When I first started reading this thread, I didn't know what folks were going on about. In "real time," I thought Donovan's goal was terrific, I didn't know why he was pointing towards the goal as he began his celebration, and, I confess, I was glad to be able to cheer for Landon after spending so much time booing him at Spartan . But then I realized I had recorded the match on my computer, so I went back and watched the goal, and once you know what to look for, it's much more obvious than even that picture shows. The wall forms, and then Wolff clearly pulls his arm up and points with his thumb ... clearly for the viewer, obviously not for the Cubans!
They didn't show if he did or didn't but can anyone tell me if he did that little catching kisses thing and put it in his back pocket?? I hate that.... I did love the shot though...and that was an incredibly difficult shot. When you're in your backyard without a REAL wall of 7 men in front of you yeah it might be a bit easy.....but COME ON man that was a hell of a shot and that's cause I still have a chip on my shoulder about him coming back from Europe!! Hell of a shot LD!! Congrats!! and way to go J Wolff on pointing out the discrepency in the BS wall set up by Cuba.... Way to finish the game!! Although I would've rather you finished off the game sooner....it's cool with me though cause as I walked into the house from practice I was able to catch the last 3 minutes of the game and my son was pissed cause the game was almost over with 3minutes left...little did he know he was about to see the best of the game!! LOL!!
I'm not sure, but I think Donovan also hit it earlier than the keeper expected. Donovan came across the ball at a really acute angle too and if the keeper wasn't set he might have thought LD was going right.
My recollection of the replay is that the Cuban #6 & #9 broke from the wall. I think the shot went right thru the hole vacated by #6 when he left his spot. The keeper seemed a bit out of position and mey have lost his footing (as a lot of players did last night).
i didnt get to watch the game since i don't have telefutura. when i read the title of this thread, i double-taked. we actually scored on a freekick!
The Cuban #6 player is the 2nd from the end of hte wall... If Donovan hit it there, and it went through when he moved, then I'm less impressed with the shot... and feel it was 50% quality shot by Donovan, and 50% terrible terrible play by the cubans - both the wall and the keeper positioning. Either way, it was a good goal ... I'm not ready to put it up there with the great free kicks of all time (even all time USA) but it was really needed in this game... and I'm glad he drilled it home.
well i did not watch the game....not possible to watch it in germany... so i can only rely on your information here...and on press news.. from all post here some say kick of Donovan was good or was bad.... well the fact is Donovan scored.....this is what had an effect on the result..dont´you thin?....maybe it was 50% quality shot by donovan and 50% terribleplay by the cubans..but who can say it exactly?..no one It was a good Goal...and ..Donovan showed that he is valuable member of your team..... so no need ot discuss this "free kick goal".... Donovan managed.. your bltleo from Germany.
Oh, it was good, bltleo. It was very good. I'm quite proud of him. He had gotten knocked on his rear to draw the free kick...then he stepped up and put it away. He showed heart, he showed leadership. A few people tend to get carried away with over-analyzing things. It's fun for them, so there's nothing wrong in doing that..and they're not criticizing LD. Coming at that time of the game...(we're gonna tie freakin' Cuba!!!!!)....it was a clutch performance.
Does anyone know of a link that has video of Donovan's goal? I missed the game and would love to see it.
Here's a video of that Goal: http://dl2.rapidshare.de/files/2887925/35921209/2nd_US_goal_vs_Cuba__Gold_Cup_05.avi
Everyone here is right! Had the wall done its job, it would've taken a ball bending left-to-right (left-footed shot) to go in at the left post. And from that close range, that shot would've needed to be pretty damn sweet. However! big ups to Donovan and Wolff for making a simple play out of it.
I appreciate the thoughts... but I wanted to point out that I am very happy with the goal. The USA has for too long looked way to soft on free kicks near the opponents goal. I'm not sure the USA has had someone who was always dangerous in those situations since Tab Ramos. My comment was only this... the Cubans didn't do things right, and that gave Donovan a slightly larger window of opportunity to score the goal. That said, he still had to hit the shot... and as someone else commented... make sure he didn't Convey the ball (personally I would have used Albright in that comment rather than Convey - as good as Convey is at missing the goal... Albright was even better) into the stands. It was a very good shot, not one of the all time greats, but a very good shot. We overembellish and overcriticize a lot on these boards (heck I may have done it once or twice) - this may not have been miraculous, but it was a very good shot, definitely a clutch shot.
That was what I was trying to say... and you did it better with fewer words... I should neg rep you for that...
It is funny that if he had just missed the shot, we wouldn't have a thread on here discussing how easy it was for him to make it, and how basically Cuba's crappy wall was the only reason he got it in. Thanks a lot, Landon, you muckraker.
Even if the Cubans put up the crappiest wall ever, I still give credit to Donovan for taking advantage of a situation with his FreeKick skill. That's how truly great Soccer players play the game!
The Video doesn't lie, it was Great! http://dl2.rapidshare.de/files/2887925/35921209/2nd_US_goal_vs_Cuba__Gold_Cup_05.avi
i have watched almost every nats game in the last 3 years and i do not recall us EVER scoring on a free kick (or a corner kick for that matter). set pieces seem to be our achilles heel (i dont know if anyone remembers reyna's "amazing" corners). I think cletus hit one in 2001 or something but does anyone have any other info?
Does that particular avi file format version require a special codec to be downloaded in Media Player?