mejunglechop

June 23rd, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^

Fair enough on Adu/Donovan. I don't root for USMNT so I'm not thinking about how rosy what I'm saying is. And from a neutral's perspective, Dempsey's finish was just too easy. Panama had two guys to cover him.

lakeside

June 23rd, 2011 at 8:29 AM ^

to cover the runners but then got caught in space.  Looking at the video, I think Donovan pegs him (if that's what you call it when someone passes the ball between your legs and makes you look like a fool.) 

los barcos

June 22nd, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^

people were really scared for chicharito to face our centre defensivemen, but they could not be any worse than honduras. honduras is yakkity saxxing when it comes to clearing the ball, and mexico cant take advantage.  i still think mexico is the favorite (assuming they win) but they definitly dont look to be the steamroller they were in the earlier rounds.  

turtleboy

June 22nd, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^

I suppose it's one of many types of football. There's what turned into our American football, there's Australian rules football, there's Rugby football, there's Association football. I think calling it soccer is perfectly fine. They call it soccer in Germany, they call it soccer in Japan, they call it soccer in England. Well, they recently started calling it Football in England but half the teams are F.C.s and half the teams are S.C.s The word soccer was invented by an Englishman in the very English way they unnecessarily nickname and abbreviate everything. Soccer is another way of saying association football or asSOC. football. But where does futbol come from?

jmblue

June 23rd, 2011 at 1:24 AM ^

But where does futbol come from?

It's the Spanish version of the word "football".  Among the more general soccer-following public in this country, there's a subculture that has an inferiority complex about being American and will use as many British terms for the sport (e.g., "pitch" instead of field, "kit" instead of uniform) as possible.  They prefer to call the sport "football," but when they need to avoid confusion with American football, will use the Spanish spelling.  (This has the added bonus of demonstrating that they know one word of a foreign language.)

Waters Demos

June 23rd, 2011 at 7:38 AM ^

But I also think there's a genuine preference to avoid confusion. 

In this country, most don't care about soccer.  However, much of the rest of the world does. 

Thus, when speaking about it, why not just use the terms that most soccer fans on the planet use?  Americans won't understand, but they also won't care, whereas almost everyone else will understand and care. 

lakeside

June 23rd, 2011 at 8:18 AM ^

and/or you're just habituated to making sweeping generalizations about others.

subculture that has an inferiority complex

demonstrating that they know one word of a foreign language

For the record, I think I used futbol because the mild abuse of language is all but condoned on blogs (see the "Notre Dame Trolled on Jeopardy" post on the MGoBoard.)  I may also have seen it used in another post and it stuck in my mind as clever.

Genzilla

June 23rd, 2011 at 12:49 AM ^

This was the perfect situation for him to come in and make an impact.  Playing against a tired, bunkered down, inferior opponent he could come in with his fresh legs and really make an impact.  He did his job, and he's come a long way, but he's still got a long way to go to be on a full-strenght US 18-man roster.

That being said, his pass to spring Donovan was as pro as they come and I would love to see him continue to put his head down and work hard to be the best player he can.

It's hard not to root for this kid.

GoBlueBrooklyn

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^

he made several subtle passes to keep possession, including a lovely short ball to Bradley in space that kept the US attack going. Also, smart playing it into the corners and holding it up on the wing (which is not his natural position). He did have the advantage of fresh legs, but good vision from Freddy and I hope he can continue to grow. 22 years old is not too late, but it is getting close and 2nd division in Turkey is not the level he needs to grow. I think he showed up in Europe behind a wave of hype and they got a small player who is not physical enough for his role in a European midfield. I hope he can continue to develop his skill and make plays and grow, would be great for him and the US. 

krag19

June 23rd, 2011 at 12:19 AM ^

I'm just glad Dempsey wasn't flagged on an offside call. My initial reaction was he was off by a hair. Granted I haven't really inspected the video of the goal but it was close....

EDIT: after further review, I definitely believe he was offside and for once the soccer god's gave the US a break. phew...

I Bleed Maize N Blue

June 23rd, 2011 at 3:01 AM ^

I think Dempsey was onside.  The second-to-last defender is just outside the corner of the 6-yd box (his left foot would be on or perhaps just inside that line if you extend it), and at the time of the pass, Dempsey has not crossed into the box, therefore he's onside.

Granted, he is behind the guy who is supposed to be marking him.  :D

Genzilla

June 23rd, 2011 at 12:46 AM ^

That annoying little guy does not change games, but he does win games.  He isn't strong on the ball and he doesn't have great touch or great vision, but he is always (and I mean always) in the right place at the right time.  This is all up to him, because he does do a great job hustling to get into the right space.  In addition to working hard and making good runs, he is the luckiest person to ever play the game of soccer.  When you score goals with your face (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXcTkbXXMc) you know the soccer God's are smiling kindly upon you.

All in all, I expect a 2-1 victory from Mexico with the second goal going off Chicharito's ass.

ChetChill

June 23rd, 2011 at 9:17 AM ^

Question: Why is the final being played in Pasadena? The organizers knew there was a 75% chance it would be US-Mex, so they waste our home field advantage and give it to the Mexicans? When we go to Mexico the USMNT has to play in that hellhole of Azteca where the fans throw objects on the field, chant "Osama" and boo the national anthem after 9/11, and it's at like 6,000 feet and 100 deg. I don't know about you but they should be playing in a field that HELPS the US at home, not the Mexicans. Play the game somewhere where the stadium won't be 75% Mexican.
<br>-Chet

Needs

June 23rd, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^

The US federation doesn't have anything to do with scheduling the location. CONCACAF runs the Gold Cup as the regional championship, and looks for places that will maximize revenue. This always means playing the final in a location where the US will face a substantial crowd disadvantage (which, if we're playing Mexico, is any stadium larger than 25k). Last time it was played in the New Meadowlands and the crowd was something like 90-10 Mexico. This year in the Rose Bowl it will be even more heavily Mexican. US players are used to this, though, and it doesn't pose the same altitude and pollution issues that the Azteca does.

 

MichiganMan24

June 23rd, 2011 at 9:09 AM ^

I'm so happy to see Freddy Adu get an opportunity to make an impact on the game. Seems like he has realized that he's not a superstar and is willing to put in the work. Hopefully he can keep the positive momentum from this game going forward

MGoDubs

June 23rd, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^

Hey I've missed all the games so far due to work and just signed on here late last night and got the play by play and then looked into some other game results and saw that Onyewu hasn't been playing. Just wondering if anyone on here could let me know whats going on with him. Says that he's on the roster but haven't got any minuets is this due his past patella tendon injury or a new one or just passed on the depth charts?

krag19

June 25th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^

Does anyone know if this will be on any of the espn networks? If not I'll settle for univision and the announcer who can hold out "gol" for what seems like eternity.