Carli Lloyd Willed It - Thus, It Is So

I'm just gonna put this here for now... because, DAMN:




Carli Lloyd can do whatever the hell she wants:

Götterdämmerung

Scoreline - June 30, 2015
USA: 2
Lloyd 69' PK; O'Hara 84'
Germany: 0

Biggest match up in women's soccer history.

Everything to prove - against Germany.

And we OWNED them.

Dream Team? Yeah, kinda.


Everybody was playing out of their minds: Holiday, Brian, Sauerbrunn, Krieger, Lloyd, O'Hara, Heath, Rapinoe, Klingenberg, Morgan, Solo....

Oh, and Johnston! Hell, yeah, Johnston - I'd say the player of the tournament - but Lalas said that, and I swore a blood oath to disagree with everything that man says.

Still - Johnston - what a game - offense, defense - and YES - she pulled down an attacker in the box, but the Soccer Gods decreed that this would not stop us.

Johnston: Clearly better than you.

And the crowd... Just magic - Morgan's first big shot wide had the place jumping outta their seats.

Lloyd? Flat out aces. Old Guard? I'm fricking DRIVING this bus.

Swarming midfield, Solo psyching out Sasic...

Yes, Germany can pout about the PK, but they had their chance and blew it. Crappy calls are part of Soccer - and lord knows, the US has had their share. (You think I forget? I FORGET NOTHING).

This was the culmination of the USWNT's campaign. They were on their game against the world's best and beat the crap out of them.

I feared for this team in the group play, but they are clearly on afterburners now.

Go USA.

Rapinoe to Rapinoe

Rapinoe: American badass.

Not our best effort by a long shot. We looked really ragged at the back for most of the first half.

And I don't know if Wambach is putting too much pressure on herself, but two flat our misses by our used-to-be guided missile forward just boggle.

And after a fortuitous bounce goal, Rapinoe looked like she was trying too hard as well. All kinds of whiffed crosses, flubbed passes - even a missed throw in.

And then she does this sh!t:



And this was after getting the ball at the half-way line. She ran half the length of the field, looked up and thought

Well, everyone thinks I'm gonna cross - I'll just shoot this F*&-er.

And boom! Low to the far post, for the icer.

Take NOTHING away from Press & Laroux's efforts to get the go-ahead goal. Leroux is all kinds of hustle and guts, and Press threw down ironclad evidence (if any was needed) that-

COACH? 

I AM 

A FORWARD

Hell's yeah, she's a forward -  and make sure she gets more playing time in the middle, eh coach?

Sad for the Matildas. De Vanna was her usual full-throttle self, she was criminally unmarked in the box and instantly reminded the US why that is a bad thing.

I hope the Aussies get some success, but looking at the rest of their schedule - it's not like it gets easier from here.

Scoreline - June 8, 2015

USA: 3

Rapinoe 12', 78'; Press 61'

Australia: 1

De Vanna 27' (who else, seriously?)

Feels like 2011

Hell yeah, I remember.

122nd minute.

Ian Darke, Julie Foudy and the rest of all right thinking people losing their minds as one.

I just shortened the lives of countless Brazilians.

A fan could live a lifetime for this sport and never get a moment like that.

The Cup doesn't care if you are worthy and the Soccer Gods have always been @ssholes. 

Japan was a fairy tale worth telling, but Germany 2011 should have been ours.

And here we are, back for another helping of whatever the Soccer Gods choose to serve us.

Defying reason and the odds, we still have Rapinoe, Rampone - even Wambach.

Germany is - once again - terrorizing the minnows, and the Samba Queens are the same as always.

This time, the French are looking solid and the Dutch look to be the newcomers who could mess things up.

We have injuries, we have scandal, and everyone would love to be the team that sent us home.

Still, I can't wait.

Go USA.

Rapinoe to Wambach for the win.
Always and forever.

Somebody Call Glenn Greenwald

'cos the US Mens team's gonna need a place to crash in 2014.

World Cup 2014, baby!

Sure, we looked like total crap - and Beasley tried to score on his own team.
Never mind Fabian can't seem to cross for sh!t and we're missing our stars.

We had this guy:

Eddie freakin' Johnson IN THE HAUS!!

Pay attention, team. Eddie has just demonstrated the proper technique for doing something useful in front of goal. This is a skill that will come in handy in the coming months. Learn it, know it, live it.

I cannot fathom what the hell is happening to Mexico. Dos Santos looked ready to shred us in the first half. Once Eddie headed in his winner, Mexico just seemed to crumple.

Yeah, we tried to play like crap some more - long balls and craptacular passing, but it just wasn't enough. So when Eddie went out with a head injury, that should have been a turning point.

But no, in comes Diskerud who promptly demonstrates that - yes, Virginia, you can cross the ball properly, even if you play for the US.

Clint Dempsey fanned the ball, thinking (as a forward should) that every ball was meant for him - and then Donovan slapped it home with a reckless disregard for the lives of millions of Mexican soccer fans. Their blood is on your hands, Landon, I hope you understand that.

Dempsey even had a chance to make it 3-0 with a penalty, but whiffing on things seemed to be his thing and he shot the ball into the crowd like a total feeb.

Whatever. None of that matters now.

Head up in triumph, or backwards and propelled by the deeds of others - it all adds up to a slot in the finals in Brazil.

I figured we'd get there. I mean, we're in a group with Panama for crying out loud...

What's that? Panama is currently ahead of Mexico, you say?

Now, that's just cruel.

Perhaps the self flagellation occurring south of the border can be blamed on Panama... It's good that they have accomplished something.

I wouldn't want to coach Mexico for all the pesos in TJ. Owch.

But I would cheerfully step over their shattered hulk on my way to watch the US play in the finals...

Whoo-hoo!

Go USA.

No, I Don't Want To Talk About It

And shame on you for asking.

Scoreline - July 17, 2011
Japan: 2
Miyama 81'; Sawa 117'
USA: 2
Morgan 69'; Wambach 104'
Japan win 3-1 on penalties

What have we learned, Mike Pesca? That in this struggle between David and Goliath, we are Goliath?

No.

We have learned that the soccer gods - in addition to being total a$$holes - play a very deep game.
They lure you into yet another love affair with possibility - wait until you're picking out china patterns - and then they burn it all down in front of you while you scream.

Once again, the US as a nation finally notices it has a world class team at the precise instant they fail in the most heart-rending fashion.

Wambach will never hoist the cup. Rampone won't either.  They're awesome, but they're done.

Four more years - and we get to do this all over again.

That's soccer.

Go USA.

Nothing is Written

With the US women beating Brazil in spectacular fashion, there's a certain frustration that comes from watching the coverage (my local paper put the win in the sidebar, next to huge front page photo of some minor golf tournament) or listening to the pat recitations of "buzzer beater" by news anchors who got their lines only seconds before.

US Women win at the world cup after a late goal by star forward Abby Wambach... and in Golf today

Yeah, that's one way of looking at it. But I much prefer Ian Darke screaming incredulity into the mic "It's been a near miracle, this!!", or Julie Foudy bursting with pride and admiration for Rapinoe's cross "What a ball!

Because this is the kind of thing that deserves to be related by someone who appreciates how mind-bogglingly unlikely the win was.

Not because the US team isn't good - they're fricking brilliant - but because the World Cup is famous for chewing up good teams and spitting them out like so much garbage.

The cup is pitiless - it doesn’t care if you deserve it.

---

Exhibit A is the infrequency of the finals. Not every year - every fourth year. Like all sport - speed, strength and youth are rewarded. But in the cup - if you wash out you're going to have to claw your way back when you're four years older.

Plenty of deserving people never get a shot. They're ready, but their team isn't. Or they get a shot - but their coach is an idiot. Or they catch a booking that ends the only chance they'll ever get.

It doesn't have to be them either, any teammate can bring the team down.

Your star player is kicked out? Too bad, play with 10.

Oh, but they didn't deserve it? Too bad, play with 10.

Did the ref blow a call that could have been made from orbit?

Too bad, at the World Cup instant replay is only for salting open wounds. Look how wrong that was...Now rewind and do it again. Now go home and wait four more years.

---

Exhibit B is timing.
Waumbach's equalizes in the 122nd fricking minute. US audiences are conditioned to expect last minute heroics from years of watching games where the players and coaches have incredible influence on how long the game lasts. In football and basketball they can save time. Numerous options exist to stop the clock - making the game last longer and increasing the likelihood that a last gasp game changer will occur.

In soccer, you can't save time. Only the ref can. If you're losing, your opponent (unless they are stupid) will kick long, slow arcing balls into the corners. They'll dribble in a circle in the corner - daring you to foul them or (worse) give them a corner kick.

Late equalizers can and do occur in soccer - but they are vastly more improbable than in other sports.

Exhibit C is the PK tie-breaker.

As mind-bogglingly awesome as the US comeback against Brazil was, the soccer gods are more than capable of ignoring the US team's guts, effort and pedigree. Two US players slip or shank their shot and suddenly all their team's prior valor is worthless.

PKs are hugely dramatic - but they have no relationship to which side played better, or worked harder, or deserved it more.

Which isn't to take anything away from the US team. Quite the opposite.

I wanted to point out that for once a talented, hardworking, deserving team was pushed to the absolute limit and did - in fact - get what they deserved: a storybook victory on a global stage.

And they were our team.

In soccer, that's not improbable, or miraculous - it's unheard of.

Hope Beyond Hope

OK, having finally unscrewed myself from the ceiling - I can now state the obvious:

That was the greatest performance by a US soccer team that I have ever seen.

Scoreline – July 10, 2011
Brazil: 2
Marta 68', 92'
USA: 2
Daiane 2' OG; Wambach 120'+2

Solo to Melksham: You'll go home before I do

I mean, let's check off the setup:

High stakes? It's the World Cup Quarterfinal, duh.
Rivalry? Brazil. Yes, there's a bit of history there.

Hope Solo has a bum shoulder, or at least is taking great pains to appear to be in pain during warmups.

Tense? Yeah.

Kinda.

So, we have one of those dream starts where the soccer gods (who are a$$holes) gift us an own goal off Brazil's Daiane panic stab.

Hard to feel good about that - but given the US fragility through the rest of the tournament - it's almost divine providence. Brazil on the back foot and the US can focus on playing their game. Brazil drip talent from every pore, can score on the smallest mistake, and God help you if you get behind on goals or players.

But Brazil have a history of mental breakdowns. When they are winning, they are the Samba Queens. When they are losing, they turn into the Drama Queens - every bit as cynical as an Italian mens team.  Diving, Pouting, The pleading cous-cous gesture in front of the ref. Writhing on the ground for every imagined foul.

Vs. the Samba Queens, I'm thinking the US will have a hard time - but the US women can beat the Drama Queens any day of the week.

A goal down, Brazil is looking very dramatic - and the US, while not being bulletproof at the back, is playing a very solid game. Wambach is doing more damage by drawing fouls than anything else - but its a solid 1st half that any objective observer would have to cede to the North Americans.

But in the 62nd minute, the game reverts to type.

Enter the BS Red Card:

 Melksham: I will now utterly F#*k up the game

That's Rachel Buehler getting thrown out because - well, Marta did something clever that didn't work out. Buehler was the closest US player - so naturally she's thrown out of the game.

I'm sure a Brazilian would see that play differently, and you could certainly make the case for a penalty. But Marta was never going to get the ball regardless of Buehler - so the red card is just a load of crap.

The Drama Queens are gifted a PK and it's all onto our injured keeper, Solo. Penalty kicks become goals 80% of the time - so this will become a goal, and the US will play for the remainder of the game with 10 players.

Great.

Only Solo stops it. Incredible.The US is down a player, but they keep the lead.

Solo's screaming at the heavens and the US is in mid-exultation when the ref decides that she hasn't f#*ked up the game quite enough yet.

The Drama Queens will get a do-over - because (take your pick)

1. Solo moved off her line before the kick to a degree that is only perceptible to persons named Melksham; or
2. A US player was 1 step leaning inside the 18 yard box as the ball was struck

Reason 1 is total crap, and reason 2 is an incredibly tight ruling on a colossal play. Encroachment in the box is a big deal, but the merest step in the box is something forgiven in virtually every case unless there is some argument that it affected the resulting play.

It did not, the shooter was not distracted, and the resulting deflection was easily cleared without the encroaching player gaining some advantage.

In other words, much like the red card, the do-over call was total crap.

Marta steps up for the re-do and slots it home.

We're 1-1 with the Drama Queens - awaiting their inevitable transformation as our shorthanded team is ground down by their speed, talent, and (totally undeserved) numeric superiority.

Seen it before. And while I'm sure the US will be valiant, you just can't hope to contain and then score on Brazil while you're shorthanded. They'll lay back and burn you on the counter.

But then something strange happens - the US midfield steps up huge. Brazil is getting picked apart before they get deep into our end. Repeatedly.

We're getting chances in the Brazilian end. And the crowd has seriously turned. Every time Brazil has the ball in our end, the stadium erupts in whistles and boos. They start totally hating on Marta. I can't recall ever seeing a player of her skill booed so vehemently.

And the ref takes the hint. She's totally blown the game apart with her ineptitude, so a flurry of make-up calls start falling against Brazil. And incredibly, Brazil stays in Drama Queen mode.

Pouting, whining, diving - the whole act. Somehow they forget that they are a gifted side - and the USA hold them  until the end of regulation.

At this point - you have to be proud of the USA for hanging in there. But all that valor has earned is another half hour of the same treatment.

Extra time - and we're right on script. Marta gets an impossible ball and does something impossible with it to score two minutes in. It would be deserved if only one of their players hadn't been totally offside.

Brazil is insane, the crowd is not pleased and we're set for a grind down of the US until the final whistle. Down a goal and a player - this is about as dark a hole as you can find yourself in.

Still, the US plays on the attack - we get pressure up on the Brazilian goal against all odds - and the Brazilians are not grinding us down. There's a lot of takeaways in midfield - but no classic torching of the back line.

We lurch into the second half of extra time and I'm thinking we'll avoid the undeserved blowout score. The one critics will spout on about how we were "outclassed" and "outplayed" when in fact we were undeservedly hamstrung and hung out to dry.

[[Late Edit: Anonymous rightly points out another winning moment from the match - Ericka's laughably bad rendition of I've been crippled for life, get the stretcher. Naturally this was followed by her immediate and total recovery as soon as her erstwhile deathbed was carried over the touchline.

The crowd's prolonged outrage was satisfying enough, but the ref was apparently so offended by Ericka's cynical abuse of the game - she carded her. The look on Ericka's face was priceless.

Would that all recipients of the "magic sponge" were so rewarded. Or (as I've said to anyone who won't taze me) perhaps the rules should be amended such that any injury that results in a stoppage requires the speedy removal of the player by stretcher and a minimum amount of recovery time off the pitch. You wanna waste time? Waste your own team's time - the rest of us have a game to play.]]

Wambach is trolling for fouls and Lloyd keeps trying from distance. Morgan is doing her best but we're at the end of extra time and we're clearly going down.

Lloyd's getting run down in mid-field and Ian Darke is looking at the clock saying "She really has to get this pass off.." Literally two minutes to go and Lloyd guts it out to get a pass to Rapinoe, streaking wide.

Rapinoe taps it once, looks up - and fires an orgasmic-ly  brilliant cross into the box-
-and of course - late in the game - have we packed the box with players?

No, there's no one...

-No one except Abby-Freaking-Wambach. My brain starts into ...but she's been in a slump...

And then she heads it home like a guided missile!

Wambach to World: The Drought is Muthafu*#-ing Over.

It's unbelievable. I'm screaming Are You Kidding Me??!! as Abby roars towards the corner flag and the crowd blows the roof off the stadium. Brazilians are looking at each other with expressions of total defeat.

Too bad pouty faces and playacting don't count in PK shootouts.... Awww.

I don't know how Brazil managed to piss off the soccer gods, but the shootout was scripted by someone who clearly wanted to see them suffer full blown agony before death.

The US kicks first and - in a act of karma that is too perfect by half- Boxy's shot is stopped. And the ref calls a re-do because Andreia came off her line. 

Boxy's mulligan goes in - and the life drains out of the South Americans.

Solo's been baying for blood ever since Marta's do-over - so you better believe she's ready.

Daiane (of the I-kicked-the-ball-into-my-own-net fame) gets stuffed by Solo, and now Brazil knows they are doomed.

The US demands it, the crowd demands it- The goddamned universe demands it - and it will happen.

Today the soccer gods are d!cking with somebody besides us.

Alex Krieger steps up with the weight of the nation on her shoulders - and buries it.

• Boxx: Way to step the hell up. You were awesome.
• Rapinoe: All's forgiven for that perfect cross. 
• Wambach: You were just playing with us, weren't you? Waiting for that perfect moment to start scoring again? Well stop that, you're going to kill somebody.
• Solo: FIFA's calling you the player of the match, but only because they're sorry for how bad their ref tried to punk you. You're the player of the match by worldwide acclamation. Rock out and ride this to the final. You earned it.

I am literally dying to see the mash-up of crowd reactions to this match, because I think you're going to see some people seriously lose their sh!t.

Jaw dropping. No other words for it.

I've never seen the like.

Go USA.

Wambach and Solo: Do you see, Brazil??
Do you see how we crush your dreams??!!

Vancouver Pride

Look ma, I'm all growed up!

The National News has the full reel of riot pictures.

Y'know, it's one thing to be an idiot, but it's quite another to be so proud of being an idiot.

Götterdämmerung

So Tivo nabs me some soccer - and I speed watch my way through Chelsea humiliating themselves - then move onto the Champions League match.

Inter vs. Schalke.

Yeah, fricking Inter vs Schalke (which in German means "we're just glad to be here").

At the frickin' San Siro.

Calling Schalke the underdog is akin to calling Alan Greenspan an asshole. Sure, it's accurate, but it just doesn't seem... y'know...enough.

So, anyway I fire up the game, expecting to see Inter toy with the Germans before dispatching them 1-0. Yawn.

Sixteen seconds in, I see this sh!t:


An inexact transcript of the commentary I got on my network was.

Oh!

....WHOA!

Oh My EFFING CHRIST!!! WHAT THE SCREAMING F&*$! WAS THAT???

That would be Inter's Dejan Stanković volleying a ball from just inside the center line, over the keeper into the net - 25 seconds from kick off.

That was the opener. At this point bookies are sending out their enforcers to collect from people who had Schalke losing by only a goal. Twenty five goddamn seconds and this game is over.

Except nobody tells this to Schalke. They equalize sixteen minutes later. A total POS slob goal off a corner.

Okay, so Inter grabs another one sixteen minutes later. 2-1, Inter. Thanks for playing.

Then Edu nets just a sick goal five minutes before half. 2-2!

Then five minutes into the second half Raul scores on an even sicker move. 3-2 Schalke!

Then an own goal by Inter. 4-2. Schalke!

Four minutes later, Inter's Chivu gets sent off with a second yellow. Blood in the water. Italian fans start to eat each other...

Then Edu puts a stake into Inter with his second of the night. 5-2. Mother-effing-Schalke!

Inter...spanked. By three. At the San Siro. By Schalke!

God, but I need a drink...

The Bitter End

Iniesta: Suck it, Villa

In any tournament that begins with a large pool of teams - the early rounds are the most exciting.

The World Cup encourages this - with rules that reward teams for winning big. Teams commit to attack, because a big win is more valuable than a marginal one.

In the knockout rounds, any will will do - even a penalty crapshoot. So percentage play shifts to cautious play - and scorelines usually trend towards marathon struggles that end in 1-nil.

Sooner or later, the stakes catch up with the game - and you get a total crapfest like this cup's final match.

I've said before that soccer played well is amazing, captivating even. But soccer played badly is about the worst thing you can watch.

This was the final, so people hung in there to see every last godawful moment. If you could have gotten 700 million football fans to screen this game without context, as if it were a friendly - I doubt a tenth of them would have kept watching past the half.

It was horrid.

Dutch hacking vs. Spanish diving vs. the English ref.

I started the match rooting for Spain - and by the end was wishing that the Dutch would send Spain home in a bucket. Naturally, the Dutch disappointed. Clear shots on goal, and Robben couldn't get it done over and over. I'd criticize Van Persie - but I honestly can't be sure he was on the field. FIFA says he was - but I'll need to review the tape.

I still believe the ref was over the top, but it's fair to say the Dutch were trying to hack their opponents into submission. John Nicholson points out this was a deliberate choice:

Had they played an open, attacking game, they'd have got creamed senseless by Spain. Yes, that would have been fun for the neutral but the Dutch don't owe ...commentators or anyone else anything. They're there to win and win by any means possible. It wasn't some sort of gross, immoral attitude they took to the game, merely a pragmatic one born out of knowing exactly what would suppress Spain most successfully. I admire that.

He's right, but I don't admire it. I had to watch that crap.

Two highlights of the night for me:

1. The Dutch coach receives his second place medal - and then takes it off and pockets it before he even gets off the podium. Nice.
   
2. The American booth minder, Bob Ley, trying to convince his audience that they have witnessed a "celebration of soccer" - right before they cut to Ruud Gullit who denounces the match in terms usually reserved for acts of genocide.

Oh, there was a goal, too - but whatever.

Spain gets the trophy, Holland gets the shaft (again) and the soccer gods smile down at the evil they have wrought.

Ugh.

One thing to look forward to - we start qualifying matches in two years.

Nailed It!

With a few strategic edits...Pretty much as I predicted*.

That's a huge step up from my prior calls.

So the soccer gods have decreed that there will be a new champion. In their limitless evil, they have allowed two virgin nations to the final.

Presumably, this is so the crushing letdown of defeat will be completely unbearable for the loser. THIS was going to be the year!! We were SO close...!!

Good times. No Germany, No Italy, No Brazil or Argentina.

This has been a pretty solid cup.

*Assuming you ignore the fact that I started with the round of 16 set and that I was hopelessly wrong about the US and Argentina. And a few other things.

Misery is just a down payment on tomorrow's victory

Scoreline - June 26, 2010
USA: 1
Donovan 62' pk
Ghana: 2
Boateng 5'; Gyan 93'

So it's over.

Another two-year campaign brought to a halt (again) by the land of the warrior kings. This time, there was no bogus penalty or missed call. Just a Ghanaian team who managed to be brilliant precisely when we at our worst.

Were this like prior years, this would be where I would lament the lot of US soccer. Say something about how this nation would ignore its team's ascent - tuning in only immediately prior to their fall.

But that's not what happened this time. Yeah, we got some bad calls, but we won our group - in spectacular (if only by the skin of our teeth) fashion. Only 16 teams in the world got to where we did

- and unlike every other World Cup we've been in, the US was actually paying attention.

Here are US fans around the world, watching Donovan put in the winning goal against Algeria:



How rock-hard awesome is that?

American soccer fans watching their team win - and going ape. That is the greatest World Cup highlight for me. And it has been a long time coming.

There will time to second guess the decision to start Onyewu or Clark - or to not start Feilhaber - but US soccer fans can go away from a tournament knowing they were not robbed - and they can expect to return with a stronger team.

WC Bracket for 2010

Once again, spoiler alert - if you're recording anything do not scroll down.
























And then there were 16...

Were the universe to follow my directions, it would all unfold thusly:

Knowing my history of predictions - it will look nothing like this. But then - at least I wasn't stupid enough to say Serbia was going to make it into the final (or put Italy and France in the quarter finals) I mean, what idiot algorithm made that prediction?)

11 Hours, 5 minutes and 215 aces

It's over - the longest tennis match in history - bar none.

John Isner finally broke Nicholas Mahut's serve to prevail in the 138th game of the fifth set.

Guess which one of these men won only 68 of those games?

Bring on the Rotten Tomatoes

Spoiler alert - if you're recording the World Cup - turn away now.

Arrivederci!

Iaquinta ponders emigrating to a country that has no television.

The Slovaks kick some Azzuri butt, in commanding fashion. Vittek bashes in two, and the Azzuri realize late (as ever) that doing the bare minimum in group play is a strategy that can bite you in game 3.



Behold, the output of Group F:

I'm thinkin' some people's brackets just took it in the chops.

Heart Stopper

Donovan: USA's Captain Fantastic

You can't make this sh!t up.

Three minutes from total catastrophe.

All kinds of pressure, no kind of luck -

and Landon Donovan puts us over the top.

The USA win their group and advance to the second round.

We get Germany, Serbia or Ghana.

Adding up the if's could break a person.

If Robert Green wasn't such a feeb...

If Donovan doesn't score early in the second half of the Slovenia match...

If Bradley skies his shot 36 minutes later...

If Djebbour's 5th minute volley goes under the bar, instead of caroming off it...

and of course, if Donovan hadn't buried the 6 yard rebound with 180 seconds to go.

I need a drink.

Go USA

There Are No Minnows

Bradley delivers us from our own stupidity.

Paraguay draws with Italy.
Mexico manhandles France.
Germany goes down to Serbia.
Spain goes down to Switzerland.
Slovenia goes 2 up on the US before we rally to a tie.
And Algeria hold England to a scoreless draw.

After the cheering for the valiant comeback of the US fades, we will be left with the sad reality that for the bulk of the game we played like total crap.

"Early goals" will once again be offered as an explanation - and a lot of teeth will be gnashed over the fact we had a goal disallowed.

But early goals come from the same source that late goals do: poor defense, inspired offense or a combination of the two.

Our back line were terrible and our midfield... seriously, where they hell did they go? Vs. England they were at least a reason to smile. They showed real aggression and prevented more than a few breakouts by the English.

But vs. Slovenia?

We didn't build through the midfield - we didn't build. We just booted the ball long and desperate and more often than not - lost possession.

Watching a team like Barcelona - it is uncanny how a desperate defensive boot finds its way to a teammate who not only keeps possession - but has passing options for building an attack.

With the US, the ball goes off into green space where it is swiftly gobbled up by another attacker - and the US turns to defend again.

Worse, the same result happens when we have a goal kick. Total freedom to build from the back and Howard makes what is arguably the world's longest turnover.

Again and again.

I get that we were down and had to rush, but our attack has not been built on big-man-nods-the-long-ball-down play.

Altidore got it done with Bradley for the second goal, and good on both of them, but let's remember how many times Jozy came up empty - and how many possessions came to nothing before the 82nd freaking minute payoff.

I don't doubt Jozy's commitment or workrate - but I'd argue he's better when he's part of a coordinated group of attackers. Not that piss poor long ball crap we bet the farm on today.

The other big takeway from today? Landon Donovan: Stud. That picture perfect goal to open the 2nd half was the mark of a man who knows his business. Took the ball, stepped up, saw daylight and buried it.

Rock on. That was the future of the US World Cup right there. He lays that off like a traditional US player, we're nowhere and desperate for a lot longer.

Forget the whining about the bad call - forget our comeback, even. If we'd played worth a crap we'd have never gone down 2 in the first place.

I still don't get why the US needs to be terrified and desperate before they realize they are a professional soccer team. It's such madness to talk about how they've matured.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers 2002 - how a playing-for-pride-Poland almost sent us home with three goals in our backside. How we had to have South Korea gift us a ticket to the round of 16.

We keep screwing up the basics and we have no guarantees that we'll be able to beat an Algeria squad that managed something we couldn't: keep a clean sheet against England.

The boosters like Lalas "We should win 2-0" need to start viewing every opponent like demons from hell. This is the World freaking Cup - there are no easy points and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we might become a serious team.

Go USA.

Média Horizonte

Robert Green: Totally walking back to England

Say this for the Americans - we're not boring.

Infuriating, inspiring or incompetent - there's always a reason to yell.

Scoreline - June 12, 2010
USA: 1
Dempsey 40'
England: 1
Gerrard 4'

There's a lot of cheering at how the US wasn't demolished by England - how we showed real spirit.

Demerit shut down Rooney...Altidore could have won it... blah blah blah...

Look, I'm as happy as the next yank - but you have to look at what happened. Yet again, the US gets a point only by the grace of the soccer gods. And let's review... Soccer gods? A$$holes The only reason Green tanked on Dempsey's shot was because England is higher up on their sh!tlist than we were. Our time will come again - and the US is providing way too many vectors for a crushing takedown.

Exhibit A was the US defense. We were a surging bunch of madmen in midfield, but as soon as the ball got within 30 yards, we suddenly become a bunch of ball-watching tools. Yes, Howard was a stud in the net - but he had to be. England was getting all kinds of through balls on our left side, and but for Heskey's case of the goal pox we'd have lost this game by 2.

I loved watching our domination of the midfield - we never owned England, and we didn't get more possession - but it was so gratifying to see pass after pass get hacked off by Clark or Cherundolo. Great stuff. If we'd have been able to stomp on stuff like that in our own third as well - we might have had something.

But no, we had Lennon and Johnson shredding us practically at will - if they got through midfield. A lot of buzz is going around about Demerit shutting down Rooney, but Rooney was drawing attention and giving some great balls through to the English attack. I'd rather have him doing that than surging into our net - but we didn't shut him off. Rooney was dialing up his influence late in the game. If he'd have had 20 more minutes, I think he could have buried us.

Onyewu didn't feeb - but he didn't impress me much. Cherundolo was a maniac, and much as I've been slagging on Donovan - you can't deny the man was a building force for the US.

We have a good chance to clear the group now, I don't see us doing well in the knockout round - we're just too sloppy in the back, but hell this is soccer. Perhaps the soccer gods will dick with us by letting us live a bit longer.

Go USA.

But When They Came For Soccer...

(Via Good Blog)

E found a winner of an article about another high flying industry that has gone underwater in the new era of financial suckage:

Soccer.

It's a natural fit, really - borrowing lots to buy up high priced talent or build palatial stadiums.

Here's a nibble:

Manchester United—the Premier League’s defending champion and one of the world’s most glittering sports properties—is awash in crippling debt thanks to the Glazer family, a troupe of eerily identical American sports tycoons who bought the club in 2005 with hefty loans from banks and hedge funds, then transferred the debt to United’s books. In the last three years, Man U shelled out over 260 million pounds in interest alone, raised ticket prices, and sold superstar midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo to pay the bills. Via financial jujitsu that frankly induces nausea just to read about, the Glazers appear to be doing just fine on the deal. Similar conditions prevail at Liverpool, a club famous for its raucous working-class fan traditions. American bumblers Tom Hicks and George Gillett pulled a leveraged takeover of the club in 2007; with repayment of 100 million pounds looming, some fear Liverpool will have to liquidate its star players

I generally stay out of the financial issues of spots - mostly because they are so depressing - but there's such a confluence of interests going on here. It's just too hard to ignore.

Yeesh.