Oh, Canada!

Dear Canada,

Look. I'm really sorry about the blown offside call, but now don't you understand our beef with Mexico? That ref (and speaking of the ref, why the heck would CONCACAF decide to have a Mexican referee for USA v. Canada? Isn't there a quality Jamaican out there?) tried to blow the game in your favor for 90 minutes, but suddenly without reason decided to give the us the game instead by calling back your tying goal. Don't worry, we'll beat Mexico 2-0 again and make it all ok.

ps - Take heart, I bet you'll be joining us in South Africa in 2010.

Panama Played Dirty

Sitting down to watch the Gold Cup quarterfinal between the USA and Panama, I was excited to see what Panama could do. I didn't get the chance to watch last year's Gold Cup in which Panama made it all the way to the championship, and I was eager to see what the tiny nation could do. Unfortunately, there was nothing beautiful about Panama's game. From the start the Panamanian defense was hacking and fouling the US. Landon Donovan earned the first US goal was he was literally tackled American football style on a breakaway. An amazing pass from Clint Dempsey released Donovan into the area and Donovan was grabbed around the neck and pulled to the ground. He cooly converted the penalty and two minutes later another Panama foul just outside the box resulted in a sweet headed goal from Captain Carlos Bocanegra. The US finally got a break from the referee when Panama had a player sent off with about twenty minutes to play, but Panama actually played better a man down. They scored off a poor defensive clearance and made it a game in the last few minutes. The US played well though, finishing was still poor, but the two quick goals came just at the time when the game could have gone badly for the US (i.e. Panama getting a late goal to win 1-0). The US plays Canada on Thursday night.

Odds and Ends
- MLS action this weekend was fantastic. Lots of goals and comebacks gallore. Here are the scores.
FC Dallas 1 - Real Salt Lake 0
Columbus Crew 3 - New England Revolution 3
DC United 3 - Chicago Fire 1
Kansas City Wizards 3 - Red Bull New York 3
Chivas USA 2 - Colorado Rapids 0
Toronto FC 4 - FC Dallas 0
LA Galaxy 3 - Real Salt Lake 2
- Beckham's hurt... possibly quite bad... could miss the entire summer for the LA Galaxy.

Soccer Defections?

So the big news today was that almost half of the Haitian u-17 World Cup team disappeared from the JFK Airport in New York. All of the 13 boys who disappeared were found, but two had made it all the way to Boston. All of them had been taken in by either extended family or the local Haitian communities in NYC and Boston. While it is sad to see young Haitian boys attempt to escape into America due to the tremendous poverty of their home country, it is sad that these young men are trying to do so even though they are some of the elite soccer players in their country. For goodness sake, they are being flown all the way to South Korea to take part in a WORLD CUP tournament. If they play well, they could get signed by professional teams. Who knows. Either way, by trying to become an illegal immigrant to the United States, they were jeapordizing their own future. They were blessed with a gift, I think they should stay the course and see where that takes them. Unfortunately, if they had been Cuban... they would have been granted citizenship... (which two members of the Cuban national team playing in the Gold Cup have already done).

US OPEN CUP FIRST ROUND SCORES
Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2) (0)4 – Aegean Hawks (USASA) (0)0
Ocean City Barons (PDL) (1)1 – Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL2) (0)0
Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) (1)1 – Long Island Roughriders (PDL) 0(0)
Western Mass Pioneers (USL2) (0)(1)(1)(1)3 – Danbury United (USASA) (0)(1)(1)(0)2
Richmond Kickers (USL2) (2)4 – Michigan Bucks (PDL) (0)2
Cleveland City Stars (USL2) (2)4 – Kansas City Brass (PDL) 0(0)
Carolina Railhawks (USL1) (3)4 – RWB Adria (USASA) (0)1
Bavarian SC (USASA) (1)1 – Cincinnati Kings (USL2) (0)0
Atlanta Silverbacks (USL1) (4)10 – Azzuri (USASA) (0)0
Charlotte Eagles (USL2) (1)2 - Lynch’s Irish Pub (USASA) (0)0
Charleston Battery (USL1) (3)3 – Central Florida Kraze (PDL) (0)0
El Paso Patriots (PDL) (1)(1)(0)(0)2 (4) – Miami FC (USL1) (0)(2)(0)(0)2 (3)
Minnesota Thunder (USL1) (2)3 – El Paso Indios USA (USASA) (1)2
California Victory (USL1) (1)2 – BYU Cougars (PDL) (0)1
Seattle Sounders (USL1) (4)4 – Banat Arsenal (USASA) (1)1
Portland Timbers (USL1) (2)2 – Bakersfield Brigade (USASA) (0)0

Second Round will look something like this...
Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2) at Ocean City Barons (PDL)
Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) at Western Mass Pioneers (USL2)
Richmond Kickers (USL2) at Cleveland City Stars (USL2)
Carolina Railhawks (USL1) at Bavarian SC (USASA)
Atlanta Silverbacks (USL1) at Charlotte Eagles (USL2)
Charleston Battery (USL1) at El Paso Patriots (PDL)
Minnesota Thunder (USL1) at California Victory (USL1)
Seattle Sounders (USL1) at Portland Timbers (USL1)

Odds and Ends
- The USA will play Panama in the Quarterfinals of the Gold Cup on Saturday and 4pm ET.
- Tyrone Marshall was given a three match suspension for his foul on Kenny Cooper. Cooper will miss a couple months with the injury. Marshall was also traded today to Toronto FC.

Golazzo USA!

Well you can't argue with an old-fashioned 4-0 thrashing can you?

USA (2)4 - El Salvador (0)0
Game Recap

Gold Cup action continued today for the Stars-and-Stripes as they finished out group play against El Salvador. Although the team had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals this coming weekend, Coach Bob Bradley sent out a strong starting eleven in a 4-3-3 formation. Pablo Mastroeni made his first appearance in the Gold Cup, having served his red card suspension from last year's World Cup. It also marked the return of Clint Dempsey to his old stadium in Foxboro, MA where he played for the New England Revolution.

First Half

- Landon Donovan had the first great chance for the U.S. as his header in the sixth minute went inches wide of the far post.

- The game almost had a fairy-tale beginning as former Revolution player Dempsey made the most of a defensive mistake only to see his first-time shot hit the post.

- The trend of poor finishing the team has displayed all tournament was evident early on as DaMarcus Beasley rocketed two solid opportunities well over the cross-bar.

- DMB made up for it however in the 34th minute when he expertly buried a shot in the right hand corner of the net after the ball had been cleared to the top of the penalty box following a corner kick. GOLAZZO USA, 1-0.

- On the stroke of half-time a U.S. counterattack reaped rewards as the referee signaled a penalty kick after an El Salvador defender deflected a cross with his arm. Donovan stepped up to take the kick... the keeper made the save... and then Donovan put in the rebound... AND THEN the referee blew the whole play dead because the goalie had come off his line early. Donovan was given another opportunity and made no mistake the second time, putting the ball cleanly down the middle. GOLAZZO USA, 2-0.

Second Half

- Donovan subbed out at the half for Taylor Twellman, putting him at forward alongside his former teammate in New England, Dempsey. With Donovan out, the U.S. attack lagged for the majority of the half.

- With the arrival of Brian Ching on the field, the U.S. put Dempsey back in the midfield. The substitution paid dividends for Bradley in the 73rd minute when Ching set up Twellman with a perfect throughball which Twellman was able to knock past the 'keeper. Golazzo USA, 3-0.

- With the game in hand, the last twenty or so minutes featured free-flowing attacking play from both sides. Dempsey was able to wow the crowd with some nice footwork which ultimately led to another goal, Beasley's second, in the 89th minute. Golazzo USA, 4-0.

Impressions

- Getting the four goals was key. This game should have been 6-0, but after the struggles the U.S. has had finishing, 4-0 is just fine by me.

- I thought Michael Bradley played his worst game so far tonight. I have a feeling his dad (the coach) did too as he was subbed out in the second half. Too many poor passes went straight to the other team and he has a knack for fouling, especially when the majority of his tackles are sliding.

- Good work from Twellman and Ching. Both were subs, but both performed well and were dangerous. Ching had a blast from distance that went just over the bar and Twellman could have had a second goal just before the final whistle.

- Donovan is the man. Without Donovan this team just doesn't have the same spark.

Odds and Ends

- US Open Cup action on tonight... no upset from Central Florida. My local team crashed out 3-0 to Charleston. I'll have all the scores up tomorrow.

- You have got to love MLS reporters... especially this one from FSC. Have a good laugh.
- Beckham to miss most of Galaxy home matches this summer? Could be the case... more on that later as well.

The Hand of God 2?

It is no coincidence to me that Lionel Messi (above) has garnered the reputation in Argentina and Europe as the "next Diego Maradona." It is easy to see the comparisons because of the amazing attacking runs, the sharp crosses, the clinical finishes... and the way he cheats? That's right. The next great Argentinian player has not fallen far from the tree, as clearly evidenced by the above picture. With Barcelona tied with Real Madrid for the lead in the Spanish la Liga, Messi's goal using his hand could very well save the championship for Barcelona. I have never rooted for Real Madrid before in my life, but next weekend I will be. Barcelona deserves no part of the league title because of this goal. While fate did step in and level the playing field (Barcelona conceded a late goal and only earned a tie), they should have lost the game and be a point behind Madrid, not merely level.

All that said, I believe this is an instance where league offices need to step in and hand out suspensions. If Messi had been caught by the referee it would have easily been a yellow card, if not a red card. How Messi was not caught by the referee or the linesman is a whole different story. It is sad that one of the youngest and brightest stars of the game has said that the goal he scored with his hand is just how the game of soccer plays out sometimes. While soccer does play out that way, it is still cheating. Let's just hope Messi doesn't pull another Maradona (either in skill or in thievery) against the USA later this month at the Copa America.

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FC Dallas' Kenny Cooper is out for six to eight weeks with a broken tibia after the 89th-minute foul committed by Tyrone Marshall of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Cooper, a second-half sub, is a regular starter for the Hoops and his absence will certainly have an effect on Dallas' offensive abilities, especially with Carlos Ruiz on duty for Guatemala. The real issue here is what the league office of the MLS will do. Marshall was given a straight red card by the referee so he will serve at least one game of suspension, but should he serve more? With the MLS seeking to bring in big name superstars to bolster attendance, shouldn't they be concerned by the reckless nature of many of the league's players? Yes, there is certainly "hustle" in the MLS, but is it hustle when players are getting knocked out months at a time. What would the MLS do if, for instance, David Beckham was rashly fouled by a frustrated defender late in a game that was already decided? The MLS needs to set a precedence now that fouls of the nature which has put Cooper on the shelf for two months are fouls that will bring lengthy suspensions.

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Odds and Ends:

- The United States takes the field tomorrow night for the final game of the group stage in the Gold Cup. The Stars-and-Stripes will take on El Salvador in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Landon Donovan stated that the US won't be taking the game lightly, even though they have qualified for the knockout phase already. If nothing else, the team needs to focus on finishing its opportunities and a third straight shut-out wouldn't look so bad either. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night on FSC or Telefutura for the 7pm start.

- Even though the tournament has never received its deserved press or marketing, the 2007 Lamar Hunt United States Open Cup kicks off tomorrow evening. With all the qualification rounds completed, teams from all over the country will be vying for the ultimate Cup in United States soccer. Amatuers, semi-professional, and professional teams take part in the tournament, and the MLS teams won't join in until several rounds into the competition (very similar to the English FA Cup). The USL is doing its best to get the word out as they are streaming three free broadcasts from their video site. Check out any of these games to see some quality soccer being played by amateurs and semi-pro's alike:

Central Florida Kraze (PDL) at Charleston Battery (USL1) 730 PM
RWB Adria (USASA) at Carolina Railhawks (USL1) 730 PM
Long Island Rough Riders (PDL) at Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) 735 PM

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend for soccer.

Let's start off by recaping the MLS action from yesterday and today:

FC Dallas (1)3 - Los Angeles Galaxy (1)1

The Hoops managed to hold off the Galaxy without having their captain and goalscorer Carlos Ruiz (on duty for Guatemala at the Gold Cup) and the Galaxy continue to struggle. The biggest news from this game occured with only minutes left in the match when Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall absolutely destroyed FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper. Marshall was immediately sent-off with a straight red, but the news today was that Cooper broke his shin and will miss at least two months. This is a tough break for Cooper because he was really starting to find his form and had earned his first cap with the USA earlier this year.

FC Dallas: Juan Toja (24), Abe Thompson (pen 54), Drew Moore (73)

Los Angeles Galaxy: Robbie Findley (41)

Chivas USA (0)1 - Chicago Fire (0)0

Paulo Nagamura scored his first career goal in MLS with only ten minutes remaining the game to give the visiting Chivas a hard-earned road victory. This was also the first victory that Chivas has this season scoring less than two goals.

Chivas USA: Paulo Nagamura (79)

DC United (1)4 - Red Bull New York (1)2

Despite going a man down in the second half, DC United ran away with this game scoring a victory of the division leading Red Bulls. Ben Olsen tallied a hat trick for United with two of his goals coming after defender Bobby Boswell was sent off. Juan Pablo Angel continued his hot streak when he netted a late consolation goal for New York.

DC United: Ben Olsen (15, 72, 84), Luciano Emilio (49)

RBNY: Dema Kovalenko (18), Juan Pablo Angel (85)

Houston Dynamo (2)2 - Columbus Crew (1)1

Despite having played on Thurday night, the defending champs from Houston put on another impressive performance even without four regular startes. All three goals were scored within seven minutes of each other with the winning goal coming off Crew defender Chad Marshall.

Houston Dynamo: Joseph Ngwenya (22), Chad Marshall (Own goal 29)

Columbus Crew: Alejandro Morena (25)

After this week's action the standings look something like this:

Top Two from East:

1. Red Bull New York (20)

2. Kansas City Wizards (19)

Top Two from West:

1. FC Dallas (19)

2. Houston Dynamo (16)

Four Wildcards:

1. New England Revolution (18)

2. Colorado Rapids (15)

3. Chivas USA (14)

4. DC United (14)

Missing Out:

1. Chicago Fire (14)

2. Toronto FC (10)

3. Columbus Crew (8)

4. Los Angeles Galaxy (6)

5. Real Salt Lake (6)

This week's action:

FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake 7pm THU (ESPN2)

Columbus Crew at New England Revolution 630pm SAT (FSC)

Chicago Fire at DC United 730pm SAT

Kansas City Wizards at Red Bull New York 730pm SAT

Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA 1030pm SAT

FC Dallas at Toronto FC 130PM SUN (TELEFUTURA)

Real Salt Lake at Los Angeles Galaxy 8pm SUN

Odds and Ends:

- Mexico was upset Sunday afternoon by Honduras in Gold Cup action 2-1. Unfortunately, Panama (who defeated Honduras) drew with Cuba giving Mexico the solution of merely having to win to advance.

- Ruud Van Nistelrooy struck twice for Real Madrid on Saturday afternoon, his second coming in stoppage time, salvaging a draw. Barcelona on the other hand surrendered a late goal and was also held to a draw. With both teams tied for first, all Real Madrid must do next weekend is win and the Spanish title will be theirs.

Coming up this week:

- Tomorrow I'll discuss the reckless foul that has cost Kenny Cooper his season. Should the players who commit such reckless fouls get lengthy suspensions equaled to the time the injured player is out?

- Also tomorrow, a preview of the USA's final group stage game of the Gold Cup against El Salvador.

- Later this week... fans watching Real Salt Lake defeat the Chinese national team (yes, the worst team in MLS beat CHINA) were kicked out of the game for waving Tibetan flags. What happened to freedom of speech in America? That topic will be a good one.

Golden Summer

Well, let's see... its not all too often that people get super excited about watching soccer in the summer unless its that every fourth summer where the World Cup is taking over the headlines. But, for me, I couldn't wait for the U.S. Men's National Team to get things kicked off with the Gold Cup, Copa America, and just around the corner... South Africa 2010 Qualification.

Why be so excited over the Gold Cup? Well, for starters, the Gold Cup is the first real tournament that the senior men's squad has participated in since the semi-disaster of Germany 2006 which began almost exactly a year ago right now. I also think that this summer is the official baptism of the next generation of American soccer players. The old veterans like Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, and Eddie Pope will be missed... but now young players (and by young, I mean my age of around 22) like Michael Bradley, Jonathan Spector, and Frank Simek are going to get solid minutes in competitive matches. The leaders of the U.S. squad is now Landon Donovan, and at just 25, he has many more years to lead this group of impressive players. The 2007 Gold Cup is the beginning of the quest for glory in South Africa... that's why I am excited.

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USA (1)2 - Trinidad and Tobago (0)0

Game Recap

All that being said, I sat down to watch the Yanks take on a depleted T&T team in their second game of the Gold Cup group stage this afternoon. While I am having to watch on Telefutura because I don't pay for premium cable (and thus FSC), soccer is the kind of game that can be watched even if you don't understand the language of the commentators. So here's how it went down this afternoon for the US of A -

FIRST HALF

- Coach Bob Bradley sends out TEN different starters today from the game against Guatemala. OK Coach, let's get the bench some minutes against lesser competition and give the starters who got beat up (literally) against Guatemala the day off...

- Barely a minute into the game... Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson each have quality chances nearly back to back and neither can convert... my eyes rolled because this is something U.S. soccer fans have become all too accustomed with. Poor finishing. Looks like the poor finishing from the Guatemala game two days ago would be replayed again today...

- The trend continued twice more as Ching was sprung on goal only to send a chip well over the cross-bar the first time and then was stoned by T&T goalie Jan Michael Williams later on a breakaway. Yup... trend continues...

- But shortly thereafter Justin Mapp absolutely burned his defender, showing off his lightning speed to get to the end-line, where he looked up and found Ching crashing. Ching did his best to screw the finish up as he clattered the ball across the line with his shins, but hey GOLAZZA USA. 1-0.

- The first-half didn't see many other great chances as the U.S. again showed a trend of letting off the pressure following a goal. The only other notable news from the first half was the six-minutes of stoppage time added on because of a T&T injury to defender Anthony Noriega in the first half.

SECOND HALF

- Donovan subs in at the half and makes an immediate impact. T&T corner kick... counter-attack... Donovan passes to Ching at the midfield... Ching releases Donovan down the wing with a perfectly timed ball to beat the offside trap... Donovan races in on goal and spots Johnson making a run down the left... A perfectly weighted pass across the penalty area allows Johnson to finish into an open net. GOLAZZA USA. 2-0.

- The rest of the second-half is a comedy of errors. Again, let-down following a goal as the team is obviously coasting with the two-goal advantage. Its times like this that Americans get turned off from the sport. A good twenty minutes of kick-ball.The Islanders almost score twice in the final minutes as Kasey Keller is forced to earn his start, but Donovan and Twellman (who subbed in for Johnson) worked well together to create a few chances.

IMPRESSIONS

- I was hoping for a blow-out. T&T didn't have their first-choice team available for the Gold Cup due to the players from the World Cup team sitting out because they wanted more bonus money. Thus, the US should have handled this team much easier. The game was never in doubt, but only two goals? Again, finishing was just awful.

- Ricardo Clarke didn't impress me in the midfield. He had the chance to work with both Benny Feilhaber (who started), Donovan, and Bradley in the middle, but never did much offensively. I love his defense (the same with Bradley), but as an attacking option he plays too many touches and doesn't have the imagination that Benny and Michael do in the middle.

- The game Monday against El Salvador is now essentially meaningless because the U.S. has clinched a spot in the playoffs, but hopefully the team will seek to improve its form as more will be needed to get past Mexico methinks.

- But all that being said, there's nothing better than watching soccer on a Saturday afternoon while recovering from Wisdom Tooth extraction.

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MLS Soccer Saturday?

- The bevy of U.S. Men's National Team games this summer, means that many MLS squads are going to be depleted. Houston Dynamo pulled off a big 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Thursday night even though they were missing FOUR players (two for the USA and two for Canada) due to the Gold Cup.

- Today's MLS Games:

Chivas USA (3-3-2) at Chicago Fire (4-4-2)

LA Galaxy (1-3-3) at FC Dallas (5-5-1)

- Earlier Results this week:

New York Red Bulls (0)2 - Toronto FC (1)1

Houston Dynamo (1)2 - Colorado Rapids (1)1

- Juan Pablo Angel continues to destroy MLS defenses as he notced two goals in two minutes to give the NYRB's a come-back victory in Toronto. Stuart Holden scored what could very well be the goal of the week on a rocket to the far corner of the net from just inside the right edge of the penalty area to give Houston a well-earned victory over Colorado.