The Soccer thread (Part II)

On how many of those goals did he go right to the player who set up the goal? Either that or right over to the supporters. None of that look at me BS.

 

Not that this wasn't coming, but Sven officially heads to Mexico:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7432298.stm

 

I'd bet good money the FMF is already looking for reasons to fire him.

 

Hughes is officially in at City.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=542395&cc=5901

 

spain predictions? a two-nil drubbing sounds about right to me

 

The difference between Spain of the past and Spain of the presence is Fernando Torres.

I'm not sure Spain pressures the ball as much as England, which will make possessing the ball easier for the U.S. tonight. I'll need to see the line-up for the U.S., though, to make a prediction.

Elsewhere, Steven Goff of the Washington Post is reporting a deal with Villareal for Altidore is close.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/06/altidore_villareal_deal_close.html

Spanish paper Marca, per Ives, is adding to it that Villareal may take Altidore and loan him out to Recreativo Huelva.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/06/report-lays-out.html

 

And now the Altidore-Villareal deal is done, according to Ives sources. $8 million fee.

Still can't find anything on a starting line-up for the 4 p.m. kickoff. ESPN2's coverage is tape-delayed.

If anyone else is interested, Telemundo's showing the Mexico-Argentina game tonight at 11.

 

Do any other nations allow the owners of the highest pro division pick the National Team coach? I'd never heard of that until reading about SGE getting the Mexico gig.

 

If you want to see one of the worst goals ever scored, watch the highlights of the Brazil-Uruguay World Cup qualifier on Deportes.

In search of the U.S.-Spain friendly, my buddy and I went over to our soccer/pizza haunt in the nearby strip center. We couldn't find that, but we did watch the first half of that aforementioned game.

It's not your father's Brazil team; their passing was off, their defense was even more non-existent than usual (yes, they miss Roberto Carlos), Ronaldinho's legs look dead and Kaka is diving more than usual.

But Team Samba did tie the game late in the first half when a Brazilian player got deep, then somehow pushed the ball between the Uruguayan keeper's legs from almost the touch line. He had no business scoring this goal from that angle.

It may have been the worst goal I've ever seen scored at that level. I told my cohort, "My son stops that goal comatose..."

 

U.S. wasn't horrible, but the goal Spain got exposed the Americans. Just awful.

But given how skilled Spain is, it wasn't a bad result all things considered. I don't want to wave the moral victory flag, but ...

 

I got the sense Spain was taking it very easy today. Not much intensity at all.

 

Individually, Gooch and Boca are good defenders. As a tandem, though, it's like watching a high-wire act. That goal summed up quite a bit about this team ... long on hustle, short on smarts.

There needs to be a new centerback pairing for the Argentina game. Odds are one of those two will get injured or red-carded at some point (hell, put money on the latter), and I'd rather not have a DeMerit, Califf or whomever waltzing in with no preparation.