[quote=“9erken, post:17, topic:23329”]I don’t think Bedoya made the cut. Otherwise, you’re probably right with the lineup, though I could see Buddle or Gomez starting up top, with Dempsey moving up after the first sub. Seemed to be a frequent move during qualifying, but I guess they also had Davies for much of that time.
I don’t quibble too much over Bradley’s roster selections, since he didn’t exactly have a ton of options at this point. He has been seeing who is ready to go in the camps, so maybe that’s why guys like Beasley and Findlay are in there.[/quote]
[quote=“stonecoldken, post:8, topic:23329”]Yeah, NA I know that foreigners do their dates backwards.
Also English spell center as centre. :))
And no wonder the Socialist State of Sweden has a 71% tax rate. Hotties aren’t cheap! They’re high maintenance. :p[/quote]
Yea and they also are smart enough not call the city center “Center City” like it is another autonomous body. Man I hate that.
How did a country the size of South Carolina score 4 goals on us? Ugh. I will be pulling for the USA, but I doubt we will go far. Then I will be cheering for la furia roja.
I wouldn’t look at it too deeply. The US barely played a single starter. The 2 that did play are both coming back from serious injuries and trying to get back into shape. If we play half our starters we win that game comfortably.
Just a little history about Czech national team soccer:
9 World Cup appearances (twice advanced to the final, twice advanced to the quarterfinals)
7 EURO appearances (3rd place twice, champions once, second place once, semifinalists once)
Nedved, Koller, Poborsky to name a few legends…
Their tradition and history rivals any of the top European powers. It doesn’t matter how big the country is, if soccer was based on that then we’d be contending for the World Cup on a regular basis. In the Czech Republic, soccer is king and has been for as long as organized sport has existed in that country and will be in the future.
The Czechs are usually a good team. The concern I’d have is they didn’t play a full side either. I don’t think it says anything about the quality of the starters, but it does say something about the depth of U.S. players for Bradley to select reserves from. Still, who knows, these hodgepodge lineups for a friendly don’t exactly allow for much organization. The players might do better as a cog in an organized side. And some of these reserves might not even play in the World Cup.
Even though I’m pessimistic about advancement (not just based on this game), I’m excited to see what happens. How many days until the first game? It’s getting close.
If this country really cared about soccer and our best athletes dreamed of world cup greatness we would dominate soccer. Fact of the matter is though that soccer gets at best our 4th rate athletes. Most kids grow up dreaming of the NBA/NFL/MLB not soccer. Size of the country does matter to some degree just by the sheer # of potential and available athletes and players, but I understand what you are saying. If soccer isn’t a top priority, then your country is most likely not going to do real well. In terms of popularity and importance soccer here is WAY down the list.
Gooch is a freak, but you’re basicly right. I think its more that we dont get the best of the best to play the game. There’s a skill set too though. It’s been really hard for a long time to make the leap in skill from the highs chool travel team level to a pro level. We’re just now starting to get players that have been in the system up through MLS, and that’s still a notch below the Euro leagues, which is why our stars have to go play abroad to get better. It’s the reverse of basketball.
All of our top athletes play basketball and football.
We’d be one of the top teams in the world if athletes like D Wade played soccer.[/quote]
I think another big problem is the lack of quality coaching that a lot of players get in their youth levels. It’s all about teaching fitness as opposed to technique.
Could you imagine if Mike Vick and LeBron James were soccer players? I would even argue that athletes that might go the soccer route focus on things like Hockey, NASCAR and Golf before soccer, let alone basketball, football, and baseball.
Not saying that everyone that plays golf or races stock cars are superior athletes, but Tiger Woods could probably have been a killer soccer player. Same with some of the elite NASCAR drivers.
I don’t believe in the argument that great athletes in one sport could transition well into another simply because they are athletic. I think there are certain sports were this is true position wise (WR/CB’s in football), but I don’t think its true across the board. I’ve seen a few great athletes look like retards trying to do something as basic as kicking a ball.
