My hat's off, but...[R] You guys won, and deserved it... But to those of you who have said this was an easy game for the US, maybe should ask yourselves why the first half was so boring... maybe because Venezuela had put up a fight in the mid-field, taking the ball from your feet? sure, they didn't do much with it afterwards, but let's not say that the US closed Venezuela in their own box... The second half I must say it was more of a combination of Venezuela just not putting an effort and the US having to prove themselves at home. The first goal, originally not offsides (don't know after that, I only saw one replay) but the goal should count as punishment to the AWFUL reaction from Venezuela's defenders. The second goal, great move from Donovan, horrible reaction from the defenders... but hear me out when I say this, any other defense line (in fact Venezuela's defense line WHEN THEY"RE PLAYING AND NOT WATCHING THE GAME) could have stopped it... but they didn't, so goal! The expulsion.... I have the sneaking assumption that maybe Angelucci wanted to get expelled, and I say this because: * Look at the height of his hands when he stops the ball... the ball was well in heading range. * Angelucci does not normally go out like that... very unusual. * Better to lose with 10 then 11... gives an excuse (but I wouldn't buy it) Don't kid yourselves though, you did not walk all over us... eventhough many teams you've dissed from the CONMEBOL would have (and HAVE) when we've played as bad as we did today... In the end, I'm very dissapointed in the game... Venezuela played bad... the US didn't play as well as I expected... THE WINNING FACTORS: Better physical condition, better concentration and home-team pride. I hope a rematch happens... this time in Venezuela... Congrats US... PS: I didn't talk about the ref nor playing as visitors or missing players, because I follow a simple principle: when your team wins, it wins and when they lose, they lost... and unless the Ref is Byron Moreno (See S. Korea - Italy WC2002), they lost for a simple reason THEY DIDN'T SCORE ENOUGH (OR AT ALL) or DIDN'T PLAY WELL (OR BETTER THEN THE OTHER TEAM).
USA vs VEN losing side's perspective First Half The game was called ugly and boring, the Venezuelan captain Luis "El Pajaro" Vera was guilty of this with his solidness at his 4 man line which gave the Americans little to nothing that half. Marcus Beasley was a beast his attacks had Luis Vallenilla seeing double he was a real pain clearly tyring out the defender. In this half Venezuela was lost without their pilot and wingman Arango & Gonzales who could not attend. The Forward duo of Garcia and Noriega was non existant as it looks like Garcia wil not be in WC qualifing roster until he learns the system. Second Half Substiution of "El Pajaro" Vera was the most noticeable maybe the coach had seen everything he wanted to see from the First Half? Stewart enters and a change of pace and more room is added to U.S. attacks. Beasley continues to attack Vallenilla. Who was at fault for both goals. In minute '51 the U.S. of a series of rebounds. Jovan Kirovski was the one who puntured the net. 23 minutes of Beasley destroying Vallenilla later. Landon Donovan eats up two defenders and going past thru a legless Valenilla to nonshalantly shotted thru Angelucci's net like the big boys. Venezuela had little chance due to little creactivity and luck. A deserving 0-2 loss I hope they learn something. Does anyone know how many feet above or below sea level its Seattle.
Vera's substitution Vera was playing through the pain... he's recovering from an injury that has prevented him from playing regular starting time with his club Caracas FC and actually started the line-up eventhough he admitted he was not 100% and felt some pain... the substitution was correct, because you don't want to risk injury with the captain of you're squad, specially in a friendly with no repercussions.
Venezuela The four man midfield of Vera, Jiminez, Paez and Urdaneta with Rojas and Rey backing them up - did a fine job controlling the midfield the majority of the half keeping the US off the scoreboard for 50 minutes. With a coach like Dave Dir, and playing in Houston, Seattle or Oklahoma They would make a damn fine nucleus of an MLS team. Good job guys
Re: USA vs VEN losing side's perspective The stadium is pretty much right at sea level, downtown near the harbor.
My hat's off, but...[R] I agree int he first goal, they were watching how funny and desperate Angelucci looked under attack. The second goal it was all Donovan and a tired Vallenilla. A fresh player with Donovan skills vs a player chasing Beasly all day long not much a chance. I think he could of foule him instead and risk the chance of being carded. Chances of playing a friendly against the U.S. outside of their home are oblique. You have a better chance of getting Mexico to come.
we've defeated worse teams with fewer goals, I'm not compaining about this result. Venezuela not rolling over does us a favor. No Japan, but still turned out to be a good test. (Not that I put much stock in Japan, but hey, everyone was talkin' 'em up, so I figured hey, maybe they'll show something they didn't at the WC.)
I thought Venezuela looked pretty good today. I appreciate hearing from the fans of vinotinto on this bord, it offers a fresh perspective. They have been respectful and the info related is refreshing. I think that the USA is the better team now, but an away game in Venezuela might be telling.
Re: Re: USA vs VEN losing side's perspective The field itself is actually below sea level by a couple of feet I think (Or is that Husky Stadium across town...?)
US-Venezuela (What do Venezuelans think) Before talking about the game, there are some facts that have to be pointed out. - I believe Venezuela had won 1 game in qualifiers before the Korea-Japan qualifier (about 10 qualifiers) - As you can imagine, Venezuela was uncontestably the worst team in SA for decades. - Venezuela's best ranking before 2001 was about #90. - Only one player in the Venezuelan team plays in Europe (Switzerland, 2nd division) I'm extremely proud that Venezuela was a challenging team against the #10 in the world. I think the Venezuelan goalie did an excellent job. The first goal was offside. Every soccer page I've seen says that if it hits the pole and another player gets it, it's the same as a pass, and he still almost stopped (crappy goal). And the second goal was from one of the best players in the world. Defense was pretty crap, I think Vallenilla doesn't belong in the team. Mid-field needs to move the ball more and create plays for the forwards. Forwards need communicate better, use the open spaces and not be afraid to try to dribble or make a pass that might lead to a goal. Venezuela did a very good job, we just need to work on the attact and getting the other teams defense off balance.
What a arrogant post dude!! Donovan one of the best players of the world?? He´s good, right, but my god consider him as one of the best of the world. My god! And as far as I know Venezuela won more than one match in qualifier before WC, and after they win over a strong Uruguay. And they were not "Challenging the team #10 of the world" They played against USA as a part of training and as an important experience! My god!
# there are alot of best players in the world and Donovan could be one of them. #and so was the US, it was part of training. #I agree, Venezuela did a great job during last WC qualifying and one of the most improve teams in SA.
I thought the Venezualan team was pretty good. We have heard that they had improved a lot and they have. They are not a bad side. My sense is Ven. are a bit toothless. They have good movement, good skill, but they looked very unsure in the attack.Frankly, it looked like they would never score. Ven won't be challenging Brazil or Argentina, but we( USA) play the other countires a lot, and yes, if you get 1 or 2 good attackers, I think you might qualify for the big show. I say congratulations on big improvements. As for Donovan, he is one of the best young players in the world- he was absolutely electric yesterday.He has a chance to become the best player in the world- a chance. But so do some others- I like Argentina's D'Allesandro a lot too, Robinho... and of course, Freddie Adu!
Welcome to BigSoccer DanRod - ignore the flamers and thanks for the post. I'm going to merge this thread to the other one like this.
Actually he is pretyy damn close to being right about Venezuela in Qualifers before J/K they won a total of 2 games one in 94 an the other in 82. I just looked it up on Fifa;s web site, go there if you dont believe it.
It is a bit of an overstatement, but Landon was the youngest player to score in the WC, and is one of the best YOUNG players in the world. WE will see how he develops, right?
I think Venzuela is not a bad team. Ball skills and movement look quite fine. The problem is that the attack is toothless.However , if you get 2 good attackers I think you can challenge for a WC place.Overall, not a bad team.
Flamers?? Who´s the flamer here, you arrogants or me telling the truth. Anyway, don´t care because I never spent time looking in this place because it´s hard to shut up looking all these crap-comments and not disturb with my "flamer messages". I knew it, I got nothing to do writing here. Now that you want it, I will go to not disturb anymore!!!
I went to the game yesterday: My observations: At halftime, I pitied anyone who crossed more than one state line to come see this game. The Venezuelan keeper did a good job, especially in trying to keep out the first goal. If his hands are over a fraction of an inch, the US at least has to try a fourth time to put it in, if Venezuela doesn't get the clearance altogether. Donovan's goal was sweet. The keeper did what he could, but Donovan's shown he knows where to place the ball in those situations. The red card was justified, but I wouldn't be surprised if the keeper didn't exactly have "Gee, am I in the penalty area or not?" on his mind -- even if he was way outside it -- and was thinking something along the lines of "Crap! Donovan's coming this way again with the ball!" Earnie Stewart's still got it. In addition to the keeper, I thought Jose Manuel Rey did a good job in defense for Venezuela. Kasey Keller's still got it. Bruce tried some experiments today. Some of them obviously didn't work. I actually think an away game in Venezuela would be a good test for the team, particularly as we get closer to qualifying. Gilstar10 needs to switch to decaf. That is all.