chivas or maybe Cruz Azul, Mexican fans let the best of their emotions get to them!
Fans who are close enough throw things to players on corners whether they are Costa Rican, Honduran, Salvadorian, Guatemalan, US, or whatever, I think it happens more here than in Mexico, but I think is not far fetched to say that the fans that follow El Tri are sometimes guilty of acting in a ghetto manner and become very violent and ignorant, I’m not going to say they are all like that, but their actions recently show otherwise, and when people like Oswaldo Sanchez, Gerardo Torrado and Paco Ramirez are praised for being classless and nothing is done to them, I might even throw Rafa Marquez in there but I won’t because I don’t think the Howard kick was as bad as things he has done to Messi, USMNT players among others and he had been playing well, but to condone those guys for their destroyer with no purpose but to hurt a player out of frustation because your team won or whatever is very classless!
I have ripped Beckham for what he did in the Galaxy vs AC Milan game, I know why MLS is hesitant to punish him, but I still wish they threw a nice $5-10K fine on his pretty boy behind, you have to be neutral and a true fan!
The Mexico fans need to stop throwing things at opposing players, it makes them look classless and stupid, is borderline Detroit like, they actually went into personal insults.
I thought that the trend of less and less full stadiums in Mexico games will help, but I’m telling you as long as your fellow Tri fans keep filling the LA Coliseum, the Oakland Coliseum, Rio Tinto, Palo Alto, Dallas Cowboys, Reliant, University of Phoenix and Soldier Field not to mention Georgia Dome which had it’s 1st MNT match recently as long as they keep getting filled, and they make it to the World Cup by any means necessary, then they won’t change their ways, lets be honest, Mexico steps up in big tournaments, maybe is pride, maybe is their style, but this is the 1st time you have to question their talent and ability to do so, I do not think Mexico stands a chance in Costa Rica, not with this level, lets see how the fans act at Azteca vs the US on August 12 and Honduras September 9th, my biggest memory of Azteca is hearing the crowd cheer “Osama, Osama” during the US national anthem in 2001, it was much better in 05, we’ll see what happens tomorrow!
Also can you please also talk to people about making excuses, that is probably the biggest proof of lack of class! The field was bad, the ref this the ref that, they play us only in cities where there aren’t a lot of Mexicans, which I find it amusing since it’s supposed to be a road game, so what Mexican fans don’t believe that the US deserves a pro US crowd if is held in order to favor the US in US soil?
Then in places like Chicago in 2007, with probably 50-55K Mexican fans out of 65K, or in Glendale with the same ratio or Houston with 55K+ out of 70K and there’s always the “we only play in their stadiums” argument, the US is the only team in the world that faces the challenge of playing in their own stadiums and still play in front of a majority of at least 4 of their most common regional opponents.
I wish the Mexican national team the best, but honestly they need to earn it, this whole wholier than thou attitude and we deserve it based on our historical dominance arrogant attitude needs to stop, El Salvador, Jamaica, Honduras and the US have beaten Mexico, Honduras almost did in Mexico, I heard the argument before the 2nd & 3rd hexagonal games, “we’ll beat T&T and El Salvador away and win 4 of our home games and tie the other, I gotta tell you a barely good enough 2-1 vs T&T, a 2-1 vs Costa Rica with a made up PK and no Pato Centeno, I wouldn’t count on 6 points vs Honduras and the US, plus is T&T the only team Mexico will beat on the road? If it is it will be in October the last game of qualifying!
Not saying don’t be proud of El Tri, but don’t let your passion blind you man, Mexico has huge problems, and in their frustration, their fans, coach, assistant coach and players have made stupid decisons!
Leo, BTW, Cooper has gotten interest from teams in Europe, but the Hoops did not allow him to leave sort of like the Revs and MLS prevented Taylor Twellman to leave!
I believe the same team that had Aaron Galindo Einfrankt something I believe, and he was in Man U’s academy so I think he may be Euro worhty, if he has another good scoring seaso with the sad, sad Dallas FC, he might leave, specially if he gets US caps in the meaningless qualifiers and friendlies next winter!
Edwin, as a USMNT fan, I say let Mexico continue with the classless tactics and clueless mentality and they\’ll just slip further behind the US. They seem to get more wrapped up in the antics and lose focus in the big games vs. the US.
And the delusional El Tri fans will be all over it again if they beat the US on Sunday, even though it is probably their A/B team vs. our B/C team.
Which channel# is Fox Sports Houston (Drect TV)?
I just prefer strikers that defend a tad more and have more movement with the ball, but y’all are right Kenny does score. Call it luck, skill, or witchcraft he gets it in! There are extremes in all fan bases…but yeah our fans tend to take things a little far and on behalf of all the classless fans out there I apologize…now that i said that!
PACHUCA WON 3-2!!!!!!!!!!!!
MEXICO WILL WIN THIS SUNDAY AND AUGUST 12!!!!!!!
*throws beer at Edwin, JJ, Michael, and the rest of the posters*
@Edwin,
Cooper had interest from Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, Rosenborg in Norway, and a team in the Championship (Cardiff?). There’s been a couple of articles in the UK saying he might be headed to Bristol City this summer, i guess we’ll see…