World Cup Qualifying Report
after some warm-ups yesterday in the form of Bulgaria/Sweden and Romania/Netherlands it was time for today's main course: Mexico vs. USA from Mexico City. armed with some black bean dip and some beer from Vermont, i was joined by t.s.o.a. correspondent La Chima. since it was showng on ESPN2, we knew the announcers would be of questionable quality, but it wouldn't matter if the US could finally break through with the first ever win in the altitude of the Mexican capital.
the starting lineup was about as expected, though neither of us had ever heard of (Olney, MD native) Oguchi Onyewu who was filling in on defense for Eddie Pope. the ghost of Claudio Reyna also managed to be healthy enough to take a midfield position, much to the chagrin of La Chima who chided him for doing little yet somehow aways earning praise as a guy who does the things that don't show up in the box score (which in soccer is just about everything), but as i pointed out "that captain's arm band ain't gonna wear itself". this led to an extended digression on Tony Meola and the possibility that he might be accessorizing his outfit of sweatpants with his own armband while watching the game at home in New Jersey.
if you're wondering why i'm not talking about the game yet, well, it turned into a major disappointment. while the first 30 minutes were relatively even and well played, the US defense got sucked into a black hole over the next few minutes as Mexico had their way with the ball inside the box. how the US, with only 1 striker and very little offensive push to that point, could get caught with their pants down for 2 goals in 3 minutes is just shameful. unmarked Mexicans were as prevalent as anti-US sentiment in the stands.
despite the two goal deficit, the US never seemed to develop any sense of urgency on offense. what limited counterattack the US could mount was not helped by poor passing and ball-handling. attacks down the flanks (and the dangerous crossing balls that come with them) were nonexistant, and the fact that Mexico was called for 9 offsides to 0 for the US tells you all you need to know about who was pushing the ball forward. the Americans did manage to put it all together for about 10 minutes in the second half, which resulted in a goal by Eddie Lewis that seemed to put Mexico on the ropes for a bit. that momentum shift soon passed however, and even some offense-for-defense substitutions late in the game could not create any good chances to equalize. meanwhile, the Mexicans were still putting pressure on the US goal, and Kasey Keller had to make at least two really beautiful saves to keep the deficit at just one goal.
we were of the opinion that the US played like complete crap, and were astounded that the announcers had nothing negative to say during or after the match about the performance. La Chima claimed that this was endemic of all soccer coverage in this country, where it seems as though the pundits are afraid to be critical of the team and Coach Bruce Arena for fear that the few fans out there might abandon the sport altogether. i think Arena deserves a bit of a pass, as he has managed to bring the team to international prominence, but there's not enough blame to go around after a game like that. the loss puts the US in a tie for 3rd place with Costa Rica in the CONCACAF qualifying region in which 3 teams will advance (and a fourth will have a chance as well) heading into Wednesday night's game against Guatemala, which becomes much more critical now. anything less than a win and the mild panic created by today's fiasco may turn into a full-blown psychotic episode.
Comments
From a newspaper perspective, anytime we print something bad about soccer we get a call or two from soccer fanatics who say we're always either badmouthing or ignoring the sport--that we're just typical ignorant Americans.
Many die-hard soccer fans in this country are just assholes, IMHO. Their aggravating inferiority complex (which they somehow twist into a superiority complex) makes them just about impossible to get along with. Kind of like fans of GW basketball.
If the U.S. can't finish at least third in its lame-ass qualifying group, then the state of the sport in this country is sorry, indeed.
Posted by: matt | March 27, 2005 06:08 PM
It's a shame that soccer is in such a bad shape in the U.S. I feel like there are more soccer moms than soccer players at this point.
Posted by: mas | March 28, 2005 01:38 PM
Didn't see the game but the reports indicate the US was pretty lame, not attacking or acting like it should have won. Regardless, it was their second game, so I'm not ready to write them off just yet. This week's game does loom large, though.
Posted by: jake | March 28, 2005 03:20 PM
My thoughts: For my money, Onyewu (who I think went to Paint Branch) was a highlight. I'd never seen him before (he plays in France) and was impressed. He got caught ball-watching on Borgetti's goal, but was very solid the rest of the way. The real blame should fall on Berhalter, who put in the kind of of defensive performance US fans haven't seen since the Days of Agoos. He gave away possession very cheaply in the lead up to the first goal and was desperately out of position on the second.
I'm not sure I've ever seen an Arena team play this way (including four years of DCU and five of the national team). Surprisingly poor tactics from the outset--it was clear from minute ten that they simply couldn't get the ball to Johnson (who is a very good player and improving with every match) in any kind of useful position. Why we didn't see McBride (who has long given the Mex. backline trouble) pairing Johnson up front sometime before the eightieth I'm not sure. Moreover, as others have noted, there was absolutely no intensity or urgency in the US attack, even when we were trailing by one w/ five minutes left. Basically, we played like a wet sponge. Reyna was winded five minutes in. Mastroeni hardly touched the ball. Donovan played so many poor passes.....
Mexico, on the other hand, were very good. Borgetti, Fonseca and Marquez are excellent players. Blanco is a dick and over the hill, but still causes serious headaches on the wing.
Jaime: I disagree strongly w/ your statement that the US played like crap. Too tentative and w/o enough confidence, yes. But they were actually pretty together for parts of the second half. As for the announcers, they are in the pockets of US Soccer, I think. They'll never criticize Arena or his approach (granted, there's usually not much to criticize). Their quality is perhaps exemplified by the fact that the play-by-play man continued until the end of the game to comment that the second goal was scored by Zinha, even though it was Naelson.
Anyhow, we'd better win on Wed. night or start preparing for a match in Kuwait City in November.
Dave Nelson
Posted by: Dave Nelson | March 28, 2005 06:47 PM
I should clarify: the US were crap, but not utter crap.
dn
Posted by: Dave Nelson | March 29, 2005 09:47 AM
Dave - as i said, the US was good for the 5 minutes before and after their goal. then they reverted to the suckitude that got them the result they deserved. i don't blame Onweyu much for what happened, just noting that i hadn't seen him play before. and i believe that he plays for Belgium.
i agree that Johnson looks very good and Lewis has played well recently too.
if i had a fantasy soccer team, i might have to name it "Days of Agoos".
Posted by: jamie | March 29, 2005 10:44 AM
Whatever happened with the MLS/Team USA labor strife? Is this their scab team or are the woefully underpaid first teamers still playing?
Posted by: WisdomWeasel | March 29, 2005 11:29 AM
the strike was averted. though a team of scabs may have shown more heart down a goal late in the game.
Posted by: jamie | March 29, 2005 06:18 PM