All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

While I think Guatemala is a decent team, I can't help but totally despise the way Guatemala - and all of Central America - plays against the USA. Cheap-shot bullshit all fucking game. They hack the shit out of the Americans all game, mostly from behind. I honestly don't recall T&T and other Caribbean nations playing like that against us.

Is this how teams like Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, etc. play Holland and Spain and Italy?

 

I'll do you one better, king. Guatemala is a street gang with one talented player. Neutralize Ruiz and they have nothing in attack. The more the game resembles a street fight, the less their lack of skill comes into play.

It's part of the interesting duality of Latin American teams. They claim to be all about lindo and beautiful futbol, but they have absolutely no problem with flopping, grassrolling, diving in with two feet, undercutting opponents and using every bit of profane English they can muster to get the other guy sent off. After all, conning the ref isn't illegal -- it's clever "gamesmanship."

To answer your question, no, it isn't. Those teams will bunker, but they actually try and play once in a while. They might occasionally get slaughtered, but at least they can look themselves in the mirror the next morning.

It's games like these that make me laugh when Eurosnobs complain about how easy we have things here. I'd love to see England or Germany take a shot at qualifying over here ... get shuffled off to some God-forsaken potato patch in the middle of the jungle for a 10 p.m. local kick-off, referees who see hands growing in the middle of people's foreheads, teams who think breaking an ankle is just as good as playing defense, etc., etc.

Worse yet, they could get a contact high from playing at The Office.

 

Silvio Spann apparently with a 50-yard golazo vs. El Sal in the other Group B game. I'd love to describe it, but it's on Telefutura, which is available to even fewer people than Versus and ESPN Deportes.

 

Ruiz is everything that I hate about about soccer.

 

Trooper, I agree that CONCACAF has to have some of the toughest places in the world to play at.

United States is a power that makes any game tough.

Mexico's Estadio Azteca may be the toughest stadium in the world to play at.

Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, etc. play in these tiny stadiums and their fans throw shit and piss (sometimes literally). Heck, Guatemala fans were hurling crap at Dempsey yesterday.

 

US Soccer Punks 1, McFans 0

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2096862,00.html

 

I just read that article. Interesting stuff; hopefully interest in the MLS in the future will run deeper than David Beckham.

 

Great piece by Grant Wahl on a trip through Mexico.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/05/30/grant.wahl/index.html

 

US and T&T kicking off shortly. El Bob rings the changes, keeping just Feilhaber from Thursday's brawl game against Guatemala.

US: Keller; Spector, Parkhurst, DeMerit, Simek; Feilhaber, Clark, Mapp, Ralston; Johnson, Ching.

T&T: Williams; Tomas, Nickcolson, Power, Noriega (another one?); Aguillera, Spann, Pacheco, Theobald; Toussaint, Roberts.

Roberto Moreno of Panama is the center ref. Crowd looks much better than Thursday night. I'll be watching this one on mute as the FSC broadcast team is some schmoe I've never heard of and Paul Caligiuri, who can't get out of the way of his own tongue.

 

All US so far, but they're playing 11 on 12. The Cuban AR has flagged two perfectly good breakaways offside so far. First Ralston, who should never be confused for someone speedy, and then Johnson ran onto a great through ball behind the Trini back line.

Extended break right now as Ching, Williams and a still prone T&T defender had a meeting of the minds in the six-yard box.

 

Trinis with some health issues. Noriega (the injured defender) and Nickcolson subbed out in the first 24 minutes for Kerry and Christon Baptiste, who are both midfielders. Now T&T has wide midfielders at each outside back spot.

Keller with his first touch in the 29th minute, whacking a long ball clear.

1-0 to the USA! Mapp torches the new T&T right back, plays the ball low across the box to Ching who squibs it home.

 

Un-fecking-believable.

Once again, the Cuban AR doing his thing apparently from the Mountain Time Zone. Feilhaber plays a gorgeous through ball to Johnson, who gets called offside despite having a defender two steps in front of him when the ball was played.

If you're scoring at home, it's US 1, T&T 0, Cuban AR 3 in the 36th minute.