MNT, World Cup, Chivas

So obviously there's been a lot going on, and I've been too lazy to post anything.
I attended the U.S.A. versus Turkey match in Philly last weekend and honestly it was pretty amazing. The atmosphere was insane; over 55,000 fans made the trip to cheer the Yanks on in their last friendly on American soil before the WC. Sam's Army was wicked loud and raucous and fantastic. Turkey had an impressive showing of fans as well. Our boys played well enough, especially in the second half, which I attribute to my new favorite player Jose Francisco Torres. Play in the first half was shaky defensively, and live it was kinda blah offensively. It didn't look like the Americans were stringing together quality passes, and on the off chance they did, flow was disrupted by the Turkish entirely too easily. After re watching the match on ESPN3, I have to take back some of that; viewing play from the 30th row up can apparently hinder the vision a bit :) Those close up shots revealed what I missed though, and I have to say the Americans moved the ball pretty effectively, but still definitely not up to the standard set by previous performances. We were bolstered on defense in the 2nd half by the addition of Cherundolo and the experience that comes with him. Torres was for sure the man of the match; he played with a fire that was unmatched by any other player. His touch and distribution were brilliant. You know how Adidas does those "the spark" commercials? Well, the Americans have found their spark in Jose Torres, the kid from small town Texas. I guess I won't go into the detail I had originally planned about the match, but I must mention: Stuart Holden, Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra are really class acts. They were the only players who signed autographs outside the stadium after the match. The others just boarded the bus and left us all disappointed. My man Feilhaber was the first one out and all he did was wave... granted, they had just played a match, and I can understand most would just want to sit back, relax, and crank the tunes because that's what I do after all. Big shout outs to Stu, Demps and Los anyways. They were extremely nice. I like to think I started the mini-wave of players signing stuff... Stu came out and I yelled that I had his number. This was completely true, but notice how I didn't say I had his jersey? I totally had a U.S.A. number 22 home jersey. It just said Feilhaber on the back. I mean who cares right? I bet Holden was flattered, and I got a signature so whatever. He'll never know ;) Anyways right after I yelled that he came over to the fans, and God bless him he signed my jersey first. What a nice guy. Dempsey and Carlos "Mr. GorgeousSexyBeautifull" Bocanegra were also friendly.

So after the U.S. got the result, and I got my autographs, we booked it down to D.C. to catch the 2nd half of the Chivas game. As you all know, it was tied at the half on an athletic goal by Justin Braun. Galindo scores in the 2nd half to tie it up at 2-2. I honestly couldn't tell you who scored DC's goals... but I do know it was Santino Quaranta who got Big Zach ejected in stoppage time. Jerk. I mean for realls, that was the worst, most unluckiest thing that could happen to a team in the entire history and future of forever! Chivas is scoring great goals, and have been playing super well and never giving up, but those late goals by the opponent are really getting to them. Play has been slowly declining the past few games. They haven't thrown in the towel yet, but after seeing Sacha's face after that game... he just seemed close to the edge, you know? And it wasn't just him, because if it was, you could just chalk it up to not making the WC final 23. Saragosa looked on the verge of a breakdown. The rooks were down too, especially Zemanski. His face echoed Sacha's. Braun looked blank and exhausted and beaten. He's keeping his head up though; boy likes to Twitter and he is definitely not giving up. I'm expecting a win tonight, boys!

Ok. U.S. versus Australia. Nice win, but honestly, how many games do you expect us to win in the WC playing like that? Carlos, Junior and Cherundolo had solid performances, and Buddle showed his nose for the goal. Clint was feisty and tenacious and played great. But come on! The cohesiveness was off, and other than Buddle, (and Gomez there at the end) the final touch was non-existent. Yah, I know the pitch was shoddy. And yes, I know it was a narrow space to work with and the sun was in Hahnemann's eyes when he came off his line and completely misjudged those crosses in the second half that I'm sure Wayne Rooney would have had no trouble finishing. They're big boys. World Cup is right around the corner. They should NOT be playing like that.
Alright, so maybe I'm a little bitter. I mean, I'm really curious, Bob. Sincerely curious. Why in the world would you not start Torres, let alone not sub him in? He is our freaking SPARK Bob! Geez. Ugh, fine, I take it back that they played bad. They didn't necessarily play bad, there was just a lack of meshing of the components. Defensively, we're still shaky, but good play individually I guess to only let through one goal. Mids were not spectacular, but solid and creative enough going forward. Rico stepped it up a bit from last match against Turkey, where he was anonymous, and made good tackles and found outlets well. Mikey is obviously our strongest mid; he was all over the field trying to create. Most of our attack went through the wings. Donovan has been getting a little lost out there. He still plays well, (I mean, how can he not? He's Landon Donovan for crying out loud. And yeah, I did just roll my eyes) good touches, lotsa speed and all that jazz, but he just hasn't been that over-the-top amazing player you expect him to be. I guess that's my problem right? Expectations? Yah they may be a little high, but they should be. This is the World Cup, after all.

Alright fine. I'm done whining. But COME ON BOB!! Give Torres the respect he deserves!
Yah. Now I'm done.
Late,
hannah