Busy week in the world of soccer
by Paul O'Donnell
Major League Soccer's SuperDraft was held on Friday as a feature part of the NSCAA convention in Baltimore. The strength and depth of the USL's contribution to the development of players was again illustrated emphatically as 39 of the 56 players chosen were associated with either the PDL or SYL programs. USL and in particular its PDL clubs and their staff have very good reason to be proud of that record. For the third straight year 2/3rds of those selected in the draft were active or former players on USL clubs. Providing opportunities for the continued development of players of the top class and their preparation for continued success is the mission of the PDL and there is no better measure of that effort than the professional draft. College age players hone their skills in the competition provided in the PDL and as the draft proves each and every year it is an experience worth the effort put forth for many as they earn the opportunity to take that next step.
Speaking of taking that next step...
USA 2:0 Sweden
Former Baron Earns Cap for Team USA
Eddie Robinson scored his first International goal in the 15th minute in his debut for the national team at Home Depot Center. Pat Noonan got to the Brad Davis corner deflecting it on goal which was saved and Robinson got to the rebound hitting his shot high into the net for the opener.
In the 48th minute Landon Donovan converted a penalty for his 35th international goal bypassing Eric Wynalda making him the all time top goal scorer for the national team. USA had the upper hand early which led to Robinson's goal but for much of the first half the Swede's pressure had the USA on the back foot for long spells and they were very fortunate to leave the field with the lead at halftime. Donovan's penalty conversion settled the issue and the two teams traded attacks with little to show for either side for the remainder of the match.
The Swede's were wasteful and the USA seemed to back off, to relax too much once they had the lead. Both teams fielded young players who earned the first caps for their country.
One of them was former Baron, Jeremiah White, who earned his first cap as a 2nd half substitute in the 81st minute and very nearly made an immediate impression on the game with his very first touch; an impressive 40 yard ball that barely missed connecting with Altidore at the edge of the area just seconds after he stepped on the pitch.
In the end the USA was fortunate to escape the first half with the lead and their reluctance to put a team away was again obvious. Against a better, more experienced Sweden this USA squad would have been hard pressed to earn a draw. Then again, this was not the USA's best 11 either. Look for more of that team to be on the pitch against Mexico in their next scheduled match (February 6) in Houston.
That said, the really big news in the soccer world came from the northeast of England as
Newcastle's board will challenge fate and the old adage "you can't go back" by appointing Kevin Keegan manager for his 2nd stint with the club. His appointment set off a virtual celebration of the 2nd coming not only in the northeast but all across England.
Will he be the man to get the team's focus back and get more energetic and meaningful efforts from the big names on the roster? If we are to make any judgment on how that will work out, in the FA Cup replay with Stoke played on the very evening his assignment was announced, we saw a very positive and resourceful effort. Newcastle booked a place in Round 4 with a dominant 4-1 victory and yes, Michael Owen actually scored a goal.
Liverpool also booked their place in the next round with a totally dominant 5-0 victory over Luton Town at Anfield on the strength of a hat trick from Gerrard. West Ham was eliminated from the competition in this, the 3rd round, for the first time in five years by Man City 1-0. The new fan favorite, tiny Havant & Waterlooville stung pro side Swansea 4-2 to earn a date at Anfield in the next round. Round 4 1st leg games are set for January 26 with three clubs still to play their 3rd round replays on January 22.
In the EPL Reading will entertain top of the table Man United while Arsenal travels for a walk in the park along the Thames at Craven Cottage. All eyes will be on St James' Park as Keegan will be on the sideline for his first EPL match as Newcastle welcomes Bolton.
For me the big match of the round takes place on Monday as Liverpool entertains Aston Villa. Which team is really the leader of the chasing pack; the best of the rest you might say? Until someone takes it away Liverpool hold that honor, but do they really deserve it? We may find out this weekend as Martin O'Neill should have his side up to the task. I hesitate to say this because so often these sorts of matches with Liverpool involved turn out to be a major disappointment: this should be a real barn-burner of a match.
Frankly, putting Liverpool into the Big Four is an insult to the top three based on results we've seen from them over the past several seasons. They've finished so far behind it would be far more accurate to say they were the best of the rest and the big four is really now the Big Three. Liverpool's title hopes have become a fight to defend their stature as the perennial 4th place team. Villa is just one of the challengers to that position.
Based on results so far this season the team that may stake their claim to that spot in the Big Four, Everton, travels to Wigan for the lunchtime contest on Sunday. Everton will have to prove they're for real without a player that has made substantive contributions so far: they've lost James McFadden to Birmingham City in the winter transfer war.
Can Pompey score a goal on their home turf? Bottom side Derby may make that a more difficult task than you'd imagine.
Reading 0:2 Man United
Royals Make It Tough On Red Devils
A resourceful and energetic Reading made this an attractive match but in the end the quality of United's attack wore them down. A Tevez cross for Rooney and a glorious touch volley got it over Hahnemann in the 78th and Ronaldo got the 2nd in stoppage time and United hold top spot with the win.
Tottenham 2:0 Sunderland
Black Cats Start Slow at White Hart Lane
Spurs were out the gate in a hurry in this one and Aaron Lennon deflected in a cross in the 3rd minute for the lead. Berbatov, Keane and Huddlestone produced good chances but couldn't put anything on the board before Keane's in stoppage time (91'). It was his 100th goal in the EPL.
Birmingham 0:1 Chelsea
Chelsea Leave It Late
In the battle of the Blues Chelsea couldn't overcome the reinvigorated Birmingham until late on (80') when Claudio Pizarro headed home the winner off Belleti's corner breaking the hearts of the City fans. It was another of those games where the losers deserved a better fate.
Blackburn 1:1 M'Boro
Rovers Get Lucky Again at Ewood Park
Boro got on top of this contest early with a nice headed goal from Wheater (14') off a Downing free kick and Rovers looked to be in trouble on their home pitch again. Boro's energy and guile produced several good chances to extend their lead but they couldn't finish them off and in the end it cost them dearly. Sub Matt Derbyshire struck from distance in the 76th to finally level for Blackburn. Aliadiere missed badly in stoppage time from in close heading the ball over as if to emphasize the missed chances on the day by Boro.
Portsmouth 3:1 Derby
Frustration Streak Ends for Redknapp
Pompey finally scores on their home ground as a hat trick from Benjani (39', 43', 56') wins the day. The home fans were getting restless as the opening half wore on before Benjani started his 20 minute span producing 3 markers.
Fulham 0:3 Arsenal
Comprehensive Victory for Gunners
Two off the head of Adebayor (19' & 39') off crosses from Clichy and Rosicky were too much for woeful Fulham to handle and they conceded again in the 82nd from a great run by Eduardo along the touchline and diving stretch to deflect his cross home from Rosicky. Arsenal stays level with United on points separated only by GD.
Newcastle 0:0 Bolton
Keegan Returns
Back to Reality for Toon Army
First Match In Charge Is a Dour Lackluster Draw
The return of King Keegan had the fans alive and well as the celebration wore on but on the pitch where the games are won and lost his depleted side produced little. Frankly, it was Bolton who seemed the side more likely to score in this dour draw in the northeast. To be fair this Newcastle side was severely depleted with suspensions, injuries and 4 lost to the ANC competition. However, this match showed clearly that Keegan got no more from them than Big Sam managed. The team simply does not have the quality with those missing links. The fans may think of themselves as a big club and one of the top teams in the league, but they clearly are not. Kevin Keegan may get them there and get more from them for the remainder of this season than another manager would but that will take a monumental effort and huge turnaround from the likes of Owen, Smith, Duff, Viduka and Martins.
Wigan 1:2 Everton
Toffees Go 4th
In a match where Wigan seemed firmly on their front foot another gift from poor execution by Titus Bramble handed Andy Johnson an opportunity and he placed his shot neatly between the legs of Kirkland for the lead (39'). Just minutes later on a scramble in the 6 yard box resulting from a corner kick the ball fell to an unmarked Lescott at the back post and he made no mistake to double the lead for the Toffees (42'). Sub Jason Koumas took a free kick which Tim Howard made a poor attempt at punching out of danger and it was deflected in by Jagielka (53') and Wigan had a life line. A chance they just couldn't take in the end. With the win Everton overtake Liverpool (at least for the moment) for 4th.
Man City 1:1 West Ham
The Hammers got a wonderful goal on an overhead from Carrolton Cole off a slick pass from Freddie Ljunberg in the 8th minute. City came roaring back and leveled in the 15th from Vassel and the game settled into a hard fought closely marked affair with neither side really able to produce many chances.
Liverpool 0:0 Aston Villa
Pivotal Match At Anfield
The future of the club, the owners and surely the manager are on the line in this one. A loss by the Reds will drop them to 7th and see Villa move to 5th. A victory for the Reds will put them in 4th on GD over crosstown rival Everton. A draw would result in Man City dropping to 7th, Villa 6th and Liverpool back to 5th with those positions on GD. A Reds victory is imperative. Do they step up and produce that win? No way. Benayoun opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Liverpool pretty much dominated play throughout but they couldn't find the goal to kill off the match. That hurt them on the day as sub Marlon Harewood equalized in the 69th followed 3 minutes later by an Aurelio OG and Villa had the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining. Peter Crouch (out of favor under Benitez; all he does is score goals mind you) came on and got the 2nd for the Reds for the draw Liverpool's 6th on their home ground (count that as 12 points lost). As I was saying above, under Benitez this team seems destined to find a way to disappoint. Interesting take on this from fans in England who believe Liverpool have not spent the money necessary despite them having spent more than any other EPL side over the summer (over $45 million). The failure of their team on the pitch is being blamed on their American ownership as if the team was wildly successful before Hicks and Co. Seems as if they forget this team has never won the EPL title and have been also rans for over a decade when you get right down to it. Their average finish in the EPL is over 20 points behind the title winner but, you see, that’s because this American guy bought the team last year. Uh, ok... With thinking like that prevailing on this team is destined to become another Newcastle.
US Women Win Four Nations Tournament
A Shannon Boxx looping header in the 77th minute was the only goal of the game as the US Women defeated China 1-0 to win the tournament. Hope Solo was in goal for the final making one save on the day. She was the starting keeper in two of the three games. The Chinese played a bunker defense and rarely ventured into the attacking zone and their strategy was very effective in slowing down the US offense. Slowing down, but not stopping them and that is the fallacy in the approach.
My opinion here of course, but playing the game that way also ignores the fact that in order to actually win the game you must score a goal. When playing the game this way if your defense is not perfect every time the opponent attacks, you lose. Even worse than that is, you didn't really give your own team a chance to win either.
In American football the posture known as the "preventive defense" is hated by fans and the only thing it usually prevents is victory. We see much the same thing in soccer and this title match was an example of it.
Not that I would want to see China win it, but I'd much rather see them play the game both ways. When you play the game this way you simply choose to not play half of it; the attacking half, in hopes of preventing the other sides successful attacks.
Speaking of preventing victory, check this one out from the Italian Serie A.
Serie A
Miracle Finish at the San Siro
In case you've been like me and not really paying much attention to the Serie A you might be hearing more about this: Inter remains unbeaten and holds their 7 point lead over Roma after miracle finish.
Parma held the lead 2-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining on the clock and headed for the upset of the year in Serie A over unbeaten Inter Milan. In the 89th a Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot was headed off the line and out by Parma defender Couto. Couto was shown a red card on the play.
After seeing the replay a dozen times you could make a case for handball I suppose but it surely was not accurate to say he swatted the ball away with his hand. What happened was this: that he headed the ball away was clear. What was not so firmly established by repeated replays from various angles was that the ball ever did touch his arm. One angle did suggest the ball glanced off his arm after he headed it clear which appeared to be confirmed by the rotation changing as it did.
At any rate, Ibrahimovic slammed home the resulting penalty to level at 2 and then in stoppage time he scored again for the 3-2 win preserving Inter's unbeaten record and 7 point advantage over Roma.
Amazing stuff.
