Week 11 Notes

WEEK 11 NOTES

• Every American soccer fan woke up this morning excited about the beginning of World Cup Qualifying. Except Dave Sarachan. He was missing four starters against Los Angeles today because of National Team callups. Galaxy were missing Kirovski, of course, but they have so much fire power right now it shouldn’t matter. Despite all that, Chicago nearly stole the game. Getting a brace from Ante Razov, only an injury time goal by Chris Albright kept it from being Chicago’s biggest win of the year.

• Eric Wynalda just endorsed diving during the CHI/LA game. “When you get fouled in the box, don’t keep going, fall down!” Thanks Eric. Thanks a lot for that. It’s only the most pathetic thing a soccer player can do. Way to encourage good sportsmanship in the young people, there, Mr. Hall-of-Fame.

• Young Zach Wells getting his first professional start for Metrostars tonight. He looked a bit nervous, but didn’t play that way. Very calm and very in command of his area. He had no chance whatsoever on Agoos’ sweet free kick goal in the first half. He might have done better on Ching’s goal, but it was a breakaway, and Ching handled the ball and got away with it. You can’t even blame the third on the lad, either. Brian Mullan had four (yes, FOUR) defenders around him and managed to drill a low hard shot in the left corner of the goal.

• I guess it was free seat cushion night in San Jose, because after Mullan’s goal about a thousand of the stupid things were thrown on the field by the San Jose “faithful”. Idiots.

• For all the heartburn that World Cup qualifiers cause MLS coaches, they certainly give us a chance to see young talent we might not have had a chance to see otherwise.

• Seven, count ‘em, seven yellow cards in the Metros/EarthQlash match. Easy boys, easy. You’re waaay up here, and we need ya to be down here, m’kay?

• Poor Steve Nicol only had two field players on his bench tonight. His problem is caused by injuries more so than National Team callups. But he did have a healthy Clint Dempsey; he’s this year’s Taylor Twellman. But for Stellar work by Jeff Cassar, filling in for Scott Garlick in the Dallas goal, Dempsey might have been enough for Nicol tonight. Dempsey should have had a hat trick but for Cassar’s heroics. Dallas get a nice 3-1 win at home. The two teams that missed the playoffs last year, the Crew and the Burn, are resurgent. Bad news for the rest of the league.

• Kansas City and Columbus started off kind of slow, but then the game turned into a goal fest. First half goals by Jeff Cunningham, Jimmy Conrad and Shavar Thomas. The second half was a bit quieter, with Cunningham equalizing in the 63rd. I didn’t really see that Cunningham was fouled, or, as the announcers on Fox Sports Español said: “No lo ví”. Still, seven games without a loss for Les Crew. The “Fire Andrulis” thread on BigSoccer has been strangely silent lately.

• Shavar Thomas doubled his goal production as a professional with his tally. I’m a little surprised he’s not away with the Reggae Boyz this weekend. They’re playing a tougher-than-expected Haiti side that features Colorado’s Peguero. Hope the Jamaicans aren’t taking Haiti lightly. They beat us earlier in the year, in a friendly. Update: Peguero scored on a second half PK to lead Haiti to a 1-1 tie with Jamaica.

• Only 7,000 in Big D tonight for a terrific match and a good win for the Burn. That’s depressing.

• Joe Franchino went berserk and headbutted Phillip Salyer in retaliation for a hard foul. Straight red card for him. Somehow, during that whole mess, Simo Valakari picked up his second yellow and was tossed as well. You couldn’t tell what happened on television, as a result of atrocious directing, and I’m waiting for an eyewitness report as to how Simo got tossed. Of course, Simo’s already racked up about a thousand yellow card points this season, so it may have been force of habit on the ref’s part.

• It seems the Orioles had an unexpected doubleheader tonight, so Comcast was contractually obligated to broadcast that. They therefore blew off their scheduled coverage of DC/COL. This, as it turns out, was probably for the best. It ended up a nil-nil tie. Not the exciting, Mexico v US 1997 World Cup Qualifier type nil-nil either, or so I hear.

 

Thanks. I'm a big fan of AAXI, as well.

 

Your sig is excellent. I'd like to have a sound clip of Sir Bobby saying 'ohhh noooo'.

 

You know, I must have known that. But every time I think of that game it seems like a loss. I was letting my subconscious do my writing for me again, dogonnit.