World Cup 2010

[TimeForGuinness]

I love thrill's deep dive into soccer for the World Cup.

Anyone in St. Louis interested in watching some of the games at Amsterdam Pub?

That place is gonna be crazy. They should rent a bigger joint for the Copa.

I know...I think they're putting up a tent around back to handle the crowds. I think I have to show up for one US game, it'd be awesome.

[Freed Roger]

It just doesn't seem right that the feckin Irish didn't get in again. The cup could use more drunken hooligans.

[TimeForGuinness]

It just doesn't seem right that the feckin Irish didn't get in again. The cup could use more drunken hooligans.

silly Henry

[thrill]

And know the section that is so very near and dear to my heart.

It's time for...

KNOW! YOUR! YAAAAANKS!


Alright let's do this. I will go through the 30 man roster Bob Bradley called into camp with a little run down on each guy. Keep in mind, the squad will be cut down to 23 after upcoming exhibitions against Turkey and Czech Republic.

First, I'll quickly fill you in on what has happened since the last time America remembered we have a team. That would be last summer after our improbably run to the Confederation's Cup final in which we went up 2-0 nothing on mighty Brazil on some superb goals from Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey only to fall 3-2. Since that high, it's been a mixed bag.

The Good: We finished first in qualifying which was fantastic. We got a manageable group at the WC which was fantastic. We saw Landon Donovan play like a stud at Everton, forever squashing rumors that he couldn't hack it in Europe. Now in his physical and mental prime, this is his World Cup to regain his reputation that was so high after World Cup '02. Clint Dempsey turned himself into an incredibly clutch, entertaining stud at Fulham scoring one of the biggest goals in that club's history with his unbelievable, game winning chip against Juventus in the UEFA cup. Oguchi Onyewu became the first American to sign with a true super club at AC Milan. Players like Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark moved to European clubs and proved they could hack it int he best leagues in the world. Maurice Edu got healthy at Rangers.

The Bad: Oh man were there some bads. After his coming out party as a future star at the Confed's cup and vs Mexico in qualifying, Charlie Davies celebrated the clinching of a World Cup berth the night before the final qualifier against Costa Rica in Washington DC, by going out after curfew to celebrate. He was in a catastrophic car accident at 3 AM. The crash killed the driver, severely injured a passenger and caused Charlie massive injuries including two broken legs, a fractured face, a ruptured bladder and a dislocated elbow. Doctors said Charlie may be lucky to walk again let alone play but he worked his way back and was in contention to make the World Cup roster as recently as last week before Bob Bradley deemed him not ready to make the squad. Devastating. He was an absolute lynch pin in our attack and without him, we never would have gotten out of group play at the Confederation's cup. In that qualifier the day after the wreck, Oguchi Onyewu tore his ACL and missed almost the entire season at Milan. He has since come back but with who knows how much rust. Stuart Holden had his leg fractured in a friendly in Amsterdam by a vicious tackle from Nigel Di Jong. He luckily made it back for Bolton's last game and appears to be fit.

All that said, we still have a very well organized, very cohesive group with very good players and a relatively easy group to advance from.

Here's the 30 man preliminary roster.

GK, Everton- Tim Howard (starter)
A stalwart. One of the most athletic, physically gifted keepers in the world. Our best player. Has the ability to absolutely steal a game for you. Strengths: Shot blocking. Weaknesses: Sketchy positioning against set pieces (corner kicks, free kicks) and crosses. Could have better technique.

GK, Wolverhampton Wanderers - Marcus Hahnemann
A cagey veteran of the English Premier League. Good shot blocker, good positioning and excellent general of organizing the defense. Not as spectacular a shot blocker as Howard but one of the most solid back up's out there.

GK, Aston Villa - Brad Guzan
The future. He backed US vet Brad Friedel at EPL team Aston Villa the past two seasons after winning back-to-back keeper of the year award in MLS at ages 23 and 24. Now 25, he's still 5 years from a keeper's prime. Has all the physical tools. He's big, quick, athletic but prone to mental mistakes.

D, Chivas USA (left back) - Jonathan Bornstein
A Bob Bradley favorite. One of the best defenders in MLS, sometimes finds himself out of his depth at the highest levels. Small, prone to bad giveaways but has his moments.

D, Rennes (Central defender or left back) - Carlos Bocanegra (Captain, Starter)
Boca doesn't have blinding speed and can sometimes get caught out against attackers with elite wheels, but he is a warrior. Great at getting forward and scoring on headers from corner kicks. Universally respected, handsome and good decision making, everything a captain should be (other than the occasional burn or finding himself out of position).

D, Hannover 96 (Right Back) - Steve Cherundolo
Veteran of the Bundesliga, he's had the longest tenure with his European club and is their captain. Steady and smart, but a little small. Can be abused by the elite, large attackers like Brazil's Kaka. Possible starter depending on the form of Jonathan Spector.

D, Watford (Central Defender) - Jay DeMerit (Starter)
If not for injuries, DeMerit would be at a bigger club for sure. Strong, physical, a little mean and smart. When healthy he is a beast to deal with, unfortunately that isn't often. A little lacking in speed.

D, IK Start (Cetral Defender) - Clarence Goodson
Came on to the international scene late with good play in Norway. Very tall and dangerous on corners. Inexperienced internationally and skinny.

D, Columbus Crew (Central Defender) - Chad Marshall
Two-time reigning MLS defender of the year. Does nothing for me on the international level where your opponents rarely miss the chance to capitalize on your mistake/weaknesses.

D, AC Milan (Central Defender) - Oguchi Onyewu (Starter)
Huge, imposing physical specimen. Great in the air. Improved his positioning to deal with small, fast forwards but that is still a weakness. Who knows how rusty he is. Still an automatic starter.

D, FC Dallas (Left Back) - Heath Pearce
Should make the team. I rate him higher than Bornstein who is his competition. Struggled to find playing time because of conflict with coach at his old team in Germany, but has shone in his return to MLS. Better in the attack than Bornstein, better marking fast players, better passer. Still prone to mistake and inconsistency but the best alternative if Bocanegra can't play at left back in the event of an Onyewu or DeMerit injury.

D, West Ham United (Right Back, Central Defender or Left Back) - Jonathan Spector (Starter)
Our starting right back. Great crosser of the ball from the right wing, big and athletic is sometimes prone to mental mistakes and poor positioning. Still young, he should figure in this and the next World Cup as a starter. Versatility along the back line a strength.

M, Rangers (either wing) - DaMarcus Beasley
Run DMB was a key figure in our quarterfinal run in '02 and had been an automatic selection as a starter until about a year ago when poor performances, shambolic finishing and injuries took him off the radar completely. Some good performances for Rangers earned a call up to some friendlies to see if he had anything left including the recent one in Amsterdam. There, he played like the old DaMarcus against world class competition and that alone earned him the call up despite another small injury and return to the bench at Rangers. I'm not a fan, but he's experienced so Bradley will call him up.

M, Orebro (either wing) - Alejandro Bedoya
Came on late with some great play in the Swedish league. Young and relatively unknown, I've liked what I've seen in his appearances. Creative, unpredictable and good energy off the bench. I think he'll make the bench.

M, Borussia Monchengladbach (central midfield) - Michael Bradley (starter)
Coach's son has turned into a reliable midfield general who plays excellent defense, distributes well from the deep midfield, runs all day like a mad man and is capable of getting up into the attack scoring goals. Our best long range shot, height is good on set pieces and a fiery, fiery competitor. Needs to watch the temper, but despite being only 22, is a future star. No more cries of nepotism for Mikey. He is absolutely one of our best players.

M, Eintracht Frankfurt (central midfield) - Ricardo Clark (starter)
Athletic, strong defensive midfielder teams well with Bradley in the middle. Excellent tackler, adequate passer, surprising shot from distance and very fit. Runs the midfield ragged. Weaknesses are offensive, but adequate for his role on this team.

M, AGF Aarhus (anywhere in the midfield) - Benny Feilhaber
Slick passing, creative midfielder who can open up the attack through the middle when called upon. Can start in a pinch but is good off the bench for change of pace. Small and not rugged in the tackle.

M, Rangers (defensive midfield) - Maurice Edu
Basically the same evaluation as Ricardo Clark but with better offensive skills. Would probably start if not for injury at the end of last season that prevented him from going to the Confed's Cup where Ricardo acqutted himself nicely and won the job.

M, Bolton Wanderers (anywhere in the midfield) - Stuart Holden (starter)
Box-to-box midfielder with great passing, maybe the best crossing on the team and excellent from dead balls. Rusty from injury but will probably start on the right wing if Clint Dempsey moves up to forward to replace Charlie Davies. If not, he's the first off the bench.

M, Chivas USA (anywhere in the midfield) - Sacha Kljestan
I don't think he'll make the final squad. Occasionally sublime offensively and is capable of the unexpected. Unfortunately his hustle can be questioned and there are too many similar but better playes like Holden, Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres ahead of him).

M, Columbus Crew (left wing) - Robbie Rogers
Won't make the team. Too inconsistent and lacking defensively.

M, Pachuca (anywhere in the midfield) - Jose Francisco Torres
Small and weak in defense. Prone to mental mistakes due to relatively slow pace of the league he plays in (Mexico) when exposed to International quality play. Still his passing and offensive creativity earns him a place on the team. Starting for the best team in Mexico means he probably deserves it.

M, Los Angeles Galaxy (anywhere in the attack) - Landon Donovan (starter)
Our talisman. Without him, nothing works. Great technique, speed, passing, hustle and our all-time leader in goals and assists. Will probably start on one of the wings but will move around freely in the attacking third of the field. Excellent recovering speed means he is great at tracking back on defense. Great on dead balls and corners. Our most important player.

M/F, Fulham (either right wing or up top at forward) - Clint Dempsey (starter)
Our second most important player. Won the Bronze Ball for third best player at the Confed's cup. Creative, spontaneous, hard working and skilled. Clint can score with either foot, his head or can make the deadly pass to set up a goal. My favorite player.

F, Villarreal - Jozy Altidore (starter)
Young Jozy is only 20 and capable of great things. The first American soccer player that you can look at and truly know is capable of playing just about any sport professionally. Fast, strong, big, coordinated and physically imposing. Still young and needs to improve at finishing chances. Had a poor year on a god awful team at Hull, including red card for head butting some scrub in their second to last game, Jozy needs a big tournament to make a name for himself and start to fulfill his massive potential.

F, Los Angeles Galaxy - Edson Buddle
Spent his entire life being a scrub albeit a talented one but has come on to the run of his life so far this seaon in MLS with 9 goals in 7 games. If Davies was healthy he'd have no chance, but he isn't so he does. I'm not a fan. I think he's a dog.

F, Houston Dynamo - Brian Ching
Strong, tall and good at holding people off while on the ball. Doesn't provide the scoring we need. If he makes it, it'll be off the bench.

F, Real Salt Lake - Robbie Findley
Fast and athletic but lacking in skill. No way he makes it.

F, Aris - Eddie Johnson
How many chances this guy has to blow before Bradley writes him off is a mystery. Elite speed but one of the dumbest, most maddening players to ever wear the kit. I don't think he'll make it.

F, Puebla - Herculez Gomez
An interesting story. As a young forward in MLS, was thought to be a future star. After injuries and an inexplicable decision to move him to midfield, the goal production went down. After he moved to the Mexican league last summer, he went nuts leading the league in goals and had an astounding goals/per minute rate. An intriguing player to say the least as the first American to lead a league outside of America in scoring (although Eric Wynalda may have done it in Germany in the 90's). Will make the sqaud as a bench option.

My guess at the final 23:

G - Howard, Hahnemann, Guzan
D - Bocanegra, Onyewu, Spector, DeMerit, Pearce, Cherundolo, Goodson
M - Beasley, Bedoya, Bradley, Clark, Donovan, Edu, Feilhaber, Holden, Torres
F - Dempsey, Altidore, Ching, Buddle, Gomez.


For those interested in seeing the team before next month in South Africa, they have two games coming up.

May 25, vs Czech Republic, 8 PM EST on ESPN
May 29, vs Turkey, 2 PM EST on ESPN2

[thrill]

Thrill - how did North Korea get invited -did they win the Third World Dictatorship Cup or something?

They qualified through the Asian tournament. They had to win to get in, but Asia is pretty thin after Japan, Australia and South Korea.


By the way, if you guys want to some of the world stars in a meaningful game before next month, the Champions League Final is on FOX this Saturday.

Inter Milan v Bayern Munich. Should be an incredible game. See dudes like Wesley Schneider, Arjen Robben, Mario Gomez, Lucio, Philip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and various other superstars.

Not to mention Inter Milan has the most entertaining man in Sports as their manager in Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is like a cross between the tactical knowledge of Bill Belichek, the motivational techniques of Phil Jackson and the personality of Ozzie Guillen. He is excellent.

[thrill]

I expect nothing less than 9,000 words Thrill.

I may be close. I have a headache and am really behind on my work. I hope you're happy.

[Dillagii]

Thrill: How much will it hurt Germany losing Ballack?

[lukethedrifter]

When is India going to learn how to play futbol?

[thrill]

When is India going to learn how to play futbol?

Dill will probably know more than me, but they are getting better. One of their best players in fact, just signed with the Kansas City Wizards. Sunil Chetri. The Cricket Federation agreed to divert funds to invest in the football program (it's football in India, not futbol. They don't speak Spanish) which will help immensely.

Thrill: How much will it hurt Germany losing Ballack?

Don't know. On one hand he is their captain and experienced as well as really good. On the other hand, he's been a divisive locker room presence in the past and Bastian Schweinsteiger has been superb in the holding role for Bayern this year. It all depends on who replaces Schwensteiger in the more attacking central mid role and will Schweinsteiger + Ozil/Marin/Muller/Whomever be equal or better than Ballack + Schweinsteiger? Probably not, but I don't think it will hurt them a ton.

[Freed Roger]

Thrill has peaked too soon.

It just doesn't seem right that the feckin Irish didn't get in again. The cup could use more drunken hooligans.

silly Henry

With love.