Both played against Paraguay and Magee scored in the second half on a rebound off the keeper. US won 3-1
Clark was great as usual. Magee got his ugly poacher's goal. They played true to form. Magee did make some great runs and was the victim of some bad offside calls. Magee should have buried an one on one chance in the final minutes but the Paraguayan keeper made a nice stop. I wish Gaven was on the U-20s. We could use his creativity and one on one ability.
Clark works as if he'll never get tired...Awesome stuff...Magee, good work, had two other half chances, but still, had a good presence in the game....Just to make a customary anti-DC comment: Despite the assist, what was Quaranta doing? I know that tactically, he's been placed out of his usual position, but still, he was not even playing well in MLS (at all) Isn't there someone else?
Rico played the perfect nasty def midfielder role. Nice distribution and timely tackles. As for Magee, he's just not fast and strong enough to be an effective player. You can't teach those two physical skills. He needs to work on his shooting and placement to be successful player for us next year.
Magee's offside that appeared to be a terrible call, was actually offside on Ed Johnson. I thought Ed Johnson was awful up to the point in which he scored. Then he became terrific. Johnson set up Magee's goal with a great run. Johnson at offensive center mid may be his future. The best player on the pitch for the US was Clark. He tired and was replaced at the 80 minute mark. Other players who were good were the goalkeeper (name ?) and Convey. Paraguay played smart in the first half. They kept the ball low and attacked down the left where the US was weak on defense. The first US goal was against the run of play. But after that goal, Paraguay just seemed to tire. And the US in the second half diminished their high ball attack and also kept the ball low most of the time. All in all it is great to watch so many of American youth playing at an International level. Couldn't say that 20 years ago.
Nice to hear that the boys are making an impact. I'm going to go watch the game right now on Galavision.
Clark looked very good in the second half as a defensive mid. Like he looked when we first got him. Won his tackles took on people and beat them, passed pretty well, and was the player that reverse our teams field to play away from the pressure. For some reason at the end of our metrostar season we did not get switching the field passes from him. Well he is back doing it now. Please God next season just play him as a defensive mid, the wing mid did not agree with him. -------------- I only watched Quaranta once in a game against DC where he played in the midfield. In that game at least I was impressed with his play. He has potiental to be a very good player. I hope no one gives up on him. A player is a terrible thing to waste
He does have weaknesses. He can get his head on balls but he can't snap them off. A lot of weak headers from him. The officials was not calling questionable fouls so he hit the ground alot and got no calls. He has to fight through those tackles. He is an opportunist off a defenders mistake. That is not enough to make a player a starter.
Mike Magee is also a kid who scored seven goals as a 17-18 year old in MLS. Call him an opportunist, call him a poacher, whatever, if he can become a 12-15 goal scorer in his early 20s, I'll call him an MLS All-Star. Searching for the perfect player is so frustrating. Wouldn't you love to morph Mike Magee, Clint Mathis and John Wolyniec into one big, smart, hustling, poacher, scorer who can bomb them from 30 yards? I'd take: Magee's brain and sneakiness. Wolyniec's desire and size. Clint's heading and shooting. Magee's youth. Wolyniec's toughness. Clint's swagger. If only real soccer was like this. It's frustrating to see Magee and Wolyniec get chances every single game and then watch Mathis go two months without a sniff. There's got to be something about Magee and Wolyniec's runs and positioning, somethat's lacking in Clint's game, no?
Magee is a super third option at forward. He is good at getting opportunities to score. As someone else said, he NEEDS to work on finishing. I'm talking about ripping the ball on goal in the corners. Quaranta in my book is a winger. He is not a forward. He has good ball skills (much better then EJ) and he can pass the ball. He has scored some nice goals in his career, I just hope that this tournament gets him back his confidence so he can start playing up to the level he can.