HexagonalBlog

Vent Thread

After the match today against Ghana, and those against Czech Republic and Italy for that matter, I thought that USA fans might want to vent about the national team's performance, or lack of one.  So feel free to vent your spleen in comments area of this post.  I'll give my impressions of the CONCACAF teams later, with special attention to the US national team.

A Brutal Day

That was a very long day for the Americans against a very good and very deep Czech Republic side.  I was only able to follow the game by text updates on my mobile phone, and I have yet to watch the game (I just returned from Orlando 10 minutes ago), but it seemed that Koller and Rosicky were turning the US defense inside out.  And the early goal by Koller ripped up any game plans that the US might have had. 

The Czech Republic is considered to be one of the top contenders for a reason, and there's no shame in losing to a team of this caliber.  However, there's another opponent looming that is just as good, and the US will sooner rather than later have to figure out how to beat a top European side.

I'll have more commentary after I watch the game on disc.   Any other comments on the match and the USA's chances are welcome.

The Day is Here

This is the day I've been waiting for since the Final Draw was announced. And on this day, I will be on the road from Orlando to Northwest Florida - I only hope that the tropical storm doesn't affect the internet connection on the BlackBerry! I am nervous but excited about USA - Czech Republic. It is going to be a difficult game for us, but it will also be a difficult game for the Czech Republic as well. Both sides have excellent managers and strategists of the game, both teams have excellent goalkeepers (Keller and Cech), and both teams are dangerous in the air (Czech Republic even more so with 6'8" Jan Koller). It's going to come down to whether the US defense, especially Onyewu, can contain the Czech attack and whether the American strikers can put away the few chances they will get to score. Much has been said about Donovan and his importance to the team in high-pressure situations, but I think that Convey has an excellent opportunity to make himself known on the world's biggest stage.

I think it's going to be a tight match, maybe no more than one or two goals between both teams. I'm not going to make a prediction, but I think you know who I want to win.

CONCACAF at the World Cup, Day 3

I am currently in Orlando for a personal trip, and I have had very little time to watch the games much less blog about them. Nevertheless, I have been able to see all of the matches involving CONCACAF teams except for Mexico's match against Iran. At this point I was expecting the region to have won one match and lost two, so the three matches so far have gone better than expected. Even in Costa Rica's loss, they made Germany work for their win, and not too many players can say that they scored twice against Germany in a World Cup (Geoff Hurst, and Ronaldo I think). The ticos will have to improve their defense quickly. Their positioning in their own third was awful.

Trinidad & Tobago's draw against Sweden, without a doubt, is the big surprise of the tournament. To get a point in their first match ever at the finals is an achievement; to do it playing 45 minutes with 10 men is amazing. Hislop continued his good year, and Yorke led from the front (or should I say, from the back). I continue to be impressed by how much T&T have grown in terms of organization and discipline since Beenhakker took over. The next game against England is going to be big, for obvious reasons, and the English are deeper and more dangerous up front than the Swedes.

I'm going to have to rely on press reports for the Mexico-Iran match, but it seems that Mexico got out to an early lead, Iran equalized but then proceeded to throw away their opportunity in the second half. In the end, it did take the final 15 minutes for Mexico to get the goals they needed. They should have a clear path to the second round, Angola is perhaps the weakest of the five African representatives.

Let the games begin!

I've been in San Francisco all this week for a conference so I haven't been able to post.  And the first match has just kicked off, so I'll be brief with my predictions for the first match.

• Germany shouldn't have much trouble with Costa Rica.
• Sweden is probably T&T's best chance for an upset.  Even so, not likely.
• Iran will be more of a problem for Mexico than a lot of Mexicans think.
• Czech Republic and USA could come down to aerial play - Koller vs. McBride.  I have too much invested to make a prediction.

Time to see who will get to lose to Brazil in the final.

And while I was writing this post, Germany scored the first goal.  It's going to be a long day for Costa Rica.

UPDATE (11:14am CST):  Ummmm, I'd like to amend that previous statement.   Game on !!

Bluffing

Some folks play checkers.  Others play chess.  Americans play poker. 

Have fun storming the castle

Yesterday the USA national team left for Germany, and this morning (Germany time) they arrived in Hamburg.  Off to show the world that the quarterfinals in 2002 were not a one-off performance.  It would have taken a miracle for the USA to beat Italy and Czechoslovakia in 1990, but I like their chances a lot more this time around.

Good luck, boys, and don't hurry back.

From June to November

With the World Cup approaching, there will be plenty of posts about the prospects for CONCACAF and their competitors, but I want to take a moment to write about something a bit more important to me.

As most of you know, I live on the Florida Gulf coast.   And as all of us on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are aware, today marks the beginning of hurricane season.   I've grown up in Florida and dealing with hurricanes is part of life in the Sunshine State, in very much the same way that those in California deal with earthquakes.  I have seen the destruction that hurricanes can cause, from Andrew in 1992, to Mitch in 1998, to the four hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004, to Katrina and Rita last year. 

We all know what happened because of Katrina last year, and the destruction caused by that storm is difficult to comprehend, not just in New Orleans, but also in Mississippi and Alabama.   It's been almost a year since the storm passed, but after the media attention shifts to other things, the rebuilding continues and will continue for a very long time.   Obviously the basic needs are food, clothing, and shelter have to be met first.  But after those needs are met, it will be necessary to rebuild the recreation infrastructure of the region, including the soccer fields and clubs that were affected by the storm.

To this end, the Soccer United Recovery Fund was set up by the US Soccer Foundation.  All of the funds raised by the Fund will be used to fund grants to help the Gulf Coast soccer community
rebuild.  Eurosport (the soccer apparel company) is also selling products associated with the effort, and all money raised will go the Fund as well.  I think this is an excellent effort to continue supporting the rebuilding process on the Gulf Coast and to help the soccer community as well.  I'm not the type of person to tell people to do something that I wouldn't do; I've given $100 to the Fund and I hope that you can give what you can.  There are other good places to send donations as well - Red Cross, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and others. 

Thanks for your time.  And to all of those in hurricane country, be smart and stay safe.