Walking into my parent's house with a tummy full of Fourth of July fried hot dogs and fried dough to give my father some company for the all-time epic grudge match between the U.S. and Grenada in the opening match of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Saturday night, my first impressive probably summed up the ensuing 90 minutes.
Looking at the images beaming from Fox Soccer Channel on the flat screen television, it was like somebody smeared Vaseline all over the camera lenses at Seattle's Qwest Field and instead of a full-blown international match, it was 22 murky claymation figures running around on a green background.
The high definition beauty of the Confederations Cup on all levels, this wasn't. Looking at the screen was all you needed to know that this was a bit of a let down from an intensity standpoint.
And really, there's not much to say about the U.S.'s 4-0 victory over a team nicknamed of all things the'Spice Boys.' Grenada barely even bothered to put up a fight -- they might have well just worn the standard 'Opponent' jerseys. My rough estimate was the U.S. had the ball at least 80 percent of the time.
Suffice to say, not exactly a game to form any strong opinions one way or the other.
Regardless, Bob Bradley stuck with his now preferred 4-4-2 system with the holding midfielder rolls falling to Logan Pause alongside a leftover 90s era grunge bassist he found aimlessly roaming the streets of Seattle, err, Kyle Beckerman. Outside we got Robbie Rogers on the left and Stuart Holden on the right -- each impressing and scoring a goal.
Up top it was the continued progression of Charlie Davies and the first Freddy Adu sighting of the season. And no, and even though the game was in the Pacific Northwest, it wasn't a Sasquatch-like hoax. Adu actually played and scored a goal, to boot! There is film of it here. Adu doesn't even look back at the camera, either.
The defense? It was four guys and they're not even worth mentioning considering how little Grenada actually attacked during the match. It was a 25-3 advantage in shots for the U.S., 'nuff said. Troy Perkins made one save.
If anything, this match let this new-look U.S. team of fringe players get their footing going forward into the tournament. Rogers -- who assisted on a pair of goals on nice crosses from the left -- should continue to get looks throughout the tournament regardless of the opposition. Let's see if he can hack it since it's not like natural left-sided players with good delivery are growing on trees in the U.S.
Davies kept up his momentum from the Confederations Cup, scoring a nice goal -- albeit with a strange celebration -- on a nifty jump-kick cross from Heath Pearce after a ball was played over the top deep from the defense.
As for Adu, it took me this long to get into him.
In fairness, it was a mixed bag performance that leaned toward the "good" column. You had his one-touch goal inside of 10 minutes, coupled with some decent set piece delivery and a lot of good facilitating of the offense all over the field.
Two plays probably encapsulated Adu's night. First, early in the second half he stuck out his leg and stole the ball right off a Grenada defender for a breakaway on goal. Instead of going for goal, he laid it off to Davies on the left who had a lesser angle. Then later, he stole a terrible clear from the Grenada keeper and tried to beat him with a cheeky chip/strike. It hit the right corner where the crossbar meets the post. Nice play. Except the ball stayed in bounds while Adu was lamenting the miss.
Overall, Adu remains the ultimate U.S. wild card. Let's just see which cards he is best used alongside.
That's really it. I'd have to think this was the most time any of the U.S. players actually had on the ball since their youth days.
I've highlighted the four guys the U.S. ought to get as much playing time as the tourney goes forward -- Rogers, Davies, Holden and Adu. They're all offensive-minded players and had they been available in the second half of the Confederations Cup vs. Brazil last month maybe things could have finished different.
Wait a second, that last sentence opens up a can of worms, doesn't it?
Let's move onto other stuff.
Other stuff:
* Jake Slade sounds more like a male porn actor than a soccer player, no?
* U.S. defender Clarence Goodson probably deserves a place in Bill Simmons' 'Reggie Cleveland All Stars'.
* Since it was a CONCACAF game, we got some terrible officiating, even in a match with one or two maximum slide tackles. First Brad Evans got a yellow card for coming on for Steve Cherundolo too early. Hm? Later Adu got a yellow for handling a ball inside the opponents box, negating a goal. Harsh.
Where do they find these CONCACAF officials? If I go down to the drug store and buy some bronzer and work up a tan does it qualify me for the position?
* Good to hear the South African horns made the trip back with the U.S. They're like killer bees -- but noisier!
* Great through ball by Pause, setting up Roger's goal. Hey, it's not his fault you could have driven a convoy through the Grenada defense. Take the chances you're given, though overall, with a little more edge in the final third this game could have ended closer to 6 or 7-0.
* Grenada's keeper (sorry too full of grease to look up his name) was a good shot-stopper, but as Max Bretos noted, his distribution was nothing short of shambolic. If the Brit press were watching they might have needed to coin a new term for it.
* Grenada actually had a dude with Bubb as a surname. At least it gives me a chance to post this link. (Whoo-woo.)
Yeah, it was that kind of game.
Looking at the images beaming from Fox Soccer Channel on the flat screen television, it was like somebody smeared Vaseline all over the camera lenses at Seattle's Qwest Field and instead of a full-blown international match, it was 22 murky claymation figures running around on a green background.
The high definition beauty of the Confederations Cup on all levels, this wasn't. Looking at the screen was all you needed to know that this was a bit of a let down from an intensity standpoint.
And really, there's not much to say about the U.S.'s 4-0 victory over a team nicknamed of all things the'Spice Boys.' Grenada barely even bothered to put up a fight -- they might have well just worn the standard 'Opponent' jerseys. My rough estimate was the U.S. had the ball at least 80 percent of the time.
Suffice to say, not exactly a game to form any strong opinions one way or the other.
Regardless, Bob Bradley stuck with his now preferred 4-4-2 system with the holding midfielder rolls falling to Logan Pause alongside a leftover 90s era grunge bassist he found aimlessly roaming the streets of Seattle, err, Kyle Beckerman. Outside we got Robbie Rogers on the left and Stuart Holden on the right -- each impressing and scoring a goal.
Up top it was the continued progression of Charlie Davies and the first Freddy Adu sighting of the season. And no, and even though the game was in the Pacific Northwest, it wasn't a Sasquatch-like hoax. Adu actually played and scored a goal, to boot! There is film of it here. Adu doesn't even look back at the camera, either.
The defense? It was four guys and they're not even worth mentioning considering how little Grenada actually attacked during the match. It was a 25-3 advantage in shots for the U.S., 'nuff said. Troy Perkins made one save.
If anything, this match let this new-look U.S. team of fringe players get their footing going forward into the tournament. Rogers -- who assisted on a pair of goals on nice crosses from the left -- should continue to get looks throughout the tournament regardless of the opposition. Let's see if he can hack it since it's not like natural left-sided players with good delivery are growing on trees in the U.S.
Davies kept up his momentum from the Confederations Cup, scoring a nice goal -- albeit with a strange celebration -- on a nifty jump-kick cross from Heath Pearce after a ball was played over the top deep from the defense.
As for Adu, it took me this long to get into him.
In fairness, it was a mixed bag performance that leaned toward the "good" column. You had his one-touch goal inside of 10 minutes, coupled with some decent set piece delivery and a lot of good facilitating of the offense all over the field.
Two plays probably encapsulated Adu's night. First, early in the second half he stuck out his leg and stole the ball right off a Grenada defender for a breakaway on goal. Instead of going for goal, he laid it off to Davies on the left who had a lesser angle. Then later, he stole a terrible clear from the Grenada keeper and tried to beat him with a cheeky chip/strike. It hit the right corner where the crossbar meets the post. Nice play. Except the ball stayed in bounds while Adu was lamenting the miss.
Overall, Adu remains the ultimate U.S. wild card. Let's just see which cards he is best used alongside.
That's really it. I'd have to think this was the most time any of the U.S. players actually had on the ball since their youth days.
I've highlighted the four guys the U.S. ought to get as much playing time as the tourney goes forward -- Rogers, Davies, Holden and Adu. They're all offensive-minded players and had they been available in the second half of the Confederations Cup vs. Brazil last month maybe things could have finished different.
Wait a second, that last sentence opens up a can of worms, doesn't it?
Let's move onto other stuff.
Other stuff:
* Jake Slade sounds more like a male porn actor than a soccer player, no?
* U.S. defender Clarence Goodson probably deserves a place in Bill Simmons' 'Reggie Cleveland All Stars'.
* Since it was a CONCACAF game, we got some terrible officiating, even in a match with one or two maximum slide tackles. First Brad Evans got a yellow card for coming on for Steve Cherundolo too early. Hm? Later Adu got a yellow for handling a ball inside the opponents box, negating a goal. Harsh.
Where do they find these CONCACAF officials? If I go down to the drug store and buy some bronzer and work up a tan does it qualify me for the position?
* Good to hear the South African horns made the trip back with the U.S. They're like killer bees -- but noisier!
* Great through ball by Pause, setting up Roger's goal. Hey, it's not his fault you could have driven a convoy through the Grenada defense. Take the chances you're given, though overall, with a little more edge in the final third this game could have ended closer to 6 or 7-0.
* Grenada's keeper (sorry too full of grease to look up his name) was a good shot-stopper, but as Max Bretos noted, his distribution was nothing short of shambolic. If the Brit press were watching they might have needed to coin a new term for it.
* Grenada actually had a dude with Bubb as a surname. At least it gives me a chance to post this link. (Whoo-woo.)
Yeah, it was that kind of game.
Labels: concacaf, Freddy Adu, Gold Cup, Soccer, USMNT
hahaha some may call it a 'strange celebration' but those with our ears to the streets know that Davies was doing
THE STANKY LEGG
srsly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNW7QdM2Kw8
I went to the game. We were seated right behind the Grenada goal for the first half. At half time we decided to move to the other end since we figured there would be no more action at that end. Overall it was pretty fun even though we didn't get to see our A squad. Turnout was pretty poor, I was hoping for better so perhaps we might actually see some meaningful national team games in Seattle.
Who played goal for the US? I missed the pregame lineup and it looked like he had too much hair to be Guzan.
The Grenada keeper's last name was Noel. I loved it when he dropkicked the ball right into the back of a defender!
I think Adu will come into his own and be a star for the US. He is still super young and I look forward to his progress