More good stuff from Connolly: "Think of it this way, if someone told you a year ago that the US would lose only one game in 2004 despite playing against Denmark, Holland, Mexico, and both Poland and Jamaica twice, you probably wouldn't have believed them." And to correct the correction, the record posted on U.S. Soccer is 8-1-5. Regardless, the column is a nice summary of a great year for the USMNT. Thanks for the link.
No, you're wrong. It's 8-1-6. 8 wins 1-0 @ Poland 1-0 Mexico 4-0 Honduras 3-0 Grenada 3-2 @ Grenada 2-0 El Salvador 2-0 @ El Salvador 6-0 Panama 1 loss 0-1 @ Netherlands 6 draws 1-1 Denmark 1-1 Haiti 1-1 Poland 1-1 @ Jamaica 1-1 @ Panama 1-1 Jamaica
For the record... You are correct. And the US Soccer results page has not yet been updated with the Jamaica result. Strange. I still say the Connolly piece is a good read (dammit).
Last second draws against the minnows don't a great year make. FWIW, ELO had the US ranked at #14 following the wins against Honduras and Jamaica in the summer but had dropped them to #19 after the end of WCQ first group stage. Once again, there's nothing great about being downgraded. And Connolly seems to really be slipping.
Connolly is another writer who seems to see something in Conor Casey that I don't. What am I missing? Seriously, persuade me. The matches I've seen him play for the MNT, I've been far from impressed.
he's big... he knocks the ball down, he maintains possession, he hits open players and he has shown a knack to score goals at a high level of soccer (even if he has only one with us)... and i believe he has a couple of assists and mcbride is aging
In 15 games, we only lost one time. It was a great year. Rankings are meaningless. We all know that the US is probably somewhere in the 10-20 range. Since the World Cup, we've only lost to the following teams. Netherlands Brazil (twice) Turkey Argentina Only Turkey is not world class. And yes, Argentina and Brazil in the Gold Cup did not have their full teams, but they still had very talented players. Also, we only allowed only 9 goals in 15 games. The only team to score twice against us was Grenada. Our defense continues to be great. During Bruce Arena's time as manager, we've only allowed more than 2 goals three times.
You mean zero? I still think he has a bright future though. He's young and starting in one of the best leagues in the world.