USMNT Confederation Cup Challenge So can we do it? Highlights on FSW last night of the Brazil 3-0 win against Nigeria were frightening. Brazil has almost a dozen 1st cap players on their squad and shellac the Nigerians. Turkey comes back twice and beats their opponent in their qualifier. Cameroon? Who knows what they will throw at us! Anybody with knowledge? What can we possibly expect in France? Especially, without a true attacking midfielder and a left-footed backfield?
I'd say disappointment or elation. Is it a good thing or a bad thing I'm going to a family wedding the day we play Brazil?
I'm not bashing the USA team at all but from what I saw at the world cup, the US if very good at disrupting their opponent's attack. They don't just ball watch and provide no pressure; the team is like a band of rapid dogs!
Confed Cup If we had the World Cup team and hype I think we MIGHT beat Turkey and draw Brazil. With this team (no Reyna, O'Brien, McBride, Friedel, or Pope) I would expect a loss to Turkey (2-0), a loss to Brazil (2-0), and a loss to Cameroon (1-0). I also expected us to lose to Portugal and beat Poland, if that gives you an idea of what I know. The U.S. team is pretty young and doesn't have a lot of firepower (always a problem). While Brazil, Turkey, and Cameroon don't have full squads either, their midfields all look better than what the U.S. can offer, and in Kahveci, Ronaldinho, and Eto'o they have truly dangerous players. Donovan might be there some day.
Re: Confed Cup this is old thinking.In fact Bruce always finds a way to exceed expectations.I remember well all the people on BS who said the US should forget getting a result against Portugal at the WC, just concentrating on keeping the score down so we wouldn't be humiliated.Same thinking here. Never underestimate the USA team, especially coached by Bruce Almighty.
Re: Confed Cup so we won't score a single goal in the 3 games? have you seen the rather weak team turkey is bringing? i really think this team can and will beat both turkey and cameroon but will have the most trouble of all with <surprise> brazil, i see a close game but a loss in that one. so a second place finish, which means we will probably meet france. interesting to say the least...
OK, that's it. For all you naysayers... I predict the US tops the group with nine points. Win against Turkey 3-0, win against Brazil 4-0, and win against Cameroon 8-0. Then we get dumped on in the semis against Japan, 7-0. Umm...yeah. I'm sure.
All three opponents are beatable IMHO. However, the most likely win would be Cameroon, then Turkey, then Brazil. 1-1-1 is certainly possible, but we have to hope for overconfidence from the Brazilians. After WC '02, we're not going to sneak up on ANYONE anymore IMHO.
Oh, I definitely think all three opponents are beatable. Winning all three may just be out of reach, but I imagine people are going to find that it's going to be difficult for anyone to take full points off the USA. We brought a weakened squad, but so did they. I have faith that we have a strong enough defense to keep the ball out of the American net. Keep it a midfield game and wait for chances to open up, that's how the USA is going to survive the group. Seriously, I want to say five points - holding Brazil and Turkey and beating Cameroon - and we're through to the semis. Mind you, it's no big secret that the US is not an attacking team, even with Mathis and Donovan up front. But I still have them going through with low scoring results.
I'm optimistic about this tournament. Howard is going to Manchester. He will be pumped to show why. Mathis is finishing his contract. He'll be on a mission to show he should be getting a fat paycheck in Europe. Last seen, Donovan torching defenders on the big stage in Korea. He's always ready for the international tournys. Beasley and Lewis are going to give EVERY team's right side fits. Teams are going to have to change game plans just because of them. Arena ALWAYS has teams prepared for big matches (uh, ok there was Poland....).
Re: Re: Confed Cup US team has always been a team w/ full of surprises, with good defense than lightning counter attack basicaly how they will handle those teams.
To be honest, defense in not a worry. How many different defenders and keepers have we played since the WC? Didn't we just give up our first goal in like 4 games? Argentina didn't light us up. Mexico didn't light us up. Our defense has put up some of the best numbers in the world of late. We are TOUGH to score on. Plus, no Richie Williams or Jeff Agoos for BS posters to rail upon.
Pope played in both those games, was the rock in the middle. Can Boca fill that role? Berhalter (shudder)?
Agreed; missing Pope is a different story. NZ scored one and if it was Brazil or Turkey (or perhaps Cameroon as well) it would have been 3! The defense will have to play better than they did against NZ for us to win games in France.
Who cares what the results are. No one gives a crap if you win the tournament anyway. This is just a chance to play some quality opposition to help The Bruce put together the squad he wants to use for Qualifying for '06.
Not quite. This is a squad which a bunch of players whi MIGHT see time during qualifying. When the squad doesn't have Reyna, Pope, O'Brien, McBride, Freidel, or Sanneh (6 starters, over half the lineup) you can't really call it a qualifying roster.
Very true that Arena is using this to check out players for qualifying. True that it doesn't have 'real' meaning other than helping with FIFA rankings which help with WC draw. (At least that's what I was lead to believe. But 'who cares'? Can you honestly tell me that if you're watching the U.S. Brazil match, and the U.S. is up 2-1 with 5 minutes to go that you won't be going crazy? That if the U.S. is losing 8-0 that you won't be at least a little disappointed? If you're honest, I bet you can't say that.
The WHOLE SOCCER WORLD would care if the US do badly. If you ask them to name a team who finished last in ANY World Cup tournament, they probably can only name ONE. We all know who that is. If the US does well, most fans in Europe and South America would probably tell you they didn't even watch any of the games.