I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, at least he didn't call for Bradley to be fired and not a word of conspiracy or nepotism. He didn't ask for Adu and Torres. This is a new breed of disspproval.
Anyone want to take a guess to the attendance last night? Edit: Nevermind, it says here that it was 31,000+
What I was most paying attention to was yes our B/C squad and who could move on up. I had a bit of hope for rodgers and holden. Rodgers did earn us at least 3 corner kicks - so he did his job, but he's still a bit weak. Holden not so sure on his performance, his defensive effort wasn't all that. And yeah Beckerman did make a case for 'perhaps' being on the bench for our A squad ~ but I think that is still a stretch. I really didn't see any standout individual performances. Not sure if anyone made a case they deserve to ride the pine save for Ching.
I was really happy with the effort last night. I thought the guys played hard and deserve a pat on the back for coming back to win. Brian Ching is actually growing on me, he really is a warrior and has more skill than some of my previous post reflect. I'm becoming a not so closet Ching fan.
I've not read the in-match PBP thread, so apologies if this has been covered: But has the US ever won a match from a late PK call before? It's hard to believe it would be the first time -- and I'm sure every supporter of every national team feels they never get the calls. But we never get the calls. I was shocked when he pointed to the spot and thought "That's gotta be a first." Anybody?
Exactly. Whenever our guys put on the shirt... and play with pride for our country, we should try to be respectful.
I think MLS should bear responsibility in training players to shoot more from distance. We can use it. The league should do one of their quarky rules thingies and offer cash bonuses, new cars, trips to Switzerland, and special interview spots on 'The Sitter with Alexi Lalas' for each player who scores from outside the box--each time. No wait, j/k.
He kinda screwed up on the Panama goal (along with Chad Marshall). He had a decent game overall but I'm pretty surprised more people haven't pointed out that gaffe.
Interesting question, and you might be right, this may be the first time the US has ever won a match from a late PK call. In the 2002 Gold Cup, the US defeated Cuba, 1-0, and the only goal of the game came via a PK (converted by McBride), but that came in the 22nd minute. You know, the idea that "we never get the calls" is, like you say, probably felt by every supporter of their national team. To this day I still can't see the Gooch foul against Ghana in the 2006 WC, nor can I see the Donavan foul vs. Poland in 2002. Off the top of my head, I thought of the PK call vs. Mexico in the 2007 WC which helped the US pull even, which if that doesn't get called, maybe Bennie's shot never takes place. I also thought of PK calls that led to goals and temporary US leads (games they didn't hang on to for the win): vs. Italy in the Confed Cup and vs. Argentina in the last Copa America. The biggest non-PK calls that benefitted the US, again off the top of my head, came vs. Mexico in the 2002 WC (the JOB hand ball) and Hedjek's sliding tackle vs. Costa Rica in WCQing (although many believe that Pendegrast gave a "make-up" call some minutes later against Berhalter). Historically speaking, in the famous 1950 WC game vs. England, in the 82nd minute Alf Ramsey had a free kick just outside the area that Jimmy Mullen headed past Frank Borghi, the US goalkeeper. Borghi dove, missed, dove again, backward, reached the ball with a finger or three and managed to deflect the ball away from goal. The English were hugging each other and celebrating the tie, convinced that the ball had crossed the line. But the Italian ref waved if off and said that the ball had not crossed the line. Calls go both ways for both teams. In the courtroom, the DA is always convinced of the guilt of the accused and can never understand why anyone ever doubts the presented evidence of such, and the Defense Attorney is always of the belief that his client is being railroaded with a one-way ticket to the deepest, darkest, dungeon.
Rogers earned 5 corners and his cross earned a goal. Holden's defense got much better the second 45. He costs us a goal but he was apart of the play that earned at pk.
So what kind of sanction will the Panamanian players get for their antics at the end of the game? Practically chasing the ref off the field and then throwing a punch at the security guy. Disgraceful.
I'm looking for the command that deactivates a Big Soccer member's ID and password if enough others think they're morons. Thought it was here somewhere...
I wondered the same thing, and I would have used the word "literally" rather than "practically". When they were still being aggressive after reaching the line of security, it became ridiculous. It's a good thing the security people kept their cool (which must have been very difficult).
He also gave us the PK that won the game, so Panama would disagree. BTW: I hear he will be working the USA @Mexico game.
One of the things I was thinking about while watching the second half was how this team is learning to play off of each other. The number of passes they were stringing together in close quarters and the speed of play. It was like I was watching a class of students finally "getting it." I was also struck by the amount of heart this team was showing for each other. Most of these guys aren't ready or will never get a chance to play with the first stringers. But I am damn proud of them anyway. They may not win this tournament, but they will give you (and each other) everything they've got.
You would have heard wrong. FIFA does a lot of stupid things, but assigning a Mexican ref to officiate a qualifier in Mexico would not be one of them.
Agree completely about the Gooch call, but I still agree with the call on Donovan, as much as it pains me to say. All you have to do is reverse the situation. Had Agoos or Pope been barrelled into on the goal line from behind (and there is no question of that, it was not shoulder to shoulder contact as most people would suggest) and a Polish player had scored, we (US fans) would have justifiably been upset had the goal been allowed to stand. One of the great 02' World Cup arguments here on Big Soccer.