And I again, I compare him to Arena, who managed to convince one of the best strikers we've produced that he wasn't good for zhite. Bradley has built a huge number of players, where Arena and his little clone Reyna told them all "we suck, but maybe we'll get lucky." And another difference is that Bradley is recognizing, testing, encouraging youthful skill and vision over "experience". One Arena mistake he hasn't made is thinking that "world cup experience" trumps everything. The only guys from 4 years ago are guys who earned their spot this time. Arena had his Goose. Bradley was willing to let go of his Gooch.
so lucky that when the cross went to two Algerians that were empty in the box, the one of them just sent a soft header to Howard. It was a perfect pass really, so that he could throw it to Landon at midfield. The Algerian really had plenty of time to settle it and shoot, or at least get a more threatening header off. We dodged a bullet there, that got over looked by what happened next.
Last night on Fox Soccer Report Bobby McMahon was saying that, in his view, it was far more important for the U.S. to hold Algeria off the board in the first 80 minutes than it was for them to take risks to get a goal. He said words to the effect that a 0-0 score with 10 minutes left was fine for the U.S. If they got a goal earlier, great, but if not, 10 minutes at the end of the game to take risks was plenty. Pretty interesting commentary. Didn't really feel that good as it was happening, but I guess he either knows what he's talking about or got lucky. You do sort of wonder what the game would have looked like if the U.S. had scored early and were focused more on holding a lead than attacking to the end. Sometimes it's hard to get back into scoring mode (and substitutions may prevent you from doing so) after you've given up an equalizer. I guess scoring the first goal in stoppage time is one way to make sure you don't have to worry about it.
Not a chance. No way were they playing like a team that had to win by 2 goals. They hanged back too much.
my eye started bleeding, i smoked 2 packs of cigarettes by 8 am this morning in seattle, drank 6 ESBs and my blood pressure was too much. what a ********ing win. jesus christ I almost fainted.
Absolutely agree, every time I see Cherundolo running up the field I know his cross will be quality. I personally thought he was immense in the England game. This right here is where the moment changed in my opinion, two algerians clearly unmarked, if thats a quality header we may not be discussing USA/Ghana.
I was just thinking, it was a year to the day that we beat Spain in the Confederations Cup (Not the same date, but the same day, Wednesday of the same week). Can we maybe schedule next year's Gold Cup final for this day next year? Seems to be turning into a tradition that we win. Bradley is having a monster tournament, right now he is probably in the running for team of the tournament. Cherundolo has been unbelievable. I always was a fan of his game and play at right-back, but he's surpassed my expectations. He's playing like he knows this could be his last World Cup. Demerit definitely had a great game, kudos to Bob for dropping Gooch, that took balls. Donovan, nothing more can be said about the guy. He continues to enhance his legacy every year.
and the more interest, the more people engage in soccer or even consider it it as a professional option, and thus the larger is the base for the national team to pick players from, and the NT will have better results. Its a vicious circle.
allright, which BigSoccer poster is this? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/23/world-cup-2010-usa-algeria-live A lot American "concern troll" b*tchiness actually on that game thread.
I agree that the initial lineup had flaws, I was also fearful that in the second half Bradley would stay true to past form and wait too long before going for broke, that he might even never go for broke and rely until too late on Slovenia keeping even with England [the sort of mistake Nowak made in the Olympics]. But I was wrong. He made substitutions early enough, and exactly the right sort for a game like this. Forward and mid, for a mid and a defender. Then he set out a functioning forward line of 5 players. Sure, it was out of desperation. But doing the right thing, when things are desperate, ain't always what happens in this world. In my mind, this was the best in game management of a match I've ever seen from him. And, yes, I thought this even when it seemed that the Gods/refs had conspired to kill us and that absolutely nothing would get into that damn Algerian net. Maybe not having enough time to overthink a match and get too rigid on preconceptions, not enough time to crank up the RoboBob, brings out a good quality in Bradley that would otherwise be hidden. At this point, let's just ride this horsey as far as it can take us.
I do believe Algeria was simply aiming to oust us. If they could have somehow advanced in the process, fine, but they're efforts really seemed to be on stymying us rather than pressing for their own victory.
okay...so it's all been said... either way, this is the most exciting match i have ever seen for this team... i watched it with maybe 8 people in a coffee shop in brooklyn who all went crazy after the goal...one person, my co-worker, was curious about the sport, and told me afterward how he started to see why it was so great after the win...and why people get so up for the world cup... this is a HUGE moment for us soccer history...i think... perhaps on par with the '94 world cup and the '02 quarterfinals run... difference is now the team is not a joke...here's what a friend of mine on another forum from the uk stated: just a great way to make it to the round of 16...hard to ask for much better...even if we also have to deal with espn drones sounding beyond ignorant... i kept espn on after 'world cup live' to hear a the guys from 'around the horn" keep the level of discourse and understanding of soccer/football amongst the 'diehard' sports fans in the u.s. who watch it as low as possible... one dude said the u.s. is a quarter-final expected team, and acted mad with the result...he claimed we are a top 8 team... lol... what??? not one of them seemed to have the knowledge to chime in and correct the man... they also said that argentina looked like a weak team...at times. so did the lakers. god they are such drama queens on talk radio type of programming. i've heard oodles of silly comments on 1050 espn radio too. it's like hearing mike francessa...who admits to not watching the nba...being seen as some kind of "expert." generally, i don't care too much, but it seems to affect people's perception of the u.s. team, which is not going to win titles at this point... i guess we can also thank alexi lalas for acting like the u.s. was that much better than everyone except england in group a. i'm just saying, folks need to temper their expectations of the team. the goal for the team from my pov was to get to the round of 16. mission accomplished. i suspect the u.s. team has impressed some outside observers a little...at least showing that there are some players with some quality who can perform at the highest level. the team is getting better, yes, and it was great win today...deserved. rarely do most teams blow away their competition in such events. this isn't a 7 game playoff where the better team is likely to win... anyway... if we beat ghana...great...but that doesn't mean we're a top 8 team if you make the quarter finals. in 2002, the u.s., turkey and senegal made it. none were considered top 8 teams because they made the quarter finals. i think donovan has really sparked interest amongst those curious about what the sport is about... people were going crazy today...never have i seen that about this sport before...which is great... and yes, i thought bradley did really well tactically, and with substitutions... good job of benching gooch, starting edu (who did fine while in), moving bocanegra to center back, and even bornstein's start...actually i was also wondering if beasley would come in due to his pace/speed, and someone at the place i watched was like, "there's time," as if he figured he wanted to bring him on when algeria was dead in the legs... either way, bradley is a very smart guy (sort of a jeff van gundy type of coach...spends ridiculous hours watching video...perfectionist type), and easily a huge improvement over bruce arena (our old coach)... a lot wanted klinsmann, but bradley has shown he understands the game, to me. tried to cater to the teams' strengths, which arena did not...again, i like bradley...his demeanor and intelligence...
...or maybe Algeria actually respected us and didn't want to be exposed too often to a counterattack? + ...they had just come off an emotional game with England and was tired just like the US.
LOL. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is in Chicago. Before the game I wanted us to shut out Algeria because they didn't score in their first two games and if you allow 1 goal you must score 2 to win. I got what I wanted.
I can't get rid of this grin that has been plastered on my face the entire day! Goooaaallll Donovan. One thought, it seeemed like they could have used Clarence Goodson for the last 20 minutes of this match. He is one of the best on the team at heading in an incoming place kick. Look at the number of goals he has per free kick taken with him up front. I would have put him in for his offensive play on free kicks as one of the two subs in the second half. Hats off to Bob Bradley though, he has proven me wrong with starting linuup choice once again. I almost shat myself when I saw Bornstein was starting.
Funny, I was thinking something very similar to your UK friend -- I was thinking that Gerrard showed reasonably well today, and he might have earned a chance to follow his mate Beckham to MLS soon.
No. NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Jim Rome is the biggest soccer hater in the US sports media. He has no right to say one fcuking word about the US team on what is arguably their most epic day in the modern era. Shut up, Jim Rome. Shut the fcuk up.
The one consistent theme for this team under Bradley is they encounter some adversity and then they find a way. Happened all through qualifying, happened in the Confed. Cup, and it's happening again. Never was much of a Bradley fan in the past, but he's won me over. He gave his team a chance to win and it responded. Fabulous job and if you're American and can't latch onto this team, you're just not a sports fan.
When every player intyerviewed on Studio90 mentioned how athletic the Algerians were, I figured we'd see Bornstein to match up with them. I was surprised by the move of Boca to the middle, though, he is no more athletic than Onyewu in his current shape/form.
Well exactly. It's what very good managers like moyes and hodgeson do day in and day out. They recognize they don't have a 23 man squad with the natural ability of say barcelona or chelsea... but, if they can build the right spirit and attitude, where every man is willing to work and die for his team mate, that can go a long, long way. Watching the USA, you see a team that has tremendous spirit, fitness levels, and some very good players. What they did in the last two games was nothing short of EPIC. if that had been, dare i say it, England or Italy, everyone would be creaming there pants in admiration of there heroics... Slovenia aren't world beaters, agreed, however the USA were down 2 nil and all but done. The response? some good tactical changes, a change in spirit, and without the stupidity of one of FIFA's "BEST" ref's, the USA takes all 3 points. The way they beat algeria after trying and trying, and not getting that goal really affects you MENTALLY. it says alot about the team that they kept going till the last seconds and found that goal. again, if its man utd or arsenal, everyone says its the stuff of champions.