Grant Wahl Says What I Was Thinking...

...but am not a good enough writer to communicate. Here you go, I suggest checking it out.

He's right you know. Commentator Marcelo Balboa said during the Dutch telecast something to the effect of "get your yellow card suspension over with now before the quarterfinals" I have to respectfully disagree. I agree with Wahl in that because of the taking the yellow card now as opposed to later mindset the US were missing two of their best players. Two players who would have made a difference in this game.

Sometimes the common view in sports are not right. In this case I would rather have seen Bradley and Adu in the final group game as opposed to sitting it out. Balboa's comments made an incorrect assumption that shouldn't be made, that you're going to advance from the group stage when there is one more game to go.

Heartbreak...

I got up early again to rev up the DVR and watch the US take on Nigeria. The US needed a win or tie against a good Nigerian squad. I'm ready, I'm pumped. What happens next? The worst thing possible, the thing I didn't want to see, heartbreak...

A red card in the 4th minute. Michael Orozco makes a stupid mistake and elbows a Nigerian player while tussling for a ball. No, it wasn't a terribly vicious elbow and perhaps the Nigerian player made a small meal of it by going to ground when other players may have played through the "pain" and fought for the ball, but the damage was done and Michael Orozco got sent off...in the 4th minute. How do you recover from that?

The US certainly tried. Unfortunately late in the first half they gave up a goal and now they went from looking good to move on to depending on the Netherlands losing too. In the second half the US was certainly working hard and as Nigeria sent too many players up field, the young Americans had some quality chances. But it wasn't to be, the Nigerians got a second goal and the game was out of reach. The end of the second half certainly got exciting when the US earned and converted a penalty but they were still one goal down and The Dutch won their game, resurrecting their poor Olympic performance. The US threw bodies forward but couldn't get the tying goal they needed, they are out. Over. Kaput.

It is too bad. This was a good team. Freddy Adu missed his chance to make a mark on American sports leading the US to a medal. He was missed today as you could see, even with an extra man, the Nigerian defense wouldn't have been able to handle him running at them. There were a lot of holes to exploit in that defense.

Stuart Holden impressed for me again. As did late sub Charlie Davies. Benny F. showed he needs to find a starting gig as he was missing passes and rusty. Altidore was taken off after the first half. I think he could have made more of an impact in his first start had there not been a red card forcing formation and game plan changes. Edu and Parkhurst played well. Robbie Rogers was nice at times. Sacha looked better in the last two games then he did in the first. Danny S. was unremarkable. Brad Guzan showed why Aston Villa bought him.

Brian McBride never did it for me. He is 36 and it shows. I don't think his inclusion in the team helped all that much. Imagine if Davies and Altidore could have grown a successful partnership with speed and power. Sure, McHead can bring down a nice trap and contest for crosses but he didn't score a goal and that is what his job comes down to.

It always seems to end this way for the US. I know all countries feel heartbreak during big tournaments but as an American fan I think I feel it more. Now we wait for the next World Cup, the next Youth World Cup...the next.

Whet Your Appetite For American Olympic Soccer...

I am going to do my best to recreate the "magic" of the 2002 World Cup by waking up early tomorrow morning to catch the US vs. Japan. No, not 3 am early, but maybe 5:30 so I can start up the DVR and see the entire match before heading to work. We'll see if my ambitions match my ability.

Check out today's US Soccer Studio 90 post. In the section with the MNT Preview you get some highlights of US vs. Cameroon from the ING Tournament held recently in Hong Kong as an Olympic warm up. Is anyone else struck by how good the young Americans look passing the ball. There is one sequence where American defense takes the ball and creates a great counter attack with all one touch passes. This is the kind of beautiful soccer many of us have been waiting our entire lives for.

I hope the Olympians can look as polished against Japan tomorrow morning. If they do it will help make my lack of sleep pay off.

US Men's Olympic Television Schedule...

US Soccer posted the schedules for both Men's and Women's Olympic soccer on NBC. I am happy to report you don't have to get the special NBC Olympic soccer channel to watch all the games, so long as you do have cable.

The US kicks off their Olympic journey Thursday...yes in two days!

Aug. 7 vs. Japan :
- MSNBC 4:55 a.m. ET
- Universal HD 4:55 a.m. ET
- NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 5 a.m. ET

Aug. 10 vs. Netherlands:
- USA Network 7:30 a.m. ET
- NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 7:30 a.m. ET

Aug. 13 vs. Nigeria:
- USA Network 5 a.m. ET
- NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 5 a.m. ET

Let's get ready to rumble!!!

Ohh yeah, Maurice Edu wants to tell you something. It is hot in China. The heat and smog are going to weigh on soccer big time. It is going to be near impossible for these guys to go the full 90 at full strength in these conditions. The games should be interesting.

Olympics Bound...

Not too long ago the US Olympic team was made up of exclusively college players. 1996 was the first year of MLS and MLS players did make that team. Since 1996 the Olympics have been a goal of American MLS based players looking to move up to the first team if they haven't already made a spot for themselves. Last Thursday coach Nowak named his roster for the upcoming games. The roster is exclusively professional players and features some of the bigger names in American soccer. Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore lead the European contingent while Sacha Kljestan, Maurice Edu and Michael Parkhurst represent some of the bigger names in MLS.

The US will face Japan, The Netherlands and Nigeria in what could be called a group of death. The first match kicks off August 7th and by August 13th we'll know if the team has made it out of the group stage. Cross your fingers.

On paper this is probably the strongest team every taken to the Olympics by the US. Meanwhile other countries are having players retracted because clubs don't want to over play their best players and open them to possible injury. Put that together and we could be in for a pleasant surprise this summer. Last year Freddy Adu showed why he's been so hyped during the U-20 World Cup. This summer I hope to see him listed amongst the best players in the tournament.

Set your DVR folks, the Olympics are just a couple weeks away!

US U-23 Men Drop First Game Of Toulon International Tournament...

This morning I watched as the US U-23 men were outworked, outplayed and outscored. It is a good thing this was the "B" U-23 team because they were unimpressive, slow on the ball, made poor passes and didn't play well as a team. It was obvious many of the players didn't have significant playing time together.

On the other side of the field Turkey fielded their U-21 "A" team and it showed. Play was fluid, passes were incisive and players showed skill on the ball.

Let's look at some highlights/lowlights.

Dominic Cervi started in goal and was ok. You can see why people are excited about him, he's huge. 6' 6" I think. He does look impressive in goal, but then he makes little mistakes that could cost the team in an important match. On one play in the first half he bobbled an easy shot and almost gave away a rebound that would have led to an easy goal. He recovered with the help of his defense.

Eric Brunner got a goal off a nice corner kick in the second half. You might imagine the big center back heading the ball home but the corner was driven low and he deftly put it away off his foot. It was a nice play and a nice goal. In other stretches of play he was unremarkable. He needs to get under contract somewhere soon if he wants to make the Olympics. I don't think he will as I bet one of the over aged players selected is a defender making the position more competitive.

Kamani Hill came on in the second half and helped settle the midfield. Benny Feilhaber and Greg Dalby were paired together to start the match and the pair were unable to control the pace of the game or direct traffic. Benny Feilhaber has gone from Senior national prospect to a big question mark. I don't know if his season in England was bad for him personally, although I'm sure relegation in such terrible fashion doesn't help self confidence, but this isn't the same player we were all so excited about last summer. In my opinion Feilhaber should come back home and play in MLS to regain his confidence. It worked for Landycakes.

Corey Ashe showed some nice speed on the left flank, and an ability to switch to the right without losing a beat. However, he disappeared for long stretches of the match. His speed could be nice coming off the bench but he didn't look like a starter today.

Gabe Ferrari and Sammy Ochoa worked hard but didn't inspire me to write positive comments. Ochoa did score a stunner in the second half to get the US back into the match but when he missed a great opportunity created by pressure and a Turkish mistake I was left scratching my head. Would Jozy have missed that opportunity? At this point neither forward makes my China squad.

Friday the US will face the Ivory Coast. Tune in to see the action live on FSC at 12:30 PM ET. I certainly hope to see a better team performance.

Catch The US U-23's Live From France...

The US U-23 Men are taking part in a tournament in Toulon, France that will serve as the final warm up before heading to China for the Summer Olympics. Most of the guys with the team are fringe players trying to get noticed for the biggest youth event of the summer. Ten of the guys are MLS players and the rest are either European based or out of contract after not agreeing to terms with MLS. The later being Dominic Cervi and Eric Brunner. You know they're hoping for a good performance to land them with a professional deal over there in Europe.

Somehow, I just realized the games will be shown live on FSC this week. Here is the schedule for the young Yanks:
May 21 vs. Turkey at 9:30 a.m. ET on Fox Soccer Channel (live)
May 23 vs. Ivory Coast at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox Soccer Channel (live)
May 25 vs. Italy at 12 p.m. ET on Fox Soccer Channel (live)

I can't wait to watch!

Robbie Rogers Wants To Go To China...

Columbus Crew left midfielder, Robbie Rogers, is leading his team to the top of MLS and wants to prove a point. He didn't get to help the US qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics but his early season form should help punch a ticket to China this summer. U-23 coach Nowak can not afford to ignore 5 goals in his first 7 starts, especially when wing play was one of the poorest parts of the team that qualified.

For those who didn't realize, Robbie Rogers is an American college product. He spent his freshman season with the Maryland Terrapins and won the 2005 NCAA championship. As a freshman he started 20 games, played 1,400 minutes, scored 7 goals and made 5 assists. Those are some solid numbers for a freshman on the best team in the country. For fun, take a look at who else was on that championship team. Yeah, Maryland knows how to produce pros.

Rogers decided to go to Holland in 2006 before his Sophomore season and signed a professional deal with SC Heerenveen. He signed the same year Michael Bradley joined the Dutch club. Fortunately for the Crew and MLS Rogers decided to boomerang back to The States and signed with the league in early 2007. The Crew got his rights through a special draft.

The 2007 season was tough for the Crew and Rogers. In 10 appearances he scored 3 goals and made 1 assist. A lot of American soccer fans asked the question, what makes this kid so special? Robbie is showing what makes him so special. Did you see his goal from this weekend's match that is nominated for Goal Of The Week? It was pure clinical finishing expected from a late twenties marksman, not a 21 year old kid. (By the way, Happy Birthday to Robbie! Today happens to be his 21st birthday. No, I didn't plan that.) By the way, to celebrate the big occasion Robbie decided to score two goals over the weekend, one of which tied the game and one that put his team ahead.

Rogers didn't find European success but he's back to prove skeptics wrong. He's winning games for the Crew, will undoubtedly feature in the American quest for Olympic gold and will probably get another chance to play abroad if he wants to. Who knows, maybe he'll develop a Landon Donovan Been There, Done That kind of attitude and will dominate MLS instead. I look forward to watching this young American develop.

2008 US Olympic Future Discovered...

The US Olympic team will play Japan, the Netherlands and Nigeria this summer at the Bejing Summer Olympics. The young Americans will have to place in the top two of the group in order to move onto the Quarterfinals. Matches kick off in August.

This is certainly a difficult group, one the US will need to improve to succeed in. The team's showing during qualification was not stunning so I hope the coaching staff can come up with a better combination before August. What we do know is that Freddy Adu will be the key to the tournament for the Americans.

Sure, the US Is Going To Play Soccer In The 2008 Summer Olympics....

But who is going to score the goals? Yesterday the US fell to fellow CONCACAF qualifier Honduras. All that was at stake in the final of the tournament was pride. With the 1-0 overtime loss to Honduras, I guess the US walked away with less pride. The scoreline brings up the bigger issue. The US U-23 men, head and shoulders above their opponents for long periods of time in each game, were taken to overtime scoreless . Why has the US had so many problems scoring goals?

Lets review the results of the tourney:
vs. Cuba 1-1. Goal coming from Freddy Adu in the run of play following a corner.
vs. Panama 1-0. Goal coming from Freddy Adu off the penalty spot.
vs. Honduras 1-0. Goal coming from Eddie Gaven off the penalty spot in second half stoppage time.
vs. Canada 3-0. This is the first multi-goal game in the tourney. Two great goals from Freddy Adu off set pieces. One goal in the run of play from midfielder Sacha Kljestan.
vs. Honduras 0-1. No goals.

In each of the above games the US had chances and dominated long periods of play. Why were they lacking the spark to open things up and really stick it to the opponents? My own view is that their tactics didn't open enough space in the offensive third. Teams were able to double team lone strikers while the rest of the defenders followed the ball. Kljestan's goal in the Canada game was one of the only plays I remember where Americans linked up inside the box on an attack. The rest of the games seemed to be highlighted by singular efforts on offense. That isn't totally true obviously, but that is my memory of the majority.

How are the Americans going to be able to remedy this by summer? I think a majority of their three senior additions should be offensive minded players. I know in the past a senior keeper has minded the Olympic nets, but this year I propose bring Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey along for the ride. Those two can add attacking creativity and skill not seen in the qualifiers, outside of Freddy Adu. Imagine Adu working the attack with Deuce and Landycakes. Imagine Deuce up top working off Altidore. It'd be sweet. Throw a back like Steve Cherundolo into the mix and the team has taken a dramatic turn for the better.

We'll see what the coaches will decide come summer, but that is what I would do, because there is a dramatic hole to be filled on offense with this team.

US Soccer Is Going To The Olympics!!!

The US over matched Canada at every position this evening to win their semi-final match-up. That means they'll be heading to China for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Freddy Adu showed he's learned some free kick tricks scoring both of the first two American goals. A great play by Holden saw him get free on the left wing to slot a ball into wide open Sacha Kljestan who calmly sent his shot past the sprawling Canadian keeper. This was probably the best team the US has fielded and they all played to their potential to get a good team victory.

Some highlights:

- Marvell Wynne made a couple defensive mistakes but overall looked like a strong long term right back prospect.

- Michael Orozco and Jonathan Spector were a terrific pair. They played well together and didn't get beat. Spector showed why he's starting for West Ham in the Premier League.

- Nathan Sturgis showed well on the left and didn't seem to mind having moved all over the back line through the tourney.

- Sacha Kljestan may have been the hardest working player on the field tonight. He was rewarded with a scoring opportunity and didn't disappoint. He showed tonight why I believe he is the best young players currently in MLS.

- Maurice Edu was a solid captain and played well in central midfield. Also didn't miss a beat having been moved around between midfield and the back line.

- Dax McCarty is a little bull dog. I'd call him Gattuso like but I don't like Gattuso and don't want to insult McCarty. Even when he's getting railroaded by some really tall Canadian, he's playing tough.

- Stuart Holden beat the Rapids two years ago (or was it last year?) seemingly on his own and I knew then he was one to watch. He played very well on the left wing and showed that is his position to lose.

- Freddy Adu was the man of the match for my money. He got the first two goals on free kicks and was dangerous the entire match before being subbed out in the 82nd minute. He is really learning a lot about the game over in Portugal. Moving to Benfica was the best thing he could have done for his career. Sublime free kicks, really. There may be a movie being written soon called Bend It Like Adu...ok, no there isn't but you get my drift.

- Jozy Altidore is going to get a lot of grief for not scoring in this tourney but his hard work and ability to draw a foul gave Freddy the chance he needed to score on that free kick. He's a hard worker and the goals will come.

The subs didn't do enough to draw praise. They didn't have time.

If you get a chance to watch a replay, do. This is what I've been expecting from the US all along. A great game. I think tonight showed why we should be so happy with where MLS has brought US Soccer. While Canada had some professional players, many were still in college. While those college players showed well, they couldn't defeat the entirely professional US.

I am really excited to see what the US can do in China this summer. Without Mexico the US will be the heavy favorite of the two CONCACAF teams. If they get into some evenly matched games, they could shock the world.

US U-23 Through To Next Round Of Olympic Qualifying...

I know, I'm tardy with my report. Please accept my apologies for going to a good friend's wedding in Austin this weekend. I won't let it happen again. :)

I haven't had a chance to watch the DVR of Saturday's game, so I'm going based on other people's game summaries. It sounds like the team played similar to how they had in the first two games. There were some periods of dominating play, and there was some time where you were left wondering if the team would embarrass us again by not making it to the Olympics. The final result is good, but damn guys...can't you get a goal in the run of play?

I'm worried my friends. This Thursday the US is playing the Canadian U-23 team who hasn't had an issue putting points on the board. The US attack badly needs to get in gear and score a goal while the teams are playing. The last time they did that was Freddy's sublime goal against Cuba. This is a team of professionals yet they are playing portions of the game as if they're in college. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself considering what happened in 2004, but if the US makes it to China I look forward to seeing the senior, experienced, additions added to the fold. Can you imagine Landycakes running all over these young defenders? I can.

To get there the US will have to beat Canada in Nashville, TN this coming Thursday. While the US got to this point four years ago and failed, this time is different. Last time they were the visitors against fierce rivals Mexico. This time we're hosting Canada. While I doubt the crowd will throw bags of urine on the opposing team like our friends to the south, home soil is good for something. Also helping the US will be four days of rest since the last game on Saturday. The three games in six days undoubtedly took a toll on the players.

I hope that something can be done to settle down the attackers so they can score some goals. Let's not leave everything to the last minute like they did this past week.

Second US Qualifying Game Tonight...

The next game in CONCACAF qualifying for the US is tonight. They'll face off against Panama at 8 pm edt, live on FSC. Don't forget to tune in. I hope to see a better formation put on the field by Coach Nowak with a second striker for Jozy to pair with. Jozy showed he can't do it all without good support. Davies needs to stay on his feet. Adu needs to stay in more of the game and keep working with his tricky feet. Edu and McCarty need to continue the defensive support allowing Freddy to run wild. Defense needs to remain strong and committed all 90 minutes. The US should be able to win this game. They have to if they want to move on in Olympic qualification.