Im really excited about the following two world cups because i believe that by the time we head into the 2010 world cup we are gonna be seem sort of like what france and argentina were seen as in this past world cup (although there wont be any first round exits!)...im really pumped and i expect another quarterfinal finish in Germany!!! Ladies and Gentlemen i present u the 2010 American National Team: Starting 11: GK: Tim Howard DF: Jonathan Spector DF: Carlos Bocanegra DF: Zak Whitbread MF: Danny SZetela MF: John O'Brien MF: DaMarcus Beasley MF: Landon Donovan MF: Bobby Convey FW: Freddy Adu FW: Kenny Cooper Bench: GK: DJ Countess GK: Steve Cronin DF: Frankie Simek DF: Ryan Cochrane DF: Chad Marshall MF: Memo Gonzalez MF: Eddie Gaven FW: Danny Karbasiyoon FW: Jamie Watson FW: Edson Buddle MF: Kyle Martino MF: Justin Mapp Keep in mind these is gonna be how the team is going to be setup when they defeat Brazil 2-0 in the championship game. Give me ur ideas and tell me what you all think.
Paging Prawn Sandwich... LoL. Interesting points though. Howard might be around till 2014, so we have GK covered at least till that long, (Of course with a crowd of others waiting around for a shot) in 2010 John O'Brien will be 32ish, similar to CLaudio in 2006... I love JOB but man it'd be a frickin miracle if he is still playing (and fit) in 2010. Is Szetela considered a defensive midfielder? Because if he is not JOB is the only defensive/holding type mid you have in your lineup. Ricardo Clark and that other Fellow on the u-23 side whose name I can't recall would be good additions. Next six years should be exciting for American soccer. I'm glad I'm here to witness it.
opps yeah ur right men....well if Johnny is a bit too old that i think Rico Clark can come in or we can also take a forward like watson out an put ricardo clarck in...see this what i mean when i say by the time 2010 comes in this national team is going to be loaded with outsanding players... i also forgot todd dunivant who can be a phat possibility.
You called? I shall keep my thoughts to myself on this one - L9F almost smells like a UK based sockpuppet trolling for signature material....
sorry but the USA is not winning the world cup in 06. the winner of the world cup in 06 has already been decided and it is Germany. They will have the crooked refs to help them along the way to make sure they advance. They will get the calls, the penaltys you name it. Remember that only euros win the cup in europe and if there was ever a team to beat that curse it would be Brazil.
Just a point here, a noneuro team has won a european based world cup, 1958, Brazil won, defeating Sweden in the final 5-2.
don't forget about baby brother adu too... as to the proposed 2006 line-up in post one, I don't believe Arena will fully transition to such a line-up spector, szetela and cooper, I highly doubt will emerge as starters.. adu too...I believe he'll progress and be the offensive sub off the bench... still, entering the 2006 tourney, there will be a dozen sides with more realistic chances ... I do agree, USA has far more young talent than ever, and when this talent has played several years at the highest level world socer has to offer, then we can begin to fulfill a dream. My gut says Germany isn't winning in 2006. Italy in 1990 didn't win. 1998, I'd think we'd agree France was a worthy winner, and the home edge didn't fully matter.
Sorry, Twellman apologist here... Twellman: if he ever gets himself integrated into the National team, he should be in his prime (around 28 or so) in 2010... look at Shearer today, still producing at the club level.
Prawn Sandwich, see the American Sporting Menatlity thread. This is why we talk about winning the World Cup rather than qualifying.
Understood - a few points though; 1) My post was in response to someone who asked who was in the 2006 WC. Hence my comment saying there was the small matter of qualifying to take place first before that was known 2) American Sporting Mentality applies to the fans agreed - in this respect it is understood why certain US posters are, from a European posters perspective, somewhat "arrogant" in their attitudes towards the US winning the WC quite as soon as some posters seem to believe. 3) I cannot see how this "attitude" applies to the actual players themselves. Why is an American football player anymore motivated to win than a top-drawer European player? The dedication/self-belief etc required of any top-class footballer is the same no matter their country of origin. If, say, Zidane did not possess a "winners attitude" would he have developed to be the player he is? I think not....
We do have a very decent shot for 2010, if players now live up to their potential, stay healthy. Many of our better players will still be under 30 by then, and who knows how Adu will do, the specter's, coopers, whitbread's, etc. Heck, Bocanegra will only be 30 in 2010, he will probably be in the mix. Several years in the EPL should only increase his skill level. --------------Howard------------------- Whitbread---Spector---?---Bocanegra---- -------------- Danny S----------------------- Convey---------------------------------DMB ------------------Donovan------------------ ---------Adu--------------Cooper------------- In 2010, that would be a very formidable line up. We would have a ton of speed, a target forward in Cooper who could play off Adu, Speed up the flanks, and skill in the outside backs. We still might lose. Heck France didn't make it out of the first round last time. But, I would guess that we would have as good a shot as almost anybody to be a semifinalist.
Well, damn! Now that we're going to start winning these Cups I'm going to continue my journey on the USA bandwagon. Yay!
Re: - While I'll agree that 2010 might be dreaming a bit, the wins were not lucky. On the biggest stage a team must bring their best game. We did, and we won. Nothing lucky gave us the wins in the WC.
Solid Foundation Good Start! Eddie Johnson instead of Jamie Watson Arturo Alvarez instead of Danny K. Ricardo Clark or Kyle Beckerman instead of say...................Memo. Who has some skill but limited athletecism and slides out of games too much. Everyone's young and can improve though. My sleeper Ramon Nunez. Corey Gibbs will only be 29/30 age range he'll be on team. Tricky to keep some experience while not cutting our up and coming young talent.