Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Don't Tread on Me: US vs Poland



The US Men's National soccer team beat Poland today in Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1-0. There was a snow storm in the final 20 minutes and the 13,395 fans appeared to be living it up. The snow got so bad that the officials pulled out the yellow, high-resolution ball in the 80th minute.

Player thoughts, in no order (and not all of them, just the ones that made impressions on me):
  • Dempsey: Good game, dangerous all around. Has a knack for drawing the foul, and doing so in some good places. Potentially the most creative dribble our squad has. Gotta like him and I hope he starts in the cup.
  • Keller: No fail defense, wall in the back with a few strong saves in the 1st half.
  • Cherundolo: My vote for man of the match. Dangerous out of the back, strong D. All around, all over the field. Near miss on the first half free kick.
  • Lewis: Good defense, needs to improve his crosses.
  • Onyewu: Great game – but scares the bejeezus out of me because he puts sleeper holds on guys in the box. One day I fear the PK.
  • Beasley: Looked weak to me. Touch was off all game. As usual, he has the potential and you can see it…but in this particular case, potential was all it was.
  • Twellman: Got the assist. Can’t argue there. However…he seemed otherwise quiet most of the game.
  • Johnson: Did he play? I think he got lost.
  • Convey: Exploded on the pitch as a sub and ate some Polish lunch. I liked him more than Beasley.
The US is on its way to the World Cup in Germany. In preparation, we have played to following teams: Canada, Norway, Japan, Guatemala, and Poland. We have yet to lose in our prep games. Today was an allocated day for international friendlies in preparation for the World Cup. Results from the other teams we will play this summer (Ghana, Czech Rep, Italy):
  • Mexico beat Ghana 1-0
  • Czech Republic tied Turkey 2-2
  • Italy beat Germany 4-1
Couple resources for you:
My Soccer Blog - has all the updates on the international friendlies. This is my wife's favorite.
Du Nord - Tons of links to external resources. Good launching point for your soccer needs.
World Cup Blog - I stream this to my google personal start page. Good place to jump to various country info.

Remaining games on the road to Germany: Germany, Jamaica, and 3 more to come - all prior to the big show.

Don't Tread on Me.
See you in Germany.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll finish your list--

Donovan: steady, good, but not great-- i liked some of his passes to cherundolo on the right side
Zavagnin: i think dmid is a thankless position-- no major mistakes
Mastroeni: a step up from Zavagnin, with a more dominating presence
Berhalter/Bocanegra: they seemed the same-- can't lose, except the foul that Bocanegra gave up for a stupid play
Wolff: he failed to create opportunities tonight to then thwart... what about bringing an extra midfielder and leaving wolff at home...?

are you happy I posted???

Unknown said...

No on can ever say I married the wrong woman...she is into soccer more than me. I am not sure though, that Bocanegra meant that foul.

e.d.s: You should see this guy play - it is a sight. 6' 3", 205 lbs. You do not want to mess with him.

riffle: The co-ed league misses you dearly.