VOR Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 The red card was total BS and obviously swung the game in Italy's favor. That call is NEVER a red card, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 This Italy team will not be champion in 2010. A few moments of brilliance from some great players allowed Italy to come out with a win but this team will not win against the bigger countries. Not because they can't attack, but because they can't defend. Unbelievable,,,to think that an Italian team is judged to have a poor defense. Goes counter to their history. Kinda like calling a Brazillian team dull and unimaginative..HAHA. Back to the match... The RED card was bull as others have said. A YELLOW would have been more appropriate. Donovan got creamed in the box late in the match and another PK should have been awarded. The Italian defender made NO effort to play the ball. Jozy is a stud, 'nuf said....He and Bradley and LD make a nice offensive threat. The US played well, given they played 10 vs 11 for 58 minutes. DeMarcus should stay as a midfielder and not as a defender. That is all,,,on to the Brazillians !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 The red card was total BS and obviously swung the game in Italy's favor. That call is NEVER a red card, period. That was rather unfortunate, and like you stated, it changed the whole landscape of the match. A man down against the world champions, and for us to give them a run for their money in that situation, I believe it was an admirable performance from the boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 No, I don't think he is an underachiever. I believe he is very solid, I do believe he is extremely physical, he wins the vast majority of the battles in the air and I also believe he is one of our best defenders. Is he clumsy? at times he is, but here is how ESPN rated his performance: D, Oguchi Onyewu, 6 -- Dominant in the air and delivered some good passes out of the back. Replays appeared to show that he should have done better to block De Rossi's game-winning goal, but it was still an excellent performance from Onyewu. and this is what Lippi, Italy's coach had to say about his performance: "They were well organised and made it quite difficult for us, especially their number five player (Oguchi Onyewu) and 17 (Jozy Altidore), who caused us lots of problem. Yes, we won, but it was not easy." In regards to Adu, he has been a disappointment so far, and I am hoping that he gains some muscle, he also seems to get disposessed way too often. He is a dynamic player, and I hope that one day he lives up to half the billing of what he was hyped up to be. I am excited about Jozy Altidore, the kid has got some skills, he seemed to do a good job of keeping the ball up front, sort of like what Brian Ching does. I was some what miffed that he decided to pass that ball off, a striker has got to at least take that shot, and a world class striker usually finishes that opportunity. I don't quite understand why he didn't shoot that ball. Either way, I believe he can be a very effective striker for us. Well, he was more present during the Italy game, but overall I feel he should be playing at a higher level by now. I agree about Jozy....aside from the fact that I think he needs to take some lessons from Wayne Rooney on how to use his stature to his advantage, the kid has a bright future. All I know is that this team has basically been shut out two games in a row....time to put the ball in the net, boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 what's really impressing is not the progress made by Team USA, it's the level of this thread... you'd have never found that kind of well spoken soccer discussion here 5 years ago!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Unbelievable,,,to think that an Italian team is judged to have a poor defense. Goes counter to their history. Kinda like calling a Brazillian team dull and unimaginative..HAHA. It follows the mentality of the league. Milan, Roma, Inter and Juve have all focused on more attacking play. Also doesn't help that there is not another Nesta/Cannavaro for miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Reminder: Set your dvr's for USA vs. Brazil. Thursday 6/18 at 10am ET on ESPN2. I'm getting that feeling. That feeling that something amazing is about to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I sure hope you are correct Gringo (the amazing part). I'll be home and watch live... YAY. It is the ONLY good thing about my stupid work schedule. In that I am home for three more days after today. 4 days on,,,4 days off... Since it is raining, no playing golf Might as well watch soccer in the AM, Then US Open after that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I think what bothers me is that I'm consistently seeing teams doing things that the US squad simply can't do. The skill level of our players, while better than it was 15 years ago, still isn't up to par with the mid-to-top tier teams. I shouldn't find myself getting this excited about a midfielder who can properly lead a striker, or a shot that is actually on goal instead of heading off on some crazy trajectory nowhere near the target. Great, Donovan knows how to make a PK....what else can this team do on offense? Jozy has the potential to be a very physical player, but instead of using his physique to his advantage, it seems like he's playing up the dive more than he should. On the play where we ended up with the PK, what I would have rather seen was him get himself turned square and put a shot on goal. I have the same issue with Onyewu. This guy should be overpowering people right and left. He should have no problem establishing position and winning the ball. With a couple exceptions, this team is too damn soft. They appear to become winded much earlier and more often than their opponent, and until someone gets these pussies in shape and gets them back to basic winning soccer, we're going to be perpetually disappointed with their performance on the world stage. I was in Australia and constantly got teased about how bad the Americans are at rugby. But the fact of the matter is that those sports are at the bottom of the totem pole in the US. We have the best athletes in the world. They jsut play other sports. I think it would be cool if one year we jsut say we are going to flat out dominant a certain sport. Although I hate him, I have no doubt Kobe Bryant could be a world class soccer player if he choose that route. The same with a guy like Brian Urlacher if he player rugby. Let's dominant the world in everything (wxcept baseball ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I was in Australia and constantly got teased about how bad the Americans are at rugby. But the fact of the matter is that those sports are at the bottom of the totem pole in the US. We have the best athletes in the world. They jsut play other sports. I think it would be cool if one year we jsut say we are going to flat out dominant a certain sport. Although I hate him, I have no doubt Kobe Bryant could be a world class soccer player if he choose that route. The same with a guy like Brian Urlacher if he player rugby. Let's dominant the world in everything (wxcept baseball ). Kobe Bryant actually owns a division 2 (Serie B) soccer team in Italy. For sure if players straight out of high school were given scholarships to play soccer rather than football or basketball, you might have a better national team but that's not the culture/tradition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 For sure if players straight out of high school were given scholarships to play soccer rather than football or basketball, you might have a better national team but that's not the culture/tradition. So true. It's strange though, that soccer is really big here with little kids. Almost everyone I know played soccer in some sort of rec. league when they were little. Why it doesn't carry over into high school and beyond, I don't really know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 So true. It's strange though, that soccer is really big here with little kids. Almost everyone I know played soccer in some sort of rec. league when they were little. Why it doesn't carry over into high school and beyond, I don't really know. It all boils down to money. TV viewership and ratings of American soccer is very low, which in turn means that players don't get paid that much, so of course the profile of these players aren't that high meaning that they aren't house hold names. Kids here in the US, when they grow up, they say "I want to be like Mike", they don't say "I want to be like Messi or Ronaldinho", where of course in just about every other country they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 It all boils down to money. TV viewership and ratings of American soccer is very low, which in turn means that players don't get paid that much, so of course the profile of these players aren't that high meaning that they aren't house hold names. Kids here in the US, when they grow up, they say "I want to be like Mike", they don't say "I want to be like Messi or Ronaldinho", where of course in just about every other country they do. I was a weird kid. I wanted to be like Branko (Segota, of the Rochester Lancers). Anyway, I don't mind if soccer remains a second tier sport here. I kind of like the underdog role. If the U.S. wins a WC in my lifetime, it's gonna be amazing. I remember the 1980 Olympic hockey team. I want to experience that feeling again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Reminder: Set your dvr's for USA vs. Brazil. Thursday 6/18 at 10am ET on ESPN2. I'm getting that feeling. That feeling that something amazing is about to happen. You mean something amazing like this? Thanks for the reminder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 It all boils down to money. TV viewership and ratings of American soccer is very low, which in turn means that players don't get paid that much, so of course the profile of these players aren't that high meaning that they aren't house hold names. Kids here in the US, when they grow up, they say "I want to be like Mike", they don't say "I want to be like Messi or Ronaldinho", where of course in just about every other country they do. Not too many kids say, "I wanna be like Kaka" cause that would be weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I was a weird kid. I wanted to be like Branko (Segota, of the Rochester Lancers). Anyway, I don't mind if soccer remains a second tier sport here. I kind of like the underdog role. If the U.S. wins a WC in my lifetime, it's gonna be amazing. I remember the 1980 Olympic hockey team. I want to experience that feeling again. I don't care if it is either, as long as there is enough of an audience that we continue to have access to a reasonable amt of television coverage. I love the fact that I can see every WC game in HD....same with the Champions League final or, as we're watching now, the Confederation Cup. I was kicking around a soccer ball at age 4, and I'll love this game for as long as I live. Nothing will change that. And as far as the rest of the country, I'm convinced that there are more people today who love watching this game than there were five and ten years ago, so that makes me happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Not too many kids say, "I wanna be like Kaka" cause that would be weird. I wanna be like Van Der Faart lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Not too many kids say, "I wanna be like Kaka" cause that would be weird. haha I was going to say "kaka", I had even typed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodBye Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 I wanna be like Van Der Faart lmao You making fun of Dutch names? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts