Remember the excitement when Jurgen Klinsmann was hired as the Technical Director for the USMNT? He used words like "style" and "development" to pump up fans. He raised a banner, started a mission, and declared a World Cup Champion by 2018. Confidence, skill and risk taking were to become the norm. The future was unlimited! He brought in young players with a mix of veterans. He started kids in an adult sport. The veterans were glorified as mentors. The 2014 World Cup was a job well done.
Fast forward to October 2015. The year stared well and only got better with victories over Holland and Germany in their countries. Amazing! How did they do it? How did Jurgen do it? Youth. Yes, there were some veterans, but the youth came with hunger, strength and speed. Were they more skilled than these teams? No. They just had a little more something to prove. As 2015 has gone, those two games were the highlights. Unfortunately, 2015 continued.
Flaming out of the Gold Cup semifinals to Jamaica, quitting on the CONCACAF Cup to Mexico, and losing to Honduras in the semifinal Olympic qualifier are all evidence of Klinsi running his course or losing his mind. I placed total blame on him in the Gold Cup and CONCACAF Cup since he picked those teams. They were slow, old, and complacent. The semifinal Olympic qualifier is his fault too since he is the Technical Director of the USMNT and its development. He did not pick this team, but they are his coaches.
The excuses are that the USMNT now has no attackers, no skill, no reinforcements, no hope, and no leaders. Sunil Gulati hired Jurgen and will hold on to his greatness from his playing days and will most likely not fire him. They have both become so prideful with their past accomplishments that they forgot to prepare to win today's games. The recent heartbreaking losses can be fixed easily and both would look like geniuses. The solution is to go back to the youth. Where are these players? All over 2nd and 3rd divisions in Europe, South America and the MLS. Unfortunately, the gaze of Klinsmann only makes it to the Bundesliga.
As his history has gone, he started younger players in 2011, resorted to veterans in tighter games, stopped developing / playing younger players, and now blames the players for not stepping up. His finger pointing through the media will only demotivate players and lose the locker room.
His last stand starts today in a friendly against Costa Rica. Please go back to playing the youth, take your lumps, grow stronger. He did this with the German team in 2006 and 8 years later, these youngsters matured and won a World Cup in 2014. World Cup qualifiers start in November against St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. If Klinsi does not get wins in these two games, Gulati may need to pull the plug.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Euro 2012 - What We Know, Who Will Win
Ok, ok, I rolled the dice on picking Holland as a semi-finalist. And yes, I thought either Russia or Croatia would be some nice dark horses. But alas, I was wrong. Where am I still alive with my picks? Germany, Italy and Spain, as semifinalists, albeit they now match up differently. So let's reconfigure and determine what happens next. Below are my predictions for the rest of the Euro 2012.
Quarterfinals
Portugal vs Czech Republic
Thursday June 21th - I have this one going to penalty kicks. And with Petr Cech manning with goal, I see the Czech Republic taking down Ronaldo and his crew. There needs to be at least one Cinderella in the semifinals and Czech Republic is it.
Germany vs Greece
Friday June 22th - Germany will continue to control and win this match 3-1. Greece has made it interesting by surviving Group A and knocking out the Russians, but thier run ends here. Germany won the "Group of Death" with 3 wins and left little doubt of their dominance.
Spain vs France
Saturday June 23rd - Now, the drama begins. This is the first if two intriguing matches for the quarterfinal weekend. Spain seemed to toy and experiment with its infamous "Group of Debt" (included Ireland & Italy). Fortunately, they handled the group well, but created some doubt of their previous dominance. Del Bosque is convinced to overload the midfield while leaving his forwards on the bench. Their 90-minute match of keep away has worked, but was suspect against Italy and Croatia. Playing a slightly more efficient team (Germany) may spell curtains for this brilliant run.
France rose from its 2010 World Cup ashes, but only to fall back into them. Their last match (2-0 loss to Sweden) showed why they leave us scratching our heads and second-guessing their legitimacy. We could go on about them, but why? It's France. Spain wins this match with their usual hot potato prowess, 1-0. The goal will be scored around the 80th minute.
England vs Italy
Sunday June 24th - This has the makings of a hunker-down, nail-biting, don't-be-the-first-to-blink classic. Or, it may be England with 10 men camped in the box hoping for a miracle goal. Both teams have played fairly consistent and still have something to prove. Although I prefer to see England advance, Italy has too many intangibles. If their back line and Buffon play as they have, then Italy advances. If Rooney has a break out match, then England has a shot. Otherwise, Italy wins 1-0. Subplot - who loses their cool first, Rooney or Balotelli? Their tempers may determine who wins, too.
Semifinals
Czech Republic vs Spain
Wednesday June 27th - The advantages the Czechs have are grittiness, two more days of rest than Spain, and Petr Cech. But, that is where it ends. Spain shows why it is the defending European and World Cup champion and wins 2-0.
Italy vs Germany
Thursday June 28th - The Germans will counter the Italian passion with effectiveness. But the Italians make a run at it and keep the Germans in check. But, Germany wins 2-1.
Final
Spain vs Germany
Sunday July 1st - In typical fashion, this will be a low-scoring, conservatively played affair. One goal should win it, but both teams will score in regulation. And as it appears, extra time comes closing in with Casillas licking his chops to win a cup via penalty kicks, yet he will miss the clincher at the 115th minute. Germany wins 2-1.
Side Notes
Spain did not coast through their group. Typically, champions have some humbling prior to the elimination matches. Good for Spain, not for Germany. . . . Teams coming from Groups of Death (and maybe the Group of Debt) do not fair well after group play. So, do not be surprised if England, France, Greece and Czech Republic pull off some miracle wins. . . . The years when Italy has had a match-fixing scandals, they win hardware.
Quarterfinals
Portugal vs Czech Republic
Thursday June 21th - I have this one going to penalty kicks. And with Petr Cech manning with goal, I see the Czech Republic taking down Ronaldo and his crew. There needs to be at least one Cinderella in the semifinals and Czech Republic is it.
Germany vs Greece
Friday June 22th - Germany will continue to control and win this match 3-1. Greece has made it interesting by surviving Group A and knocking out the Russians, but thier run ends here. Germany won the "Group of Death" with 3 wins and left little doubt of their dominance.
Spain vs France
Saturday June 23rd - Now, the drama begins. This is the first if two intriguing matches for the quarterfinal weekend. Spain seemed to toy and experiment with its infamous "Group of Debt" (included Ireland & Italy). Fortunately, they handled the group well, but created some doubt of their previous dominance. Del Bosque is convinced to overload the midfield while leaving his forwards on the bench. Their 90-minute match of keep away has worked, but was suspect against Italy and Croatia. Playing a slightly more efficient team (Germany) may spell curtains for this brilliant run.
France rose from its 2010 World Cup ashes, but only to fall back into them. Their last match (2-0 loss to Sweden) showed why they leave us scratching our heads and second-guessing their legitimacy. We could go on about them, but why? It's France. Spain wins this match with their usual hot potato prowess, 1-0. The goal will be scored around the 80th minute.
England vs Italy
Sunday June 24th - This has the makings of a hunker-down, nail-biting, don't-be-the-first-to-blink classic. Or, it may be England with 10 men camped in the box hoping for a miracle goal. Both teams have played fairly consistent and still have something to prove. Although I prefer to see England advance, Italy has too many intangibles. If their back line and Buffon play as they have, then Italy advances. If Rooney has a break out match, then England has a shot. Otherwise, Italy wins 1-0. Subplot - who loses their cool first, Rooney or Balotelli? Their tempers may determine who wins, too.
Semifinals
Czech Republic vs Spain
Wednesday June 27th - The advantages the Czechs have are grittiness, two more days of rest than Spain, and Petr Cech. But, that is where it ends. Spain shows why it is the defending European and World Cup champion and wins 2-0.
Italy vs Germany
Thursday June 28th - The Germans will counter the Italian passion with effectiveness. But the Italians make a run at it and keep the Germans in check. But, Germany wins 2-1.
Final
Spain vs Germany
Sunday July 1st - In typical fashion, this will be a low-scoring, conservatively played affair. One goal should win it, but both teams will score in regulation. And as it appears, extra time comes closing in with Casillas licking his chops to win a cup via penalty kicks, yet he will miss the clincher at the 115th minute. Germany wins 2-1.
Side Notes
Spain did not coast through their group. Typically, champions have some humbling prior to the elimination matches. Good for Spain, not for Germany. . . . Teams coming from Groups of Death (and maybe the Group of Debt) do not fair well after group play. So, do not be surprised if England, France, Greece and Czech Republic pull off some miracle wins. . . . The years when Italy has had a match-fixing scandals, they win hardware.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Euro 2012 - Predictions
Everyone is saying how this will be the best Euro championship in its history. I think there may be some great matches, but typical football will the norm and there will be plenty of 1-0 matches. Will Spain repeat? No. Will Poland or Ukraine advance from group play? No. Sadly, this is the world's greatest tournament since there are no lower tier teams are included and it does not live up to the hype. Will there be a miracle run like Greece in 2004? Can Ireland muster a win? Will France flame out, or rise from its 2010 World Cup ashes? There are many questions and all will be answered soon as the matches begin today! The question many are pondering is who will win Euro 2012? My forecast has Holland vs Italy and Spain versus Germany in the semifinals and Germany beating Italy in the final. If I were to put money down on this, it would be on Germany. But, hedge your wager with some dark horses. My long shot picks are Russia and Croatia. I picked Russia due to their nasty history with Poland and Ukraine and unwelcome reception, which may fuel them to thumb their noses and will victories where they are unexpected. Croatia is a solid team. If they can draw with Italy and Spain and win against Ireland in group play, they could become this tourney's Cinderella.
Best of luck to all the nations and hope for a peaceful, beautiful tournament.
Best of luck to all the nations and hope for a peaceful, beautiful tournament.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Qatar Ticket Farce
Below is Soccernet's link on an article not getting much play, but it should. I know I am stating the obvious, but FIFA has made a mistake. Check out the article. It will make you giggle to hear Qatari PR at work.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/873723/questions-remain-after-asian-cup-final-ticket-farce-in-qatar?cc=5901
My hope is that FIFA learns from this and votes again for the 2022 World Cup. The problem is that the President of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohamed Bin Hammam, who is from Qatar, will most likely be the Sepp Blatter successor. So, removing the World Cup from Qatar may be impossible.Is it me, or does the 2022 World Cup graphic look like a ball going down a toilet swirl? Please wash your hands before returning to work, FIFA.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Asian Cup Recap and the State of the Union
What Goes Up, Must Implode . . . Uzbekistan was a smidge close to winning the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, but were routed 6-0 to Australia in a semi-final. Nice game for the Aussies, but the soccer gods do not like trounces. In the final, Japan beat Australia 1-0 to win the Asian Cup final. Besides, isn’t Australia its own continent? Do they really need to be in the Asian conference? Long live Oceania!
Attendance Numbers from the 2011 Asian Cup . . . The total available tickets to sell were 875,000; the total tickets sold = 405,361. That means about 46% tickets were sold. Not be “glass is half empty,” but a stadium that was 54% empty is pathetic. Look a lot Pizza Hut Park in August.
Asian Cup Final Controversy . . . Some 3,000-5,000 people traveled to Qatar with match tickets in hand to see the Australia-Japan final, but were turned away at the gates. The stadium was locked to protect the royalty. Also, a fireworks platform blocked one of the gates. So, 37,174 attended this match in a 50,000 seat stadium and they do not have any more room or another gate? Before kick-off, the organizers gave tickets to the workers to fill the seats, but paying supporters were informed that they were late (by 5 minutes). If there were an emergency at the stadium, this could have been a catastrophe. Fortunately, the Middle East is well-organized and there is nothing to fear. If a suicide bomber doesn’t get you, then desert will. To read more of this well-planned and comical event, go to: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6073683/asian-cup-ticket-holders-denied-entry-finale
Peace in Egypt? . . . The USMNT has a friendly with Egypt in Cairo on Wednesday February 9th (12:30PM EST). Considering the current state of Egypt, a visit by the USMNT may not be advisable. However, a football match could be the distraction Egypt needs. Or, it could be a leading of the lambs to the slaughter. I hope they reschedule after things have settled down. England, Ireland and Scotland are available on that date and would be a lot less stress on the Euro-based players.
USMNT – Chile Friendly . . . Yes, the US played recently and tied Chile 1-1. It was fairly sloppy, but a few flashes of potential for the young US squad. Thanks to Juan Agudelo drawing a penalty and Teal Bunbury converting it, the US salvaged the draw. These two will be interesting to watch considering how young and fast they are. My attention was on the left side duo of Brek Shea and Zach Loyd. I heard lots of grumblings of their play, but thought they both did well for at least another trial. Shea was in position most of the match and his service was good. Loyd reminded me of Freddie Hejduk at times – a gambler and a ball of barbed wire – tricky, but helpful. The left side for the US has always been an issue and no matter what these two do or anyone else, no one will be happy.
Attendance Numbers from the 2011 Asian Cup . . . The total available tickets to sell were 875,000; the total tickets sold = 405,361. That means about 46% tickets were sold. Not be “glass is half empty,” but a stadium that was 54% empty is pathetic. Look a lot Pizza Hut Park in August.
Asian Cup Final Controversy . . . Some 3,000-5,000 people traveled to Qatar with match tickets in hand to see the Australia-Japan final, but were turned away at the gates. The stadium was locked to protect the royalty. Also, a fireworks platform blocked one of the gates. So, 37,174 attended this match in a 50,000 seat stadium and they do not have any more room or another gate? Before kick-off, the organizers gave tickets to the workers to fill the seats, but paying supporters were informed that they were late (by 5 minutes). If there were an emergency at the stadium, this could have been a catastrophe. Fortunately, the Middle East is well-organized and there is nothing to fear. If a suicide bomber doesn’t get you, then desert will. To read more of this well-planned and comical event, go to: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6073683/asian-cup-ticket-holders-denied-entry-finale
Peace in Egypt? . . . The USMNT has a friendly with Egypt in Cairo on Wednesday February 9th (12:30PM EST). Considering the current state of Egypt, a visit by the USMNT may not be advisable. However, a football match could be the distraction Egypt needs. Or, it could be a leading of the lambs to the slaughter. I hope they reschedule after things have settled down. England, Ireland and Scotland are available on that date and would be a lot less stress on the Euro-based players.
USMNT – Chile Friendly . . . Yes, the US played recently and tied Chile 1-1. It was fairly sloppy, but a few flashes of potential for the young US squad. Thanks to Juan Agudelo drawing a penalty and Teal Bunbury converting it, the US salvaged the draw. These two will be interesting to watch considering how young and fast they are. My attention was on the left side duo of Brek Shea and Zach Loyd. I heard lots of grumblings of their play, but thought they both did well for at least another trial. Shea was in position most of the match and his service was good. Loyd reminded me of Freddie Hejduk at times – a gambler and a ball of barbed wire – tricky, but helpful. The left side for the US has always been an issue and no matter what these two do or anyone else, no one will be happy.
Friday, January 21, 2011
2011 Asian Cup Highlights (so far)
Yes, I am reporting on the Asian Cup hosted by Qatar where I will be for the 2022 World Cup. Why? There will be plenty of tickets available. So far, the highest attended game was the opener with Qatar versus Uzbekistan at 37,143 (Uzbekistan 2 - Qatar 0). The lowest attended was the 2-2 draw between China - Uzbekistan in group play match at an estimated 2,000 (probably less than 2K). The average match attendance for the 2011 Asian Cup has been around 11,000. I hope the 2011 Gold Cup has higher attendance than this. And second thought, MLS attendance does not seem so bad after all. Pack your bags for Qatar! 2022 has plenty of seats.
HOT OFF THE PRESS! 2011 Asian Cup - Uzbekistan beat Jordan 2-1 to advance to the semifinals to take on Australia. It will be Uzbekistan's first semi-final in the Asian Cup. In tomorrow's quarterfinals, Australia plays Iraq and Iran against South Korea. These should actually be good to watch. And with the Arabic countries losing today, I think they will win tomorrow. If they don't, the Cup attendance may dip below 10K since no one wants to watch some infidels play.
GOOD NEWS FOR QATAR - They advanced in the Asian Cup, which should increase their FIFA ranking from 115th in the world to 7th, just ahead of Italy. "Thus, their bid is legitimate," spoketh the Blatter (dressed in toga garb and motioning his thumb down to disqualify England and the US forever).
BAD NEWS FOR QATAR - They had 19,479 in attendance at their own quarterfinal match. What happen to the other 17,953 who came to the opener? I thought they have a stadium that seats 50K? Too many empty seats.
HUH? NEWS FROM QATAR - Qatar's squad has a Brazilian and an Argentinian. How is that possible? 1.5 million live in Qatar and just by chance a Brazilian man and an Argentinian man married Qatarian women? Dreams do come true in Qatar....
Between now and 2022, I will try to take the high road and dish out only positives about the imminent Qatar World Cup. I may slip and badger FIFA's voting and selection policies. And, I may fuss about the lack of scoring by US forwards. But remember - open seating in Qatar ... the man who builds his house on sand, will soon be homeless ... and, US defenders are a scoring threat!
AQUI ESTAN O ALLI ESTAN - With Qatar eliminated, I must pull for Uzbekistan! Something tells me this is their quadrennial! The winner gets a trip to Brazil in 2013 for the Confederations Cup! Sadly, most Asian Cup winners do not qualify for the World Cup in the next year. I have written "Uzbekistan" 7 times. I have nothing more to say.
HOT OFF THE PRESS! 2011 Asian Cup - Uzbekistan beat Jordan 2-1 to advance to the semifinals to take on Australia. It will be Uzbekistan's first semi-final in the Asian Cup. In tomorrow's quarterfinals, Australia plays Iraq and Iran against South Korea. These should actually be good to watch. And with the Arabic countries losing today, I think they will win tomorrow. If they don't, the Cup attendance may dip below 10K since no one wants to watch some infidels play.
GOOD NEWS FOR QATAR - They advanced in the Asian Cup, which should increase their FIFA ranking from 115th in the world to 7th, just ahead of Italy. "Thus, their bid is legitimate," spoketh the Blatter (dressed in toga garb and motioning his thumb down to disqualify England and the US forever).
BAD NEWS FOR QATAR - They had 19,479 in attendance at their own quarterfinal match. What happen to the other 17,953 who came to the opener? I thought they have a stadium that seats 50K? Too many empty seats.
HUH? NEWS FROM QATAR - Qatar's squad has a Brazilian and an Argentinian. How is that possible? 1.5 million live in Qatar and just by chance a Brazilian man and an Argentinian man married Qatarian women? Dreams do come true in Qatar....
Between now and 2022, I will try to take the high road and dish out only positives about the imminent Qatar World Cup. I may slip and badger FIFA's voting and selection policies. And, I may fuss about the lack of scoring by US forwards. But remember - open seating in Qatar ... the man who builds his house on sand, will soon be homeless ... and, US defenders are a scoring threat!
AQUI ESTAN O ALLI ESTAN - With Qatar eliminated, I must pull for Uzbekistan! Something tells me this is their quadrennial! The winner gets a trip to Brazil in 2013 for the Confederations Cup! Sadly, most Asian Cup winners do not qualify for the World Cup in the next year. I have written "Uzbekistan" 7 times. I have nothing more to say.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
World Cup soccer in South Africa: newyorker.com
World Cup soccer in South Africa: newyorker.com The New Yorker explores whether Americans hate soccer.
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