Steve Davis Torches FC Dallas

If you're a close follower of this blog, you know that I occasionally blog about soccer, both domestic and otherwise. That includes blogging about FC Dallas, our local Major League Soccer squad. If you pay very close attention to this blog, you may realize I haven't had much to say about FC Dallas as of late. That's because, unless you're a soccer-specific blogger, there isn't much to say about near-constant suckitude. That is unless you're Steve Davis, former soccer reporter for the Dallas Morning News, and you've saved up all your grievances for one gigantic broadside against the club (via 3rd Degree.) Steve Davis hated the re-branding, among other things. Some choice excerpts:

Yep. Five years ago in August the Dallas Burn became FC Dallas. A year after that, they moved into a dandy little stadium, where tens of hundreds of people now show up 16-18 times a year to watch a poor product while frequently taking a beating in customer service and then putting the cherry on the bad experience sundae by getting stuck in traffic on the way home. (OK, the club has done something about the wacky traffic congestion. By stinkin’ up the joint pretty much everywhere else they have largely eliminated all traffic entanglements. Well done, kids.)

Oh, he's just warming up. Why didn't the re-branding work?

First, Pizza Hut Park is just too far. I have ultimate respect for the late Lamar Hunt – a truly wonderful human being -- for all his dogged and impassioned efforts at building this sport. But the fact is that there is a learning curve on this critical MLS stadium initiative. Somebody had the really push the limit and built one WAY out (23 miles from the city center in this case) to start locating the balance between "cheap land" and "too freakin’ far." Unfortunately, Hunt built a swell little stadium too far away, too far from the 20- and 30-something urbanites who are making such cool waves at Toronto, Seattle, etc.

But the stadium is built, it’s got a 30-year shelf life and there you are. So FC Dallas should have recognized quickly that it would have to be the consummate "try harder" property. That is, they could win loyalty and fans by being the team that tries harder. Better concessions. Better prices. Better customer service. A better product, not just a proxy product for making money off concerts.

They fell short, and how. They fell show the way Plaxico Burress fell short in gun safety, the way Marilyn Manson fell short on normalcy, the way Britney Spears fell short on general life train wreck avoidance.

[...]

Look, I could go on and on about bad print ads, nonsensical media buying strategies, ridiculously failed DP bids, money wasted on ballyhooed partnerships with foreign clubs, about running out of pizza countless times at Pizza Hut Park, about out-dated marketing strategies, about the long-term scourge of artificially inflated attendance numbers, about the mindless pursuit of the suburban family dollar, etc.

Bottom line, people figure it out. You are what you are, and you had better find a way to work with it.

As for the re-branding five years ago from Dallas Burn to FC Dallas, all they did back then was thoughtlessly erase history. Was the "Burn" name kinda goofy? You bet it was. But fans embraced it. They grew fond of it and felt protective of it, the way your little brother or sister bothers the crap out of you – but you’ll beat the holy hell out of someone who "effs" with them cause’ that’s just the way it is.

Man. Ouch. Now, I was against the re-branding too, especially when I figured out that the trend in MLS was to thoughtlessly copy the Euro-style of generic names for clubs (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, etc., etc.) First off, that's not an American tradition so it defies the idea that MLS is presenting a uniquely "American" brand of soccer. Second, attaching "Real" or "FC" anything to something like a club that plays in fourth-tier soccer league in Salt Lake City or Dallas of all places, is so beyond pretentious that it's just absurd and completely open to ridicule. It's doubly absurd if, upon doing so, you go on to become one of the most underachieving teams in the entire league (as both FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake have done.)

I was also completely opposed, and remain opposed, to the idea that a team called FC Dallas should be playing in Frisco, almost 25 miles north of downtown Dallas. I understand that team officials didn't have a ton of choice in where they were going to have a stadium built, but their fascination with the suburban (and white) soccer fan was betrayed by the moving of the team to Southlake for a season. By moving to Frisco, the team instantly alienated the team's most passionate fan base, Hispanics, in favor of fans whose loyalty to soccer is questionable at best, and whose motivations for showing up the game frequently involve being given free tickets, or needing an outing for their kid's u-9 soccer squad.

Now, both of these moves could have worked. In the end, what matters the most is the product that gets put on the field. You can get away with ditching a name and tradition that fans had just begun to get attached to, and ditching a substantial portion of your fan base, and all the other legion of problem that Davis recounts, if you put a winning team on the field. Especially if you put a team on the field that manages to get into MLS championships being hosted at your own stadium (something FC Dallas had an opportunity to do two years in a row.) What you cannot do is lose. Then you find that people like me, who were once utterly devoted to the club, will refuse to drive 35 miles or more to see inferior soccer, to not be able to get a pizza, to get stuck in traffic, to watch designated players under-perform, etc., etc., etc.

Is anybody up top getting the message? I don't know. Check back with me in two years, and I'll let you know.

Soccer weekend!

My thoughts on the USA - El Salvador game are summed up by this Soccer Experts blog post title:

U.S. must kick sand in the face of CONCACAF weaklings

Couldn't agree more. My thoughts on the FC Dallas - DC United game tonight are summed up by this gentleman's comments:

Here is my lineup predictions.......




........aww who really gives a fukc

Ha. Oh well. Maybe next season?

Goodbye FC Dallas

As in, there goes my last reason for watching them:

FC Dallas announced Friday that forward Kenny Cooper has been transferred to German second division side TSV 1860 Munich pending a medical examination. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not announced.


"Kenny has been an outstanding player for us over the last four seasons as well as a tremendous ambassador for FC Dallas in his time with the club, and we wish him the best in Munich," said general manager Michael Hitchcock in a press release. "Kenny indicated to us that he wanted to return to Europe when his contract expired next year. The timing of this transfer allows Kenny to continue his career overseas while providing our club with valuable resources for new acquisitions."

Cooper joined FC Dallas on Feb. 6, 2006 from Manchester United and was voted the team's most valuable player last season. He scored 40 goals in 93 appearances for Dallas. TSV 1860 Munich finished 12th in the Bundesliga 2 2008-09 season.

Kenny Cooper was the bright star on a team of thundering duds. His frequently phenomenal goals had lately because the sole reason for watching this team (unless you enjoy defensive meltdowns by teams that won't make the MLS playoffs.) I wonder what Arial Graziani is up to...

Beckham and Co.

I don't really have much of anything to say about the new book by soccer writer Grant Wahl, "The Beckham Experiment." It has some pretty salacious sports gossip and cat-fighting, if you're into that sort of thing, but from what I've read so far it seems like a pretty interesting and in-depth look into...well, the Beckham experiment. All that aside though, I'm hugely amused by this anecdote from the book:

Joe Cannon took a sip of his drink and surveyed the scene. For nine years the Galaxy's All-Pro goalkeeper had waited for this, waited for MLS to feel like the spectacle of the NBA and the NFL, waited for gorgeous women in skintight sequined tops to flash come-hither looks his way just because of the team he played on. Cannon knew this would happen once Beckham arrived. Wasn't that what he'd said at Cobi Jones's birthday party in June when one of the players' girlfriends had asked if Cannon was dating anyone?

"Nah," he replied. "I'm kind of waiting for David to get here."

"What does that mean?" Alan Gordon asked.

"You know, all the girls."

Gordon couldn't take it. "Joe, what do you think is going to change?" he asked. "Seriously. You're still the same person. Like a girl is going to want to get with you just because David Beckham is on the team. What are you gonna do, pull a little Beckham out of your pocket and say, ‘See, look! Here I am!' No, dude."

Now of course the fuller excerpts is about the whirlwind of attention that follows Beckham wherever he goes. But the thought of Joe Cannon, a fairly successful American soccer player in his own right, waiting for Beckham to arrive so as to increase his personal chances of getting laid, amuses me to no end.

American Soccer Is Fine, Thank You

Ken Silverstein, who I've been reading for awhile, went ninety degrees with an unusual (for him anyway) soccer-related post, in which he reveled in the U.S. defeat by Brazil on Sunday:

All the hype in American newspapers about the national team’s second place finish obscures the fact that the U.S. team is mediocre and should never have been in the final to begin with. They lost three of their five games and stumbled into the second round by pure luck. Yes, they beat Spain, but upsets can happen on any given day, especially in a tournament where (after the first round) every match is an elimination game.

The U.S. got lucky early against Brazil, but showed its true colors by sitting back the rest of the way and being stomped into submission. It leaves me very hopeful for the team’s early exit from next year’s World Cup.

Now today he provides some context for his seemingly context-less hate; he lived in Brazil for some years and apparently fell in love with the quality of Brazilian soccer. So his oddly bitter comments about American soccer are motivated merely by the fact that he's a fan of the team that won the match, so there's nothing at all unusual there (read any of my comments about the Redkins or Eagles after a Cowboys victory over them; few things are as pleasurable as kicking someone you don't like when they're down.)

Anyway as you can see, success by the US men's soccer team prompts the oddest of reactions. Silverstein, and some of his readers, can't stand American soccer because of the dull and unimaginative play of American soccer players. Which is not really the team's fault, and anyway you really have to hold 98% of the soccer being played in the world in low esteem if Brazil is your favorite squad.

Then there's the over-selling of the team's success, and the over-disappointment in the team's failure. To both of these columnists I would like to say: the success of soccer in America does not necessarily rise and fall with the success of the US men's national team. In fact, the success of the US men's national team doesn't necessarily follow the success of the US men's national team. Now certainly it doesn't hurt. I think the case can be made that but for the success of the squad in the 1994 World Cup, Major League Soccer may not have been so quick to take off. But remember, MLS was already in the works when that tournament began; it was just a little bit of luck that the men's team did so well and put some extra butts in the seats those first few years. But it seems that sports journalists and other pundits are always looking for that "breakthrough" moment in soccer, that one victory (or string of victories) that will finally cement American soccer as a sport of eminence in our nation. But that just isn't how it works. No one victory can launch soccer onto the national stage in our country, to rival football, basketball, baseball (though maybe hockey...someday) and no one victory will "prove" to the world that the US is the equal of long-standing soccer powers like Italy, Germany, Brazil or Argentina. For one, witness the past success of US teams. In 1994 they upset Colombia to make it to the second round. What happened four years later in 1998? They lost all three first round matches and finished 32nd of 32 teams. But then in 2002 they defeated powerhouse Portugal, defeated Mexico in the second-round and went toe-to-toe with Germany in the quarterfinals. But then in 2006 they were clobbered by the Czech Republic, upset by Ghana, and left after the first round. As I stated earlier, success has not guaranteed success...at least from one tournament to the next. However, if you look back over the last twenty years, you can see a team that has gone from being an outsider on the international scene, to a team that can reliably be expected to qualify for the World Cup. That's progress, but of the gradual sort. So too is the progress of the popularity of soccer among Americans. Fifteen years ago there was no national professional soccer league. Now there is one that is expanding. Fifteen years ago only a handful of Americans were good enough to play soccer overseas. Now, dozens of Americans play for European soccer squads. A victory over Brazil would not suddenly see a dozen or more Americans starting with top-flight European clubs, and the loss does not mean that those players will be sent home and MLS will fold. If anything, the media attention is only an indication of how the non-soccer fans feel about the sport. It's nice to see the reaction, especially if it gets US, MLS or even European club games on ESPN or ESPN2, but it's not necessary to get their approval for soccer to advance in this country. Soccer's been growing in popularity for almost two decades now, and it looks to continue to do so...at a slow and steady pace, and that's fine by me.

Friday Round-Up

Some reading for your Friday afternoon:

1. Ayatollah Khamenei escalates the rhetoric and says opposition leaders will be responsible for "bloodshed and chaos" if the protests continue (a possibility that members of hard-line militias may seek to ensure becomes a reality.) He denies that Iran's election was rigged, though he's contradicted by what evidence is available. Roger Cohen lauds the protesters, and says Obama should be more firmly on their side. I disagree. I think Obama has struck the proper tone of concern and and caution. Were it not for our history of meddling in Iran's internal affairs, I might think otherwise.

2. More details on Obama's new financial regulations plan. Changes no doubt, but maybe not the sweeping kind that we need, according to Paul Krugman. The bad news on the economy in general has slowed, but Martin Wolf says we shouldn't be too hasty about thinking we're out of the woods yet. Certainly some (like small businesses) are having a very rough time of it.

3. Check for flying pigs outside your window, because today Ken Starr has come out in support of of Sonia Sotomayor.

4. John Shalikashvilli, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs under Clinton, says that arguments against gays in the military are poorly reasoned and insupportable.

5. Egypt shocked Italy 1-0 in Confederations Cup play yesterday, a result that perhaps shouldn't be so surprising given their play against Brazil. Fortunately for the U.S. this means that a win against Egypt tomorrow means the US will make it out of the first round. Unfortunately, the fact that Egypt is playing so well against the giants makes such a victory highly unlikely.

6. Today is Juneteenth round these parts, a celebration of the day that slaves were liberated in Texas.

Soccer Notes

Some interesting soccer news in the last few days:

1. The Confederations Cup kicked off in South Africa on Sunday. The Confederations Cup is a tournament that pits the winners of the various regional soccer confederations against each other in what's regarded as a "dress rehearsal" for next year's World Cup (also in South Africa.) The US, as the winner of the Gold Cup, is representing CONCACAF this time around. Unfortunately the US got stomped by Italy and the traitorous Giussepi Rossi, an American born Italian citizen who happens to be very, very, good and also, uninterested in playing for the United States. Such are the pleasures of dual citizenship. The US plays Brazil tomorrow morning and though Brazil struggled somewhat with Egypt on Monday, that game is likely a loss as well. Still, some new faces played well against Italy and getting solid players playing time against giants like Italy is always a plus.

2. Iraq also joins in the US in the Confederations Cup, courtesy of their win in the 2007 Asian Cup. The faced off bravely against Spain today, and lost by the respectable score of 1-0. This is especially noteworthy given that Spain had obliterated New Zealand 5-0 only three days before.

3. Speaking of dual citizenship, Jermaine Jones, a high quality mid-fielder for the Bundesliga's Schalke 04, has indicated that he'd like to suit up for the United States thanks to a recent FIFA rule change. He makes no effort to disguise the fact that he's doing so because he can't get on the German national team (Jones is a German and American citizen courtesy of his German mother, and was born in America before moving to Germany at a young age.) He isn't Rossi, but he's quite a good player and shouldn't have much trouble getting on the national team later this summer and in time for plenty of practice before next year's World Cup.

4. Iran's national soccer team wore green armbands in their World Cup qualifcation match against South Korea today, to signal their support for the dissident supporters of Moussavi. Unfortunately they were only able to manage a tie on the road against South Korea, and will miss next year's World Cup in favor of...North Korea, who drew against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh today. The win leaves Saudi Arabia in a playoff Bahrain in a playoff for the chance to play New Zealand for a slot in the World Cup, and it leaves Iran on the outside looking in.

Afternoon Links

Things worth reading:

1. An earthquake in Italy is estimated to have killed a hundred people so far, and left tens of thousands more homeless.

2. Florida: bringing back debtor's prison (sort of.)

3. Turkey: President Obama visits Turkey, calls Turkey an important ally, speaks of resolving the conflict over the Armenian genocide. Turkish PM Erdogan tells us to accept the reality of Hamas.

4. Thirty-three Iraqis die in coordinated car bombings in and around Baghdad.

5. The brain: Researchers are working on ways of "editing" memory. Scientists have also concluded that the stress of being poor alters the brains of children.

6. Secretary of Defense Gates proposes to make cuts to several big-ticket defense items. To which I say, we'll see about that.

7. President Obama aims for a world free of nuclear weapons.

8. Millions of shelter animals die, while morons buy designer "hybrid" breeds raised in appalling conditions.

9. Sports: Can Brazil's talented soccer player Marta revive women's soccer in the U.S.? Speaking of soccer, FC Dallas has stunk it up in the first three games of the season, losing all three while giving up seven goals and scoring only two. The Dallas Mavericks, as is typical in this up and down season,lost to a woeful Memphis team with less than half their win total on Friday night and then blew out similarly struggling Phoenix on Sunday. They are now one win or one Phoenix loss away from wrapping up the eight seed in the playoffs, and still-amazingly-in the hunt for the seventh seed, which they can get with some help from Utah. And the Texas Rangers open their season today with a game at home against Cleveland.

Friday Links

For your edification:

1. Via Volokh, Congress takes on the issue of cyber security.

2. A federal judge rules that some detainees being held at Bagram in Afghanistan can challenge their detention in court.

3. Social Security is clogged with a backlog of disability cases. In my law school's legal clinic, I was very bluntly informed by the senior attorneys working there that the Social Security Administration always denies an initial application for disability, regardless of the merits. And that they will fight tooth and nail to deny benefits to all but those who are most clearly disabled (such as with blindness, paralysis, loss of limb, etc.) The SSA's role should be to to fairly dispense entitlement benefits, but they seem to regard themselves as the government's moneysavers.

4. Speaking of government malfeasance, immigrants die in custody and not only does nobody care, but nobody even bothers to report it. I understand the need to enforce immigration laws in our country, but we treat detained immigrants worse than we treat terrorist being held at Guantanamo Bay.

5. The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously strikes down the state's ban on gay marriage finding that it violates the Iowa State Constitution forbidding . According to Maggie Gallagher, teenagers will now begin fornicating left and right (more than they already do, I presume.)

6. Photographs from the day Martin Luther King Jr. died.

7. The U.S. Men's soccer team beat Trinidad and Tobago the other night, 3-0. The score probably should've been worse for T&T, who looked out of sync and discombobulated all night. All three goals came from the feet of Jozy Altidore, who's put in two phenomenal performances for the national team. But nobody should declare him the great American hope yet, as we've seen this sort of thing before (Eddie Johnson, anyone?)

8. The Mavericks cling to the hope that they can grab the 7th seed and avoid a first round match-up against L.A. They're getting a little help from Utah, but they need to win out to have a chance.

Afternoon Reading

Things to note in the world today:

1. Iraq: Sunni militia members in Baghdad revolted Saturday, prompted by the arrest of an Awakenings movement leader by Iraqi forces. The crisis was resolved, but it raises fears that the relationship between the government and Sunni militias-many of which are not being paid as promised-could be strained to the breaking point.

2. A profile of anti-tax nuts, many of whom never met a crazy legal argument they didn't like.

3. The Federal government says GM and Chrysler are not viable, and refuse to offer more aid. Bankruptcy looms for both companies.

4. Mexico faces extreme difficulty putting down the drug cartels, and critics are beginning to call for a change in approach.

5. The women's professional soccer league, version 2.0.

More Soccer at Jerry World

The new Dallas Cowboys stadium is on its way to becoming the Texas soccer Mecca apparently. In addition to hosting two quarter-final matches for CONCACAF's Gold Cup in July, the new stadium will also host an exhibition match between the Premiership's Chelsea and Mexico's Primera Division Club America. The events are a week a part, meaning it'll be a hellaciously awesome week of world-class soccer in the Metroplex come July.

Major League Soccer Begins

Major League Soccer kicks off it's 14th season tonight as the New York Red Bulls take on MLS' brand new club, the Seattle Sounders. As annoying and embarrassing as the David Beckham saga has been over the winter, MLS as a whole is enjoying an unprecedented level of success. The league now hosts 15 franchises, but will add a new team in Vancouver that will begin play in 2011. MLS Commissioner Don Garber also announced plans to bring on two additional teams by 2012, though MLS has not announced yet where those teams will play (though in the mix are cities like Portland, St. Louis and Ottawa, as well as Miami, which lost its MLS franchise the Fusion in 2001.) Things are not looking as bright for FC Dallas, which as of the beginning of the month had sold only 5,000 tickets for the home opener on Saturday and which in general is having trouble putting a good produce on the field and putting people in seats out at the park at Frisco. But hope springs eternal...FC Dallas has brought in some quality players that will hopefully make an immediate impact (though it seems we say this every season) and while it's hard to imagine FC Dallas as a top club in MLS, it's somewhat easier to imagine them doing well enough to make the playoffs.

New Cowboys Stadium To Host Gold Cup Games

Last month Brett Daniels, Dallas Cowboys spokesman, indicated that the new stadium in Arlington was already slated to host international soccer matches this year. Although he indicated fall was the timeline, the Cowboys announced today that the new stadium will host a Gold Cup double-header on July 19th. The Gold Cup is CONCACAF's main tournament, and it's played every two years to decide the champion of CONCACAF. The United States has won the last two tournaments, and I'm sure would like to continue that streak this year. As near as I can tell no brackets have been established so there's no telling even what kind of game will be played. Anyway, it's great that some (hopefully) quality international soccer is coming to Dallas.

UPDATE: More information here. Apparently the Cowboys stadium will host two quarter-final matches. The other two will be played in Philadelphia the day before.

New Cowboys Stadium to Host World Cup Games?

Sunil Gulati, President of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, thinks so:

"It's a huge stadium," Gulati said in a teleconference in which he announced USSF has submitted a declaration of interest to host either World Cup. "It's a phenomenal new stadium and, frankly, it was built with soccer in mind. So the field capacity and size are perfect for the World Cup, and it's something we would certainly be interested in."

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels said it was too early to comment, but he did confirm there will be one or more international soccer games this fall in the new stadium, which has capacity to seat 100,000.

The last time the World Cup was played in the U.S., it was the Cotton Bowl that hosted several first round games. The new stadium would be a vast improvement, and might be the highlight of any tournament. I'm intrigued by the latter paragraph as well. What games do they have in mind? The U.S. is already slated to play their home World Cup qualifying friendlies at Chicago, Utah and D.C. (and they don't play their qualifying matches around these parts anyway.) I have no idea who's visiting the U.S. later this year, so I'm very intrigued as to who they have lined up. Hopefully we'll hear more soon.

Dynamo Getting A New Stadium

Via Charles Kuffner, it looks like MLS' Houston Dynamo are that much closer to getting a brand new soccer-specific stadium. A stadium seems well deserved for a team that eliminated FC Dallas in Dallas' last appearance in the playoffs, en route to an MLS championship.

Obama to Coach West Ham United?

HOW DID I MISS THIS NEWS? Barack Obama apparently is a soccer fan and (in a sure sign of a very serious soccer fan) a follower of the English Premiership, and in particular the club West Ham United. You really, really have to be a SERIOUS fan of the EPL to follow a club like West Ham (even though they did play and lose to the MLS all-stars in July) and not say, Man United or Arsenal or even Liverpool like only passing fans of the EPL (such as myself) might. And at least according to this betting site, someone's willing to bet money that Obama will be the next in line to replace West Ham's recently departed coach. While I don't imagine that the Obama campaign has been contacted by the West Ham ownership with any serious offers, this information only secures in my mind that Obama's sound judgment-as demonstrated by his love of soccer and his loyalty to the greatest soccer league in the world the EPL-makes him deserving of an office in the White House. 

U.S. Men to Cuba

Having eked out a 1-0 win in a typically violent game in Gautemala, the U.S. Men's National soccer team now travels to Havana, Cuba for the first time since 1947 to take on the Cuban national team in World Cup Qualifying. Thanks to hostility between the U.S. and Cuba no American fans will be on hand for the game, but American soccer journalists are and one of them has his thoughts on Cuba here.

World Cup Qualifying Begins

The United States began the long trek to the 2010 World Cup with a rout of Barbados, who I am now convinced is possibly one of the worst national soccer teams in the world. The U.S. won 8-0, scoring in the very first minute of the game and not letting up after that. The goals came with such frequency that U.S. players on the bench could hardly bring themselves to stand up and cheer after the 7th and 8th scores. I'm not at all convinced that the U.S. is suddenly a better team than the one that failed to score in three matches against England, Spain and Argentina, but as far as confidence building exercises go one could do worse than to rout a lowly opponent at home. And when it comes to World Cup qualifying, all that matters is getting to the tournament. They can worry about the big dogs once they've secured their berth. The U.S. will face Barbados again next Sunday in the second leg of the home-away match-up, but unless Barbados plans on scoring 9 goals and shutting out the U.S., the advancement of the U.S. to the third round of qualification in CONCACAF is a foregone conclusion.

FC Dallas also notched a win against the Chicago Fire today, blanking Cauhtemoc Blanco and his team 1-0 on a Kenny Cooper score. They looked composed and threatening, and if they can hold to form there's a chance that they can do something in the post-season. Of course, the coaching turmoil as well as FC Dallas' past history with summer slumps hardly suggests a surge to the top of the West, but a new coach may mean new opportunities.

U.S. Finishes Friendlies, on to WC Qualifying

Last night's exhibition against Argentina in front of a very enthusiastic crowd in the Meadowlands was the U.S. national team's best demonstration of soccer yet this year. Thanks to Tim Howard's incredible saves, vigorous and intelligent defense, and a willingness to attack Argentina, the U.S. came out of the game with a 0-0 tie against the number one soccer team in the world. But for a header from Onyechi Onyewu that glanced off the crossbar early in the second, the U.S. could've come out of the game with a win (though they were also saved by a non-call on Howard in the penalty box later that half.) Clearly Argentina was the better team, and they immediately began the game with the brand of sylish and quick-thinking attacking soccer that they are known for, repeatedly threatening the goal. They certainly would've gone up early and often but for Howard's world-class performance. But the second half was clearly a different story. Argentina's attacks would fizzle on uncharacteristic mistakes, and the U.S. would take advantage of quick counters to get shots on goal. There's no mistaking the difference in quality between the two teams, but the U.S. played exactly as they're supposed to play against a superior opponent; tireless defense, superior goal-keeping to cover up mistakes and opportunistic counters, and that nearly got them out of the game with a win. The last ten minutes of the game were marred by a bizarre red card against Pablo Mastroeni, and Argentina's captain was sent off in the 86th minute after a hard tackle, but the rest of the game was filled with exciting soccer. The play of Eddie Johnson up top still leaves much to be desired, and frankly I don't see how he hasn't played himself off of a starting spot on the squad. But others, like newbie Heath Pearce with his solid defense and his ability to get forward on the attack, and the gradual return to form by stalwards like DeMarcus Beasley, make it clear that this team should be more than capable of beating Barbados in World Cup qualifying next week. Overall, it looks like this team and it's new generation of younger players might just be the sort of thing that legitimate World Cup appearances are made of.

On a side note, Landon Donovan earned his 100th cap last night, the youngest American player to do so. And Kasey Keller, former U.S. goalkeeper extraordinaire (and in my opinion, one of the best goalkeepers in world soccer history) was honored before the game for his incredible achievements with the U.S. team throughout his long international career. Both players are representative of the best of American soccer, and one can only hope that their achievements presage greater achievement for the team as a whole in two years.

USA Loses

So the U.S. Men's national soccer team battled Spain in Setander yesterday and-predictably-lost, though only by a score of 1-0 (though it could've been worse, as two Spanish shots hit first the crossbar and then the right post.) Overall it was a much better outing than the game last week against England. The back line was much more organized (though they got caught napping a few times, moments which Spain failed to capitalize on.) There still is essentially no quality midfield game, at least not against superior opponents. The attacking game was both energizing and frustrating. Coach Bob Bradley went with Freddy Adu to start, and the decision paid huge dividends as Adu demonstrated an ability to move the ball with his feet in the face of Spanish defenders and make precision passes that put the U.S. in position to score. Adu turned 19 only three days ago; he has improved and matured as a player each year since he took the field for D.C. United at 14, and he gives the U.S. team incredible hope for the future. But it was frustrating also in that Eddie Johnson, who played the target forward position, was repeatedly unable to take advantage of solid chances in front of the Spanish goal, including a cross that he headed that should've been a goal but bounced harmlessly away (though he should be given credit for what would've been a goal had he not been offsides by a hair.) I don't see how it's possible that Eddie Johnson isn't steadily playing himself off of the starting squad, except that Bradley simply doesn't have any other better options to go to at striker. Bradley also turned to Wolff again, subbing him in for Johnson in the 69th minute. Perhaps the team was worn down by that point, but Wolff was a non-factor just as he was against England last week (and I'm with Jeffrey Marcus; where's some action for Kenny Cooper?) Overall though, this team should fare well against Barbados later this month. Argentina on the 8th? Well, that's a different story (even if Donovan and Adu take the field together.)

In other soccer news, Red Bulls forward and rising MLS star Jozy Altidore is being sold to the Spanish club Villareal, one of the La Liga's top clubs, for the largest transfer fee in MLS history (likely to pass $10 million, according to the NY Times.) He will join a slew of American soccer players playing overseas in Europe, a trend that will only bolster American soccer in the coming years.