If Etch plays for Bolivia I'm sure it'll be as a "guest player". He'll only play a limited amount of minutes. I think he'll be available for the beat down United will hand out to Twellman and company.
Why on earth would Acosta call in Etcheverry now? That makes no sense at all. He's been out of Bolivia's picture for how long now? Frankly, DC needs him. I'd trot out as close to the same starting 11 as I possibly could. Slot in Dema for Chino, and Petke for Nelsen, and you've got a winner. Last week, Etch showed a lot--possession and composure when it was needed, defensive presence like he RARELY ever shows, and the guile to pull a penalty out of his magic hat. I'll take the less than 60% effort most of the time for 100% when it matters most. In this case. Plus that gives us a lot of defensive flexibility for when we bring on Stoitchkov, who always throws our shape completely out of whack. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does need paying attention to. The guys had a pretty damn good run on Saturday. Petke for Nelsen is almost a wash on Petke's good days, and Kovalenko for Alegria is a major upgrade--no slight on Chino intended. That's just the way it is. Which gives us Ivanov and Chino as depth players--something we'll likely need any time that butcher Franchino steps on the pitch. We'll see. I'd much rather see Etch play for us than Bolivia.
They're trying to call etch up most likely cause he's the only player who could join the team on such short notice to replace Baldivieso, another midfielder who was just dropped from the roster. With MAE our federations doesn't need to worry about getting him a visa or even flying him to DC. That is if he doesn't travel with United and is available. I'm hoping United won't release him, we need him way more than Bolivia does. I wonder if teach team is supposed to bring a minimum of "known" players. Paging Mauricio Ramos...
In the Warren thread (that allegedly only contained people lacking in moral fiber...) someone mentioned that DC United has SIGNED Clint Baumstark. I can't find anything to confirm or deny this. Does anyone know if this is true?
The question is, can Etch physically perform that way two games in a row. Over the course of the season he has shown that he can't. The same goes for hristo... Ray used him up at the beginning of the season and after a while his performance started to suffer and you have to use up a sub to get them out. that only leaves you with 2 subs left. I think the both of them are more than viable options off of the bench. Plus it'll keep them fresher for the stretch run. The only thing is you have to make a sub with about 20-30 minutes left so they have a chance to do somthing. Subbing with 5 minutes left is almost useless...
Etcheverry is called up... Here is a link I got from FoxSportsworld Espanol's website. Its in spanish, but it basically says that the coach called him up on monday and asked him to play. Etch said he'd go... http://www.terra.com/fox/articulo/html/fox58587.htm It says his last game was in September of 2000 in a 5-0 loss to brazil in qualifying for Korea-Japan. The article is dated 10/7/03
Article today says DC won't release MAE. Also mentions that acosta may be calling him up for WC qualifiers. http://www.lostiempos.com/hoy/pde15.shtml
FYI The game is on the MLS shootout on Sat, 4 pm. I also see it's being carried by Fox Sports Net New England. I'll confirm Summers will have but it shouldn't be a problem (I'll also see what college football he'll be showing so people can arrive accordingly). K
Re: FYI Be aware that there are several BIG college football games this weekend. (Texas-OU at 3:30 comes to mind)
We'll give you eighty minutes.... We'll give you eighty minutes.... We'll give you eighty minutes....
absolutely -- this is the one I've been wanting too. I'm confused about marco -- ray's been tending to leave him off the first XI on the road, but his recent remarks suggest that marco may be turned to as the leader making a final stand or whatever dramatic babble ray would use. personally, I'd rather not see him start. I'm interested in suggestions of ivanov as a d-mid. has this been tried? I don't recall him playing there this season. as much as I'd prefer to see dema attacking, he has been an effective stopgap measure against most porridge-stealers.
The difference is that the NZ FA asked properly, with plenty of time, for Nelson to be released. Bolivia JUST asked for Marco, I believe inside the FIFA deadline, due to another player not making the game. Not like MLS has to let either go, but there is a big difference here.
Preview is up on MLSNet.com. REFEREE: Ali Saheli. Games involving Revolution: P9 W3 L6 T0; FC/gm: 34.8; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 2; pens: 3 Games involving United: P9 W6 L2 T1; FC/gm: 34.6; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 1; pens: 4 One of my least favorite refs throughout the history of MLS.
IIRC, New Zealand's match against Iran is not a friendly but a cup match and therefore NZ had every right to call him in by the book.. If it was merely a friendly, United could have denied the request.. Secondly, after talking to Ryan personally, he did not want to got to Tehran.. He wanted to stay and help United get to the playoffs but he has no choice in the matter..
Etch has had a week off. I don't think that will count him out of a starting role. He's hit a good run of matches and played a huge role in the C-bus game. Stick to what's working. I also don't think you want both Etch and Stoitch on the bench. You would never want to sub them both into a match.
I wondered what cup match you were talking about, so I went looking for it. Found this: MLSnet I would even question the statement that "he has no choice in the matter..." Cheers.
The NZ - Iran match is NOT a friendly - it is a one -off game between the winners of the Asian Confederation championship (Asian Games) and the winners of the Oceania Nations Cup. In local terms, your equivalent would be the CONCACAF champions v. the CONMEBOL confederation victors - say USA v. Argentina or similar. Nelsen didn't have a choice, as it is an official FIFA sanctioned A-list international. If he had made himself unavailable, the NZ national assciation would have been within its rights to prevent him from playing for DCU against the Revs, under the FIFA "5-day" rule. RE Nellie's commitment to DCU, look at this extract of a previous post of mine to a different thread: Nelsen is not impressed with timing of this call-up - here's some quotes from an interview in the New Zealand press last Friday: "Bad timing is a bit of an understatement - we have got 4 more games left in the regular season and we need to win at least 2 to guarantee a place in the play-offs. And right in the middle of that I have to fly across the world to play a one-off match in Tehran." "Don't get me wrong, I love playing for New Zealand," said Nelsen, "but I've been working and sweating with these guys for 10 months and I would be gutted if they lost the vital matches and I was not there." And good luck for the Revs match!!