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Gold Cup Thread

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fsUTampa

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May 31, 2003
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USA starts out group play vs Honduras today. Should skate through the group stage (Panama and Haiti are the other teams). I'm not worried about Mexico down the road, I'm more worried about Costa Rica. We should win the whole thing, but we find a way to play down to the level of these CONCACAF teams, and their incessant flopping/diving/dirty play I think really gets into our heads sometimes.

I'm guessing we'll see a Starting XI tonight of:
Guzan
Chandler/Gonzalez/Brooks/Johnson
Bedoya/Diskerud/Bradley/Zusi
Altidore/Dempsey

And the subs will be Yedlin, Zardes, and Johansson (or Beckerman if extra defensive mids are needed)

I'd rather not see Chandler, Bedoya, or Zusi starting, but that looks like the trend Jurgen is going with.
 
was nice to see Jill Ellis show some respect to Rampone and Wambach. Klinsman should take notes.
 
Did Rampone and Wambach practice poorly before the Cup? Did they skip any World Cup qualifying? Were they playing poorly in their domestic league prior to the Cup? Were they uncomitted? Should Donovan be brought on in a blow out as a symbol of the past, while more fit and productive players started? Were Wambach and Rampone distractions to the team when they did not play, like Donovan would have been. Did Rampone and Wambach admit several times that the practice schedule was grueling for players their age and that it was possible that they could not go the distance?

Not sure why Klinsman should be taking notes.
 
Ellis put her ego aside. Klinsman did not, and we surely could have used Donovan.

btw, Alex Morgan didn't practice much in the lead up.

Hope Solo was a distraction but didn't miss a game.

Wambach couldn't go the distance and it showed; she wouldn't admit it and just made excuses about the turf.
 
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Jurgi was dead right to leave LD off the 2014 USA Men's roster. Any suggestion to the contrary is silly and based on some very strange nostalgia (I assume). Klinsmann is the man! I'll hear no criticism of him. None! :)

Morgan was hurt leading up to the cup and wasn't fit. Everyone knows this already though, so not sure why you'd suggest her as an example.

Wambach was old and useless...just like LD would've been. A stronger coach might have left her off the squad altogether - like Klinsmann did to Donovan.
 
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Wow, some (pleasant) surprises in the starting lineup...

Zardes and Yedlin are starting outside mids. I like that.

Beckerman as the defensive holding mid. Wish Mix could get in there, but fine, I get it.

Shockingly Alvarado is starting CB
 
CONCACAF really stinks (besides the tico's, Mexico and us) but stranger things have happened.
Jurgen is going all out-- looks like the A team (for the most part). Winning a spot at the Confederations Cup is worth it-- lets hope we dominate CONCACAF for years to come-- make FIFA be forced to make us join CONMEBOL... ok I'm getting carried away. But you get the point.

Regarding Donovan-- he was my favorite soccer player and we weren't happy that he was left off the team. But if the above is true about not going all out for practice (cue Allen Iverson and "we talking 'bout practice"
) then I can understand both points of view.
 
First half thoughts vs Honduras...

A) Prior to the goal, I'm pretty sure Beckerman and Bradley combined for a 0% passing completion rate. And I'm not being hyperbolic here.

B) The backline is getting destroyed, but that is partly due to "A" above.

C) We're being too reliant on trying to get the ball to Yedlin and have him make moves, but I think again that's partly due to "A" above.

D) Altidore is easily the best player on the pitch of all 22, with Guzan being the next one. Dempsey got the goal, but that was all Jozy's doing on that pinball corner.

E) This ref is in wayyyy over his head.

F) Timmy Chandler wouldn't be able to start for my Sunday adult coed league team. Not only is his defending horrid, but he pretty much gives away the ball on every possession and has absolutely zero vision. Fabian Johnson is night-and-day better than him on the opposite side, and it's glaring.
 
3 points is all that matters. Ugly game. And Chandler and Alvarado need to get acquainted with the bench for good.
 
fsUTampa said:
First half thoughts vs Honduras...

A) Prior to the goal, I'm pretty sure Beckerman and Bradley combined for a 0% passing completion rate. And I'm not being hyperbolic here.

B) The backline is getting destroyed, but that is partly due to "A" above.

C) We're being too reliant on trying to get the ball to Yedlin and have him make moves, but I think again that's partly due to "A" above.

D) Altidore is easily the best player on the pitch of all 22, with Guzan being the next one. Dempsey got the goal, but that was all Jozy's doing on that pinball corner.

E) This ref is in wayyyy over his head.

F) Timmy Chandler wouldn't be able to start for my Sunday adult coed league team. Not only is his defending horrid, but he pretty much gives away the ball on every possession and has absolutely zero vision. Fabian Johnson is night-and-day better than him on the opposite side, and it's glaring.
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Did Beckerman pass forward at all last night? Every time I looked, it seemed like he was passing backwards. The defense was terrible. It seemed they were afraid to challenge anyone. The ref was definitely terrible. So many fouls that were not called. My favorite was when the Honduras player used his hands to shove the US defender away to make space for his shot.
 
45d9858e34f33e0d317cd347c7a29e0b.jpg
 
We always play poorly against teams who play extremely physical in that manner where the refs let them play in that manner. It seems we get flustered very easily when pressed and hit that often. That was our most difficult game coming out of group play so we should be good to win the group with that win assuming other things don't fall poorly but we need to get far better before Costa Rica or Mexico.
 
kc78 said:
We always play poorly against teams who play extremely physical in that manner where the refs let them play in that manner. It seems we get flustered very easily when pressed and hit that often. That was our most difficult game coming out of group play so we should be good to win the group with that win assuming other things don't fall poorly but we need to get far better before Costa Rica or Mexico.
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Chichirito has a broken collar bone and is out. Mexico is a mess. I haven't seen much of Costa this year.
 
Fijimn said:
Chichirito has a broken collar bone and is out. Mexico is a mess. I haven't seen much of Costa this year.
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Agreed. Not sure why the media guys keep saying/assuming Mexico is the team the USA needs to beat. I think Costa Rica is by far the better of the 2 teams in their current form.
 
Costa Rica is a better team than Mexico right now, but Mexico has played better under this new coach, but their defense is a mess and Javier Hernandez (one of Mexico's all-time leading scorers) is out. Mexico's B team did not look all that bad in the Copa. I believe that this is a three team race right now, and if everyone holds serve, the US will get Costa Rica (Eric Wynalda said that playing in Costa Rica is perhaps the toughest place he has ever played at....just saying) in the semis and Mexico gets an easier route to the finals. Costa Rica will get a group runner up in the quarters while Mexico gets a 3rd place team, not sure why Mexico misses both Costa Rica and the US until the finals AND gets a 3rd place team in the quarters (of course, that's assuming the big 3 all win their groups).
 
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Mexico definitely has the clearest route to the Final. I agree that Costa Rica is going to be the more difficult of the two teams. If we win the Gold Cup this year, assuming it plays out the way I think it will, we will definitely have taken a tough route to get there having to get by the three toughest teams in Concacaf outside of the US in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Honduras in that order.
 
Not trying to bring the locker room down but while watching the match last night it occurred to me that Jozy Alitdore is a soccer player that looks like he could have played college and possibly pro football.
 
Amazing how physical the Refs allowed the game to progress. Rugby type fouls went uncalled.
 
noleit said:
Amazing how physical the Refs allowed the game to progress. Rugby type fouls went uncalled.
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This is not uncommon when the US plays smaller third-world countries. There is a lot of bias in FIFA against the US.
 
Fijimn said:
This is not uncommon when the US plays smaller third-world countries. There is a lot of bias in FIFA against the US.
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I generally stay away from the ref is against us talk, but I've been watching the USNMT for years, and especially in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, there have been some horrendous calls and non-calls that have gone against the USA over the years, especially when playing outside the US. The US is loathed by the other nations, even though the US sends billions in aide to those countries. I have seen players (as described above), hammered with rugby and almost American football-like tackles and the calls have not been whistled or yellow/red cards have not been shown. I cringed when I saw that the referee and 2 of his assistants were Mexican. That's like asking ISIS to preside over an Al-Qaeda terrorism trial, with 8 of the 12 jurors being ISIS, with the courtroom located in Syria.

I wonder if the Jamaican assistant referee passed around some ganja being for the match.
 
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Jamaica, with nothing to lose at all, sent their "A" team to Chile, unlike Mexico, and lost 3 1-nil games to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. I wouldn't call going 0-3 a success, but losing close (on the score sheet) games to the World Cup and Copa finalists, a World Cup round of 16 team and a Copa semi-finalist promising for a team that not many people had any hopes of success for. Bringing their "A" team to Chile helped as the Jamaicans played a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica last night.

If Canada or El Salvador can steal some points from Costa Rica and the US wins their group, this could force a Mexico/Costa Rica semifinal instead of a US/Costa Rica semifinal, but of course, if CR were to slide to 3rd place, they could end up playing the US or Mexico in the quarters (depending on which two third place teams will advance and of course the US and Mexico would have to win their groups).

I was not able to find last night's game on an English speaking channel, but did flip through on one of the Spanish speaking stations and the Costa Rica/Jamaica games was pretty decent even though the stadium looked pretty empty.
 
Manch. said:
Jamaica, with nothing to lose at all, sent their "A" team to Chile, unlike Mexico, and lost 3 1-nil games to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. I wouldn't call going 0-3 a success, but losing close (on the score sheet) games to the World Cup and Copa finalists, a World Cup round of 16 team and a Copa semi-finalist promising for a team that not many people had any hopes of success for. Bringing their "A" team to Chile helped as the Jamaicans played a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica last night.

If Canada or El Salvador can steal some points from Costa Rica and the US wins their group, this could force a Mexico/Costa Rica semifinal instead of a US/Costa Rica semifinal, but of course, if CR were to slide to 3rd place, they could end up playing the US or Mexico in the quarters (depending on which two third place teams will advance and of course the US and Mexico would have to win their groups).

I was not able to find last night's game on an English speaking channel, but did flip through on one of the Spanish speaking stations and the Costa Rica/Jamaica games was pretty decent even though the stadium looked pretty empty.
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It was on Fox Sports 2
 
fsugrad06 said:
It was on Fox Sports 2
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We don't get FS2 up here (Comcast New England), not sure why, but we don't and I didn't feel like bringing it up on the computer.

Does Fox charge to watch FS2 on-line?

seminoleed said:
FS1 has Cuba/Mexico tonight at 9:30. Viva los Commies!
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Mexico is the networks darling team, ESPN loves them.

I would watch the Spanish channel over that moron Ray Hudson from beIN sports, man did he ruin the Copa for me and thankfully beIN isn't covering the Gold Cup.
 
Canada should've stole points last night. Cyle Larin made a good move then missed a goal a U6 kid would finish.

Apparently Cuba is having visa issues.....

And do yourself a favor and don't peruse the new FIFA rankings....another reason for the organization to get blown up.
 
I usually only watch soccer on the Spanish channel. Much more entertaining and the announcers are more knowledgeable...
 
fsUTampa said:
Canada should've stole points last night. Cyle Larin made a good move then missed a goal a U6 kid would finish.

Apparently Cuba is having visa issues.....

And do yourself a favor and don't peruse the new FIFA rankings....another reason for the organization to get blown up.
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Larin I think has a great future, but as an Orlando City fan I get very frustrated sometimes watching him miss shots or simply not attempt them at all quite often. With that said, I think he's very promising.

You're right on the rankings. The US wins their last 5 games including wins against Germany, The Netherlands, and Mexico in addition to a prior draw vs Switzerland and we fall in the FIFA rankings. Ridiculous.
 
kc78 said:
Larin I think has a great future, but as an Orlando City fan I get very frustrated sometimes watching him miss shots or simply not attempt them at all quite often. With that said, I think he's very promising.

You're right on the rankings. The US wins their last 5 games including wins against Germany, The Netherlands, and Mexico in addition to a prior draw vs Switzerland and we fall in the FIFA rankings. Ridiculous.
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FIFA rankings are crooked and pro-Euro....it would be like if ESPN ran the College Football rankings.
 
LesClaypool said:
Leave my boy Ray alone!!

:mad:
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Les, you are a great new face in the other thread on the P&GSF board, but that guy kills me! I don't understand how he can announce a game with Messi's you know what in his mouth. I can get away with watching a lot of footie, but when he's circle jerking Barca, my wife makes me change the channel! Did Hudson have Alex Sanchez's kid yet?

kc78 said:
You're right on the rankings. The US wins their last 5 games including wins against Germany, The Netherlands, and Mexico in addition to a prior draw vs Switzerland and we fall in the FIFA rankings. Ridiculous.
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It is dumbfounding how the US dropped with quality wins at Germany and the Netherlands and a quality draw in Switzerland. That was basically 7 out of 9 points on the road against then ranked #1, #6 and #12 in the WORLD, not Europe, the world. I guess that win over then #18 Mexico was an indictment on the team!
 
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Manch. said:
It is dumbfounding how the US dropped with quality wins at Germany and the Netherlands and a quality draw in Switzerland. That was basically 7 out of 9 points on the road against then ranked #1, #6 and #12 in the WORLD, not Europe, the world. I guess that win over then #18 Mexico was an indictment on the team!
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Maybe that's the price you pay for arresting most of their officers and forcing their fraudulent president into retirement. If that's what it took to clean at least part of the house, I'll take dropping in the rankings.
 
I know it's only against Guatamala, but making a prediction now: TnT wins Group C
 
kc78 said:
Larin I think has a great future, but as an Orlando City fan I get very frustrated sometimes watching him miss shots or simply not attempt them at all quite often. With that said, I think he's very promising.
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I agree. He's young and has a future, and hopefully it'll manifest itself soon, but you can't miss a shot like that for your country, especially a country that's really struggling on the international level.
 
fsUTampa said:
I know it's only against Guatamala, but making a prediction now: TnT wins Group C
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Looking good right now, TnT is looking solid.

BTW, TnT is home to one of my favorite all-time United players, Dwight Yorke!

We thought about going to tomorrow's game in Foxborough, but with a sick FIL, the timing is just not right. The US could clinch the group with a win and Honduras/Panama draw.
 
I know Cuba has 6 players & a coach not at the game due to some kind of visa issue with another player who defected but that team needs to seriously consider dropping out of the tournament.

Mexico gets another easy round with Guatemala next.
 
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