Tuesday March 11 USA vs Cuba 8:00 PM Tampa Raymond James Stadium also live on Fox Soccer Channel Bring your banners support our US team and Soccer in Tampa
I'm going to all 3 games, but the real question is what do we as a Tampa soccer community get out of it? For one it's already known we could draw in big crowds for games like these, also I'm hoping that the USL and MLS management look as Tampa as a viable candidate for a pro team once again in Tampa..what do you think?
I think we should easily qualify in 1st place out of the group, but what team will be most difficult? I think Honduras
USA 1-1 Cuba Fun atmosphere Great crowd too bad their wasn't more people but what can you expect for Tuesday night game,,hopefully more on Thursday and Saturday...The US side needs to start getting their act together
for the amount of people there, it was a good atmosphere, didnt like how sams army is behind the goal however. they should be closer in the middle, the atmosphere then would be even better, as thats where most of the cubans were. whitestar, were you wearing a poland shirt by any chance?
wow, i was really suprised in jozy's performance i thought it was really weak any news on him? Edit: BANGED UP: Altidore, involved in a number of collisions in the first half, was substituted at halftime in favor of Kljestan. Nowak said Altidore's substitution was "precautionary."
im sure jozy could have scored at least one of those many chances threy had to win it in the second half
No i wasn't but I was sitting behind the sam's army but I saw about 4 people wearing the polish jersey..
Did someone hear the news that 5 cubans defected from their team an left the hotel? I wonder what will happen now with their team
They go to Miami FC. This weekend they are supposed to be training with MFC says Marcos Ommati, Media Relations guy at MFC. This would be a huge marketing tool for Miami. http://www.miamiherald.com/628/story/454372.html You can also read more about it at www.miamisoccerfan.com.
Crowd will grow in Tampa Qualifiers: Official: Soccer crowd will grow with games' importance By Brandon Wright, Times Correspondent Published Thursday, March 13, 2008 1:42 AM TAMPA — The United States and Cuba under-23 men's teams met for the first time in history Tuesday night at the Olympic qualifying tournament. The match featured 19 shots by the Americans, a number of near misses and a nifty Cuban goal near halftime that led to a 1-1 draw. But few were there to see it. The announced crowd of 4,359 made the 65,000-plus-seat Raymond James Stadium appear practically empty. By comparison, the full men's national team drew 31,547 in a 3-1 win against Ecuador in May and the Blake-Middleton high school football game in the fall attracted an estimated 8,000. U.S. Soccer Federation communications coordinator Neil Buethe said the crowd was not a disappointment. "As in any city we go to, we try to get the word out and sell the most possible tickets," he said. "We were happy with the crowd and the level of enthusiasm they brought to the game inside the stadium." Buethe said he expects a better crowd for Saturday's doubleheader featuring the United States against Honduras and Panama facing Cuba. "I can definitely say that there will be a larger crowd this weekend than Tuesday," he said. "Either Saturday game will be important in terms of advancing." The two top finishers from the Group A qualifier in Tampa advance to the semifinals in Nashville. The winners of those matches move on to the Olympic Games this summer Beijing. Looking back: It would be hard to discern that the Americans played to a draw from their body language. When the final whistle blew, Cuban players congratulated and hugged each other while nearly all the Americans headed to the locker room with their heads hung. "For me it was a disappointment," attacker Charlie Davies said. "I think if we kept pressing them we could have got the goal we needed to end the game." After a furious American attack to start the match, Freddy Adu connected in the 14th minute before the Cubans tied it in the 42nd. The United States outshot Cuba 19-6, 11-1 in the second half, but Cuba converted its only legitimate chance. "As soon as we scored we sat back and let them play and get comfortable," Davies said. "If we kept pressuring them, the game would have had a different outcome." Altidore update: U.S. officials confirmed that striker Jozy Altidore will be available for tonight's match. Altidore was substituted at halftime Tuesday after a number of collisions with Cuban defenders.
Great game US won 1-0...fun atmosphere...too bad their wasn't that much fans but I know on Sat. their should be way more fans and at least the US fans outnumbered the Panama fans 4:1..I doubt you would have that ratio in L.A. or NYC
nothing disappointing crowd, i was expecting more fans, not less. anyways, i agree, it was another good atmosphere despite there not being many people, and fewer sams army members. seemed a lot more on tuesday
Yea I know there was less fans around 4,000, but to me the real disappiontment were the Cuban,Panama, and Honduras fans, we outnumbered them 4:1 and I don't understand the "hype" for a MLS team in Miami,... what happened to all the Cubans from Miami it's only a 5 hour trip to Tampa, trust me if their was a game between Poland, trust me Polish fans from NYC and Chicago would fly down for the game.. It just shows where soccer stands in Miami.. I bet you if it was the cuban baseball team they would show up
