We it would be nice if we could get some pbp somewhere but I don't think its going to happen. That said, FIFA (of all people) has a tidy article out summarizing the scrimmage parameters (unlimited subs and no one reveals the score) as well as some news of note (Reyna is ready to play!) http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060605/1/73wz.html Anyone with any other info about the scrimmage -- as the day wears on -- I'd love to hear it!
Anyone catch Angola v Argentina yesterday? Argentina had the upper hand in the parts I saw but Angola held their own, somewhat. Also Angola didn't seem to play particularly physical (vs just about any CONCACAF side) so it's not a bad choice for a final tune up.
Angola is much more Portugal-lite because so many of its stars play in their leagues (not to mention the former colony aspect). A thing I had heard about closed-door scrimmages is that each coach is given a certain number of chances to stop play with a whistle and correct something his team is doing (one per half or something like that). Is this true?
There were a few comments in that Fifa article that struck me. 1. the two teams agreed not to release the results of the scrimmage. Why? I understand the point they made, but I guess I'm one of those play to win kind of guys. 2. The whole 'no hard tackles' deal is kind of scary. In my sporting lifetime, when you starting playing at less than 100%, that's when someone gets hurt. I know they're all professionals and will have this thoroughly monitored but it does make me a little leary. 3. Claudio is healthy! Awesome. I'm sure at this point, the plan is if it starts hurting a little on June 12 or whatever, play through it. I know that sounds weird and you may disagree, but I don't think he would have to recover even from a slight injury to play again. Maybe I'm wrong. It is still very early here.
I wouldn't worry about it. All the footage from the US camp shows them practicing/scrimmaging without shin guards. Presumably, this is because no one will commit a "hard tackle" during practice. Same deal with this scrimmage. There's a difference between "playing hard" and "tackling hard." They'll certainly be playing hard, they just won't be coming in studs up.
I noticed this when I was at the practice in Cary. Hell, Mastroeni wasn't even wearing socks, much less shinguards.
Interesting that the score is not supposed to be revealed. Not sure if the same rule applied back in 02 but I recall then we found out both the final score of and the goalscorer in our closed-door scrimmage versus Costa Rica (1-0 US, McBride). My guess is that despite the rules, the result will leak out. Oh, and despite everyone in the MSM writing off Angola, I think they might play a little tougher than expected. They remind me of Senegal last time around--comprised mostly of first-team players from a second-tier European league (Senegal-France; Angola-Portugal), largely unknown and written off, and yet capable and athletic with nothing to lose. It'll be a good test for us.
Some dirty ******** took out van Bronkhorst with a straight red tackle way out by the corner flag ... in a friendly!
its australia. very competitive. always play hard. always win, win, win. ingrained in the culture. i don't think they were trying to injure anyone, but they never play anything less than 110%.
I would imagine, w/ the time difference putting it at 5:15 , that is might've already been played at this point or very soon. I could be wrong I guess. I'm picturing an afternoon training match. I guess it could be an evening match, but who knows.
I don't know if there's a culture in the world more obsessed with winning than American culture. If we can understand the unwritten rules of a friendly, then I'd think the Aussies could too.
If that was the case, wouldn't more of the country follow the World Cup? Unless you've lived in Australia, that seems like quite an assumption.
besides how does a red card tackle help you win? sounds like the player was just being an asshole or an idiot or both.. its too bad he won't be suspended for the cup.
So Jamaica, Uruguay, hell any Central or SA opposition and it would probably be dirty. It's Australia so it's competetive. Got ya. OK, they are competetive, but then I would also say that they are jack ass, dumb, red neck stupid F's in general for the way they played in that match. Then again it is Hiddink, and he has shown that he will do whatever he has to, in order to get an edge. Guess with the Aussies it will be brutality. Oh, I mean competetiveness. Marco took it very well considering what happened to him in his career.
I hear the scrimmage is just a front for Bruce Arena's first rap concert. Someone also mentioned something about Bradley still being in camp. Okay, just kidding about the second one.
Why the true starting lineup of course. You see, Arena, control freak that he is, has replaced most of the squad in the last couple of days and has made FIFA and Bladder agree to a gag order that no one is to know until the US trots out vs the Czechs. Fortunately you have me to let BSers clue into what's REALLY happening. Here's the starting lineup: -------------Busch Broome--Pearce--Nelsen--Ward -----------Serioux Cobi----------------------Mappy -----------Quaranta ---Noonan--------Abe Thompson Now you might be saying, "Skip, this is stupid. Several of these guys are out injured. Sure they would otherwise be locks for the squad (The Cartographer especially what with his tricky dribbling abilities) but they can't even play for their MLS teams. And Noonan- we all saw Pat walk off the field hurt last Wednesday night. And Shirley Joseph isn't even eligible, much less Ryan Nelsen. He's a Kiwi. So I'll just ignore your freebased ravings this time, mainly because I don't see 1) Twellman, 2) Feilhaber, 3) Adu, or 4) Michael Bradley and we all know that they are secretly in Germany right now." Just shows how much Arena has kept us in the dark. All those injured players? They're not hurt, even a bit. Sideshow Cobi is not only fit but he's actually only 23 years old. And Rusty Pearce has been a fixture for Arena since he broke into the league and was recommended to him from those astute Revs fans. He's healthy as a horse- just look at his face and you can just see him say, "whinny". And Ryan Nelsen? Look up the FIFA regs. They say that Stanford grads are eligible for the US team regardless of if they played for some other, lesser country. And, yes, you smart guys- that means that Simon Elliott, that EPL stud, is on the bench raring to go. Serioux? Obviously all America Jr. players are eligible too. That explains Quaranta too since Baltimore is also a colony of the US. It's just not talked about in polite company. Oh- and that was Pat Noonan's older brother you've been watching all season for the Revs, Ted. Pat's fine though he doesn't care for Bratwurst. So there ya go with the 411. All we have to do now is wait and we'll see mappy slalom through the Italian defense like it's swiss cheese. After all they've never seen his quality of player before.
It might be because FIFA formally bans any further international matches on or after June 5, and they can't give even the appearance that it was a "match" by having a score, or it could just be that they don't want to give the press any more phantom news that they can spin to put more pressure on either team.
on USSoccer.com, they say they will 'let us know' what happens in the scrimmage so I guess we'll at least get some highlights. That's nice. I still can't figure out what time it is. It's being played off as more of a combined practice session, not competative at all.