***Soccer Post: USA vs Spain starting now on ESPN***
- Thread starter PosterFormerlyKnownAsRFAA
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Ha. Great game, and the US has been building up to that and deserved every bit of it. And it WAS no less than a "decent" game by Spain, so it's not like we got lucky they had an off game.
Proud of this team. We've had the talent for a while, but it's been tough getting over our inferiority complex.
Proud of this team. We've had the talent for a while, but it's been tough getting over our inferiority complex.
and that's how we need to play all the time against teams like that (clearly better than us). you're always gonna have at least some room in midfield, but there were times we had ten behind the ball, really thick through the middle. spain had lots of possession, lots of offensive possension, but few clear cut chances. and to their discredit, they took nearly everything through the middle, not much attacking from the outside this evening at all. our defense, central defenders especially, were incredible. how many shots were blocked this evening? howard did well when called upon, but the defenders were really sacrificing their bodies.
excellent match, and one to enjoy.
excellent match, and one to enjoy.
Is this the day we look back on and say was the turning point for US soccer to take it to the next level - from being a "good" international team to a potentially great one? We came through on a world stage like we haven't done before. What a performance.
This was an incredible result, and the confidence gained from it is immeasureable. This definitely could propel us to the next level. I'm not saying we're going to win the World Cup, but we've been floundering in the "pretty good" group for several years, so why couldn't this be a step towards becoming a consistent top 10 team?
howard had a great game, it was nowhere near the performance of keller in 98 v brazil.
**edited to add: demerit completely shut down torres
**edited to add: demerit completely shut down torres
But I'm not ready to go there yet. Maybe one day, in retrospect though. Still, it was a great day and a great result. One of the best ever, and it certainly will help us going forward, if only to provide some confidence. Great, great game. So excited, can't wait for the final.
Howard, Gooch, DeMerit, Altidore, Dempsey, on and on.
Howard, Gooch, DeMerit, Altidore, Dempsey, on and on.
The is the same exact feeling I had after beating Portugal in 2002, advancing to be Mexico, only to lose to Germany in what was probably our best played game of that entire tournament.
I thought it was then I would be able to look back and think "that is when we turned the corner..."
Regardless, this was a huge win. I hope the confidence and momentum carries over into the qualifiers. A win in Azteca this year, or even a solid tie, would be a huge step forward.
The feeling I have right now about 2010 is 180 degrees from what I felt a week ago!
This was a good result but there is a lot of soccer to play.
I hope Bob Bradley sticks with the true 4-4-2 formation with Altidore and Davies up top. It isn't a coincidence that we have done better with that. Hell, at this point, I'd even let Dempsey play up front.
For some reason, I can't help but wonder what Demarcus Beasley thinks about all of this.
I thought it was then I would be able to look back and think "that is when we turned the corner..."
Regardless, this was a huge win. I hope the confidence and momentum carries over into the qualifiers. A win in Azteca this year, or even a solid tie, would be a huge step forward.
The feeling I have right now about 2010 is 180 degrees from what I felt a week ago!
This was a good result but there is a lot of soccer to play.
I hope Bob Bradley sticks with the true 4-4-2 formation with Altidore and Davies up top. It isn't a coincidence that we have done better with that. Hell, at this point, I'd even let Dempsey play up front.
For some reason, I can't help but wonder what Demarcus Beasley thinks about all of this.
we have a breakthrough game such as this and we go back to what we are used to. I will believe it when I see it.
is a tradition of world class goalkeepers. Kasey Keller and Brad Friedal may have been the best 1-2 goalkeeper tandem in the world for the past decade or so and Tim Howard is continuing the tradition very well, and maybe even upping the ante a little. Even though Keller was still an outstanding GK when he retired from International soccer, I was actually glad to see it happen because that opened the spot for Howard to play.
This is the first ever major International tournament the USA has ever made the finals in and only the second world #1 team we have beat. It is a huge 17ing deal. When the ELO soccer rankings (which are traditionally much more accurate than the FIFA rankings) are updated for this match, we'll be ranked #9 in the world, the first time we've ever cracked the top 10.
I like Damarcus Beasley and I've rooted for him ever since he made his first International start, but 17 Damarcus Beasley. As much as we call Landon Donovan the giant *****, the truth is he's actually a pretty good player just not nearly as good as his hype is. Beasley is the true giant ***** on this team. If he'd been in the lineup today, I'm not sure we win the match.PosterFormerlyKnownAsRFAA said:
Exactly. Donovan gets some grief, and deservedly so, but it's largely due to the amount of hype he gets. He's still a good player, and one of our best a good bit of the time.patdog said:
Beasley, on the other hand, shouldn't start another game. When's the last time he's not only done anything, but actually played a decent game. I don't know what's happened to the guy... He used to be OK, but he hasn't produced in some time. The turnover he had against Brazil which directly resulted in their 2nd goal was mind-boggling. And you could see the goal coming the moment Brazil took possession.
As for today's game (I just finished watching it)... Unbelievable effort. Same for the last game against Egypt. That's what the USA has to do. We're not going to out-talent or out-skill anybody when we play these big boys. We just have to grind it out. Play tough defense. Keep our shape. Don't take stupid fouls in the defensive third. Don't turn the ball over needlessly. And take advantage of the opportunities we're given. We finally saw some heart in these last two games. I can only make a couple of criticisms... We gave up possession a little too easily at times. And we're still giving too much space in the middle of the field. But you could tell in these last two games that we were closing the opponent down much more aggressively than in the first two.
Great game. Oh... and complete BS red card. That will hurt us in the final. Bradley is solid in the middle.
Beasley is garbage. Donovan muddied it up today. Got back and defended, won the ball back, even had a block in the box. He was terrific overall and seems to have finally embraced a leadership role. Dempsey is a monster and another great emotional leader. Like has been already said, we aren't going to win games against these teams on talent. We have to play together, play with a lot of determination and emotion and muck it up, and we did that today. If we keep playing like that, we can do some damage internationally. It's when we try to play like we're Brazil that we get slaughtered.
This is a big win, no doubt. But we have all heard the same **** that the US was ready to take that next step. It has yet to happen. We were all ready to fire Bradley before Monday.
I have complained non-stop about Donovan for as long as I can remember, but his performance was impressive today. To me, the exciting thing about his play ithat he is demanding the ball now. In the past I have always been furious woth him because he was our "best player" but he was content to roam around and rest on the excuse that the ball wasn't given to him. Perhaps he is understanding that this team is his to lead if he chooses. Altidore is an exciting player, I just hope he starts getting some time in Europe because he is still a rough prospect. Lets just hope he continues to improve. I really wish we could have someone else step up at midfield so that we could use Dempsey as a holding forward. Altidore's iffy first touch allowed Spain to regain possesion way too easily. I think it is also worth noting that Feilheiber (sp?) deserves alot of credit for Dempsey's goal, he could be the answer to our past complete lack of creativity in the midfield. Exciting stuff, but I will be a beleiver if we carry this momentum into Gold Cup/WC qualifying.
We were way overhyped by a flawed FIFA ranking system and a very favorable draw in the 2002 World Cup. It was a great result for us, but I never for a second thought we were anywhere near being a top 10 team. I'm not sure we are now, but we have more depth of talent (and a solid striker) than we've had in a long time, if ever. I still don't think Bradley is the best coach we could possibly hire, but I do think we have a pretty solid team when everybody's healthy. And I do like the lineup Bradley used today, moving Bocanegra to the outside back position (he's traditionally played inside back for us). He really shored up a glaring weakness for us there. And, it goes without saying, benching Beasley was a good move.
of the US soccer. Every once in a while, he plays a game where he deserves being called a captain. Until it's consistent, I will put him in the same boat as the US team.
thought we were one of the best 10 teams in the world after 2002. We drew freaking Mexico in the round of 16. How luckier of a break could we have possibly asked for? We got drilled by a very mediocre Poland team 3-1 during that World Cup. The network hyped us pretty big time before the World Cup based on the FIFA ranking that everyone knew was ********. They kind of had a vested interest in doing that because that was the best way to try to generate ratings and get themselves paid.</p>
to hit a tennis ball at your nuts on Sunday.
I don't think we are a top 10 team now. We won one big game - albeit aGAINST the #1 team in the world - but it's one game. In no way does this prove we are a top 10 team.
I don't think we are a top 10 team now. We won one big game - albeit aGAINST the #1 team in the world - but it's one game. In no way does this prove we are a top 10 team.
disagree with you. They rank us #9 in the world today. In 120 years of soccer, they've never ranked us higher than #11 until now. The new FIFA rankings (which are much more accurate than the old ones) should put us either in the top 10 or damn close to it when they are updated. As for tennis, considering your control over the ball, my nuts couldn't possibly be any safer.
BTW, Spain has fallen from #1 to #2 in the ELO ratings. The new #1 is Brazil. So by their ranking system, we'll play our second #1 team in 5 days when we play Brazil on Sunday.
BTW, Spain has fallen from #1 to #2 in the ELO ratings. The new #1 is Brazil. So by their ranking system, we'll play our second #1 team in 5 days when we play Brazil on Sunday.
or play a good game, then we are on to something.
And my erratic aim is what makes it all the more worthwhile.
And my erratic aim is what makes it all the more worthwhile.
According to the wiki explanation, "a country's points are the average of all matches played over the past four years (with decreasing contribution)..." The four factors used for each match are: 1) match result, 2) match status, 3) opposition strength, and 4) regional strength.patdog said:
Unless I'm misunderstanding or miscalculating something...
We'll get zero points for each of the first two matches in the Confed Cup. For beating Egypt, we'll get 1224 points (3x3x1.6x0.85x100). For beating Spain, we'll get 1657 points (3x3x1.99x0.925x100). IF we miraculously beat Brazil, we'll get 1615 points (3x3x1.95x0.92x100). The average of those five results is 899, less than our current rating of 947 points. So our five games in the Confed Cup, regardless of the result against Brazil, will bring our average down. It's hard to bring those two zeros up.
According to the formula they give, if Spain played every match against the #2 team in the world, and every one of those were in the Confederations Cup or the Euro tournament (which is obviously impossible), and won all of these games, no ties, and all of the matches were against other UEFA, then and only then they would average 1782 points (the max the number one team can get from a non-World Cup game). And that has them as averaging almost that amount, which is impossible.
Later in that wiki explanation, it says this:
Makes sense now.
So, the average from the last year counts fully. To that, you add half the average from 2 years ago... and so on... to arrive at the final ranking points.
Makes sense now.
Considering how awful he's been outside of MLS matches. Thought he might get a Gold Cup call but not the case. Hopefully Cooper will shine and force Bradley's hand.
Also, some harsh criticism of Beasley on this site (and elsewhere). He's been a fixture and major contributor since 2002. But, too many injuries have slowed his speed and he was never that skilled to begin with. He clearly is not national team material. But I don't fault him. I blame Bradley. He's the one who picked him and even played him out of position when everyone else could tell that Beasley is done at this level.
Also, some harsh criticism of Beasley on this site (and elsewhere). He's been a fixture and major contributor since 2002. But, too many injuries have slowed his speed and he was never that skilled to begin with. He clearly is not national team material. But I don't fault him. I blame Bradley. He's the one who picked him and even played him out of position when everyone else could tell that Beasley is done at this level.
We also went 1-2 in round robin play and had to have a practical miracle happen in order to make the knockout round.
Let's see how we do Sunday. If we show up and keep it close or win, then I'll get on board with that.
Let's see how we do Sunday. If we show up and keep it close or win, then I'll get on board with that.