Sunday, June 8, 2008

Argentina/U.S. running blog

Hey, hey, folks, let's get to it, why don't we? Predictions, please. Get them logged in before kickoff. It's LD time, JP and Harkesey tell us. OK, that means he's going to play somewhere in there. It's also apparently very, very hot. Ok, that's it for the English announcers - anyone still watching them please post what else they say here. I've switched to Galavision.
Their announcers are excited about the return of LD.
The grass in Giants Stadium looks lumpy. Apparently traffic is so horrid that they've delayed the start of the match so more people can get inside to watch the game.
The announcers discussed how bummed LS must have been to miss the last two matches. Now they're commenting on the impressive Argentine (and Argentine-wanna-bes) turnout.
Now they talk about the contract pressure on certain stars to play - Messi, for one. hey, there's Sunil, shaking hands with all the players.
Kasey Keller is on the field, looking a bit miserable that he's not in uniform. Kasey always loved big games and he can cuss in Spanish, too. Kasey gets a watch from Sunil.
52 - Counter catches the U.S. badly, Tim Howard out, Aguero sold that foul, but didn't get it, though the replay showed Timmay clipped him. Karma for the call LD didn't get? This would have been a PK, though.
54 - LD cross gets cut off. Suddenly the game is faster and more open for both sides.
Argentine anthem is bouncy.
Sam's Army has the flag out. EJ is singing. So is my mom, who I didn't think was much of a soccer fan. Let's see if she sees the match out.
Cooper was apparently just a backup in case any of the regular players got hurt.
Basile looks stressed, or just hot. Bob is in his usual catbird seat on the back of the bench.
Kickoff!
1 - Donovan gets whistled for a foul and he's got the weirdest, "Who, me?" look on his face.
4 - Kun Aguero is in the box, but it doesn't result in a shot.
5 - Now it does. Kun in the box, shoots twice. Howard stops both.
6 - LD overshoots Bease with a pass. He's rusty.
(Mom: Who's the goalkeeper? He's good)
7 - Cruz in the box, Howard stops other shot.
8 - Corner for Argentina, leads to a low cross in front of the goal, but is knocked out for a goal kick.
9 - LD to Bease on the wing, who crosses, Heinze clears, Dempsey has it but his cros misses everyone and Argentina regain the ball for another counter.
11 - EJ Offside. Shot of BB looking intense.
12 - "everything is at the rhythm that Argentina desires"
14 - The U.S. on a little attack. 'Dolo's cross is too far, goes out.
15 - Abbondanzieri looks hot and unhappy. "Dolo in the box with Cruz, who grabs his shirt to gain advantage - ref catches it and whistles play dead.
16 - Califf with a foul. Yikes. Dangerous chance for Argentina. Wall needs to be reset. Dempsey protesting.
17 - Heinze connects! It's over the bar.
18 - Dempsey on the counter, dribbles well, draws foul. LD sets up. More shoving in the wall. Ref goes for card. Niko Burriso.
LD serves ball in, EJ pops up for a header, right to Abbondanzierri.
19 - Corner for the U.S. LD sets up. Nice service, but Abbo punches it out. Outside U.S. shot way over bar. Might be trying too hard to recreate Benny's Mexico shot there.
21 - Califf up for a header, Kun too, but Kun goes down for a good while. They hit heads, or Califf hit with a little forearm, too.
23 - Bradley loses the ball just as the announcers are talking about how he deserves to play.
24 - The announcers also give LD credit for the U.S.'s improved play, just as he gets called for a foul on Heinze.
25 - Messi earns a corner for Argentina. Howard catches the ball.
28 - Kun in the box! He's ahead of the defense, and Timmay comes out against him, makes a save by knocking the ball way with his knee.
29 - Califf gives up another foul on Cruz, right at the arc. This is really dangerous.
30 - Messi takes it, puts the ball high. It doesn't bend down for him.
31 - Argentina are looking more deliberate in the attack. Dempsey cuts a ball forward and is fouled.
32 - Dempsey with a shot. It's outside, but it pegs an Argentine defender and nearly sneaks in far post on the deflection. U.S. corner.
33- LD puts it into the arms of Abbo.
35 - Pablo gets called for a foul - A shot of the U.S. bench shows three players chewing their fingernails. Pearce on a counter dares to take a shot - it's a solid hit and on frame. Abbo catches it, but that made him work just a little.
36 - Maxi pays it back and then some, testing Howard on the other end, but Timmay is up for it.
37 - Bradley has the ball near the arc, gets fouled but still comes up with the ball, and the ref waves play on - advantage. Perhaps, but a FK there would have been a threat. Argentina regains possession soon after the play-on call.
39 - LD is arguing the ref's call not to mark a foul on him, but to go back to an earlier play, where Fernando Gago is down on the field.
41 - LD can't believe the ref missed his foul. Pearce shields the ball in the box, gets fouled. Timmay takes the kick.
43 - Dempsey crosses into the box and EJ nearly gets there, but the ball hits off his battling defender and goes to goal, where Abbo gets it.
44 - Dempsey with the ball on his foot, hits a horrid forward pass. Uck.
45 - Cruz beats the defensive line of the U.S. - is alone on goal. Timmay! He saves it, but Messi gets it right back in the box for another attack. Gets a corner. Argentina takes it short, but the U.S. knocks the ball out.
Halftime whistle. The draw is deserved by Tim Howard nearly single-handedly. It's like he's channeling Kasey versuc Brazil way back in the Gold Cup. But on the field itself, the U.S. does look better. LD had a legit gripe about that foul, but the U.S. needs to create more chances.
(Mom gave up on the game, mostly. She's cooking and occasionally peeking in.)
The announcers are beating up on Julio Cruz for not putting away his chances.
Hey, lookey there. Bradley is not playing 90 minutes. Edu is on for him. Good move, though Bradley did fine during his time on the field.
47 - I've switched to the English coverage. Pearce crosses in, Dempsey flicks to LD, whose shot is deflected out for a corner.
48 - Crossbar! LD serves it to Gooch and his header is off the bar. The U.S. gets another chance, but the shot is deflected.
50 - Off the counter following an Arg FK, LD gets fouled.
52 - Aguero in the box on a counter got clipped by Howard but no call. Karma for the missed foul on LD? This would have been for a PK.
56 - LD nearly successful in splitting two defenders.
57 - Cruz earns FK near top of arc at a slight angle. Service slightly overhit, the U.S. clears.
59 - Gooch in a duel with Cruz, wins out in the box.
60 - Mastro long for Bease - misses. Then mastro gets a foul that seems rather pointless - and gets him a yellow.
61 - A Gooch foul results in another Arg FK. Adu is coming on for Clint Dempsey. Jay DeMerit for Onyewu.
63 - LD pushes ball wide - cross gets blocked - Argentina reclaims possession. They keep it for a while, circling the U.S. goal, but can't get a shot.
64 - Cruz comes out for Lopez.
65 - Adu earns a midfield foul. Another U.S. attack builds up, but Argentina eventually clears.
67 - EJ behind the defense, alone on goal, he passes the ball back - to Adu - but it's way behind him.
68 - EJ is down. He's limping off. Abbo caught him just as he passed the ball.
69 - Kljestan comes on for EJ.
70 - Edu gets a card and gives up a FK. This one is further out, but give Argentina options.
71 - Red Card! Mastro, but the replay shows nothing. The announcers think it might be a mistake. Weird. I don't get it.
74 - LD tries to argue, but the decision is made. The U.S. is playing a man down. Kljestan comes in for EJ.
75 - Announcers can't figure it out. "That should never happen." Harkes says.
76 - Who the hell confuses Mo Edu for Pablo? The U.S. resist another Arg FK.
77- Jose Aguilar Chicas - his name may live in infamy.
78 - The U.S. are now stuck in their own half - in the immediate vicinity of the goal. Eddie Lewis in for Heath Pearce, who did quite well.
79 - Do you hear the U.S. fans sing? Singing the song of angry fans.
80 - Adu draws a foul. The FK reaches LD in the box, but he's shielded from the ball as soon as he takes a touch.
81 - Cross into the box cleared by 'Dolo, out for corner. It's taken short, and 'Dolo draws the foul from Aguero to get a goal kick.
83 - LD and Sach work the give and go, LD hits Lewis, who hits a cross, cleared for a deep throw. Freddy works on the side, gets a FK on the side of the box. LD sends in the kick. Arg clears it - U.S. corner.
85 - LD serves it in - cleared - another corner. LD sets up. cleared, ball out to Freddy, whose shot is high. It's raining hard now. The sound is affected.
86 - Mascherano fouls LD hard - LD got to the ball quicker than one would expect out of game shape and the ball was gone and masch hit LD instead of the ball.
87 - That was Mascherano's second - the sides are equal now.
88 - Ever Vanega on for Aguero. Adu on a long run, give and go with Sach, but then gets dispossessed deep.
90 - Freddy dancing with the ball in the rain. Five minutes of stoppage time. Frankie Hejduk comes in for Beas.
90+ LD on the run! Gets the ball wide to Kljestan, who cuts back in the box for a shot which is deflected for a corner. LD serves it in, but Argentina clears.
Argentina circles the U.S. goal again. LD starts a counter - gets the ball to Freddy, who gets tackled from behind, but there's no card. Ref probably just wants to go home and dry out.
Long FK finds Abbo.
It's pouring rain and the fans are chanting "USA!" as the U.S. closes out the draw. Pretty exciting for a scoreless match.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

8-0 argentina.

kidding. more reasonably:

24-0 argentina.

lol

no but 3-1 argentina. freddy adu scores after after a scintillating run from USA talisman landon
donovan.

ps why does every article in soccernet (you write for them, don't you) use the world 'talisman'. lol

L.B. said...

Argentina 2, United States 0.

A.C. said...

I'm wildly optimistic. Argentina 2, USA 1.

Frank Macomber said...

1-0 U.S. with the shocker.

Either that or 3-0 Argentina.

Frank Macomber said...

What the hell, why is Cooper not active for this match?

The Brofessor said...

Freak lightning storm halts the match midway through the second half...2-0 Argies

nothingtoseehere said...

Have Adu and Landon ever been on the field at the same time?

AsuntoNica said...

A.C.: I don't have ESPN Classic, so I'm watching the game on Galavision but on mute. I got a feed from Canal 13 of Chile.
Galavision announcers are the worst you can find in spanish TV.
Don't know how can you stand them.

Anonymous said...

OK...what the hell just happened?

Anonymous said...

270 minutes (and counting) without the USMNT scoring... if I wanted the US to make the next world cup (and I don't), I would be concerned with the lack of offence.

saludos, d

Anonymous said...

Wow That was a lot of fun. They all should be like that.

I think it was mainly due to the presence of Donovan and Pablo. They really get after it and play competitively.

Watching Adu and Donovan run at their defenders is refreshing. Klestjan, although not on for that long, belongs at this level.

Definitely a performance to build from and use to set the standard on their level of play.

Anonymous said...

Good performance from the US and we can build from this series of 3 games we had. Since Mexico got their arses handed to them 4-1, I thought we could be in trouble. Tim Howard had a outstanding day and no doubt player of the match.

One thing I can't stand watching anymore is Eddie Johnson wandering around out there, no fight. He just doesn't have it anymore and we need to move on to another striker.

I was hoping to see Cooper get a few minutes out there and see how he plays at this level but Bradley won't let it happen. Why is he in love w/ EJ.

Adu played well along with Donovan and Edu looked better.

Still can't figure out the second yellow card for Pablo which sent him off.

Time for Barbados.........

Anonymous said...

Good performance by the US. Howard kept this from being a 4-0 game. The offense is much better with Donovan in the line-up but still going three straight games without scoring a goal has to be worrisome. Despite Mexico's drubbing, they still managed to get on the scoreboard. Even Peru managed to score against Spain a few days before the US friendly.

Anonymous said...

That ref made Okulaja look competent.

Anonymous said...

Just got back from the game about and hour ago. Yank fans were out numbered 80% ARG and 20% US but the US fans were loud at the end and ARG fans were a bit more subduded in the 2nd half.

As for the game. I thought we played really well in the 2nd half and had some decent pressure on ARG for a good 10 minutes there. The card againt Pablo M was total BS. Even if it was for decent it was worthy of a yellow and then an ejection. Pearce, Gooch, and Demerit were all outstanding. An Howard was the man out there. Offensive we were better than the last few games and actually produced some shots on goal but still no score:-(!! EJ was decent, if could only shoot as good as he runs he could have something. Dempsey was boring. Donovan was ok and played like a man not 100% yet. Beasley was competent. Adu and Edu held theirs out there. But Adu is fiesty and took no mess from the argie players. He even got into a bit aftert that foul on LD.

Lastly, Messi did a sick move near the end of the 1st half, ARG really lost momen in the 2nd half w/o him. Did you see the kid that ran out on the field? Thats becoming a regular thing at soccer mataches in the US nowadays. it was a lot of fun.

Administrator said...

Nice result for the US. Howard was great. From my seat far above the action, the officiating seemed fine. Not sure what Mastroeni was sent off for (bad, BAD PA person at the game), and not sure why he wasn't taken out the moment he received his first yellow. Like Michael Bradley, he is a solid player in the middle, and also someone who invites yellow cards with his style.

Adu has nice flashes, then dribbles into trouble. Same old, same old, except now he has more nice flashes than before. Donovan was tentative in the first half, to say the least. I expect he'll dominate Barbados.

Someday, U.S. fans will learn to be more creative. The Argentina supporters were awesome. While "Goals! Goals! Goals!" remains the low point for US soccer fandom, having the fans still clinging to "USA! USA!" and chanting players' names is . . . blech. Throw in the Americans trying to start Chelsea chants (?!?!?!?!) and the fanbase still has a long way to go.

Still, best 0-0 game I've ever attended.

Anonymous said...

What does Bradley have against Cooper? Is he still being punished for removing his shirt when he scored in his first cap?

I don't see how Bradley can justify Johnson over Cooper at this time...

Rene said...

I'm from LA, but spending my summer in DC and I made the drive up to the game. It was the experience of a lifetime. The atmosphere was electric and the team put up a good performance. Disappointed Adu wasn't in from the beginning and that Cooper didn't get a run out there. But over the three friendlies, the US definitely made some strides.