I wouldnt underestimate the USMANT, they drew with another MLS team earlier in the week, and lost on PK I think to another. The ethnic leagues around the country are pretty strong, only many of the players are over the age of 30, don't speak English etc. Even here in Kalamazoo, MI, where there is a very small hispanic community, we have 16 teams (two nearly all American, mine is one of them, and the rest nearly all Mexican, with an occasional Carribean or African player mixed in). In our 16 team league, there are 4 to 5 teams that can easily beat our local PDL team, the Kalamazoo Kingdom. The players in these leagues take the games very seriously, presenting trophy's, keeping stats, roster limitations, etc. My team even earned the leagues equivelant of the last year's "fair play award", which was a 4 ft trophy. "La Mejor Disiplina" is enscribed on the plaque. (Of course I would have rather received a top 3 finish trophy) They key thing is, they know they are overmatched, and they play their hearts out to prove something. These guys that play on the USMANT are older, smarter, stronger, and very experienced compared to the young rosters used by MLS clubs in preseason training. I have no doubt that a full strength MLS squad of veterans would crush these guys, but in preseason, I wouldnt be shocked to see the USMANT get some results. James
Remember preseason 2000? Some unknown friend of Hendos was scoring goals by the buckets. Some guy named Molnar. Have we scored a goal this year? On any continent?
Remember preseason 2002? We scored goals all over the damn place. When the games counted, what did that get us?
0-0 http://www.usasa.com/ USASA MENS NATIONAL SELECT TEAM DRAWS VS. KANSAS CITY WIZARDS Boca Raton, FL – Tuesday, March 4, 2003. The USASA Men’s National Select Team earned a well deserved 0:0 draw against the Kansas City Wizards today at the Florida Atlantic University stadium field. Through today’s game, the team has accumulated a 1-1-1 record during this tour. After having had great training sessions on Monday which included a combined session with the Colorado Rapids, the team was eager to see if they could convert their training work into positive results in the game against the Wizards. In a game that was dominated by the defensive work from both teams, the game did not create many chances for either team to take a win from the other. In the first half most of the play occurred in the midfield and both teams had difficulty finding good opportunities to convert their attacks. Kansas City started strong earning three corner kicks in the first five minutes of the game, but was not able to realize a good shot from those chances. Although the MNST did have two shots on goal in the first half, vs. Kansas City’s one shot, neither shot really threatened the Kansas City goalkeeper. Kansas City had the best chance in the first half to take a lead when they were awarded an indirect free kick six yards from the goal on the goal line. A quick rush by MNST wall squelched their chance. The second half opened up with an immediate chance for MNST when in the first minute a free kick by Dayo Oyetugo from the right wing found Aaron Heinzen on the back post for a headball from five yards out. Only a miraculous goal line save by Tony Meola kept the MNST from taking the lead in the game. The MNST second great chance came only seven minutes later when another free kick dropped into the penalty area behind Kansas City’s defense and found Scott Burcar alone for a first time shot that narrowly missed the goal. After these two chances the game settled back into the midfield play by both teams and they each had only one other good chance to convert an opportunity into a goal. In the 72nd minute the game got interrupted when a scuffle broke out between MNST’s Dayo Oyetugo and the Wizards’ Chris Klein. Both players were ejected from the game. The MNST’s chance came in the 60th minute when Eric Cronkrite sent a through ball to Marcus Storey from the left side and Marcus had thirty yards of open space to push the ball passed Meola, but his shot from twenty yards ended up straight into Meola’s hands. The Wizards last chance to find a game winner came only minutes before the end of the game when Preki dribbled the ball above the penalty area from the right side to the left and sent a driving shot toward Martin Hutton, making a great save. Not only did Kansas City coach Bob Gansler have a good look at our players, but also in attendance were the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the USSF U-23 National Team coach, Glenn Myernick, who possibly seems to have interest in looking at a couple of players for his Olympic Team squad tryouts. The MNST will wind up their tour on Thursday when they will meet the Columbus Crew at Lynn University, 10:00 a.m. MNST Line up: Martin Hutton, Aaron Heinzen, Scott Burcar, TJ Delucia, Lawrence Smalls, David Moore, Shawn Higgins (59-Andres Rota), Joe Sithonnorrath (59-Eric Cronkrite), Darin Lewis (53-Marcus Storey), Jason Thompson, Dayo Oyetuga (72-Joel Spencer). Game Statistics: USASA MNST .......KANSAS CITY .........WIZARDS Shots .........................9 .....................11 Shots on goal ..............4 .....................3 Saves .........................3..................... 4 Fouls .........................12 ....................15 Corners ......................5 ......................5 Offside .......................2...................... 1 Cautions .....................0...................... 0 Ejections..................... 1...................... 1
I wasn't either. I will not tolerate another year of this being a glaring weak point. (it's been present for a few years now) If there's not improvement in this area after the first third of the season or so then I think the coaching staff just needs to accept the fact that they are lacking on set piece strategies and execution. We have the athletesism/bodies and height to execute this year. It's up to the coaches to have a plan, ball placement, and collective player focus all on the same page when these situations come up. If we still suck after the first third of the season, I think Curt should consider bringing in an assistant coach that excells in this area at least for some fresh thinking in the tank.
Yeh... Eric Cronkite is a sophomore at University of Portland. Good player, I think he probably has a chance down the road of playing in the MLS. However...is that the same Darin Lewis of Trinidad and Tobago, University of Conneticut, Portland Timbers and Metrostars fame? Hmmmmmmmmm
I gathered that after reading the link. Very surprising. My reference to this was that many of the ethnic leagues around the country may be tied to the US Amateur Soccer Association, and that this team is a "select" team from that. In the past, the version I saw was a much older experienced team. James
i don't think garcia or gutierrez offer much height or defense against an aerial attack, neither does zavagnin. that's three of our five (talley, conrad as the others).