Consider this, the only player on the US starting squad I could identify was Kasey Keller. I could identify all 11 starters, and two subs, for Argentina. Here's who started for the powder blue: Ayala, Heinze, Milito, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Mascherano, Riquelme, Veron, Crespo, and Messi.
Here's who started for the US: some crappy right fullback named Wynne who thought he was playing sweeper and kept giving Messi 20 feet to take the ball to goal.
Notables remarks about these young players for the USA:
- No one showed me anything. Granted, they played a superstar-loaded Argentina, but not a single player had a positive stand-out moment. Maybe Eddie Johnson handled the pressure on the PK, but that was about it.
- Our young defenders don't know how to mark. They consistently gave Messi, Crespo, and Tevez as much space as they wanted.
- If our defenders get in trouble, and sometimes even when they don't, they like to kick the ball as far as possible. This goes for Keller as well.
- Our guys were diving left and right because it was the only way they could keep possession.
If these guys are the up-and-comers for US soccer, then last night's game proved that we will not be able to compete with the great teams of the world. Argentina outclassed our young guys, and unfortunately we didn't have any real bright spots from which to take a "moral victory."
2 comments:
You really need to take the time to spice up your posts with pretty pictures, video clips and such. We expect more from our computer science experts.
I really disagree. We had 6 starters with fewer than 10 international appearances against one of the most loaded teams I've ever seen - and one that is absolutely desperate to win this tournament. These guys have only been training together for about 3 days because Bradley blew up the team that won the Gold Cup on Sunday and they managed to grab an early lead and head into halftime tied. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Argentina blew it open because they just had too much class, but we were able to keep them on their heels for 65 minutes.
Post a Comment