World Cup 2010!

[Ruckus]

hmmm okay

i see Engerland bowing out early because a lot of their hawtness is gone

France v Argentina

Argentina (Boca! Boca!)

Well done Penny...well done.  And Peter Crouch is hawter than Beckham and Owen combined so shove it. :P

[Penny Lane]

hmmm okay

i see Engerland bowing out early because a lot of their hawtness is gone

France v Argentina

Argentina (Boca! Boca!)

Well done Penny...well done.  And Peter Crouch is hawter than Beckham and Owen combined so shove it. :P

you mean bill walton circa 1978? mm? whu?

[Ruckus]

 

hmmm okay

i see Engerland bowing out early because a lot of their hawtness is gone

France v Argentina

Argentina (Boca! Boca!)

Well done Penny...well done.  And Peter Crouch is hawter than Beckham and Owen combined so shove it. :P

you mean bill walton circa 1978? mm? whu?


Was wondering which stunning photo of Crouch you might have up your sleeve.  That's a compliment to be compared to Walton circa 78.  Just ask those dudes in the Deadheads thread. ;)

;D ;D ;D
Edit:  I can't fix this on my stupid phone

[ynwa]

no worries, paulie.  i admit that i don't really FOLLOW follow the spanish league.  i watch some matches and all.  but mainly it's just the prem & champs league and of course the world cup when it rolls around.  most of the coverage is via the english media so i may very well be getting brainwashed!

regarding beckham, i think most of us in the US were excitied when he 1st came over.  hell, the stadiums that usually have tons of empty seats were packed when beckham was in town.  but i think most of us know that he's past his prime.  he's good on set pieces & can play great passes & he does work real hard for the team.  so, gotta give him that.  plus i think his name & reputation really helped MLS as a whole.  even folks who don't follow soccer know who david beckham is & wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  oh, and as an added bonus for the ladies - what a fox!

iLB - i don't follow MLS too closely but i hear edson is on a real hot streak.  if he keeps it up, i think bradley's got to give him the green light.  do you think he & jozy would link up well up top?  i'll have to check him out in the friendlies for sure.

Penny - i'm with you on the lack of hawt.  although i do find gerrard to be extremely sexy.  but let's face it, with their bodies, you could just put a paper bag over their head and then who cares  ;)  although, crouch reminds me a little too much of skeletor...

i'm gonna go with spain v argentina in the final.  spain to win it.

[iLikeBeer]

iLB - i don't follow MLS too closely but i hear edson is on a real hot streak.  if he keeps it up, i think bradley's got to give him the green light.  do you think he & jozy would link up well up top?  i'll have to check him out in the friendlies for sure.

Well.  Buddle did make it along with another journeymen of sorts in, Hercules Gomez, who has been tearing it up down in the Mexican League.  Gomez came on as a sub on Tuesday and made an immediate impact and eventually scored what was at the time the equalizer for the US.

As for your question about whether he and Jozy could work well together up top, I think they can.  Jozy didn't play on Tuesday and Buddle was paired with Eddie Johnson and did OK working with Eddie.  I just like the prospect of keeping the combo of Buddle up front with Landon out on the right.  They seem to be working well together in LA so I'm pleased to see Bradley giving Buddle a chance.



Here's a link to the roster:

U.S. 23-man World Cup roster

Kind of a surprise to see Demarcus Beasley getting the nod as well.  For him to beat out both Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers is quite surprising to me.  Especially after Beasley's abismal performance in that Confederations Cup final last summer, I thought his days with the US squad were all but over (at least that is what I was hoping for anyways).  He must be doing something right in camp.

[Ruckus]

ILB - I couldn't agree with you more on your assessment of Beasley.  My disdain for him is unparalleled.  If he was a rapper, I'd name him "Dispossessed."  I really loved Rogers' activeness in the Czech Rep. game and thought he deserved a spot.  I recall Kljestan's long strike against Sweden in a friendly last year being very impressive but I sometimes find it shocking how someone in the central midfield can disappear for such long periods of time that I don't even know that he's in the game.

I guess we got what we got and we'll see where it gets us.  Hopefully Saturday's game and for sure the Australia match in SA will let us know how Bradley intends to use this roster.

What did you guys think about our central defense?  Gooch's lateral agility his horrible and I feel like he'll be constantly exposed against quicker strikers.  I've always like Demerit.  Goodson looked OK at times against the Czechs and his header back off the back post corner to Gomez was the reason for that beautiful goal.  Unfortunately, he was a disaster at times defensively that more than made up for that moment of offensive class.

[Jon T.]

What did you guys think about our central defense?  Gooch's lateral agility his horrible and I feel like he'll be constantly exposed against quicker strikers.  I've always like Demerit.  Goodson looked OK at times against the Czechs and his header back off the back post corner to Gomez was the reason for that beautiful goal.  Unfortunately, he was a disaster at times defensively that more than made up for that moment of offensive class.

I think our D will make or break us.  I like Gooch in the middle, but man, he is SO prone to stupid mistakes.  The header he got beat on  made him look foolish.  I know we can't really look too much into last week's game, but our D looked terrible.  I thought our offense looked decent, especially considering we were without our best players.  There was about a 15 minute span in the second half that was world class.  Anway, really looking forward to Saturday's match and especially our match against the Aussies.

[iLikeBeer]

What did you guys think about our central defense?  Gooch's lateral agility his horrible and I feel like he'll be constantly exposed against quicker strikers.  I've always like Demerit.  Goodson looked OK at times against the Czechs and his header back off the back post corner to Gomez was the reason for that beautiful goal.  Unfortunately, he was a disaster at times defensively that more than made up for that moment of offensive class.

I think our D will make or break us.  I like Gooch in the middle, but man, he is SO prone to stupid mistakes.  The header he got beat on  made him look foolish.  I know we can't really look too much into last week's game, but our D looked terrible.  I thought our offense looked decent, especially considering we were without our best players.  There was about a 15 minute span in the second half that was world class.  Anway, really looking forward to Saturday's match and especially our match against the Aussies.

I'm definitely not putting too much stock into Tuesday's loss.  That wasn't close to our A roster and when you combine the fact that there were guys fighting for spots who may have been overplaying a tad, it had the makings of a bad result.  I'll be more interested to see how the US comes out vs. Turkey tomorrow and much moreso against the Aussies in SA.

As for Gooch, yes he didn't look all that great, but remember this was his first competitive match since his injury.  You can't expect him not to have some rust to shake off.  Not to mention the fact that he's still dealing with being able to trust himself on that knee.  That said, I'm kind of worried that Bradley may be expecting too much from Gooch too soon.  Hopefully Gooch will show some of the form that made AC Milan sign him last season.

[Ruckus]

Did anyone watch the Turkey friendly?  Did anyone recognize that team in the 2nd half that was playing in front of a home crowd in Philadelphia?

Findley and Torres were revelations for me.  Dempsey should not play up front.  Feilhaber solid.  Goodson bad.  Spector good and bad.

I know its just one half against a Turkish side that had brought in subs too but I can live with Jozy and Findley up front with Torres for Ricardo Clark.

It's the first time I felt as if this team has the potential to consistently create opportunities when they need to.  Their first goal was sublime.

[iLikeBeer]

I didn't get a chance to watch the Turkey friendly.  Did Dempsey play up front just the first half or the entire match?  I couldn't tell from watching the highlights of the match.

Dempsey has even admitted he doesn't feel comfortable playing up front as he doesn't feel that is his natural postition so I think Bradley is being quite foolish if he can't even listen to his own players.


In other news, did anyone catch that Giuseppe Rossi was left off the final 23 man roster for Italy?  Rossi is an American born and raised in Jersey that chose to go and try to make Italy's national team as opposed to staying home and being an almost sure thing to make the US squad.  Well, now he has neiter and he can have fun watching the World Cup at home just like the rest of us!  

I guess because he didn't choose to stay home and play for his home country, now he's staying home period!  Dare I say karma?   8-)  Can't say I'm shedding any tears for young Mr. Rossi!   ;D

[Ruckus]

I didn't get a chance to watch the Turkey friendly.  Did Dempsey play up front just the first half or the entire match?  I couldn't tell from watching the highlights of the match.

Dempsey has even admitted he doesn't feel comfortable playing up front as he doesn't feel that is his natural postition so I think Bradley is being quite foolish if he can't even listen to his own players.


In other news, did anyone catch that Giuseppe Rossi was left off the final 23 man roster for Italy?  Rossi is an American born and raised in Jersey that chose to go and try to make Italy's national team as opposed to staying home and being an almost sure thing to make the US squad.  Well, now he has neiter and he can have fun watching the World Cup at home just like the rest of us!  

I guess because he didn't choose to stay home and play for his home country, now he's staying home period!  Dare I say karma?   8-)  Can't say I'm shedding any tears for young Mr. Rossi!   ;D

I saw the story but I can't say I know much about Rossi at all.

As for Dempsey, he played up front with Jozy in the 1st half and looked awful.  They brought in Findley up front to pair with Jozy in the 2nd and moved Dempsey back.  Findley was spectacular.  He brought pace and skill, and as Dempsey mentioned in the post game, that pace allowed for much more vertical spacing that made them so much more dynamic offensively.  

[iLikeBeer]

As for Dempsey, he played up front with Jozy in the 1st half and looked awful.  They brought in Findley up front to pair with Jozy in the 2nd and moved Dempsey back.  Findley was spectacular.  He brought pace and skill, and as Dempsey mentioned in the post game, that pace allowed for much more vertical spacing that made them so much more dynamic offensively.  

Glad to hear Bradley made the change moving Dempsey in the 2nd half.  Maybe it will finally sink in with Bradley that Dempsey isn't comfortable playing up front?!

[Ruckus]

I hope your right.  That combination in the second half worked!  Is anyone gonna be watching the Aussie game tomorrow morning?  That game should tell us a lot about who is gonna play and what combinations that Bradley will be using.  Should be fun~!

[Ruckus]

Win is a win.  US could have scored at least 6 goals.  The central D in the air looked terrible.  It angered me that Bradley didn't use Torres.  The Socceroos looked atrocious.

Drogba now may be out?  Ferdinand out.  Essien out.  Wow....

[iLikeBeer]

Win is a win.  US could have scored at least 6 goals.  The central D in the air looked terrible.  It angered me that Bradley didn't use Torres.  The Socceroos looked atrocious.

Drogba now may be out?  Ferdinand out.  Essien out.  Wow....

I forgot to set my DVR.  My twins had soccer camp at 9 am and I totally missed it AGAIN?!  I heard some grumblings about Bradley not putting in Torres.  Almost like he is favoring his son a bit too much or something?

Saw the highlights and you are right about the US having plenty of scoring chances.  They can't afford to miss chances like they had today vs. better teams!  And at the same time, the US is also fortunate to have only given up 1 goal.  If the defense doesn't start to shore things up before their match with England, things could get ugly for the US!

[Ruckus]

Win is a win.  US could have scored at least 6 goals.  The central D in the air looked terrible.  It angered me that Bradley didn't use Torres.  The Socceroos looked atrocious.

Drogba now may be out?  Ferdinand out.  Essien out.  Wow....

I forgot to set my DVR.  My twins had soccer camp at 9 am and I totally missed it AGAIN?!  I heard some grumblings about Bradley not putting in Torres.  Almost like he is favoring his son a bit too much or something?

Saw the highlights and you are right about the US having plenty of scoring chances.  They can't afford to miss chances like they had today vs. better teams!  And at the same time, the US is also fortunate to have only given up 1 goal.  [highlight]If the defense doesn't start to shore things up before their match with England, things could get ugly for the US![/highlight]

I completely agree though I'm sure the English are thinking the same about their D, particularly with Ferdinand out.

5 days and counting.......

[iLikeBeer]

I completely agree [highlight]though I'm sure the English are thinking the same about their D,[/highlight] particularly with Ferdinand out.

[highlight]5 days and counting......[/highlight]

Very true as well!  Not to mention that England isn't exactly secure in their GK either.

Saturday can't get here soon enough!  It's going to be a looooooong week!   :D

[ynwa]

definitely a few ill-timed injuries...

is drogba definitely out?  i read something yesterday that said his surgery was a success which lead me to believe he may play at some point.  anyone???

england losing ferdinand has got to be quite a blow.  hopefully gerrard will step into the captain's role & rally the squad.  for replacement center half they have king, carra & dawson (all of whom are solid, when they are on their game) to work with.  the goalie issue is what makes me the most nervous, still.

robben & pirlo both injured.  not sure if either are definitely out, i only saw headlines...

are there more injuries this time or is it just me?  it's gonna be interesting to see how it all plays out.

only a few more days.  woo-hoo!!!

[iLikeBeer]

Drogba is not out of the WC entirely.  From what I read, he is questionable depending on how quickly he heals after surgery for Ivory Coast's opener and should be ready to go by at least their 2nd group stage match.

As for the injuries overall.  It sure does seem like there are a lot more prominent names going down to injury in the days leading up to the competition than I ever remember.

I did hear this morning on ESPN that they would be shocked if Altidore wasn't in the starting 11 for the US vs. England so that is good news for the Americans!

[capt. scotty]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRPRwG1_ayk[/media]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRPRwG1_ayk