USA Dips Out: Colombia 1-0 US

I've already said enough about the US and the B team coming to Copa. I'm skipping that.

And I've already put in my two cents about the past couple months overall, how it's been a great learning experience and such. So none of that.

And for some real match analysis, go to Ives or something.

I'm in a bad mood and I snoozed most of the way through the USA match. I don't have much to say.

Here's what I got:

- Tim Howard is our number one keeper without a doubt. Brad Guzan deserves serious consideration as our number two. Hahnemann didn't impress me as much when I witnessed his performances for the Nats. Guzan did extremely well, considering that this was a team playing through the sendoff match of a campaign in its death throes. My depth chart: 1) Tim Howard 2) Brad Guzan 3) Marcus Hahnemann 4) Chris Seitz (no, I'm not kidding) 5) Perkins/Reis/etc.

- Bobby Boswell had a respectable performance. He had no Wynne-like glitches, at least. I thought he looked better than both Califf and Pearce.

- Davies also had a respectable performance, and played like he had something to prove (which he did). It's unfortunate he couldn't produce, but he had more passion about the game than either Hercules Gomez or Eddie Johnson. Why he didn't get more Copa minutes than 20-something out of 270 is beyond me.

- I know he has detractors aplenty, but Nguyen is great. I love that kid. He woke me up. He plays with drive, tenacity, and creativity -- the kind of stuff the US needs to win a game, you know? Nguyen is almost like Mapp, only better. With Beasley as a young veteran and Nguyen as a young talent, Bradley has to like his situation out on the left wing. My only problem is, with all his quickness, I don't think he was quite match fit. It seemed like he only had fifteen minutes of fire and then he jogged his way through the rest. I've got a feeling that he is still working his way back from that shoulder surgery from awhile ago. Anyways, I've got high hopes for this kid. I hear he's got plenty of suitors who want him on loan from PSV. He's in a good place right now and he's got nowhere to go but up.

The Fallout With CONMEBOL

In case you haven't read the newspaper yet, there's an AP report circulating around summarizing how CONMEBOL is upset that the USSF sent its B team to the Copa.

Brian over at An American's View tells us why CONMEBOL can shove it. Sharp as a tack, that Brian. His points about CONMEBOL's scheduling are especially interesting.

Furthermore, Tim Froh rebuffs the naysayers both domestic and abroad for criticizing the US' roster selection and explains exactly what an American fan can take away from the tournament. I'm becoming more and more enamored of Froh's writing.

Good articles, the two of them.

(As a side note, I'm thrilled that DCU's next three matches will be aired on Comcast, and save for the three SuperLiga matches after the All-Star break, the rest of the season's matches will be aired on Comcast as well. Brilliant.)

"If You Can't Finish, You Can't Win:" US 1 - 3 Paraguay

A quote for the ages.

I'll have a full match summary up tonight, once I get ahold of my notes.

Gringos Lose, Fulfill Everyone's Expectations: ARG 4-1 US

Anyone shocked? No? Good.

EJ converted the penalty early on and I was thinking that if US could even salvage a draw, everyone would be surprised. But then I also thought that Argentina would bring the heat, and they did. So, to recap:

Things got interesting for a time. Argentina scored thirty seconds later. Then everything went back to normal.

For some real analysis, Ives' running commentaries are good reading even as post-game leftovers. Otherwise, here's the hard stuff.

I was waiting for Davies or Nguyen to get out there and give me something to enjoy, but "Horse shit!" said Bob Bradley and gallantly out went Gaven and Beckerman. Thanks, Bob. I'm thrilled.

Feilhaber was the only gringo who remotely stood out (surprised?) and Wynne and Bornstein looked completely out of their league. Everyone, Feilhaber included, looked entirely too slow: receive the ball, look up, think, touch, look up, think, touch. There need to be quicker decisions, or, even better, some good reflexes based on group dynamic. The train of thought, "If I receive the ball here, then I know EJ will be making his run, so I pass there," needs to be reduced to, "I pass there." And EJ needs to run.

Along the same idea, our flow stuttered throughout the match. It's like everybody was looking for everybody else but no one found anyone. Wtf? Let's work on that a bit.

Other notes:

- Nice hairdo, Crespo. I can't recognize you though.

- I'd say that Crespo, Messi, and Tevez terrorized our back line but that was painfully obvious, and I'd hate to leave the other dozen Argentine players from the list of people who completely outclassed the United States tonight.

- Argentina has flawless transition from defense to offense. Their ability to play as a team is consistently awesome.

- Is anyone tired if the U.S. scoring on penalties? Actually, during the DCU game ESPN conducted a phone interview with Landon Donovan and apparently he's pretty sick of them, too. I'd think that he would want to break Wynalda's record in style, so I'd think Beasley will be the next one to step up to the penalty spot, should the opporutnity arise. Won't happen during the Copa, though.

- Off topic: I already miss the Univision lead commentator and the liberties he takes with players' names. Namely I'm thinking back to yesterday when he made Vagner Love sound like an adult film star. XD

I'm wicked tired. Sweet dreams por todos. G'night.

Mexico Blanks Brazil 2-0

What an entertaining game. I streamed the game live from Univision.com, like I posted, but I scored a projector from work and projected the game on my wall. It was fantastic. Francisco Guillermo Ochoa ftw. Skills, thrills, mariachi bands. Absolutely incredible.

I don't have any analysis other than Brazil played beautifully despite their atypically poor form and losingness (any other term for being in the state of losing?), and Nery Castillo was hot in the first half and just plain wasteful in the second.

By the way, Ochoa, Guardado, and Castillo are going to be snatched up by someone pretty soon. Castillo's already at Olympiakos, so maybe he's not going anywhere for awhile, but these guys are hot property right now.

I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow for the US match and hopefully I'll have some analysis.

Enjoy.

Want to see the Copa but don't have GolTV?

Well, then we're the same. Thankfully someone on Ives' blog posted this gem:

Stream every Copa match live on Univision.com. For free. No downloads required.

What a godsend.

(And you know what? As long as we're talking about streaming live matches for free:

USL Live has some interesting Open Cup matches soon.

Enjoy.)

Olsen, Boswell to Copa; That Makes Five

Let's recap. For this upcoming RSL game, and several of our upcoming games, we have several notable absences.

Moreno
Boswell
Olsen (all Copa America)

Arguez
Casal (both U-20 WC)

The Fab Five will miss five games as a group -- @RSL, COL (6/28), @KS (7/04), @HOU (7/08), FCD (7/14) -- and then the Copa America absentees arrive back on the 15th in plenty of time for the All-Star game v. Celtic. Meantime Arguez and Casal (if they stay through the U-20 final on the 22nd, in which case they'll miss @NYRB the same day) will arrive back in time for the Superliga game v. Monarca Morelia (7/25). Point is, these guys are out a couple weeks and DCU is forced to cope. Let's see if we come out like guns blazing or like socks being knit.

So here's what I see for the DCU lineup tonight (and you know what, this is probably DCU's First XI for the next five games at least):

---------Kpene----------Emilio-----------------

Fred------------Gomez--------------Moose----

-----------------Carroll-------------------------

Gros-------McTavish-----Erpen------Namoff--

-----------------Perkins (praise be)------------

Subs:
Dyachenko (useful for depth in the wings)
Addlery (will prove invaluable to depth up front)
Simms (will prove invaluable for depth midfield, in back)
deRoux (depth on the wings; relief for Fred, or more likely Moose)
Nolly

The McTavish-Gros experiment seems to be successful, which at this point in the season is a minor miracle. This is the time for Fred and Emilio to shine and for Gomez to come out as the veteran leader. Kpene and Moose have some great opportunities in the coming matches to impress Soehn and DC fans everywhere as to their usefulness to the squad. New signing Mira Mupier looks impressive for a reserve player. I would be very surprised if he were included in the roster for RSL, not so suprised if he's given a look in the next few games over Dyachenko. Btw, thoughts on Dyachenko: somehow I get the feeling that when Dyachenko comes on, it'll be Gomez heading off and then some formation changes ensue, like Fred slots as #10 or Emilio drops back and Dyachenko fills in where needed. Just a hunch.

Crazy experiments? Sure, what the hell. In a couple games' time I could see Soehn slotting Fred in for Gomez if Gomito needs the rest and trying deRoux out left. If we were really desperate, Simms for Gros or Namoff (or McTavish, if results don't continue to impress). But that's about it.

End result: our offense seems as strong now as it was before, but our defense is mildly worrisome.

And by the way, it seems like everyone is dreading the RSL match for reasons no more solid than some bad omens. I have this to say: winners make their own luck.

2007 Copa America Roster

And now we have it. Courtesy Ives:

GOALKEEPERS- Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

DEFENDERS- Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS- Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburger SV), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven), Ben Olsen (D.C.United)

FORWARD- Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Herculez Gomez (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

-------------

I'd like to make it known right now that Ives is a bit ingenious for hyping the Gaven call-up a few days ago. He was probably the only one in all of U.S. soccer punditry who saw that coming.

The only tried and true presences in this squad are Keller, Conrad, DeMerit, and Feilhaber. DCU fans know that Olsen and Boswell have experience playing in hostile, pro-South American environments; their presence on the squad will be more for morale than international talent-- although, if Boswell performs well with Conrad and DeMerit, I'll feel good about DCU and the MNT.

I'm pegging Davies to have a breakout performance soon and Johnson to pick his head up a bit. This is a big opportunity for Nguyen, Gaven, and Mapp as well.

Something good this squad is that it gives Bradley the opportunity to truly sort out his second string options for when players in the First XI are unavailable. Trial by fire. But you know what? Although I am preparing myself for some absolutely tragic scorelines in the near future, this isn't something to be negative about. Not by a long shot. Copa America is a real opportunity for a large squad of players who need a real opportunity. I said it before, I'll say it again: during Copa America, I won't be hiding in fear.

Argentina Hasn't Won Anything in 15 Years

And thus Argentina's roster for the Copa America is simply frightening. So is ours, if rumors are to be believed. Ives commenter:

Some commenter over at Deadspin posted this. Can't vouch for accuracy, obvs...
The Copa America roster for the U.S. was released today.

gk: keller, guzan

d: bornstein, boswell, califf, conrad, demerit, drew mooor, heath pearce, marvell wynne

m: kyle beckerman, rico clark, feilhaber, eddie gaven, sacha kljestan, justin mapp, lee nguyen, ben olsen

f: charlie davies, gomez, johnson, twellman

We're going to get slaughtered.

Goff corroborates, about Olsen and Boswell at least. Yikes.

Here's the thing: this game has potential. If we manage a draw or better, we have license to party like we never did during WC. If we lose, we fulfill everyone's expectations. Argentina's exciting to watch anyways. I won't be hiding in fear.

Little more on Hejduk: Jen Chang over at ESPN has some choice words for Hejduk's performance as well, and some interesting speculation as to Hejduk's successor v. Mexico. I'll agree that Hejduk's physicality would have troubled Guardado, but I am 90% positive Hejduk would have tripped over the ball in some way that would have proven disastrous for the US. Spector could do no worse, and I'm sure Simek could do better.