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USMNT vs. South Korea: SBI Live Match Commentary

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By IVES GALARCEP

The U.S. Men’s National Team kicks off an important 2014 today with its first match of the year, a friendly against South Korea at StubHub Center (5pm, ESPN2/UniMas).

The Americans will be featuring a lineup with plenty of experience and quality against the South Koreans, with Landon Donovan spearheading the attack, and Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez anchoring the central defense.

SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match, so please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today’s commentary is after the jump):

 

 

 

Comments

  1. S Korea isnt great but isnt bad, they all have speed and close down on defense well all over the pitch, creates a frantic feel for opposition, thats why our mid fielders think they have a second to look for a pass and there’s a defender in their face in no time. we need to just move the ball around and have patience instead of dribbliing while looking for something, let the game come to us

    Reply
    • just the outside backs, really, besler and gonzo are cleaning up for the widebacks terrible defense and awful speed. NEWSFLASH jurgen: this is a friendly…… put Yedlin in the game, we all know how regular brad evans is at outside back……

      Reply
      • I agree. The outside backs are terrible. Brad Evans is really looking poor. Parkhurst is not paying great but he isn’t letting them just walk up to the net.

  2. we should have loans/transfers with the Japanese and Korean leagues. instead of trying to achieve the impossible with parity with the top 5 European leagues, why not get more of a partnership with leagues in Asia or South America. I’m sure players in Korea/Japan probably make around 200-400 K. we can afford that

    Reply
    • The Brazilian league is pretty good.

      It’s very competitive, filled with young talent. Plus, Brazilians are mean, nasty and can be very dirty. Great way to get our players stronger, both mentality and physically.

      Your point is well taken. I like your thinking.

      Reply
    • I hear ya hmm.

      I lived in Japan for five years and had season tickets for two different teams (JEF United and FC Tokyo) and the J.League is definitely good. More technical/less physical than MLS (surprise!!). Doing some loans/transfer seems like it would be win/win for both sides.

      Reply
    • It’s a wee bit racist but…

      Koreans tend to be bigger than most Asians.(I mean actually people in Asia. Because a lot of it is diet.) I feel so tall in Hong Kong and at 5’`10″ that doesn’t happen very often.

      Reply
      • At 5’8.5″, South Korean men average 3.5 inches taller than North Koreans and only 1″ less than men in the USA. Genetically speaking the 2 Korean countries are the same. The Koreans north of the DMZ suffer malnutrition growing up, while S. Korea is a wealthy country with a per person GDP that is about 60% the USA’s, and 16 times that of N. Korea.

        So tall Koreans are not as rare as some might think.

      • The difference in average heights between Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China are interesting. It basically displays the difference income can make in height. Hong Kong is weathy but it has a lot of immigrant from the mainland which likely bring down the average.

  3. Mix is our best passer, maybe better than bradley.
    I would take an in-form gonzo over besler
    Wondo is useless outside of getting rebounds

    Reply
    • Wondo was my high school soccer coach. I promise you he’s much more talented than you think he is. He knows exactly where to be to put the ball in the net. That’s more important than anything else. Period.

      Reply
  4. nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    Reply
  5. Seriously though, the drama of the last 2 mins of a NCAA basketball game are awesome. Wow. He’s at the free throw line. Wow. just wow

    Reply
  6. Meh. How many chances is Davis gonna get? Ditto with Wondo.
    I do like Gonzo, Besler, and Evans playing together though, they look like locks for Brazil so you might as well get them used to playing with each other. I’m wondering if/when Yedlin comes in and where they play him. I could see him going on the wing and then falling back when Evans going forward, and vice-versa.

    Reply
      • I haven”t watched him much with San Jose, but this was by far his most complete game with the national team. He played good balls, finished his opportunities and made solid runs. I didn’t want to see him because I didn’t see much skill out of him, and he looked a step behind against everyone but Guatemala and Antigua, but if he plays like this I’d say I at least understand why he’s being considered. Although I still don’t see him beating out EJ, AJ, or Jozy.

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