USA - Argentina Match (8 Jun, Giants Stadium)

It was an INCREDIBLE atmosphere at the game last night. We were on the 2nd level, looking over Sam's Army.

The US played well and the game flowed very back and forth with both sides looking to get forward. It was great how the momentum swung when the rain started falling - it seemed to bring more energy into both the US players and the US fans.

Tim Howard was a rock - it was great being right behind the goal for all of those first half saves. With Keller getting the award during the pregame, it was good to see why Timmy is #1 now.

 

At Giants Stadium. 8)

I was utterly wowed by Danny Califf's performance; I went into last night's game thinking he was crap and would get shredded by Argentina, and he really performed admirably. As FFCinPCB said, he may have resurrected his MNT career last night.

Pearce and 'Dolo both had good matches, I thought; their ability to get up and help with the attack is contingent on covering by Beasley and Dempsey in defense, and both did so last night.

I should note that the USMNT's record in matches I've attended is now 2-0-1 (and the draw against the #1 team in the FIFA rankings). I think that's a large enough sample size that they should be giving me free tickets to every match in order to guarantee a positive result.

 

Is it coincidence that EJ has started 3 games up top and the US has 0 goals? Not entirely, and I will not give up on him yet, but he absolutely needs to finish. Period. The US doesn't create enough chances to piss away the 2 or 3 that EJ sees a match. That dude is frustratingly enigmatic - on the positive side he has been putting himself in threatening positions, however, the negative is that he hasn't created/posed a threat from those positions (the pass back when he was in the box = zero confidence).

Howard was/is awesome - hanging a "0" on Argentina was spectacular (why isn't Howard playing for a Champions League club?). Mastroeni's 2nd yellow was baffling. Overall, a solid performance for the US and an enjoyable match to watch considering I thought we'd ship about 3 or 4 goals.

 

I am bummed that I taped the game because they spent too much time before the game with fluff that caused the tape to cut off at the 80th minute. I did not get to see Sasha get in, I did not see the Mascherano tackle, etc... My wife was pretty aggravated at me. She said I blew it by not making sure the tape would capture the rest of the game. Need some emotional backing from her too. She said that I pulled the rug out from under her because she got all involved and missed the end. I have to make sure she is alright because she is at the end of the first trimester with our second child. I like emotional efforts by the wife.

What in the heck was that red card for Mastroeni? Has anyone figured that one out yet?

Overall, the best effort of the three friendlies. The speed of the game was better than the others, they were moving without the ball and pressuring Argentina. Compared to way we played England and Spain, this appeared to be a different team.

Don, I understand the love for Pearce now. If he is having a difficult time at his club team, these appearances may garner some interest from some other teams or get him more PT (hopefully). Nice left footed crack at the near post from distance.

I was glad to see DeMerit get a chance. I am not sure why Bob is not getting this guy in the game. He should have been in there against England. Califf played well. I was really looking forward to seeing Sasha get in because I think he has a nice flair to his game that would be a nice complement to Jr in the middle (especially with Benny out). PCB, I have been waiting for someone to notice this guy and get him into a better league. I like his game.

Man, Argentina is an excellent side. The way they move the ball around is another level. The pace and touch is something to be admired. They can counter so fast it is scary. Timmy Howard really saved the day in this match.

I am just happy that the team played with some heart. That is what we wanted regardless of the result. Playing to a draw is icing on the cake. Let's continue this type of play and demolish Barbados (we better) in Carson (I plan on being at the game) and render the game in Barbados meaningless.

I wish I saw the last 10 minutes.

 

On the road against the 4th and 9th ranked teams in the world, and then at home against the #1 ranked team? Probably. You'd have a hard time convincing me that we would've scored in any of those games simply by replacing EJ with Jozy or Ching or Cooper or Dempsey or Wolff or Twellman or anyone else we've got available right now starting in Johnson's place. If Johnson starts against Barbados and we don't score, THEN we have problems.

 

Sorry Don but I was at church last night. I'll try and work on that priorty status so I can be in the chat room for the qualifiers.

 

It would have helped had someone put up a thread about the chat..

As it was, I was reminded -fortunately- by one of the idiots on the offal.

 

The analysis of the MNT is fascinating. Now, for something completely different. I'm still relatively new to the board, so please let me know if this is inappropriate, but did anybody see EJ's slow motion grab of Mascherano's package? Mascherano was down for a while and seemed to have to check to be sure everything was where it should be. I know another man's pain isn't funny, but I died laughing--and I'm not a teenager!

 

Grab, pinch, and stretch. Ooooooooouuuuuch!!!!!

 

I didn't see it, but that's pretty good...totally off topic, but mildly relevant: during a high school pointy-football game many years ago, a linebacker on my team pulled an "EJ" on a tackled running back while we were laying in the pile and the running back's response was "grab all you want, 55, there's more where that came from..."

 

Anyone hear an explanation for Mastroeni's (sp?) red?

 

Here is what Bradley said after the game...

"I've been told that he picked the ball up and threw it to Danny Califf to buy some time," Bob Bradley later said about the dubious red-card. "You never know for sure, but there's part of you that thinks that the referee at that moment didn't realize that he had already given him a yellow card".

 

I didn't see anything except Mastroeni strolling over to get into position.

EJ...wow. He got a handful! And yes...I chuckled a little like Beavis and Butthead and I saw that guy checking his shorts to make sure his jewels weren't stolen . I know it's not funny, but my inner thirteen year old did.

Great game...although my Argentinian friends were bored by it. I was also impressed by Dan Califf...by more than just his sideburns.

-TinATL