2013 Gold Cup

In the post-match interview, he said he was superstitious and would continue to wear a misspelled shirt through the tournament. I think that would be spectacular (though I'm not sure he was entirely serious).

 

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-natio ... ersey.aspx

Looks like Drew Carey donated money to charity in exchange for the jersey.

 

Cant stand that traitor Drew Carey. He's up there with Lerner and Lebron.

USA v Cuba today at 3:30 ET. COYRWB. Hoping defections arent needed anymore for the Cubans but I dont know if much has changed for them.

Here's hoping Gooch is back and can bring some stability to our dismal D.

 

Mo, need to explain what Drew Carey did to cause the ire of Clevelanders?? Lebron is obvious, but Lerner for his incompetence??

I had to search around not realizing the match is on regular FOX.

 

1-1 Halftime. Cuba was inside the US half maybe 3 times in the first half and scored. A couple of thoughts:

What in the hell has happened to Brek Shea????? He looks utterly lost out there, He looked like he was crossing the ball to the guy in Row 12 on more than one occasion. I know he needs games and is coming off an injury, but there looks to be a serious loss of confidence. He plays like that and he won't get off the Stoke City reserve team bench, let alone dream of getting into a Prem match.

Gooch; Ugh, let's face it, he was always a little lumbersome, but he is slower after the knee injury. He looked like a statue on the Cuban goal.

Castillo: He himself says he's not a very good LB, but can make things happen on offense, which was totally evident on both the Cuban and US goals.

 

Wondolowski's movement was once.again superb. Didn't hurt thst he once again showed he knows where the goal is. Mixx and Tater moved the ball well in the second half.

 

I'm really happy that Chris Wondolowski has been able to do for the national team what he's been doing for the Quakes for a while now. I'm hoping he can continue against the tougher competition coming later in the tournament. He HAS to go to Brazil.

 

With the win today, tied the longest winning streak in US history. Have also scored 4+ goals in three straight games for the first time ever in US history.

Wondo, two games in, has also set the US record for most goals at a single Gold Cup with five.

 

Don, gold cup matches are usually sold as double headers in the group stage so you are bound to see empty seats. That's why I'm surprised they are putting them in these small stadiums for this gold cup.

Agree with pretty much all of your Cuba match assessment other I think Gooch was somewhat to blame for not keeping up with the goal scorer, but at least he was trying to stay with his man rather than ball watch as we've seen some of our CBs do lately

 

Wondo's going to Brazil, no doubt about it. It's a mystery it's taken this long to get him a look for USMNT. He's the perfect late game offensive sub, no question.
Defense still worries me. Still think we need some speed and athleticism back there. Those things can make up for inexperience and mistakes. But I agree Don, we might have the cahones to win this thing with this squad, which would set us up nicely for Brazil...and give Klinsi some things to think about when it comes selection time.

 

I think the real player evaluations for Klinsmann begin with Costa Rica. The players who performed poorly against Belize and Cuba have an extra hurdle to overcome and those who did well got a little bit of a head start in the race to claim a spot for WC 2014. To move into contention for a spot on the 2014 WC roster the players will need to show well against quality competition and that is something that neither Belize nor Cuba offered.

The closest thing to a lock for 2014 is Landon Donovan. I can only see his performances escalating in quality as the competition increases.

The best argument for big blocks of playing time in the remaining Gold Cup matches has been made by Wondo. He knocked the door to a WC invitation off its hinges with his performances against Cuba and Belize but now he has to walk through it by continuing to perform a high level. It is not just his goals that have made his play standout but his movement off the ball has been superb as well. For me he has outplayed Herc in the first two matches and his clever runs make me wonder how a Altidore-Wondo partnership might perform together. The question remains if he can continue this level of play when the quality of competition inceases? Go get'em Wondo.

The most interesting battle for what could be one position on the WC 2014 roster is developing between Stuart Holden and Mixx Diskerud. I expect that Holden has the upper hand in this contest but does Klinsman have room on the roster for both players if Mixx outplays Stu during the Gold Cup? I am not sure there are enough central midfield slots to carry both players on the roster so it will be interesting to watch how the two perform over the remainder of the Gold Cup.

The player who has hurt his stock the most. Calling Brek Shea. Mr. Shea will you please pick up on line 1. For me Shea looks like he needs space to play in to be effective and against bunkering squads he seems a little lost for ideas. If it's not that then he really needs an injection of confidence.

The postion that will only see glory in the Gold Cup is the keeper. Rimando and company better sieze the opportunity to grab whatever spot light they can now because playing time in Brazil looks like a fantasy at this point.

 

Along your lines Barry on player evaluations, a guy who has really helped himself is Orozco. I hope Brek is paying attention to Orozco's journey because he was a can't miss prospect, fell out of favor for multiple clubs and country, but picked himself up by the bootstraps and has worked himself back into consideration. I watched Shea when the ball was on the opposite side of the pitch and his body language was terrible and he semi-limped. Sparky has a project on his hands in trying to get Shea's head together.

 

Who do you want to see in the starting eleven tonight? For me these are the guys although I really want to see McInnerny at some point:

Rimando

Beltran, Orozco, Goodsen, Beasley

Beckerman

Corona, Holden, Donovan

Herc, Wondo

Who do I think we will see:

Rimando

Parkhurst, Goodsen, Gooch, Beasley

Beckerman

Corona, Holden, Torres/Castilo

Donovan, Wondo

 

Wow, Klinsman is shaking things up a bit. No Rimando, Beckerman or Corona in the starting eleven and Grant Wahl just announced that Gooch has an injury that may threaten further GC participation.

 

Johnson
Parkhurst-Orozco-Goodson-Beasley
Bedoya-Holden-Diskerud-Torres
Donovan-Wondolowski

 

Interesting lineup, especially w/the Mix and Holden midfield combo. Glad to see Bedoya get a run out. Gooch injured? :angry-cussingblack: Dude is headed to the All-Time "If only they could of stayed healthy" USMNT starting XI squad, along w/the likes of Tab Ramos, John O'Brien, Bobby Convey, and Charlie Davies.

 

Out of town again and had to follow the action on match tracker. Hope to get some summaries from those who got to watch it. Yay for another win :flags-usa: :flags-usa: