Post Match Thread Started. Have to hand it to Carlos Costly. That might be the first dive I've ever seen that warranted a straight red. Reminds of me of Luis Hernandez in his prime.
Holden's stock is rising very quickly. He's my MOTM. Rogers bounces back nicely. Heaps, once again, did not suck.
Weak showing by Ching, IMO. He has been having a hard time finishing. Overall, an OK performance by the team. At the beginning of the second half we did very well.
I am glad they are making the finals. It surely wasn't pretty. We have to remind ourselves over and over that this is indeed the 3rd/4th stringers. Its a good accomplishment for them to have done what they have done. Cooper needs to start the finals, I think thats pretty clear, though he might have been offsides on his goal. Ching and Arnaud provided pretty much nothing.
Solid, methodical win. At no point did you feel like Honduras was a danger to win this game. Holden was the class of the field, but I liked Marshall, Goodsen and Perkins efforts. Ching played well as well.
Not the most fluid game, but the U.S. definitely had the edge in terms of viable scoring chances. Good stuff from a b/c team.
Nah, he was behind the ball. Honduras seemed to forget that part when running their offside trap on the play.
What did he have 2 chances in the box in 90 minutes? He might have worked hard otherwise but you have to do better.
Not a Ching fan at all, but he brought it tonight. Great job by him. Holden excellent. I'd really like to see Cooper get some extended minutes. Well done, boys!
He did make a nice backheel on the second goal. Ching's problem is he's just so ungainly out there. Sure he has the ability to draw a foul in a dangerous area on a nothing play, but he also has the ability to completely squelch very promising attacks by being unable to control the ball on the run. Stationary, he does just fine. But he just can't control the ball when he's moving with any kind of speed.
ching and arnaud are going to be bruised as ******** tomorrow lol. those two took a beating from the honduran defenders
Team brought a lot of energy in. Rogers pushed early, created the corner that created the first goal and defense was good all night-hopefully his head is okay. Holden is better when he can move around centrally. Reminds me if what Freddy can do when he is in form (but Holden has more defense). Keeper def stepped up. Beckerman was pretty quiet but had a hand in last goal.
To be fair to Rogers he gets sort of a half-assist on goal number one. He made a nifty touch to pop it over a defender and race by him toward goal. The keeper saved his "shoss/crot" and Goodson scored on the ensuing corner. Edit: I owe Missionary a coke.
USSoccer announced Goodson was the official MOTM I would have said Holden was MOTM, but I don't want to take anything away from Goodson. He did play well
So, has Holden for the time being taken Freddy's once-guaranteed ticket to SA? Maybe he shouldn't have gone to Benfica.
Goodson did have a good game, both with the goal and on defense, seems like he was more motivated after the goal to try to make it stand up. Great showing by him. Holden is the default MOTM for this team because he is by far the best at controlling the ball, making runs and taking chances. Perkins had a nice game too, again we take keepers for granted but I don't think he's made a mistake the whole tournament.
Holden was easily the MOTM in my opinion. Beckerman played well too. I thought Arnaud was awful, lots of really bad touches and passes. Holy shit was that ref horrible. Let everything go and blew two clear cut PK calls within 4 minutes of the second half.
Bluecat's dumb question of the night... Has any country ever made the finals in two different official FIFA tournaments in the same calendar year - senior or youth? I would think it's pretty rare...
Ching was repeatedly outstanding, and that spin move of his is become quite the effective move to free space in the box. Stuart Holden is due a promotion at the expense of Sacha Klejstan. His set piece delivery is fantastic. Chad Marshall is better than Danny Califf. What a signing he'd be for a Dutch, Danish or even a German side. Heath Pearce is starting to get some sharpness, and I hope he comes to MLS or somewhere else he can get games every week. Robbie Rogers shows flashes of talent, but could use a few years playing in Scandanvia or the English Championship to force him to fight for his spot and tighten up his game. Clarence Goodson improves every time I see him, and I'd wager he gets sold on from Norway in the next year or two. Kyle Beckerman probably would be looking to break through to the squad, if Benny Feilhaber wasn't in his way. Kenny Cooper and Santino Quaranta both made an impact coming on. Cooper looks so much better when he keeps things simple, combines with his teammates, and gets in front of the net. This Gold Cup run will work wonders for US depth going forward. You now have an entire squad worth of different guys who have a host of competitive games learning how to play for Bob Bradley.
You Heaps bashers really need to give it a rest. Not only did he not suck but he had a very strong game. He had two excellent headers on goal which was two more than Ching had, and was unlucky not to score. Made numerous stops and good blocks. Give him the credit he deserves PS - He'll also start the final so GET OVER IT