All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

Everyone wants to tap in to the American market -- lots of cash sitting around waiting to be spent. I'm wondering how Nike and Adidas feel about the deal.

 

Beckham's back!

Well, he's back in the squad anyway. Not sure if he'll play. In a way, it's kind of a Pyrrhic victory for MLS -- yes, I learned that word on SportsJournalists.com. He'll come into the league fit and game ready, but they'd probably prefer him to get stuck in such a bad situation that he would be sold or let go early, making the season opener for the Galaxy in August.

The Real Madrid-Real Sociedad game will be on GolTV this weekend:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/europe/2007-02-09-real-madrid-beckham_x.htm

 

Here's the latest on the Arsenal deal from Wenger:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=230117

 

That's a good point. I'm not sure it'll make a difference though.

Arsenal was one of the first Nike teams in England, mostly because of the connection with Ian Wright Wright Wright.

 

We have a David Beckham sighting!

On the field for Real, and scoring (from a free kick, naturally) in a 2-1 win. Take that Capello!

 

Tim Howard to Everton permanently.

 

Good for him -- with VDS and Foster, there was no room for him at OT. Plus, Kuscask's (sp) great save last week was proof enough to SAF that he didn't need Timmy to babysit the #2 spot until Foster was ready for the big time.

Great news for the Nats -- our No. 1 will be the presumptive starter at a mid-upper level (if not elite) EPL club.

 

Copa America Draw is out

Group A: Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay

Group B: Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico

Group C: United States, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia.

Tough draw for the U.S., top two automatically through with two best third-place teams for quarterfinals. The first game comes four days after the Gold Cup final.

 

Don't remember if Bradley has said it, but the Gold Cup is way more important than Copa America.
With a win at the Gold Cup, the U.S. guarantees qualification to the next Confederations Cup, which is a great primer for the next World Cup.
Sure, I'd love to see the U.S. do well at Copa America, but it looks like a good number of fringe players will be given a chance down in Venezuela.

 

He did say something to that effect after the draw was made. It looks like they're going to divvy up the MLS representation between the two tournaments so players don't have to miss too much time over the month.

 

With all due respect to The Bob, we have to start playing our best against the best, in hostile environments. Beating the lesser lights of CONCACAF is important, but we need to start being battle tested as a team. I'd rather use the Gold Cup for our B squad and have our A players avoid the piss bombs in Venezuela.

 

Eh, remember the World Cup isn't really played in hostile environments. Only away matches for World Cup qualifying which the U.S. breezed through last time.
A berth in the Confederations Cup gives you matches against the world's best teams (note: mainly European) on somewhat neutral sites. It's as close to a World Cup primer as the U.S. can get.