[xbhaskarx]

Strange to see Will Ferrell at the Mexico Colombia game promoting some movie during halftime.

[Heretic]

We won!? Fuck yes! I love when Dempsey proves me wrong!

[xbhaskarx]

Anyone else seeing this ad on GAF?

[xbhaskarx]

Anyone else watching the U23s? I don't have Telefutura so first row sports dot eu for me...

[xbhaskarx]

Tonight's U-23 #USMNT lineup v. Mexico: Hamid; Sarkodie, Opara (c), Kitchen, Valentin; Morales, Diskerud, Corona; Adu, Agudelo, Gyau Mexico: Sánchez; Jiménez; Araujo; Chávez; Bocanegra; Cortés; Amione; Fabián; Enríquez; Ponce y Mier

I like that US lineup. I'm not sure what Sarkodie has done to get ahead of Sheanon Williams, but Opara makes me more comfortable with our defense.

Edit: Goal Agudelo!

[xbhaskarx]

El legundo para los estados unidos, Freddy Aduuuu!

[Heretic]

El legundo para los estados unidos, Freddy Aduuuu!

Segundo?

[xbhaskarx]

Segundo?

lol, that was a typo, I got excited.

[sazabirules]

Gyau is so fast.

[daoster]

If these results hold, it'll be a good day of Soccer for me.

[manipulate]

Clint Dempsey is a great player. I always thought he looked a bit special, never understood why big clubs never went in for him. He'd walk into most international teams.

(i'm a jealous australian)

[Clydefrog]

fuck yeah u-23s!

mexicans are playing dirty

[xbhaskarx]

Okay, someone who speaks Spanish please explain why the announcer just said "tengo miedo, tengo miedo" (70')

Tony Taylor wtf was that...

[daoster]

Caleb Porter for USMNT coach after Klinsmann? The way these guys are playing is pretty damn good.

[xbhaskarx]

How much of it is Porter and how much is Reyna? Remember Cabrera's U-17s were playing some attractive soccer as well (first the Pelosi/Guido/Rowe group, then Junior Flores against Brazil). The U-20s under Rongen weren't bad either, even if they didn't qualify for their World Cup. I think it's a system-wide thing and therefore Reyna gets a good amount of the credit.

[xbhaskarx]

Teal Bunbury needs to take up golf of volleyball or water polo.

Announcers praising Diskerud, Adu, and Agudelo.

It's over, dos a cero USA.

[daoster]

How much of it is Porter and how much is Reyna? Remember Cabrera's U-17s were playing some attractive soccer as well (first the Pelosi/Guido/Rowe group, then Junior Flores against Brazil). The U-20s under Rongen weren't bad either, even if they didn't qualify for their World Cup. I think it's a system-wide thing and therefore Reyna gets a good amount of the credit.

I didn't watch any of the U-17, but from what I hear of Porter and his tenure at Akron...his brand of soccer is attacking and attractive, and has instilled that mentality to all his teams. I'm sure Reyna has a part to play with the current style of play for the U-23, but I don't think he gets "a good amount" of the credit here.

Also...

Great day of soccer for American fans.

USA beats Italy, senior Mexican team loses to Columbia, and U23 USA beats U23 Mexico!

Olympics can't come soon enoughhhhhhhhh

[methodman]

USA beats Italy, senior Mexican team loses to Columbia, and U23 USA beats U23 Mexico! Olympics can't come soon enoughhhhhhhhh

hearin rumors that donovan wants to go play for the olympic team

also - really impressed with fabian johnson. chandler is gonna be our LB now tho right? so where else can johnson play? can we move him up to CM?

[daoster]

I didn't watch any of the U-17, but from what I hear of Porter and his tenure at Akron...his brand of soccer is attacking and attractive, and has instilled that mentality to all his teams. I'm sure Reyna has a part to play with the current style of play for the U-23, but I don't think he gets "a good amount" of the credit here. Also... Great day of soccer for American fans. USA beats Italy, senior Mexican team loses to Columbia, and U23 USA beats U23 Mexico! Olympics can't come soon enoughhhhhhhhh

Also forgot about WNT destroying Denmark!

[xbhaskarx]

also - really impressed with fabian johnson. chandler is gonna be our LB now tho right? so where else can johnson play? can we move him up to CM?

Our CM is stacked as it is.
Chandler is a RB, he will take over there as soon as Cherundolo is too old for the national team, so sometime between tomorrow and WC2014. Johnson can take over as LB at that point. He also plays LW, as of now he should probably start there over Shea.

[methodman]

Our CM is stacked as it is. Chandler is a RB, he will take over there as soon as Cherundolo is too old for the national team, so sometime between tomorrow and WC2014. Johnson can take over as LB at that point. He also plays LW, as of now he should probably start there over Shea.

ya. i wanna see that backline with johnson and chandler

these guys can make runs that dolo could never make... btw, thanks to germany for handing us both of our future left and right backs lol

[road house]

Okay, someone who speaks Spanish please explain why the announcer just said "tengo miedo, tengo miedo" (70') Tony Taylor wtf was that...

Tengo Miedo means I'm Afraid, Probably as in watch out something is gonna happen.

[Heretic]

Tengo Miedo means I'm Afraid, Probably as in watch out something is gonna happen.

"I'm scared" is a better translation

[Shinjiru]

Anyone else watching the U23s? I don't have Telefutura so first row sports dot eu for me...

Damn! I wanted to watch the U-23 game tonight. I saw that the .tv site had been shut down and figured I was out of luck. I wanted to watch the WNT game today too. Is the Algarve Cup being streamed? Anyway, great day for U.S. Soccer!

[xbhaskarx]

Speaking of Junior Flores...

Junior Flores signs four-year contract with pro soccer team overseas

Because of rules governing foreign players, Flores will not be eligible to begin his pro soccer career until he is 18 and therefore he will retain his amateur status until then. Flores turns 16 later this month. Flores will head overseas to train with his future pro team for a two-week stay in May. A number of foreign teams have been following Flores, who has attracted international attention during his time with the U.S. U-17 National Team Residency Program. Seven European clubs were expected to be in attendance to watch Flores compete with the U-17 team in the Aegean Cup Jan. 14-23 in Turkey, among them FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Interest in Flores rose dramatically after his performance at the Nike Friendlies Nov. 30-Dec. 4 where he scored a goal and had three assists to help the U.S. U-17 team win the tournament. In early January, Major League Soccer tried to sign Flores in time for the league’s draft. MLS extended three offers to Flores, but he and his family declined each one. Flores is in his second semester with the residency program in Bradenton, Fla. He will complete his time there before heading overseas to begin his pro career. He is scheduled to compete with the U-17 National Team in early April in a tournament in France. In addition, Flores has signed a two-year deal with Nike.

[talisayNon]

so is this for real soccer gaf? Are we on our way to finally being able to compete? You think we're better than where we were 4 years ago? I need opinions, not big up on soccer..

[Slizz]

so is this for real soccer gaf? Are we on our way to finally being able to compete? You think we're better than where we were 4 years ago? I need opinions, not big up on soccer..

A small step in the right direction, we beat Spain not too long ago and almost beat Brazil in a competition game. We won the "American" way this game even though Klinsmann's been promising a different style.

It's a great win, always good to beat a team you've never beat before.

We still need a striker, aside from that assist I thought Jozy was pretty terrible. Maybe it was fatigue from his game on Saturday or something I dunno.

[Help Me!]

so is this for real soccer gaf? Are we on our way to finally being able to compete? You think we're better than where we were 4 years ago? I need opinions, not big up on soccer..

I think it is a nice anomaly. Still just a friendly, though. Also, would Dempsey have been played in a different position if Donovan had participated? From what I have seen they don't really complement each other.

[methodman]

We are definitely playing differently under Klinsmann already though - a lot more ground based passing instead of all the clearing we did under bradley. That shit always pissed me off lol.

Demps and Donovan are perfectly complimentary IMO. Donovan always tries to run into open spaces and creates said space by using his speed/agility and is more likely to get an assist then a goal at this point, while Demps is able to work in small spaces off the ball, or with it, and create shot opportunities that no one else on our team is able to make. I wanna see both of them together under Klinsmann already. They are both very good and adapt at what they do, and this is definitely the best that Dempsey has ever played in the past two years.

[Slizz]

We are definitely playing differently under Klinsmann already though - a lot more ground based passing instead of all the clearing we did under bradley. That shit always pissed me off lol.

No doubt, all I'm saying is that the way we won was very old school American soccer.

I really like Brek Shea too I hope he continues to improve and I can see in playing in Europe for a club team

[Help Me!]

Most of the US players need overseas experience. Until that happens, we won't win anything. But if they all go overseas, then MLS suffers. Dilemma!

Did Zak Whitbread feature?

[Slizz]

Most of the US players need overseas experience. Until that happens, we won't win anything. But if they all go overseas, then MLS suffers. Dilemma! Did Zak Whitbread feature?

Howard, Dempsey, Edu, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Bradley, Altidore, Goodson all play in Europe and thats majority of our starting lineup against Italy.


EDIT: I think I remember Twellman saying that Shea was the only starter yesterday playing in the US currently

[xbhaskarx]

Also, would Dempsey have been played in a different position if Donovan had participated? From what I have seen they don't really complement each other.

Donovan and Dempsey would play different positions and I think they would work just fine together, LD would certainly work better on the right side than Danny Williams who is a defensive midfielder.

I think if we ever had everyone healthy all at once and fielded our A team, the starting 11 would currently look something like this:

---------------Altidore----------
-------Dempsey----------------
-Johnson-------------Donovan-
-------Jones-----Bradley-------
Chandler--Boca--Onyewu--Dolo
-------------Howard-------------

Removing those who will be well into their 30s by WC2014:

---------------Altidore----------
-------Dempsey----------------
-Shea----------------Donovan-
------Williams----Bradley------
Johnson-Ream-Cameron-Chandler
-------------Howard-------------

I didn't include Holden because he's been consistently injured for so long, or those like Torres and Gonzalez who have yet to establish themselves with the team due to injuries, and I didn't speculate as to who might be overtaken in the next few years (Boyd/Agudelo/Wooten over Altidore, Gyau over Shea, etc.)...

Most of the US players need overseas experience. Until that happens, we won't win anything. But if they all go overseas, then MLS suffers. Dilemma!

Almost the entire team is already overseas, and MLS isn't suffering because of it. There are plenty of cheap replacements available (see MLS currently raiding Colombia)...

Did Zak Whitbread feature?

First he needs to be not injured for more than a month at a time.

[talisayNon]

Clint is awesome.

And wow, Jozy's goal today was class too. I'm really excited at what I've seen from him these past few games.

[Clydefrog]

damn, dempsey. damn.

[xbhaskarx]

Clintsanity...

[Gamecocks625]

Clintsanity...

the new American hero

[xbhaskarx]

some videos...

Dempsey highlights from this season

Michael Bradley vs Italy

[xbhaskarx]

Yanks Abroad double feature on both the Olympic team and the Olympic Qualifying team

20 TICKETS TO NASHVILLE & 18 TICKETS TO LONDON

[Sklorenz]

This might be a stupid question, but I used to love soccer and no longer follow it. Are U.S. games streamed online at all these days? No cable here, and it's something I'd enjoy following again.

[sefskillz]

Yanks Abroad double feature on both the Olympic team and the Olympic Qualifying team 20 TICKETS TO NASHVILLE & 18 TICKETS TO LONDON

got tickets to all the nashville games. pretty pumped.

[platypotamus]

This might be a stupid question, but I used to love soccer and no longer follow it. Are U.S. games streamed online at all these days? No cable here, and it's something I'd enjoy following again.

I watched the last one on espn3.com, but I think you have to have a cooperating ISP

[Schweini]

This thread brings some good memories from the WC. Seeing Donovan scoring that goal was amazing.

[xbhaskarx]

Caleb Porter Names 19 Players to U-23 Men's National Team Training Camp Roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.) DEFENDERS (6): Josh Gatt (Molde; Plymouth, Mich.), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.) MIDFIELDERS (6): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.) FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas)

It sucks that Dilly Duka got injured over the weekend, the fullbacks leave a lot to be desired (Gatt should not be used at RB), and I'd prefer Andrew Wooten to Bunbury, but overall it's a good roster. I wonder if Hertha Berlin didn't release Alfredo Morales, and why only 19 are listed (I assume Chandler or Altidore will be brought in just for the crucial semifinal game)...

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago. The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively.

[MidnightRider]

Got all 3 of my Nashville tickets in the mail yesterday.

AMERICAN OUTLAWS SECTION.

Those of you that are coming should come party with us pre game and march with us to the stadium for more pre gaming.

[sefskillz]

Got all 3 of my Nashville tickets in the mail yesterday. AMERICAN OUTLAWS SECTION. Those of you that are coming should come party with us pre game and march with us to the stadium for more pre gaming.

what section are the outlaws in? my seats are in 102

[MidnightRider]

what section are the outlaws in? my seats are in 102

146

[sefskillz]

bumping this guy because im pumped for the qualifying matches tomorrow.

[xbhaskarx]

The official 20-man roster, with Sheanon Williams replacing Josh Gatt:

GK- Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson D- Perry Kitchen, Ike Opara, Zarek Valentin, Kofi Sarkodie, Jorge Villafana, Sheanon Williams M- Freddy Adu, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Michael Stephens, Amobi Okugo, Jared Jeffrey F- Terrence Boyd, Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, Teal Bunbury, Tony Taylor

ussoccer Olympic qualifying news

jersey numbers:

Here is the U.S. Olympic Qualifying roster with jersey numbers, which they will wear throughout the tournament. The U.S. will wear the all-white Nike kits during the group phase; the goalkeepers will wear black. 1-Bill Hamid 2-Ike Opara 3-Kofi Sarkodie 4-Perry Kitchen 5-Zarek Valentin 6-Jared Jeffrey 7-Freddy Adu 8-Mix Diskerud 9-Juan Agudelo 10-Joe Corona 11-Brek Shea 12-Teal Bunbury 13-Jorge Villafaña 14-Joe Gyau 15-Terrence Boyd 16-Amobi Okugo 17-Tony Taylor 18-Sean Johnson 19-Sheanon Williams 20-Michael Stephens

mlssoccer preview

The US group stage games will be on Universal Sports, Mun2, concacaf.com, and universalsports.com. The only game on NBC Sports Network is the semifinal.

Universal Sports viewers guide

USA vs. Cuba LP Field; Nashville, Tenn. March 22, 2012 @ 9 p.m. ET Universal Sports Network, Mun2

[s7evn]

I'd like to see them take fewer strikers, but oh well (Shea is an midfielder isn't he?). I guess I don't understand why you'd take 5-6 strikers when only 2-4 of them might play (they won't change line-ups completely every game I'm guessing). Seems like you'd want to pad your midfield with more players in case of injury since it's probably the most important position to dictate control of the game.