Photo by ISIphotos.com
We are a week away from the U.S. men's national team's last game in a busy summer of soccer that won't soon be forgotten.
From the high of beating No. 1 Spain, to the low of losing by five goals to arch-rival Mexico in the Gold Cup final, U.S. fans have ridden a roller coaster ride that will conclude on Wednesday when the United States faces Mexico in World Cup qualifying.
ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs has been with the team for most of this crazy summer and has chronicled the whole experience in this fun piece.
Give the piece a read and feel free to share your thoughts on it, as well as on the U.S. team's summer, in the comments section below.
New FIFA rankings have US still at 12. For those who said the Gold Cup was unimportant, FIFA confirmed US would have moved into top 10 without 5-0 loss to Mexico. Though it would still take a little help, that’s within shouting distance of the teams likely to be seeded.
i thought it was extremely good to hear dempsey was a bit knicked up. He just didn’t seem right and i think we all saw that, but Im not sure anyone knew of this hamstring problem
Sacha right now is not a very good player and never has been for the MNT. A Hat trick against a Swedish C team does not warrant a key role on the national team.
Posted by: ross | August 06, 2009 at 06:27 PM
word.
good stuff
If you survive to adulthood some day you may realize how truly small minded, petty and mean spirited you are and how little common decency you really have, but I doubt it.
Posted by: jimmygreaves
I guess you assumed since I mentioned I was in class that I am young and I havent already arrived at adulthood… and survived multiple combat tours on top of adulthood. You my friend are small minded. Sacha right now is not a very good player and never has been for the MNT. A Hat trick against a Swedish C team does not warrant a key role on the national team.
Juarez and the FMF are literally grasping at straws at this point. They knew the Gold Cup win was a fluke and not a real example of perceived “Mexican dominance” so now they’re throwing everything in but the kitchen sink. With Marquez out and the US looking for blood, this is going to be a bad game for Mexico.
USA 1 – Mexico 0. Looks like Mexico will be sucking on something other than their own smog…
MEXICO SUCKS.
Last night on ESPN deportes defender Juarez said that the mexican fans are looking forward to this game for personal reasons. He claimed that Mexicans are not well treated and recieved in the U.S!! WTF??!! There are 20mill mexicans in the U.S.A!! They establish hoods in almost every city across the nation. Mexicans have been able to accomplish things in this country that their country couldn’t provide for them! Teachers in this country bust their balls helping these immigrant kids establish themselves in this country. I’m from Latin decent and found this very offensive!! F%ck him and the ignorant mexi’s in this country!! The only ones we judge are the garbage that comes from mexico to take advantage of our sources and then laught over them! This goes for every ethnicity, not just mexicans!!
Posted by: Hush | August 06, 2009 at 04:13 PM
WTF. Im Latino(not mexican though) and I am offended by this too. What the hell is that idiot talking about. This country gives opportunity to a lot of Mexicans and to latinos in general. Heck I’m the son of immigrants myself and they don’t feel dissed by this country. WTF is he talking about. Freaking Mexican idiot, I wanna take a baseball bat and hit him in the mouth for those stupid propaganda comments.
Where is the roster announcement?
“..I laughed out Loud and interrupted my western Civilization class when i read the part about sacha’s twitter and circling the 12th of august on his calendar…. no way does he make the roster after his performances this summer- ross”
________
ross – Sacha right now is not a very good player but you right now are not a very good human being.
If you survive to adulthood some day you may realize how truly small minded, petty and mean spirited you are and how little common decency you really have, but I doubt it.
great! i cant wait to get sportcentre in game breaks, bottom lines and graphics galore during my epl games.
EJ looked pretty decent, I think he will get some run this year with the team. Him and AJ in the front.. that would be a fast pairing.. and its not like EJ is a small lad.
D’accord Mr. Hush…
Apparently Assorio and Agoof will rest their heads tonight on Red Bull pillows …
Great story. Great graphics. Come on boys, make history in Mexico City!
wow. what a great piece. Thanks Ives
I know it was against lesser competition, but for EJ to get 10 solid minutes, an assist, i think will only help his (much-maligned) confidence. I truly, truly hope that EJ has a breakout season (at least, by his standards) this year. If only his role is to come off the bench and provide a spark like tonight for Fulham, I think that can prove useful in a similar situation for the USA.
and, GOOD LORD (an on-form) EJ IS FAST!
Landon Donovan should go to Wolverhamtpon, as they claim they can win the Premier League in 5 years, he should be part of that
Dempsey had a great game today. He assisted on the second goal with a great left-footed cross after a nifty use of the flip-flap move to beat his man, and later Eddie Johnson assisted on the last goal after a wonderful pass from Dempsey to spring him.
ESPN USA gets Premier League rights! Now shows 2 Premier League matches a weekend!
http://www.epltalk.com/espn-adds-premier-league-to-soccer-line-up/9899
EJ gets an assist for Fulham. Sets up Fulhams 3rd goal for AJ. 6-0 on agg.
I can’t wait till Aug 12. We get this shot once every 4 years. It is the most special non-World Cup game we can ever play. We’re the underdogs without a doubt. Come on boys, hold tight and pull through together. I’m dying for a victory.
FU Hush! Racist MOFO! This garbage you talk about have sons and daughter fighting for this country. Just stop watching ESPN Deportes already if you get offended. Go watch FSC. I could go on but you are not worth debating with.
Jozy’s first game will be on ESPN2…. hope he gets the permit worked out, and that neon orange self tanning phil brown puts him in.
Last night on ESPN deportes defender Juarez said that the mexican fans are looking forward to this game for personal reasons. He claimed that Mexicans are not well treated and recieved in the U.S!! WTF??!! There are 20mill mexicans in the U.S.A!! They establish hoods in almost every city across the nation. Mexicans have been able to accomplish things in this country that their country couldn’t provide for them! Teachers in this country bust their balls helping these immigrant kids establish themselves in this country. I’m from Latin decent and found this very offensive!! F%ck him and the ignorant mexi’s in this country!! The only ones we judge are the garbage that comes from mexico to take advantage of our sources and then laught over them! This goes for every ethnicity, not just mexicans!!
shut it on the demspey bashing. he won the bronze ball. get over it.
^^
that doesnt change anything….he still played poorly. just shows a lack of attacking depth if hes still out there in that condition.
Interesting that Clint was nursing a hamstring injury that none of the people complaining about his lack of form knew about.
Great piece on the Nats
Good article – aimed for the casual sports fan but at least they didn’t belittle the nat’s abilities.
August 12th!!!
MEXICO SUCKS.
any idea when the us roster will be announced today?
@ kingsnake–I keep hitting refresh to see if Osorio is gone yet.
I brought my 9-year-old son to the W-Connection game…I think anything that gruesome should carry like an NC-17 rating
It was a great piece that I stumbled upon earlier on ESPN’s mainpage.
This is stuff to get the casual fan interested and better up to speed with the ‘Nats… so idiot announcers will not have to explain things like the offside rule for 30min during a WC match.
man, i can’t wait to enter the Azteca with my US jersey on and then get yelled at and hopefully not killed when the US wins, lets make it 1-18-1 all time!! and score our 2nd and 3rd ever Azteca goals to win 2-0
Milkshake,
That piece wasn’t made for you or other soccer fans. It was made for the casual fans, and for that it is great. The graphics are cool and a little behind the scenes stuff.
Soccer has been in the news and on ESPN more this summer than any other summer. Pieces like this can only help it grow.
I keep refreshing SBI hoping for a news flash of Assorio and Agoof’s defenstration, only to be disappointed every 30 minutes …
I enjoy this piece, It was great to have someone telling us thing that happen with our beloved USNMT backstage. Excellent piece.
Live Chat with Carlos Bocanegra starts at 3 PM EST
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/27759
The all white unis are the best. Deviating from them pretty much explains the 0-5 disaster.
Looking forward to reading the article.
great piece! Love the stories about the guys in south africa although I laughed out Loud and interrupted my western Civilization class when i read the part about sacha’s twitter and circling the 12th of august on his calendar…. no way does he make the roster after his performances this summer
And for those interested in travelling to see next year’s “summer of soccer”, the NYT has an interesting article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/travel/09pracgames.html
Finally, I’ve been meaning to mention it for some time, but a result against MEX makes threading the eye of the needle to a better World Cup group that much closer. (Only real scenario where the USMNT gets a benefit right now is for MEX to finish 4th and then beat the CONMEBOL rep for a place in the finals, and this might put the US into the “special” pot and a more favorable draw).
Great piece, and so far a great summer of soccer for the USMNT. A result next Wednesday would be a great end to a busy season.
Didn’t really love the piece. I would have preferred much more behind the scenes info. I felt like arleady I knew 80% of what was covered in the article. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that it was even produced/written and has made the front page of ESPN. Which is probably great to the casual fan and good for the sport in the US, it’s just I would have preferred more to satisfy me personally.
Excellent piece…I’m soooo ready for Wed!
Later, Dempsey says, “I just told him straightforward, ‘If you all want me to play, I’m down to go out there and fight for you until I can’t run anymore. You put me in the game, and I will do every single thing I physically can to help this team win. I just want to win.'”
…kinda feel bad now for questioning the guy before the last 3 games of the confed cup
Great looking piece.
On ESPN’s first page, no less.
The uprising and movement continues to gain traction and increase it’s following and we haven’t even reached the summer of World Cup, yet.
People can say what they want but the culture is slowing turning for the better, in this country, for the beautiful game.
one, two, three, four, FiiiiiF!!!!!!
if you go to espn.com it’s the front page main story.
Love the piece on dempsey and bob “talking it out”
It is a great piece. Hopefully ESPN links to it through their main page.
First!!!!
FIRST! GO USA!!!!!!!