Just came across this, from the latest camp report and : "At the other end, the U.S. is looking at new combinations to anchor the backline, with center backs Carlos Bocanegra and Danny Califf getting the most action." http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=27633&itype= For some reason I can't recall his games for the US. How many caps does Califf have? How did he perform in the game(s)? Anyone think this guy is national team material? Any insight appreciated.
Danny Califf has 3 caps. Against South Korea in the opening game of the Gold Cup and then the last two games against El Salvador and Canada. To me he has been the weak link of the defensive chain. He only played one game in the Gold Cup, the opener, and he didn't see any more action after that. I don't believe he was injured either. This is significant because the Gold Cup last year was where we saw Bruce experiment a lot, if you remember he called about 30 players into that camp and most of them stayed throughout the duration of the tournament... I didn't see the Canada game, but we all know that the defense didn't see much action. I do remember however that he wasn't that impressive in the El Salvador game. Most opinions on him are that he could turn into a decent national team defender, and maybe become a fringe player, but I'd be a little scared if we had another Jeff Agoos situation around the time of Germany '06.
The center pair will be Pope and Boca once Eddie gets back to health. Califf doesn't impress me much as of now, but hopefully he can pick it up and make a case for the 23-man panel in 06.
Califf and Boca looked good in the Argentina game. They both made some goal saving tackles. I agree Pope and Boca would probably make the best center back combinations although I wouldn't rule out Berhalter for the Confederations Cup.
Review the tape? Maybe I need to review the tape, from what I saw today, little impressed me, but maybe I missed something. It just seems as if Califf has really looked out of his depth thus far. I'll take another look at the game to check him out though. Just right now, Im not really enthused about him or Victorine, I'd prefer to see them both depart at some point in the next year, I'm not looking forward to seeing them playing in qualifying next spring, if they're still in the mix.
you know, I have been anything but a Califf fan. But to be fair, he played very well against Argentina. If he continues to play like this I will definitely amend my opinion. He looked, dare I say, composed.
Agreed. With a midfield in the first half that plain sucked, I though Califf and Boca played really well. Califf appears to be playing with confidence and composure.
If he can learn how to connect on forward passes then I'd say he's got a good chance for 2006. The first goal really wasn't his fault, Mastroeni totally stranded him and left a 1 v 2 situation. Later on, he actually tried to push up into the attack with the ball and was hacked down by an Argie. Say what you will about the guy, but defending wise, he was light years ahead of how he played last year against Korea in the Gold Cup.
I certainly haven't noticed any glaring mistakes on his part, especially in light of the fact that he and Boca haven't played in there much together. He is generally in good position, and plays very strong. He is a very solid guy, and he does have some pretty good speed. The backs definitely need some work on clearances, but when you are getting pressured and aren't used to your teammates, that is to be expected. Banging it out is always better than giving up a short pass in the middle of the defense, especially when you are on trial basically. Most of the time Califf and Boca at least connected pretty well. There were a few sky balls, but mostly early on, IIRC. Transition between the defense and midfield is one of the hardest things to establish consistently, and has always been a weak point for us. That is why we are a counter-attacking team. If we didn't take chances going forward, we would never be on offense. (see: France 1998). Anyway, Califf has at least shown that he deserves to be in the mix, though I would give the nod to Boca at this point, and probably Maestro too. Califf is better than Berhalter I think, who is too slow and gangly.