2-2 final I can't help but really enjoying that game. 1st it was 1994 world cup that turned me into a soccer fan and just to see all the players that MLS areality was fun. I hope they do it EVERY YEAR!
Wouldn't be much to celebrate before the 2008 All-Star Game, would there? This was fun to watch, though (what I could see of it - it kept buffering on me). Waldo will probably try to make a comeback now.
I can't believe how solid El Pibe still is. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't tracking back on D or making slicing runs into the box but his ball skills are amazing. His every pass was on the mark, and I might go so far as to say he was MOTM. Then again, Jorge Campos did save a penalty and record an assist. Great game to watch though, should've let em play 60 minutes!
That assist was brilliant! I don't think we have anybody in MLS now who can do that. Come to think of it, there was better skill in that game than the All-Star game, it seemed to me. But then, I could only see it in 10-second flashes because my internet is too darn slow...
Ball skills dont ever leave you, no matter how old you are. He's going to have that same vision and ball control till he's 90. Being able to move 5 feet is a different story.
I thought Ramos played very well. He can still move and dribble effortlessly past defenders. He looked in pretty good shape as did a number of other playerers out there, such as Harkes, Dooley Lalas and Balboa. In fact, I remember thinking with all the injury woes that DCU is having right now, United should take a serious look at Harksey. I really think he could play another year or two.
Definitely more entertaining than the All Star Game. Seems they tried a little harder to put on a show. East/West is got to go. Hope for some great opposition in 2005.
yeah, that game was a million times more fun than the allstar game which was pretty boring actually. It was just too hot. Last time the game was here it was rain and lightning, this time is was unbearable heat. It was pretty funny that Harkes was offside the whole time. Hermosillo should be embarrassed by all of the sitters he missed in that game. He was all alone in front of the goal at least three times. Nowak looked pretty good out there. It was nice to see Marco and Raul together again. It looked like Arena was trying to get Jaime to come out and play in the second half to reUnite the whole triangle. I was a little freaky to have the commentary track playing over the PA, but it was actually useful since I had no idea who a couple of those guys were.
Dooley looked like he could still play. Sommer's 3 saves in about 6 seconds in the second half were amazing. He could be a backup keeper someplace
Ramos looked awesome. That one cross that he had to Wynalda that was off by a half foot (of Wynalda's head) was vitage Ramos. The dribbling! He beat two defenders around that 6 yard box. Harkes, Wynalda and Balboa looked great and kinda make you wonder why they retired so soon. I think right before the PK, I think Ramos said that he was tired. If he could play for the Metros whenever Guevara is out, I'd be happy. Gotta love watching Lalas just dribbling up the field. Dooley had a nice slide tackle, Clavejo made some very nice defensive runs. Sommers looked impressive when he made those three quick saves. Has he retired? Would have been cool to see Donadoni on the pitch for the World. It would have been a much better choice than el Matador (yes I know, there must have been a reason why Donadoni didn't play.) Did Salvarese play? I don't think I noticed him... I didn't like the play by play either. Having it done regularly would have been better. Also, this was supposed to celebrate what the US did in 1994, so how about interviewing more of those guys instead of el Diablo and such. Geez..they asked him if he misses Washington and responds by saying he lives there. Priceless.
I think Juergen's knee(s) preclude him playing professionally anymore. IIRC, he's had a bunch of surgeries, and I thought it was on his knee(s). But I agree, he did look good there. He always looks like he could still play. Good guy, too.
Not to rain on this lovefest, but you do realize that all defensive effort was absent? It's not too hard to dribble around traffic cones (aside from Valerama's toying in the box). To those who said the play was better in the celeb game, that's just silly. It may have been more entertaining, but people actually tried to play D in the allstar match.
Must you bring that up? I continue to hold that if enough of us choose to believe that 98WC never happened, then it will not have, and we wouldn't have that ugly, 3 Loss DFL place blot on our record.
Valderamma didn't dribble around a traffic cone on his assist, he sidestepped a slide tackle from Lalas as if it was a traffic cone...it really was pretty. But yes, in general, they were trying to entertain and didn't seem to interested about defense. It just didn't seem like the All-Star knew what to do to make a game entertaining, and didn't seem interested in putting on a good show. There are a few things they could still learn from the old pros...