Glen Johnson finally got rid of that ridiculous hair. I'll never understand how players can play with so much weight on top of their head. Every great player has a rebirth period when they get out of a slump by shaving their head. I hope this is Johnson's, even though I hate Liverpool with a passion.
It feels unnatural that they are no longer a top 4 contender. I don't like change.
The assistant referee was a woman! Outstanding. I definitely support female refs, but this is still such a surprise. First time I've ever seen a female reffing top level men's soccer. I'm glad she made the correct call for the first goal. Had she called Torres offsides, I'm sure there would be a lot of controversy in the papers, and most would be focused on the fact that she was a woman.
Meireles and Reina, best players.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Aging America
I just took a look at the ages of our established National Men's Team, here's a look at how old they'll be when the World Cup 2014 Brazil kicks off:
Landon Donovan 32
Jermaine Jones 32
Tim Howard 35
Clint Dempsey 31
Oguchi Onyewu 32
Jonathan Spector 28
Michael Bradley 26
DeMarcus Beasley 32
Jonathan Bornstein 29
Stuart Holden 28
Maurice Edu 28
Jozy Altidore 24
Benny Felihaber 29
Ricardo Clark 31
Jose Torres 26
We're going to be sporting a fairly old team. But I think everybody on the list has a chance of making another World Cup appearance as long as they maintain regular football and fitness over the next 3 years.
Landon Donovan 32
Jermaine Jones 32
Tim Howard 35
Clint Dempsey 31
Oguchi Onyewu 32
Jonathan Spector 28
Michael Bradley 26
DeMarcus Beasley 32
Jonathan Bornstein 29
Stuart Holden 28
Maurice Edu 28
Jozy Altidore 24
Benny Felihaber 29
Ricardo Clark 31
Jose Torres 26
We're going to be sporting a fairly old team. But I think everybody on the list has a chance of making another World Cup appearance as long as they maintain regular football and fitness over the next 3 years.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Asian Cup 2011: Australia vs. Korea Republic
Caught the Australian feed of this game on Dish pay-per-view. $15, still not sure if it was worth it.
First of all, I'll have to admit, Australian commentators were pretty entertaining. They were very knowledgeable and unbiased. It was refreshing to hear compared to some of the obnoxious English commentary and the overall poor commentary done by the United States that I am accustomed to.
Korea's strength was their short game. I love it, my style of football. Short pass, high success rate, lots of off the ball movement. Very Espanol inspired. I will have to say SungYeung is developing well, but he plays the easy pass way too often. He needs to learn Xavi's death-pass. The decisive playmaking skills will come in time.
YoungPyo and DuRi both need to learn how to cross. Like Sagna, they brilliantly dribble the whole length of the field beating 2-3 defenders at a time in the corner, then ruin it all with a terrible cross. It seems most sidebacks lack crossing quality nowadays. Korea needs a Phillip Lahm.
Brett Holman is pretty awesome. I'm really liking this guy. He caught my attention during the WC 2010 and still continues to impress. Australia's only spark.
Carney, you're a beast. Dislocated your arm at the shoulder and popped it back in on the field, then stood up and walked off on your own feet.
My rankings (based on everything, anything, and nothing):
Korea's Performance: B-
Australia's Performance: B-
Viewing Experience: C+
Just like my highschool coach used to say, "a draw is like making out with your sister, you made out, but it was with your sister."
First of all, I'll have to admit, Australian commentators were pretty entertaining. They were very knowledgeable and unbiased. It was refreshing to hear compared to some of the obnoxious English commentary and the overall poor commentary done by the United States that I am accustomed to.
Korea's strength was their short game. I love it, my style of football. Short pass, high success rate, lots of off the ball movement. Very Espanol inspired. I will have to say SungYeung is developing well, but he plays the easy pass way too often. He needs to learn Xavi's death-pass. The decisive playmaking skills will come in time.
YoungPyo and DuRi both need to learn how to cross. Like Sagna, they brilliantly dribble the whole length of the field beating 2-3 defenders at a time in the corner, then ruin it all with a terrible cross. It seems most sidebacks lack crossing quality nowadays. Korea needs a Phillip Lahm.
Brett Holman is pretty awesome. I'm really liking this guy. He caught my attention during the WC 2010 and still continues to impress. Australia's only spark.
Carney, you're a beast. Dislocated your arm at the shoulder and popped it back in on the field, then stood up and walked off on your own feet.
My rankings (based on everything, anything, and nothing):
Korea's Performance: B-
Australia's Performance: B-
Viewing Experience: C+
Just like my highschool coach used to say, "a draw is like making out with your sister, you made out, but it was with your sister."
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