How else to describe somebody who supports the political regimes of Venezuela, Cuba and Iran (while dodging taxes, or...
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Showing posts with label 2010 World Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 World Cup. Show all posts
Argentina World Cup squad named or Diego Maradona has completely lost his mind
Few people would mistake Diego Armando Maradona for a sane man. That has been clear for some time now--probably since he first entered the public conscience nearly 30 years ago.
How else to describe somebody who supports the political regimes of Venezuela, Cuba and Iran (while dodging taxes, or...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit the site to get the full story ]]
How else to describe somebody who supports the political regimes of Venezuela, Cuba and Iran (while dodging taxes, or...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit the site to get the full story ]]
The only reason England might defeat the U.S. on June 12...
...is this man: Wayne Mark Rooney.
Yes, we know: Rooney is actually Irish and could just as easily be playing for The Republic like his brother. But there are two problems with this: 1. Ireland were cheated out of a World Cup spot and 2. Rooney, for whatever reason, chose to represent the three...
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Yes, we know: Rooney is actually Irish and could just as easily be playing for The Republic like his brother. But there are two problems with this: 1. Ireland were cheated out of a World Cup spot and 2. Rooney, for whatever reason, chose to represent the three...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit the site to get the full story ]]
Soccernomics and the misbegotten quest to turn soccer into a statistical sport
Don't get me wrong, the book Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stean Szymanski is a quick and entertaining read and teaches a few solid lessons. It provides some pretty compelling insight into England's woes in particular and manages to shatter a few myths about the business of soccer. But the book...
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[[ This is a content summary only. Visit the site to get the full story ]]
Ten for '10: Top questions facing the beautiful game in 2010
Happy holidays from Soccer Source! In the spirit of things, we thought it would be a good idea to identify 10 questions facing world soccer in 2010 and rank them according to (our perceived order of) importance. Note that while we might claim these are "world" soccer issues, true imperialists that...
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[[ This is a content summary only. Visit the site to get the full story ]]
Asain 2010 World Cup Qualifying final group draw
The two groups have been drawn for Asia's final round of World Cup Qualification. Each group has five teams with the top two from each group advancing to South Africa. The third place teams in the groups will meet in a two-legged playoff with the winner playing the champion of Oceania.
Here are the two groups:
Group A
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Group B
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
North Korea
UAE
Although both groups have their difficulties, it looks to me like Group B is the tougher one since three of the teams made it to Germany in 2006 (S Korea, Iran & Saudi Arabia), plus North Korea is always capable of a surprise.
Group A seems designed perfectly for Australia and Japan to make it through.
Group play starts on 6 Sept and runs through 17 June 2009.
Here are the two groups:
Group A
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Group B
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
North Korea
UAE
Although both groups have their difficulties, it looks to me like Group B is the tougher one since three of the teams made it to Germany in 2006 (S Korea, Iran & Saudi Arabia), plus North Korea is always capable of a surprise.
Group A seems designed perfectly for Australia and Japan to make it through.
Group play starts on 6 Sept and runs through 17 June 2009.
FIFA - Even though Qatar cheated, they still get to advance
FIFA has denied Iraq's appeal to disqualify Qatar from World Cup Qualifying even though it admits Qatar did not play by the rules.
This Sunday saw Qatar beat Iraq 1-0 to advance to the final round of Asian WCQ, however one of their players was not eligible to play for Qatar.
Marcio Passos De Albuquerque, know as Emerson, was born in Brazil and represented Brazil at youth level, thus he was ineligible. In addition, he 'was also reported to have been detained by Brazilian police back in 2006 for falsifying his age on his birth certificate.'
FIFA's response: 'The player is not eligible to play for Qatar and cannot play any further matches for the representative team of Qatar.'
The loss to Qatar resulted in Iraq placing third in their group, thus missing the final round by just one point. Emerson did not play in this match, however he did play in the earlier game on 6 Feb, which Qatar won 2-0. This was the only group match in which Emerson played.
FIFA says that Iraq waited to long to file their complaint.
It seems to me that if FIFA knew that an illegal player was used in a match, the team should be forced to forfeit the game, even if their FA didn't know the player was ineligible. A team should not be able to prosper from illegal activities in the past.
This Sunday saw Qatar beat Iraq 1-0 to advance to the final round of Asian WCQ, however one of their players was not eligible to play for Qatar.
Marcio Passos De Albuquerque, know as Emerson, was born in Brazil and represented Brazil at youth level, thus he was ineligible. In addition, he 'was also reported to have been detained by Brazilian police back in 2006 for falsifying his age on his birth certificate.'
FIFA's response: 'The player is not eligible to play for Qatar and cannot play any further matches for the representative team of Qatar.'
The loss to Qatar resulted in Iraq placing third in their group, thus missing the final round by just one point. Emerson did not play in this match, however he did play in the earlier game on 6 Feb, which Qatar won 2-0. This was the only group match in which Emerson played.
FIFA says that Iraq waited to long to file their complaint.
It seems to me that if FIFA knew that an illegal player was used in a match, the team should be forced to forfeit the game, even if their FA didn't know the player was ineligible. A team should not be able to prosper from illegal activities in the past.
US 1-0 Barbados - US advances
US 1-0 BarbadosIn a game that saw the favorites look tired and even more defensive minded then normal, the underdogs had their chance to run the game. But unlike the Italy-Spain Euro match, the US was able to see their opposition out of the competition.
Yesterday's game was a flashback for me as right from the opening moments, it reminded me of some late-80's games due to the horrible video production. Combine that with the frustration of the US to break through a Caribbean nation's backline and a crowd that was less then present and it was just like the old days (except the broadcast wasn't on some UHF channel that I didn't even know I got nor was the game tape delayed to 3am nor was it dubbed in Spanish).
The good news, unlike the old days, the team on the pitch was not our A-team and that was probably the biggest lesson of the day.
This is the type of match the US men are going to see a lot of over the next 16-months as we begin the full World Cup Qualifying run. The 'lesser' teams of Concacaf are all going to adopt a similar structure to Barbados and play heavy defense while hoping for something on the counter. This is nothing new, but it still gives the US problems.
Overall, it was a boring game that saw Barbados have the better run of play for most of the second half. A few players looked good (Szetela, Lewis, Pearce, Adu), some had their moments (DeMerit, Califf) and some looked a bit under focused (Bradley, Guzan, Beasley, Moor). Nothing came out of this game that is going to cause major changes to Bradley's future lineups (with the possible exception of getting Kenny Cooper on to the pitch).
The US senior men are off till August 20th, when they travel to Guatemala to take on Carlos Ruiz and La Azul y Blanco.
One last thing, great idea by the USL-1 teams to sponsor all the boards during this match.
US starting lineup for Barbados World Cup Qualifier leg 2
US vs. Barbados
2:55p ET/ 11:55A PT
TV: ESPN classic, Galavision
Less then an hour to go till the US plays their second leg World Cup Qualifier against Barbados and Bob Bradley has released his lineup.
----------------Guzan---------------
Moor--DeMerit--Califf---Pearce
Kljestan-Bradley-Szetela-Lewis (c)
---------Adu---------Beasley--------
This is a very different lineup from last week with only four players starting both games (and only three are in the same position). With DeMerit and Califf taking over the center back and Moor out on the right, Pearce is now the experienced member of the defensive line.
The US will win this game, but expect Guzan to have a little more to do today.
Adu will have a lot of opportunities to open up on the offense front, but will he be able to turn his fancy footwork into goals?
By the way, this is the Word Cup Qualifying debut for Moor, DeMerit, Califf, Klejstan and Szetela.
2:55p ET/ 11:55A PT
TV: ESPN classic, Galavision
Less then an hour to go till the US plays their second leg World Cup Qualifier against Barbados and Bob Bradley has released his lineup.
----------------Guzan---------------
Moor--DeMerit--Califf---Pearce
Kljestan-Bradley-Szetela-Lewis (c)
---------Adu---------Beasley--------
This is a very different lineup from last week with only four players starting both games (and only three are in the same position). With DeMerit and Califf taking over the center back and Moor out on the right, Pearce is now the experienced member of the defensive line.
The US will win this game, but expect Guzan to have a little more to do today.
Adu will have a lot of opportunities to open up on the offense front, but will he be able to turn his fancy footwork into goals?
By the way, this is the Word Cup Qualifying debut for Moor, DeMerit, Califf, Klejstan and Szetela.
Bradley names his roster for Barbados World Cup Qualifier
USA vs. Barbados
Sunday - 2:55p ET/11:55a PT
TV: ESPN Classic & Galavision (Spanish)
Bob Bradley has released his 18-man roster for the second leg of the US-Barbados World Cup Qualifier. With the US up 8-0, the starting lineup is likely to include a number of younger players.
Here is the full roster:
GK (3): Dominic Cervi, Brad Guzan, Chris Seitz
D (6): Carlos Bocanegra, Dan Califf, Jay DeMerit, Drew Moor, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce
M(6): DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Danny Szetela, John Thorrington
F (3): Freddy Adu, Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe
The big thing I notice is the lack of Tim Howard and Eddie Johnson from the list as they were not players he released earlier in the week. The Howard move makes sense since he has a minor injury and Guzan (who got called back into camp) needs the international cap. The lack of Johnson is good since we need to find some other forward options, although Barbados is not much of a test.
Some people might wonder why Lewis is in there, but it makes sense since the experience of most of the players is limited. Good to have some old timers in to bring the experience.
Here is my guess at a starting lineup:
GK: Guzan
D: Moor, Califf, Bocanegra, Pearce
M: Kljestan, Bradley, Lewis, Beasley
F: Adu, Barrett
Sunday - 2:55p ET/11:55a PT
TV: ESPN Classic & Galavision (Spanish)
Bob Bradley has released his 18-man roster for the second leg of the US-Barbados World Cup Qualifier. With the US up 8-0, the starting lineup is likely to include a number of younger players.
Here is the full roster:
GK (3): Dominic Cervi, Brad Guzan, Chris Seitz
D (6): Carlos Bocanegra, Dan Califf, Jay DeMerit, Drew Moor, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce
M(6): DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Danny Szetela, John Thorrington
F (3): Freddy Adu, Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe
The big thing I notice is the lack of Tim Howard and Eddie Johnson from the list as they were not players he released earlier in the week. The Howard move makes sense since he has a minor injury and Guzan (who got called back into camp) needs the international cap. The lack of Johnson is good since we need to find some other forward options, although Barbados is not much of a test.
Some people might wonder why Lewis is in there, but it makes sense since the experience of most of the players is limited. Good to have some old timers in to bring the experience.
Here is my guess at a starting lineup:
GK: Guzan
D: Moor, Califf, Bocanegra, Pearce
M: Kljestan, Bradley, Lewis, Beasley
F: Adu, Barrett
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