Showed some studs but was clearly playing the ball and got more ball then man, IMO. Another soft red.
Whatever is said about Spain's great run, defeating Brazil is, still, in my mind, an even greater challenge. They have players good enough to take on a defense 4 vs. 1 and win.
US Soccer front page top story of SI, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports, Soccernet, BBC Sport I don't want this moment to end
"Así es el deporte y hoy nos ha tocado perder. Creo que este grupo no ha subestimado a nadie", justificaba Vicente del Bosque ante las cámaras de Telecinco. "No hemos tenido suerte de cara al gol. Hemos tenido ocasiones que no hemos aprovechado. Ellos han estado acertados y han defendido bien", aseguró un afónico seleccionador, al que todavía le queda una misión en Sudáfrica: "Acabar el torneo de la mejor manera posible". Iker Casillas: "De todo lo malo se puede sacar algo positivo. Nosotros tuvimos ocasiones de gol, llegamos muchas veces a puerta, pero ellos estuvieron muy serios y ordenados. Y en dos errores nuestros nos han hecho dos goles", manifestó el portero, que preferiría volverse ya a casa. "Jugar el partido por el tercer y cuarto puesto no satisface a nadie, pero hay que jugarlo y dar todo lo que tenemos", opinó. "Esto ha sido algo malo y de todo lo malo hay que intentar sacar algo positivo", añadió Casillas. Fernando Hierro (Director deportivo de la Federación): "Tenemos que seguir la misma línea. Algún día tenía que tocar perder. El fútbol es así", comentaba decepcionado. "Los jugadores lo han intentado. Hemos respetado al rival y hemos tenido muchas ocasiones, pero no se han acertado". Hierro descartó que el próximo objetivo sea el título Mundial: "Como gran objetivo nosotros tenemos que terminar la fase de clasificación". Xabi Alonso: "Nosotros sabíamos que ellos llegaban con mucha confianza tras lo de Egipto. Hemos buscado el gol, hemos tenido ocasiones, pero no ha llegado. Pocas veces esta selección no marcará teniendo tantas oportunidades. La derrota hay que aceptarla con la misma naturalidad que hemos aceptado las victorias". Translation Bosque: That's the way the game is. Someday's you will lose. We didn't underestimate them, Today was our turn to lose. We were unlucky in front of the goal today. We didn't take advantage of our chances and They were on point and defended well. Casillas: From the bad you have to take out the good. We had chances, plenty of attempts on goal, but they were very serious and well ordered. We made 2 errors, they made 2 goals. Alonso:We knew that they would come in with confidence after Egypt. We had chances, but they didn't go in. That doesn't happen often with our team. But you have to accept the losses with the wins.
Congrats... and yes, you could need a Bjorge Lillielien for this : [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqZTP8-8wIs"]YouTube - Norway 2 England 1 1981 Commentary[/ame] .
It looked harsh to me, too, but then all the reds did. At some point, you have ot figure out that this is how they're going to call the games and adjust. They seem to be calling based on potential harm done and not actual harm. When you leave your feet, you're asking for it. To be honest, this is something that I'd like to see more of - lunging tackles are a great way to end someone's career.
Well, since Howard was just drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters, why not? Best thing to happen this tournament: Bocanegra picked up a slight knock. Now we have him on the left and DeMerritt in the middle, the only way that happens. Sweet. I like this from the BBC "as it happened" feed: "2036: Tell you what - I wouldn't be surprised if Real Madrid bid £45m for Jay DeMerit after this - he's been monumental tonight. Another fabulous bid of shadow defending means David Villa cannot latch on to a through ball - it's textbook stuff from JdeM" and: "2050: Jay DeMerit adds another £5m on to his price tag with a brilliant block to deny Albert Riera"
My favorite moment in this game was the look on Sergio Ramos' face as Dempseys leg wrapped around his to poke the second goal home. Priceless. Worst moment of the game, Bradley's red card. I agree with the general sentiment. Probably a yellow, but still consistent with the way this tourney has been called. And I find it funny how everyone is saying bring on Brazil. Brazil is hands down the heavy favorite. Far moreso than Spain was favored over us. That being said, South Africa is the home team in this tournament and crazier things have happened. As far as looking forward, Benny starts for Bradley and no other changes are made.
My favorite play of the match: Gooch's behind the back flamingo strike on the cross in the first half that he cleated away from going straight in off David Villa's head.
This was a fantastic team effort, but Howard was MOTM. Incredible between the sticks -- not to say the defense, all 10 of them didn't contribute. And I suppose this gets the "The USA never wins big games against quality European teams" monkey off our backs? Destiny, my friends, destiny.
The first subject on PTI is the game, its funny to watch these guys talk about soccer. They have no idea what their talking about.
Interesting comments from Del Bosque on Baby Bradley Vicente del Bosque. "Es muy fuerte. Juega como medio defensivo, cubre mucho campo, sabe conducir el juego y llega al gol", comentó el seleccionador español a este periódico. "He's very strong. Plays as a defensive mid, covers a lot of ground and knows how to manage the game and get shots on goal." If the coach of the #1 Team in the world speaks so highly on this kid...can we please stop the nepotism debate. BTW The paper compares him with another player who plays for a German Team. The National Team. Ballack. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/Nadie/corre/Bradley/elpepudep/20090624elpepidep_3/Tes
What incredible "fight" this team put up and this is why teams don't like to play us. Of course the players on the field play the game but I truly believe the MVP's of this tournament are the bloggers and fans who criticized this team after their showings to Brazil and Italy. After seeing Michael Bradley's quote, the US team was brought together for one cause and that one cause was to prove all the naysayers wrong that they were had heart and could play with some of the best teams in the world. The difference between the first two games and the last two games were night and day. The effort and the heart got them through both. I would have loved to see some more compactness and giving up less space. I would have also liked for us to possess the ball a little bit better but this definitely ranks up there in US wins. The world definitely noticed and the one extra day of recovery will definitely help against Brazil.
Who cares?! It's the headliner on the most popular show on ESPN (other than SC, of course). And actually, Wilbon does know a little about soccer, but Kornheiser's take was great, and acknowledged Howard's great game. We just need to keep a steady pace of big wins. Can't lose in the Gold Cup, need to beat Mexico. That's how you keep their attention. Too many times they talk about a great game for one day, and then forget that soccer exists.