1 - 1 La Louviere scored in the 31st minute (Siquet). Royal Antwerp tied it in the 80th (Sergeant). Yi played 90. Onyewu didn't play. Apparently he was late returning from the US, and was on the bench for this one. Only mention of Yi in the text play-by-play on La Louviere's site says he stepped in front of an attacker to deny an opportunity in the 20th minute and put the ball out for a corner. If anyone can translate, there's also a mention of Yi in this match report from Royal Antwerp's site. And a couple of pics of Yi from the La Louviere site. I'm pretty sure that's him in the upper left of this one: And definitely him on the ball here:
Yeah, i wonder why Onyewu didn't play since the qualifier ended on Wednesday night. Hopefully, the coach didn't get mad at him and bench him or something. I'm really curious to see Yi and Onyewu in the backline together.
The second picture is definitely Alex. The first picture definitely is not unless Alex changed shoes. Aside from the fact that it doesn't look like Alex in the top picture, the guy in the top left of that picture appears to be wearing black cleats while the picture of Alex in the second picture is wearing white shoes. I hope Gooch isn't in benching trouble. I'm gonna guess that he didn't get back to Belgium till the middle of the day Friday and likely missed training and with only one day's worth of practice and having played mid-week and done all the traveling he did, I understand why the coach didn't play him. I mean, the U23 game was on Wednesday. Most, though certainly not all, trans-Atlantic flights are at night meaning Gooch likely left Thursday evening-night. He arrives in Paris or Antwerp or Frankfurt, which ever airport is closest, Friday morning and either connects to his local airport or drives and takes the train and doesn't get home till around noon, I'm guessing. That was likely to late for training that day and with Saturday likely a light day of training, he basically was away from the team for the whole week's preparation. Unless the coach is really pissed, I'm guessing - and certainly hoping - this will be a one time benching deal. As for Yi, it is great he's getting regular minutes. I really applaud this kid for toughing it out in Europe until things turn around. That shows a real commitment and drive to get better. Yeah, I would have loved to have seen him and Gooch play in the qualies together, but right now it's important Alex solidify his club place and I think he made the right call. Alex has a prototypical center back's build and he is strong in the air and a good passer for a back. The big knock on his was always that he was soft but I can't imagine how his experience in Europe has done anything but toughen him up.
Re: Re: 11/23: La Louviere (Onyewu) v Royal Antwerp (Yi) [R] I hope it was a one time deal also. I'd also like someone to get to the bottom of the issues that U23's have to go through with these YWC games. I know that even US coaches were unhappy this summer with MLS players leaving for senior friendly matches. I'm sure that the European coaches think even less of US Youth matches. The question is, how much do they hate it? Enough to bench a player for a long time? I suspect so and again would like to see some European coaches interviewed for their general opinion.
I don't think we should look too much into Gooch on the bench. It would've been his third game in a little over a week. Giggs and Forlan were on the bench for Manyoo's game this weekend because of internationals in the same general time frame.
newbie question I apologize for what is obviously an uniformed question, but is Belgium an easier country to get a work permit for, or did Yi and Gooch have some sort of EU passport to begin with? Also, being new to Big Soccer, I have been fascinated by the Yanks abroad thread, and was wondering if somebody could point me to a source that gives me some background on Yi and Gooch.
Re: newbie question Yes, Belgium, Denmark and Germany are the easiest places to get work permits. Glad to have you around Bizz. As for profiles...check the list of threads, we had a Gooch thread just last week. Nice story by Arkady who posts here.
Re: newbie question This is a very, very, very common misconception. ONLY Britain has the kind of WP rules you seem to think are common in Europe. In the rest of the continent, if you're good enough, and a team wants you, you're in. In Holland, there's a minimum salary for non-EUs. Everywhere else (I think), so long as you're not a convicted rapist or something, you qualify. Now, most leagues have foreigner limits, but that's a completely different issue. (Britain does not. There's nothing to prevent, say, Chelsea from buying the entire Brazilian team and putting them in Blue every Saturday.) You and I could get WPs to play soccer in most of Europe. The hard part would be finding a team that wants us.
Re: Re: 11/23: La Louviere (Onyewu) v Royal Antwerp (Yi) [R] If he couldnt leave till thursday night, then his plane wouldnt arrive until Friday afternoon, as he would be losing quite a few hours due to the change in time zones. But its not unusual for regular starters to sit after midweek games after national team duty, regardless of when they return.
Re: Re: Re: 11/23: La Louviere (Onyewu) v Royal Antwerp (Yi) [R] i went into Amsterdam with 10 pm flight arrived at 6 am , any destination around there is about the same. I think we making to much of him not playing