Figured I'd give the thread a general title just in case ... Looks like this tournament is a big deal down there. Yesterday, the President of Panama presented the national flag to one of their U-20s. He also announced that in the future they're going to remodel the national stadium. For now, though, that presumably still means not-so-good playing conditions. http://www.presidencia.gob.pa/noticia.php?cod=9013
US under-20 soccer team's captain Freddy Adu, jokes with his teammates during a training session in Panama City, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007, ahead of their Concacaf under-20 tournament against Panama. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco) US under-20 soccer team coach, Thomas Rongen, left, watches as his players train in Panama City, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007, ahead of their Concacaf under-20 tournament against Panama. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
A short blurb about Freddy with a complimentary quote from Guatemala coach Rodrigo Kenton: http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/hoy/dep01.html Kenton coached Costa Rica at the last Olympics. Also, Panama announced their roster, and they're bringing some fantastic Spanglish names: GK: Rigoberto Austin (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Luis Mejia (Tauro FC), Guillermo Murillo (San Francisco FC); DF: Giancarlo Galvan (no club), Miguel Gonzalez (Atletico Veraguense), Antonio Leslie (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Enrique Marquinez (Chorillo FC), Marvin Mitchell (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Luis Ovalle (Sporting 89), Christian Vergara (no club); MD: Nelson Barahona (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Francisco Castañeda (Tauro FC), Armando Copper (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Jaime Giron (San Francisco FC), Javier Gonzalez (Alianza FC), Luis Moreno (no club), Celso Polo (San Francisco FC), Jonathan Walcott (Argentina FC); AT: Josue Jafeth Brown (Atletico Veraguense), Eduardo McTaggart (Deportivo Arabe Unido), Erick Tejada (Navy Bay), Gabriel Torres (San Francisco FC), Davis Wallace (Tauro FC). I would totally buy DC United season tickets if they signed Eduardo McTaggart.
Shot of Haiti (in blue) in their last tune-up before leaving for Panama. They drew this game 1-1 with local team l'ASCAR ... http://www.lenouvelliste.com/article.php?PubID=1&ArticleID=39045&PubDate=2007-01-12
That's a pretty nice field they're playing on there. The pics of the Rommel stadium show the grass is much nicer than I'd thought...it is at least cut and doesn't show any clear dirt patches.
According to the US Soccer blog we didn't train at Rommel Fernandez today, if those are the pics you're referring to.
They have pics of the team (newly updated on ussoccer.com) at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium, though it looks like they may have just ran and checked out the pitch rather than had a full training session. The grass looks good...though in the quotes from the players they said it was "heavy" and "soft" presumably meaning the grass was a bit long and perhaps the ground a bit soft. It looks ok to me in the pictures, but I could see it being soft and slightly long (which makes a big difference on a rolling ball). They apparently might cut it before the game tomorrow. The field you are referring to is the FSU one which is where they did their regular training, apparently.
Sorry to continue to ask this question, but are any of these games available on US tv or on the net somewhere?
speaking of heavy and soft, is it just me or does the pic on ussoccer.com of danny szetela make him look like leo dicaprio after a month-long diet of boston cream pies?
It is on GolTV. CONCACAF Under-20 - Group A - Live (EST) Wed Jan 17 06:30PM - Haiti vs United States Fri Jan 19 06:30PM - United States vs Guatemala Sun Jan 21 07:00PM - Panama vs United States Check out this thread for more info: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458361&page=5
Danny's built thick, but I agree with you- he looks out of shape. Same thing I saw 2 months ago live. I think he is hurting his game by carrying too much weight. As a positive, if he would get thinner, he probably would elevate to the next level, which would make him QUITE a player. He has a big frame which is sturdy, and I could see him being a success in England (able to handle it). That is, if he was in shape
http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/hoy/dep03.html Haiti's coach (Argentinian Claudio Frean) indicated that his team was at 60%, "Today we have a difficult test against one of the candidates to qualify. There we'll come face to face with reality." The journalist speculates that the game could end up a blowout, although he says that in Caribbean qualifying, Haiti looked strong in defense. http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/hoy/dep04.html At Concacaf's request, the grass was cut at Rommel Fernandez Stadium. They say the field appears to be in good condition.
I love how that needs to be requested by Concacaf. It seems like Panama is proud to host this tourny, with the president honoring their team and all. It seems bizarre that they'd allow a game to occur on uncut grass. Can you imaging in the 2010 World Cup having a game played in South Africa on uncut grass? I could see the headlines: "Brazil was defeated today by Denmark, as Brazil's passing was interrupted by the 6 inch long grass. Denmark's style of long ball won out, as the Brazilians refused to conform to the uncut pitch" This is why international soccer is so interesting. Not everywhere in the world has the kind of money Europe and the US has for soccer...not that it costs anything to cut frickin' grass. What, one guy, maybe a couple of hours, maybe $20 in gas, and a lawnmower.
Unless the team thinks a sloppy game on a sloppy field suits them better then a shorter faster field.
That certainly happens for home/away games for qualifying...but when an entire tournament is being played on the field with many teams other than the home country playing each other, it gets pretty ridiculous to do that. It's not surprising, though. I bet full national sides go to great lengths to assure the pitch is crappy. In fact, I believe the US-Panama World Cup qual game in Panama (not sure if it was in the Hex or semis) was on an awful, waterlogged, long-grass field that really hampered the game. The game was the one where I believe Cobi Jones scored a goal out of a puddle in the final minute or something. It makes it all interesting I suppose.
Right, but the irony is evident in your own post. Brazil has long grass on most of its pro-level fields relative to England and Germany. The field is "heavier" in UK than you'll find in Spain and Italy, but the grass in South America, and I think in the U.S., tends to be longer (in the midwest I think you have to let it grow some in the summer or you'll lose it). The grass at Lockhart a couple of weeks ago (not a regularly-used field I know) was pretty long. Seems like the practice fields at HDC are that way also (not sure about the stadium field).
If you have the standup stuff like Kentucky Bluegrass then yes you have to let it grow out here in the Midwest or the roots will burn under the summer sun. The other (short length) option is the creeping Bermuda grass, which - though it looks and sounds cool - does not necessarily play as well as a nice smooth bluegrass. Lots of random bumps.
Seitz Kirk, Sturgis, Valentin, Ward Wallace, Szetela, Adu Zizzo, Akpan, Rogers some guessing on alignment
There is a cure for the Bermuda situation, but it is expensive. I talked to our club director once, and he explained how the club's primary fields are maintained. The Bermuda grass is overseeded with rye grass just after Labor Day. When November comes and the Bermuda gets brown and weak, the rye grass takes over, so you have a good surface for November through March. Then the Bermuda greens and grows when the overnight frosts end. At the end of May, when the season ends, the entire park is killed off with herbicide. The Bermuda is seeded immediately and grows like crazy all summer. He said that Bermuda and rye, especially rye, will start to clump up if they are permitted to age. So, the grass is never more than a year old.
This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 90 minutes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff.