World Cup Qualifying

[scottb]

Did anyone see the US vs Panama game last night?

Man, the US has multiple personality disorder!! Sometimes they look great (like the first half last night) and other times they are pitiful (second half.)

I can't figure why Conner Casey is starting ahead of Brian McBride. Maybe Bruce Arena is trying to help the younger player develop but if the goal is to score goals and win games, Casey is not the answer. I have never seen him score an international goal but I have seen him mishandle passes, commit easy turnovers and miss open chances at goal on a regular basis.

I think another missing piece last night was Bobby Convey. He doesn't score a lot of goals but he gives excellent service into the box and creates chances for the forwards regularly. Also a good defender. In the past the US hasn't had all the talent to work with, but now I think there is a good pool of talent available but I'm not sure it's being managed correctly. I'm thrilled the US pulled it out last night and weeks back against Jamaica. It shows they have great determination and spirit but they should've never been in the position to lose that game last night.

[Jim R]

Hey Scott, I've seen all three '06 qualifiers, and I agree with you (BTW are we the only two guys around here that care about the U.S. national team? ).

The Jamaica match was kind of strange. I thought we played pretty well, but the Jamaicans were just getting so pumped up by their home crowd (like the Panamanians last night), they were tough to handle. I wasn't nearly as worried about us coming back against Jamaica as I was in that Panama game, though. Like you said, we stunk in the second half. We looked tired and apathetic (or maybe pathetic is a better word!). I could hardly believe some of the passes I was seeing (and the rain was no excuse for a lot of them). Arena didn't seem all that animated late in the match... as though he didn't give a crap either. Very odd. They were stubborn with all those long high balls, and it finally paid off, but I'm not so sure they shouldn't have worked harder at building things up offensively like they've done so well over the past several years. Cobi's goal was about as lucky a goal as I can recall, with Donovan mishitting his shot right into the puddle next to Jones. Amazing. We really didn't deserve that draw.

The El Salvador match was ENTIRELY different, of course. I assume you saw that. I posted about Chings great goal on Brad's "Football" thread. That game had me so pumped for this Panama match, I could hardly wait those few days. What a gigantic letdown.

I heard somebody on the FSW telecast say that Bobby Convey was allowed to go play iin an important match with his club side (info escaping me at the moment). I think the general attitude has been that the U.S. is now so "deep" that they can afford to use all kinds of guys in these qualifiers. That may sound obvious in a way, but I think we agree that we need to get our best team on the field as often as possible. Conner Casey impressed me with his hustle against El Salvador, but as you say, he ain't Brian McBride. With Ching up front as a big target/possesion guy, I would have thought that Donovan would be better up front with him. Those guys are a dangerous pair, as they've shown with the Quakes.

Anyway, as someone who's been following the squad since the 80's, I'm just glad that we're having this conversation. B-)

[chris olivarez]

All that work to see who earns the privilege of dealing with Brazil in the world cup. Good luck though to the US squad.

[kenny weir]

Having enjoyed the last World Cup enormously - especially the fact an Asian team got to the semis - I am still a little surprised to find I am taking interest in the various qualifying battles.

The Wales/Northern Ireland stoush must have been pretty rugged - three players sent off in the first quarter.

From what I can tell, Australia's bid starts in seriousness against the Solomon Islands on October 9. It's a hard having to face the fifth or sixth best South American team to get to the finals.

[Jim R]

All that work to see who earns the privilege of dealing with Brazil in the world cup. Good luck though to the US squad.

The other day (after we dominated El Salvador) I vented some of my excitement about the U.S. team to my one of my brothers. He's a fan of several sports, but soccer has never moved onto his radar screen. He asked me, "Does the U.S. have any shot at winning the World Cup?" My first instinct was to say no, but I couldn't do it. I realize that it's quite a longshot for all but a few teams to even dream of reaching the final, and I told him that Brazil is still the biggest obstacle, but it's not impossible. Nobody can say for certain, and although there are a few teams that are still clearly much stronger, I think we're moving into an era where surprises are going to begin to occur more and more often. We saw it in Korea/Japan, and of course in this Summer's European Championship. In terms of the U.S., I think back to 2002 and the 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany, where the match could easily have gone either way... and, the memory of July 4, 1994 is still etched in my mind. Second round match, Stanford stadium, Brazil 1, U.S. 0. I admired a lot of the players on that team, but it just doesn't compare to the program we have now. And where would we be now if we hadn't drawn Brazil in that game, AND if we had a reasonably intelligent coach going into the '98 cup...

Anyway, you can't blame a guy for dreaming. That's what the World Cup is all about, right? Even if the U.S. doesn't get past the quarterfinals in Germany, I'll be happy if we play well again and shock a few more people. But we'd better concentrate on El Salvador, Panama, and Jamaica first.