Argentina too much for Honduras.. US news related (R) With goals by Lucho Gonzalez (of River Plate), Diego Milito (Independente) and Mariano Gonzalez, Argentina out classed Honduras 3-1 despite starting the game 1-0 down... The game can be seen on Telemundo on Sunday... Bielsa was very happy with the team preformance... And looks for a better showing aganist Mexico and an even better one against the USA...
Check out the Argies I usually find SoccerTV more reliable than Yahoo! TV, but Yahoo! TV has Argentina v Honduras listed at 1 pm EST on 2/1: http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvp&id=...%a3tbol+Telemundo&progutn=1044208800&.intl=us FWIW, the sports anchor on the local news on Telemundo's Houston affiliate announced that they'll have the Argentina v Mexico game.
This should be a great match for the US. I just finished watching the Honduras-Argentina match. The US is going to be under alot of pressure, especially our back line. It will be a perfect opportunity for Bruce to analyze players.
Re: Argentina too much for Honduras.. US news related (R) And a mention is in order for ex-MLSer Saul Martinez who scored for Honduras against Argentina. Martinez never got going in MLS with Metros and the Fusion. Didn't get much playing time. Yet he plays a lot like Carlos Ruiz does for the Gals. He is an opportunist. Perhaps if he was with a team near the top of MLS his skills would have been appreciated.
Unfortunately, if we play Victorine and Califf on the right side, I think our back line will wilt. And if Convey plays at left back, as much as I like the kid, given his experience and everything, that doesn't bode well either. Of course if we play Pope and Boca in the middle as a pairing, that would help things. It will also help if our midfield can help take some of the pressure off, move the ball around, and press the ball forward as often as not. We shall see!
I'd rather play Victorine, Califf and Convey in the back to get a true sense of how good they are. I'd rather lose 4-0 and know that they will fold under pressure than play an more experienced group, tie 1-1 and not learn anything about the new guys. These are all learning experiences for the players and Bruce. Murf
Absolutely. Playing experienced defenders like Pope in matches like this makes no sense. Given his age and injury history, we need to replace him. A great player to call into camp, much like McBride, to show the younger defenders what it takes and to provide a tough scrimmage for the young forwards. I've never seen anything that says Califf can play at this level. Let him get exposed now before it hurts us.
Re: TV ESPN2 (I think, as opposed to ESPN), 12pm est. (if it's not on ESPN2, it's on ESPN, one or the other)
For those interested, on this thread we discussed the Argentina v Honduras match: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=31311 And here is what I said about the game in that thread: " I wanted to get an idea of Argentina's new team before I see them play live on Tuesday against Mexico so I caught last night's Argentina v Honduras game. I actually was quite impressed with the dynamism displayed by this new national team of Bielsa's. First of all the field was poor and it affected both teams. Despite the field conditions, however, Argentina showed a great deal of skillful play. Secondly Honduras isn't anywhere near as strong as Argentina's next two opponents Mexico & US. Apart from a few mazy dribbles by Guevara and the speed of Saul Martinez, Honduras showed little. Thirdly, the ref was atrocious and even though the game was cleanly played by both teams, he sent off 3 players! The first was for a late Honduran challenge from behind 20 seconds into the second half which was nothing more than a yellow card. Then Gabriel Milito was sent off for what was on replays a legitimate shoulder to shoulder challenge. The ref, however, was miles away from the play and bought the dramatic fall by the attacker. The third red card to Garce of Argentina was for a trip on Guevara and then Garce presumably continued talking to the ref becausehe then pulled out the red. I'm sorry but this is friendly and it was played cleanly, however, the ref's poor judgment affected the match. Back to the game itself, Argentina moved the ball around very well and the two Gonzalez' Luis(Lucho) and Mariano on the right really worked well together and were the two best players on the field. They are both quick, dynamic and skillful and they created a ton of problems for Honduras' defense. These are two players to watch for in the future. D'Alessandro also ran the team very well and worked very hard all game long. Diego Milito also was very active up front. Guiñazu did pretty well too but was less effective offensively than he was defensively. Argentina's only real weakness was defensively, especially dealing with Honduras' speed. Burdisso looked uncomfortable in the middle of the 3 man defense. Before their expulsions, Garce and Milito looked more comfortable, particularly Garce. The other two players who disappointed were Ponzio, who gave balls away and fouled too much and Insua who never looked comfortable on the left wing. Battaglia was the only reserve who saw significant time and when he replaced Ponzio, Argentina's ball movement improve dramatically. Overall a good first game for Argentina's young team. They'll improve as they get to know each other better but their next two opponents will give them a far better test than Honduras did. Should be worthwhile to watch both of those matches. "
Argentina will field the same team against Mexico with 1 change.. Saja; Garcé, Burdisso, Gabriel Milito; Lucho González, Battaglia, Guiñazú; D'Alessandro; Mariano González, Diego Milito and Insúa. Look for Leandro Romangioli to play against the USA...
Milito and Garce won't play against Mexico because of the new FIFA rule than a red card in a friendly means that the player get a 1 match ban in the next friendly.