Photo by ISIphotos.com
It is the day after the U.S. national team’s impressive 3-2 comeback victory in Honduras and American fans woke up today to the reality that the USA has qualified for the 2010 World Cup. It is a reason to celebrate, a cause for some pride, and hey, if Mexican fans take to the streets to celebrate their qualification then American fans are certainly allowed to enjoy a qualification that was more difficult than most would have imagined.
I will be have been traveling all day today so apologies for the lack of posts. If you want some more reading on USA/ Honduras, I can offer you the two pieces I spent all night writing for ESPN.com. This piece on the match, and this sidebar on Bob Bradley.
If you still want some more, here are some post-match quotes from the U.S. national team after its victory:
Bob Bradley on Conor Casey
“He was very brave to go into that play that led to the first goal,” Bradley said. “The second goal he did well to time his run, took the pass and finished it very well. He’s been in good form and we’ve been pleased that we’ve gotten him into our mix and tonight was a big one for him.”
“Conor’s played very well in Major League Soccer lately. His movement, his ability to hold the ball and bring people into the game, we just felt that the fact that he’s been playing regularly and the qualities that he has would be important at the start of the game.”
Tim Howard on Honduras
“They are a good team and I think a few people have been writing how this region is starting to catch up,” Howard said. “For so long Mexico dominated, and we’ve had our fair share of domination, but man, they’re catching up. I know no one wants to hear that but these guys are athletic, they’re playing in Europe.
“(In the first half) they’re putting passes together, with the energy of the crowd that is so behind them, it entices them to take chances in the attacking third and try some tricky stuff and it was coming off. They’re very good..”
Landon Donovan on returning to the World Cup
After what most of us would say was a disappointing 2006 World Cup we have another chance at redemption,” Donovan said. “For those of us who were there, we don’t want to go through that again.”
Tim Howard on Conor Casey
“What you see is what you get (with Casey),” Howard said. “He’s pretty vanilla ice cream. He works hard, he sticks in, he got called for every possible foul tonight, but when it counted he was up there and he took his chances.
“The second goal was fantastic but the first goal was classic Conor Casey,” Howard said. “I think that’s why Bob Bradley’s brought him back into the mix. He’s obviously done well in MLS, but he doesn’t make much about the game. He’s straightforward and what you see is what you get and I think everybody on the team appreciates that.”
Tim Howard on the relief of qualifying with one match to go
“I can tell you, it was going to suck to have to go to D.C. and get a result because anything can happen,” Howard said. “Even though we’ve won all our home games you never know.”
Landon Donovan on the Honduran fans
“The Honduran people that I’ve been around in America, and my time here, they are very respectful people,” Donovan said. “Pavon, when he was in LA, you could tell they’re very down to earth, very humble. Amado (Guevara) is the same way. Even after, as we were walking off, they were clapping. I was very impressed.
————–
Thanks to all of you who took part in the SBI Pre-Game discussion, and to those of you who filled my commentary on ESPN.com. I will take credit for a pair of jinxes. For those of you who didn’t read the pre-game chat, I will direct you to the 7:21pm comment regarding U.S. free kicks, and I also did mention the possibility of a Conor Casey goal in the ESPN commentary, though it was more to set off the Casey haters.
One last observation I will make is of the Honduran fans and their respect for the U.s. team. Hearing some of them talk the day after the game, what I heard was plenty of positive comments about the Americans. It was a “That’s the Americans for you, never giving up and always finding a way.” It’s a bit of a shame that Honduran fans have more respect for the U.S. team than some overly cynical U.S. fans who spend more time complaining about what the U.S. team isn’t and what the U.S. team can’t do rather than what the team has done, and what it is, a brave and relentless team growing in skill and confidence.
One Honduran fan summed up last night game perhaps better than anybody. When Honduras scored its first goal the Americans never got nervous, never looked like a team that would fail. They looked like a team that knew it would find a way, and it did. That is why Honduran fans gave the United States a round of applause for Saturday's performance. As upset as they were about their team losing, they could still respect what the U.S. team accomplished.
That’s all for now. I will have more on Monday. For now, share your thoughts on the USA’s victory and qualification for the World Cup below.
I do not want to roll over for CR. They beat us up last time and I’d like to return the favor. Plus, historically, they’ve been a dirty team that goes out to hurt people. Since we’ve beat Honduras twice and lost to CR, it’s to our advantage to help Honduras and hurt CR if possible. That being said, it is a good time to play guys like Holden, Torres and maybe give Davies the night off.
I do wish this game were being played in a colder location though
I can’t believe all the love for the Honduras fans. Yes I appreciate them applauding the US team but the Honduras fans at the Chicago match earlier this year were down right rude and disrespectful. My girlfriend and I were sitting in the USA section and had beer thrown at us, cursed at and anytime I had to stand in line I watched Honduras fan after Honduras fan try to cut in line. I tried to point out to them the queue started way behind me and their reaction was one of indignation and a stream of profanity followed. I have been to every US national game played in Chicago save one in the last seven years and the Honduras fans were the worst of the bunch. I don’t think my experience was an isolated one.
Looking forward to SA2010 and the USA shocking the world!
We need better goal celebrations, but all in all how can you not be happy with this result?
Also very interested to see what sort of lineup Bradley goes with against Ticos. Is there some sort of unwritten code that prevents him from sitting players and experimenting while the outcome still affects the group, or is it essentially Honduras’ problem for failing to win at home?
It’s also a bit of a shame that so many US fans spend so much time dissecting the comments and attitudes of other fans. I’m always a firm supporter and have never been on any “fire Bradley” bandwagon. I’ve also never found anything particularly insidious about having a subset of fans that are especially vocal (especially on the anonymous Internet) and overly negative. Why overreact? They’re eating their crow and it’s only a loud minority. I’m sure there are plenty of Honduran fans who are the same way. Just enjoy the games, let others enjoy the games, and if someone says something stupid, either ignore it or refute it civilly and start a substantive discussion. It feels a little like a soccer fan bunker mentality — bristling at the influx of attention from casual fans for which they’ve supposedly worked hard.
It bears repeating:
It’s a bit of a shame that Honduran fans have more respect for the U.S. team than some overly cynical U.S. fans who spend more time complaining about what the U.S. team isn’t and what the U.S. team can’t do rather than what the team has done, and what it is, a brave and relentless team growing in skill and confidence.
Ives will be on the Hardcore Footy show today.
http://my.thescore.com/footyblog/default.aspx
Apparently, some of you get no joy from watching the game. (Or in some cases, get no joy from watching the USMNT, because they don’t play “attractively” enough). This includes the people who raise their deep-seated “concerns” about the USMNT in this thread.
I think that’s unfortunate. This is not the thread for such joyless “fans”.
@Nico — your comments are your opinions in this case, not facts. And your opinions are virtually worthless in this thread because you are either A) an imbecile B) a troll, or C) both. I’m leaning towards C.
@Hush, Aristotle, et al: It seems you enjoy coming on to the blog and spouting off nonsense the day after a big win for the USMNT, and you certainly have company. You should form a Football Manager league or something, it sounds like you would all enjoy that more.
I guess if you want to get any Bradly quotes, you have to suck up a little.
All your article means is that if/when we bomb, Sunil has to go too
Did we look good in the 1’st half? No, we were trapped in our own end. Did we almost blow a game we had a 2 goal lead? It took a missed PK to get us 3
How did we look in the group stage in SA?
If people rip Bradley, there’s a reason. Maybe we can’t win a WC yet but at lease we have to look like we belong there. Some of us have concerns that this will not be the case
(SBI-Zongzap, do you believe half the nonsense you write? You seem so intent on supporting the negativity that exists in what seems like 95 percent of your comments that you are determined to dwell on every potential negative point possible from Saturday and ignore every positive.)
Great thing about this, is that for a little while the Mexi’s thought they were going to sit pretty in top of qualification over USA. That only lasted them a few hours. USA #1
if theres one thing that needs to change it’s Bob Bradleys timing on the subs. If someone needs to come out then do it. Why wait til the 80+ minute to sub with quality subs such as benny torres.
I could see his mindset if the player coming on wasn’t as good as the player coming off, but if anything its the opposite.
Hush are you saying that Honduras had a less experienced team? Cause you’re wrong about that. They have veterans who have played around the world and a few key players in their prime who get major time in the top European leagues. So try not to act like such a know it all. And truthfully you’re right about Gooch, he had a subpar game, but its not easy to come in and perform in pressure packed situations when you haven’t been playing for your club. And I thought Bornstein played pretty well and got forward better than I’ve ever seen him. He sucked against El Salvador without a doubt but the last two games he has been solid and he has enough speed to neutralize fleet-footed attackers. And we need that speed when our other defenders are Boca and potentially Dolo who are experienced but slow-footed. Boca was our best defender but against Honduras but Gooch, Spector, and Bornstein all had their moments. I was shocked Spector started over Dolo but it probably had something to do with his better pace. Either way it was a great game to watch so pop a few downers Hush and chill…
Ives,
You think the US should maybe try something new like a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 against Costa Rica? It seems like a perfect time to try it out and I could see a more attack-oriented formation coming in handy if the US are fortunate enough to draw a group with a relatively weak team or two (Bahrain/New Zealand winner for example).
sonicdeathmonkey: And Beasley and Dolo play the same position too, huh?!lol WTF? How many matches have you watched?!
I’m not criticizing Casey & Bornstein work ethic, I’m sure they train with full effort like most atheletes, but what the hell does that have to do with me not wanting them on our USMNT. I don’t give a damn if they can run 2 miles under 5 minutes, they still are who I know they are,.. weak PLAYERS!!
Bornestein: Some people here are getting butt hurt because I said Casey and Borns shouldn’t be in the NT!LOL … You guys act as if the USMNT is the Guatemalan national team and expect this win to be the norm for our team! FOR GODS sake, we were up 3-1 with 19 minutes to go and we almost drew a tie, and possibly would have lost with the momentum in their favor. I’m not trying to put my team down, all I’m saying is what BB did last night was a simple bowl of lucky charms!
We are in Conocacaf region, and I expect more from my coach and players when they face teams who are less expererienced than our team. They almost lost the lead. c’mon!!.. You guys sound like the whiny mexican players when the media was all over the team for playing bad. Mexico’s team last night was being criticized by El Picante for a poor performance against El Salvador in AZTECA and they won 4-1. This is FUTBOL, live with it!!
It seems that some people on this board have no clue whatsoever about Futbol.
I hope the Milan people weren’t watching the Gooch play last night, that would be dreadful for him…. “Ohnoo he diin’t”!.. yes I did…
I hope we get better from here on out.
Man, Ives. You’re top class.
hey here is a nice pic of Spector getting a little love i found on the guardian site…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/gallery/2009/oct/11/world-cup-qualifiers?picture=354117861
RSL fans, don’t come with this Casey should get paid and praise like A-Rod and what not and get all out of hand with his lucky goals.
Posted by: Hush | October 11, 2009 at 07:00 PM
That’s nice but he plays for Colorado. That and all of your other crap is just that . . . crap.
Well done boys qualifying for another wc. A gutsy performance on saturday, showed some real character. I hope we can reward the hondurans by beating costa rica and make things easier for them.
Ives — Nice piece on Bradley. Game report was good, too — but the Bradley piece should make a lot of USA soccer fans think more deeply about the man.
A lot of US soccer fans have not forgiven Bradley for the roster he took to Copa America in ’07 and for the USA’s weak effort in that tourney. A lot of US soccer fans are know-nothing, blowhards. Opinionated jerks. Bradley has been masterful. Has ever decision worked out? Of course not — not even close — but he’s not afraid to learn and try something different. In the long run, his decisions have worked out. We’re lucky to have him.
Wow Hush,
There sure were quite a few mentions of things being fact. Or FACT, in your caps lock speak. But then you go right along and say those things are your opinion? So…what is the fact? Honestly, settle down. The Nats had an impressive victory, Casey produced, pull the stick out and shut up.
Ives,
In response to your comment to Tony_in_Quakeland. You really don’t think it makes sense for US fans to be critical about the game?
the fact that we are still having trouble keeping meaningful possession (what I saw from the first half was almost unwatchable, and after getting the 2 goal lead was just as bad) doesn’t stick out as a major point of criticism? especially considering that is the issue this team has always had. It’s not as if we just don’t have the talent to keep possession, we do.
Instead It seems like a tactical decision to play w/ athletes in the center of the field over technical players. That troubles me.
I’m not hating on Bradley, I think he’s done a very good job, but on this I have a major issue w/ him.
I guess in qualifying its okay, b/c we can count on teams to make some major mistakes that we can capitalize on. But what happens when we play teams that make virtually no major mistakes during the game, and its up to us to engineer goals through possession in which the ball MUST be passed quickly and w/ purpose sometimes up to 10 or even 15 times?
Can a Bradley Clark midfield do that? My opinion is no, they can’t.
Also, I don’t think we give up much if anything on defense either by having Feilhaber in the middle. I believe in the saying that a teams best defense is their offense. Especially in a sport where keeping a lead is mostly dependent on keeping the ball.
w/ a two goal lead last night, There is no reason why the last 15 minutes shouldn’t have been anything but the US fans shouting “Ole” at the 14 bars worldwide showing the game. Instead, it turned into another heart stopping finish. The florida gators ran the clock out better than us, and they have a play clock, 3 downs, and can only go forward. That’s a bad thing
(SBI-JPC, my point wasn’t that no one should have a critical word to say about Saturday’s game, but rather that it seems pretty pointless to dwell on negatives after a the team won a tough road game to qualify for the World Cup. If you can’t enjoy a game like that, and still find more negatives than positives, then when will you ever enjoy your team? Criticism has its place, but at what point do you get to actually enjoy your team and be happy with it? I understood the criticism after games against Mexico and El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago, but for some folks to come away from the Honduras game complaining more than celebrating tells me that some folks need some perspective.)
True, David. We probably could have pulled something like this against Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, Honduras and JUST MAYBE Costa Rica at home:
——————-Altidore—————-
————Donovan——–Dempsey———
Torres————–Bradley——–Feilhaber
Bocanegra————————Cherundolo
————–Onyewu—-DeMerit————
——————–Howard—————–
But as far as playing away from home and playing against tougher teams I think we’re just bound to play a more defensive lineup in order to disrupt the other teams possession and play.
Still, I can’t wait for us to be able to possess against the best. 🙂
Bradley’s major achievements were opening up the talent pool and getting games with teams like Brazil, Spain, England, etc.
The USMNT should definitely get a stronger tactician to coach the team after the WC if at all possible, but Bradley was clearly the right choice for the team at the time, and I’d love to see him continue to be involved with the team in some capacity.
“Wow, some of these comments are close to being useless and ignorant.
Posted by: Derek | October 11, 2009 at 09:21 PM”
———–
I absolutely agree with you!
Which ones did you have in mind?
Isaac – you make fair points. Again though, I think we’re capable of playing possession oriented attacking football against most opponents without giving up so much defensively that we’re in danger of losing, and doing so builds our capacity to eventually play that style all of the time.
Against the better teams in the world, I’m on the same page as you, for now…
Loved the sidebar on Coach Bradley; He’s no Parcells with the media, but I can’t argue with his results over the past three years.
Yo Dudes!
Do we have like a US Nats Supporter’s Song book?
I have a few tunes/lyrics I’ve written that I would like to publish in an official supporters book.
I have one for Gooch, Landon, Dempsey (Bronze Ballz the ode to Deuce), Jozy. I’m writing versions for CD9, Stu, McHead, Cletus, Reyna, Stewart, Tab Ramos, etc.
I even changed the lyrics of “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for the Nats (WCQ’s). I also have a MLS version (First Kick and Playoff Editions).
I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the Honduran team. I’d really like to see them make it to the World Cup, so I am hoping Bradley fields a full side Wed and The US beats Costa Rica.
World Cup? WORLD CUP! WOOOORLD CUP! Now if only the Irish canpull it out we’ll have a banner year.
Oh when they yanks…. go marching in….
Posted by: DC Josh | October 11, 2009 at 10:25 PM
Speaking of this…why don’t we sing songs like this before games? There was that Nike commercial with that song or a similar one in it and all I could think of was how awesome it would be to have a stadium full of supporters singing it.
This was the first time I really followed our guys through a whole qualifying cycle, so I was ecstatic with the result last night. I believed that a result was possible for us, but after having sat through those El Salvador and Costa Rica games I can’t say I was terribly confident. I was proud of the way they played. We will probably never be the most skillful team, but as long as we have the work ethic, determination and never-say-die attitude (not to mention the chip on our shoulder) we will be competitive regardless of who we are playing against. I think we are going to perform well in South Africa.
Yesterday was another memorable day for an impatient, die-hard US fan to add to the list from this year.
I honestly did not expect a win, or a tie for that matter, last night. I was stunned when the final whistle blew and they won. From hoping for a point in San Pedro Sula to taking a long sigh knowing they will be in South Africa next summer hit me very hard in the gut. Deep down in my jugular, the typically moist tissue was closer to sandpaper.
They played with something they need to succeed: heart. The skill is there to win every CONCACAF game, they just need to find the motivation and tenacity to want the victory more than their opponent.
If the US was on the same level of pretty much every other country in regards to soccer, I would celebrate in the streets. Unfortunately, 99% of my friends after receiving texts from me last night, were confused since they all ready thought the US had qualified for the World Cup. My neighbors all ready assume I’m nuts after I was running around in my backyard jumping 10 feet in the air after we beat Spain. Hopefully one day before I die, soccer will become a recognized national passion in this country. For now, I will enjoy the cult-hit that it is, and revel in the friendships I have and will develop with my fellow passionate USMNT fans.
Finally…
Considering the players are within 20 miles from my front door, I am motivated to personally shake their hand and exchange a smile of satisfaction before they all leave to go back to their clubs Thursday morning. If anyone has any info on where they are staying or training, let me know. I’m assuming they are training at RFK or DC United’s training facility, but have no clue what time.
Oh when they yanks…. go marching in….
And I just want to say that playing attractive football doesn’t necessarily make the wins come. Mexico plays attractive football, and yet they have their moments.
Hell, Costa Rica plays far more attractive football, yet for the moments where they completely fall apart.
“Attractive” football is stylish play that ALSO means that we win. We expect both things: 1) that WE WIN and 2) that we play with flair.
Well, screw it. If I can’t get both, I’m happy with #1. When I manage to get both, I’ll die happy.
@ BlueWhiteLion
I swear, every time I comment, you comment!
from Friday …
“Every time I come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen. In the godd@mn refrigerator. Eatin’ up all the food. All the chitlins… All the pig’s feet… All the collard greens… All the hog maws. I wanna eat them chitlins… I like pigs feet. ”
LOL!
I knew I jacked up the sentence as soon as I hit “post”. But it was too late!
The fact that we have qualified is Good.
There is also a fact that we can be better.
Do you agree?
Your kid drains the vein by himself. Good!
He puts half on the seat and half in the pot. Is there room for improvement? Even if he gets it all in the pot isn’t there more to do; washing hands, drying hands, sanitizing hands, lotioning hands, using elbows to not touch walls and doors that carry germs and could potentially invade his body and send him into the ICU ward that would eventually make him into a vegetable … and so on.
I promise I’m not OCD!
Just want to give my props to Ives. It is amazing that, in order to hear my perspective from a soccer fan, I get it from someone in Honduras. I love my USMNT, but over time, it wears me down. I’m tired of the complaining.
And I just want to make one comment: WE ARE NOT SPAIN, AND WE ARE NOT BRAZIL.
We are the USA. And we’re a long way away from winning games like them. In the meantime, enjoy the fact that our guys have a universal American trait, never giving up. I have no problem with the fact that, where we may not win games with skill, we win them with heart.
GO USA!
I think it’s a good thing we have elitist fans. It means expectations for the sport are growing.
The watch party I attending in KC I got a mix of reactions from Hondurans after the match, but more positive vibs then bad. when it comes down to it I’m biased toward Honduras over Costa Rica, for the respectful fans last night, a couple college guys I knew from Honduras, and it helps that there’s a guy in the KC club that plays for their national team (Roger Espinoza).
Hey Ives,
As a side note, did you see how weak the crowd was in Saprissa last night? Do Ricans melt in the rain or something? I found it pretty weak, even against T&T.
BEAT COSTA RICA! GO HONDURAS! And of course C’MON YOU YANKS! WC 2010 BABY!
David, the objective is not playing attractive football( and may I say when you said that you sounded like you were in charge of something), it’s about finding a balance on the field, finding a style of play that gives you that balance, and finding a group of players that can execute that style of play while giving you that balance. If that happens to be attractive football,( Brazil, Spain) then so be it. If not, then so be it.
David again, I think we have players that can play an attractive style of play, it’s just that there is a risk of losing a lot defensively and other parts of the game as well.
Trust me David, I want to get to a place where we have players techincally gifted all over the place, but we also need to be able to worry about the defensive aspect. We’ll soon be able to play a possession minded game, while still having a good defensive base.
Sure maybe Bradley doesn’t want to have a possession minded lineup, but he’s looking out for our defense.
The objective is playing attractive football. Due results will follow after that is achieved.
It sounds as if we have a lot of Brazilians on the blog. I mean…wow…the only objective is winning the WC? What is that all about? After BRA and maybe GER, no body holds that as an absolute every tournament, nobody. Most nat fans around the world love their team, criticize their team, but still have some reasonable expetctations for success. Bob is OK as a coach; he’s done well. I think that w/ best 11 (not the current 11) we can get out of most groups next summer. That is what our expectation should be….If we think of OLY Basketball, the US wiped the floor for a long time. Then some (huge) upsets. Now order has been restored and will be that way for a good while. In Soccer, (yeah it’s an ENG abbrevaition, so purists hold your powder) we are the upstarts. And there are 4 great sides ahead of us (BRA 5, GER 3, ITA 4, ARG 2), 4 historical powers (HOLL, FRA, ENG, ZYX), and loads of wanna-bes (RUS, POR, NIG, CAM, MEX, ESP, etc)….Do you really think that we can just waltz to the head of the line? God, our last 4 WCs have been rd of 16 (USA 94), last of 32 (FRA 98), QFs (JPNKOR 02) and 4th place in group (GER 06)…no consistency in play, let alone standing. I am as negative as the next when it comes to US Nat issues I see…Bornstein, still rubbish; The Duece at F or RMF dilemma, etc…But spare me the “we suck if we don’t win the WC”…Find another blog and spare us….
We still have a very young team too! A lot of these guys will be around for 2014. All these experiences are only going to help us. We qualified and it wasn’t easy. How many teams in the world out of the 32 to make the WC had an easy time. I bet a small percentage! Instead of rejoicing a lot of people would rather point out what we didn’t do or the coach didn’t do right or who should’ve played. Ives, and a lot of others on here, was right when he said we should be more positive. If you can’t find something positive to say after we qualified I don’t think you ever will be satisfied with our team.
Isaac – and I will not be satisfied until your point is no longer true. If that’s 10 years from now, then so be it. I happen to believe that you’re incorrect now, at least with respect to us playing against all but the best teams. Unfortunately, its kind of a moot argument since we’ll never see a possession-minded game under this coach.
(Isn’t that a run on sentence. LOL!)
Weather you agree with negative comments or not, if one is true, it’s true.
Posted by: Nic D “The Texas 2 Stepper”
. . . nothing like critiquing a run on sentence and then following it up with a misspelling. . . and Dat’s Da Truth!
Listen, David, I understand that attractive football is a sign of a good team with good technical ability but not exactly a good team. The point I’m making is that we can put out players like Torres and Feilhaber who are all skilled technically, but it takes too much away from other parts of the team. Thats why Bradley always starts his son, because he is a player who can not only provide the team with some ability going forward, but a good defender as well.
Isaac – you have to believe you can do something before you can achieve it.
Lost in some of the negative (and positive) comments is the fact that we beat a VERY good Honduran team on the road. Sure, they didn’t have two of their stars, but that’s a solid team, and they should (should!) take all three points from their next game. I hope for Honduras’ sake that the US comes to play against Costa Rica. (I *really* want four CONCACAF teams in the WC, but I’d like Honduras to get automatic qualification.)
The US probably won’t win next year’s WC because we’re not as talented as some of the favorites, and maybe Bradley’s not as good a coach as Guus Hiddink or Fabio Capello. Ultimately, advancing in or winning the WC involves lotsa skill, coaching, and luck. That said, when you compare the talent level, I’d take this team over any but our ’02 squad, and even then it’d be close. Donovan is just entering his prime, Gooch can be a dominant CB when he’s in form, Dempsey can conjure up some magic, and Howard’s every bit as good as Freidel and Keller were in ’02. If anything, our starting 11 may not be *quite* as good, but we’ve got more depth, and I’ll take Boca over Agoos at LB any day. Our mids are higher-octane and while not Spain-level, they hold possession better, etc.
I, for one, am going to sit back and enjoy watching the players work their asses off to make the SA roster, and I won’t read too much into the CR game or the (excellent) friendlies coming up early next year. Mission accomplished… for now. Now our boys need to focus on getting better between now and next summer.
Nic D – we’re on the exact same page.
We’re not cynical, we demand excellence. Achieving expectations is not excellence.
And I loved the comment about thinking you’re on a Rupert Murdoch blog.
Ives isn’t a journalist, he’s a columnist. Nothing wrong with that, but his writing is laced with opinion. A journalist would report that there exist some US fans for whom qualification is not enough – a columnist gives his opinion regarding such fans. Ives has increasingly done the latter over the past 6 months. Again, no problem with that, but its not journalism.
but I will never be satisfied until we not only win, but we win by playing attractive football.
-David-
You’re cheering for the wrong team then buddy.
Wow, some of these comments are close to being useless and ignorant.