Another break day and so an opportunity to answer some questions.
Danielgregg – Something I've noticed about this tournament, don't recall if it's something unique or not: there've been so many records broken. Croatia broke some kind of record when they beat Germany, Turkey broke their record against the Czechs, the Dutch beat their 30-year record against Italy, and Italy beat their 30-year record against France, and now Spain banished their longstanding record against not only Italy, but their June 22 jinx.
You probably don't put too much store in these records. I just think it's been interesting to see so many games one after another with pundits pointing out these records before almost every game, and then they go and promptly break them--so consistently.
Bobby – There have been a good number of these instances. I think it would need a statistician to provide more intelligent comment. But you also have to consider that international match ups don’t happen every year or sometimes even every second year and so extended records of 20 or 30 years may only be less than a dozen games. Something that happens in domestic league leagues
LHJS - I hope one day the America's can combine to form a great tournament like EURO's. 8 groups, 5 or 6 teams per group, winner and second place team gets an invite. Every country between Chile and Canada would have a chance. I think it would be great fun for all soccer fans. A nightmare for police but still as we see on TV it could be great.
Bobby – This is something that comes up on a pretty regular basis. I can’t see either Federation amalgamating for the purposes of World Cup qualifying but maybe there is just a small chance that they could get together for a regional championship.
Here is a précis of an article I wrote for “WSC – When Saturday Comes” back in April 2002 just after the Gold Cup of that year.
“……The more astute readers will have noticed that South Korea and Ecuador are not Central American, North American or Caribbean counties. Since it’s inception in 1991 the Gold Cup has invited guest teams to compete, not something that lends credibility to the competition. It’s simple: when you invite outside teams to enter a regional championship it’s no longer a regional championship.
Can anyone imagine the European Championship inviting Brazil, Argentina and Cameroon to fly in for a game or two? In the past we’ve seen Peru, Colombia and Brazil turn up along with South Korea and Ecuador. To date no guest has won the Cup but two have reached the Final.
This time around only Mexico drew well in the early stages and after they lost in the quarter final to South Korea, average attendance dropped dramatically. Despite the USA reaching the final where they beat Costa Rica 2-0, the last four games in the competition attracted less than 22,000 fans. Cup organizers were quick to point out that the Cup was up against the National Hockey League all-star game and the Superbowl weekend. It begs the question - why would you schedule the Gold Cup against these events in the first place?
The problems facing the Gold Cup are strikingly similar to those facing CONMEBOL and the Copa America. Copa America with the ten member countries of CONMEBOL has to invite two guest countries in order to get to a workable number. Honduras, Mexico, Japan, the USA and Costa Rica have all taken part in the Copa in recent years. There is, however, a solution – the Pan American Cup.
Never heard of it you say? That’s because it’s time to drop both the Copa America and the Gold Cup and start a new sixteen team tournament to be held once every four years with no guest teams.
To ease fixture congestion the tournament could be scheduled just before or just after the European Championship. A Pan American Cup makes sense for everyone, including the long suffering fans.
From a CONCACAF prospective it gives their member countries the badly needed challenge of better opponents. The participation of Brazil and Argentina would increase television revenue in the US and generate greater media exposure throughout North America.
With the imminent demise of the ill fated and vastly unpopular Confederations Cup the need to identify regional champions no longer exists. If the Pan American Cup could live up to half of its potential, the qualifying competitions would generate interest.
By holding the tournament two years after the World Cup, qualification standings in each confederation could form the basis of awarding automatic spots in the Pan American Cup, perhaps the top five finishers in each. As tradition dictates, the previous winner would get a bye along with the host country.
With four spots remaining, three could come from a Central and South American qualifying competition while the remaining spot would be from a North America and Caribbean tournament.
Is there hope that CONMEBOL and CONCACAF would give up some of their power and merge the two troubled competitions? From a CONCACAF prospective they run a competition of no value, so they have little to lose by making a move. CONMEBOL’s view is likely to be different given the Copa America is the oldest international tournament in the world.
However, FIFA has already told the South Americans that an eighteen game World Cup qualifying competition can’t continue if the Copa America is held every two years. The South American qualifying group generates tremendous interest and a great deal of money.
It’s not something the CONMEBOL countries want to lose so the status quo may not be an option. The alternatives are changing the Copa America to a four year format or make a bold move and go for a Pan American Cup.”
Shmish - What's your take on the criticisms that are being leveled on coaches such as MVB and Donadoni? It's predictable that Aragones or Loew will also be condemned by media and bloggers. I think all of these men seem to have done a good job, but I'm not a soccer analyst.
Whether a team is outplayed or outcoached, do we always have to point fingers at the coaches? Surely as Bobby suggests, we should pay attention and offer praise to the winners, when praise is due. One man's or team's success doesn't necessarily equate to another's failure.
Bobby – When a team loses the coach more times than not becomes a lightning rod for criticism. At club level there is almost always a game coming within a week or so and the coach and team have an escape route. That’s rarely the case at international level with friendlies and competition spread out.
Coaches know the “rules” when they sign on as unfair as they may be. But each defeat produces knee-jerk reactions from the fans and the media and the pressure builds on the national associations for a change to be made. Without having lived through it I doubt many of us can truly understand the constant pressure that coaches all operate under.
So much of it comes down to managing expectations going in, unfortunately as fans most of us have expectations that are unrealistic. I’m waiting for the day when a fan admits he would have picked a different team than the one the coach did and because the team won its obvious the coach knows what he’s doing and has not lost the plot!
Terry 63 - Hey Bobby, we're missing the Tartan Army at these major tourneys. Start checking the census rolls to see if there are any Scots with Brazilian grandmothers. Of course...I meant to say Brazilians with *Scottish* grandmas! But either way couldn't hurt.
Bobby – At least Scotland has shown some improvement over the last couple years. Under Berti Vogts a team made up of Brazilian grandmothers might have been a better option. That’s what you meant wasn’t it?
ZUCO2 - I was watching the FSR yesterday and I heard Derek say that there was 9 minutes of added time in a qualifying game in Asia. Shouldn't FIFA have a rule that allows referees to give a certain amount of stoppage time? A sort of limit that shouldn't be broken?
Bobby – So what you do in the situation where there was a serious injury and possibly even a couple of serious injuries? Or the game is delayed because of a streaker? It is up to the referee to judge how much stoppage time should be played I don’t see any benefit by capping it – and in fact I think the opposite is true, it would lead to more abuse.
Exponents - Bobby, off topic, but let's say the USMNT needed a new coach (I think you'll agree that they do)...who should they try to get? Of course this begs the question of who would actually want to coach the USMNT.
Bobby – No, I actually don’t agree. To date Bradley has won the only competition the United States has entered since he became coach (Gold Cup) so why would you be looking to replace him?
Rowdies33 - I haven't seen much heat on Van Basten for his tactics during the game. RVP played on the right flank where he has played before in this tourney, but he was always looking for the cutback and Heitinga wasn't getting forward so there was no width on the right and then by not bringing Robben in on the left there was no presence going forward on the left to stretch the field.
Given the difficulties of set pieces for the Russian defense, wouldn't crosses from wide positions have likely given them problems? Of course, the Russians dominated the play and perhaps nothing changes, but it seemed like the Dutch offense was basically using 1/2-3/4 of the width of the field making the Russians defensive pressure much easier to employ. Thoughts?
Bobby – It might be a bit pointless turning up the heat up on van Baston given that we all knew he was finished with the Netherlands after this tournament. You do make valid points however.
But the problems that the Russians were experiencing from set pieces were coming from in swinging free kicks on the left. Robbin would be delivering more conventional out swinging crosses with his left foot so I’m not sure the two would necessarily be connected. I was surprised that the Dutch did not try and force the Russian full backs to defend more and instead allowed them to attack almost at will.
I think the brilliance of Hiddink’s strategy was to counter the counterattack by pinning the Dutch so deep and not giving them time on the ball that they are unable to use the counterattack tactic that had been so lethal in the group stage.
LHJS - I almost forgot, Bobby did I catch Carlos?
Bobby –Carlos picked up nine points in the quarterfinal round and has 37 points. However, he only has one team left and that is Spain. He has Spain down as beaten finalists.
RINGO - Do those who predicted the third place game lose points?
Bobby – No, they just have to suffer the public embarrassment of adding games that don’t exist.
Comment of the Day
“I bumped into Howard Webb, the English referee, at Zurich Airport last Friday. He was on his way back to Manchester, having not been retained for the knockout stages of Euro 2008, after his controversial decision in the final minutes of the match between Austria and Poland. Webb was no different to a lot of other Englishmen at leading tournaments, really, in that he was eliminated by penalties.” - Martin Samuel in The Times.
Stat of the Day 1: Number of the past 52 goals in the tournament to have come from a defender — Christian Panucci - From Bill Edgar of The Times.
Czech coach Karel Bruckner
recalled Jan Koller the lead the attack and it quickly paid off. A weakness in
the centre of the Turkish defence was evident in their first two group games
and in the early going Koller exploited it.
The Czech settled into a early rhythm as they looked to find Koller at every opportunity and to feed off his
knock downs and flicks. However, the Czech tactics came with a price tag and it
was the big striker who was footing the bill (I could have said writing the
cheque!) as he took a battering from the Turkish back four.
Just as Turkey seemed to
be finding their game with some tidy possession football the Czechs took a
well-deserved lead. Galloping down the right side on the overlap Grygera
whipped in a cross just behind Koller. The striker managed to reposition
himself and the resulting header flew into the roof of the net.
The Czechs rode the goal
to half time with Turkey showing little response to going a goal down. However,
it was a very different Turkish side that came out for the second half and
pressed the Czechs at every opportunity. Even when the Czechs went to up
against the run of play it only served to reinvigorate a Turkey side that just
would not give up.
The second Czech goal came
after a quick free kick was fed out to Sionko who crossed invitingly to the far
post. Plasil arrived at a rate of knots to complete a very smart move. Excellent goal.
But even
at 2-0 there were the seeds of defeat in the Czechs play. Where in the first
half the team pressed forward and allowed the likes Sionko, Matejovsky and Polak
to support and feed off Koller, in the second half the Czechs lost that shape
and large gaps started forming between midfield, Koller and the support
strikers.
Koller’s legs were the
first to go but he would not be the last. Incredibly, Bruckner stubbornly stuck
with the first half goal scorer rather than looking to the likes of the mobile
Baros or Sverkos the scorer of the winner against Switzerland. As the Czechs
failed to hold possession up front the pressure mounted on the midfield and the
defence as Turkey continued to swarm the Czechs at will.
With quarter of an hour left Arda Turan
stepped up to give Turkey hope as he reduced the deficit to one but still
Bruckner stuck with Koller. Kadlec and Vlcek came on for Plasil and Sionko but
neither moved threatened to turn the tide. Almost every Czech player was being
outworked, out tackled and out fought by a younger and much fitter Turkish team.
However, with three
minutes to go it looked as if the Czech Republic would hang on. Little did
we realize that we still had the most astonishing finish since Spain scored
twice in injury time to beat Yugoslavia 4-3 at Euro 2000 in store.
First Cech dropped a
routine cross at the feet of Nihat who gratefully slipped the ball into an
empty net.
Then just two minutes
later the Turkish captain caught Jankulovski a step behind the other defenders,
sprung the offside trap and thumped a shot over the oncoming Cech, off the
underside of the bar and into the net.
Turkey led 3-2 but there
was more still in store. A stramash in the Turkish box ended with the ball rolling
wide of an empty goal but after it had gone out of play Demirel took a pop at
Koller and deservedly got sent off. After having used all their substitutes, Turkey finished
the match with ten men and with Tuncay Sanli in goal.
The Czechs leave the
tournament after the coach who put them in a position to move on, in turn
became the coach whose decision to stick with Jan Koller killed their chances.
Portugal 0-2 Switzerland
Switzerland finish bottom
of Group A but leave the tournament with a win.
Comment of the Day
“But the pluses(for Portugal) are not merely Deco back on top form controlling midfield alongside Joao Moutinho, but also Cristiano Ronaldo, a player capable of turning games even if he is not playing especially well.
It feels like a Life of Brian “What did the Romans ever do for us?” comment, but aside from creating two goals and scoring one, Ronaldo did little against the Czechs. They almost succeeded in isolating him, but almost with Ronaldo is not enough.” – Jonathan Wilson in the Financial Times.
Other goings on It is a World Cup qualifying weekend in Africa, Asia, South America and CONCACAF.
There were a few shocks in Africa yesterday with Angola, Egypt, Ghana and Morocco all losing while
Cameroon and the Ivory Coast both drew.
However, this is only the half way point in a preliminary qualifying stage so it might be a bit premature to think realistically that some of these countries are going to miss out on the first World Cup Finals in Africa.
The prelim stage has 12 groups with the winners and 8 best runners up moving onto a final; group stage of four teams in five groups. Winners will then join the host nation South Africa in 2010.
World Cup qualifying in Africa also doubles up for the African Cup of Nations Finals and that is why South Africa is involved.
An update of the current group standings in Africa can be found by following the link.
One country that will not be in South Africa in two years time is 2002 qualifiers China. Consecutive losses to Qatar and yesterday to Iraq put paid to Chinese hopes. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, North and South Korea, Bahrain and Uzbekistan are all guaranteed a place in the final stage of Asia qualifying.
The remaining two places will be decided next weekend with Iraq up against Qatar in Group 1 and UAE or Syria in Group 5.
An update of the current group standings in Asia can be found by following the link.
Two games in South American qualifying were played yesterday and both finished in 1-1 draws – Uruguay at home to Venezuela and Peru at home to Colombia. The other games scheduled for today are Paraguay vs. Brazil; Argentina vs. Ecuador; Bolivia vs. Chile.
Yesterday’s draw puts Venezuela into fifth place in the group (a place above Uruguay) and they have a solid chance of maintaining that position after today’s games.
Paraguay could give Brazil are real run for their money I fancy.
An update of the current group standings in CONMEBOL can be found by following the link.
And last but definitely not least we have CONCACAF qualifying. Canada hopes to start a journey that will conclude with their first appearance at the World Cup finals since 1986 while the USA want to make it six consecutive appearances at the finals.
This preliminary round generally keeps the traditionally more powerful nations apart and matches then with non-traditional soccer powers in a home and away series. The chances of a real shock or two are not high but from time to time the bigger countries only squeak past the “minnows”.
Costa Rica made it to Germany in 2006 but they had to rely on the away goals rule to get past Cuba at this stage four years ago. And after yesterday’s result against Grenada they may have a tough time again.
Costa Rica was down 2-0 after less than thirty minutes before finally drawing 2-2 in St Georges.
So a warning to Canada (vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and to the USA (vs. Barbados) who both play today.
Honduras is already through to the next stage after drawing 2-2 with Puerto Rico yesterday after winning the first leg 4-0.
A CONCACAF schedule and scores to date can be found by following the link.
You can find the draw information by federation tucked away near the bottom right hand corner of the page . As I mentioned at the end of the show last night it is seems curious that UEFA seeding is based on the FIFA rankings from November 2007.
Concacaf however, has opted to use May 2007 which is prior to this past summer’s Gold Cup. Anyone smell a rat? (Africa is using July 2007).
Country (May-Nov) Mexico 1-1 USA 2-2 Costa Rica 3-7 Honduras 4-3 Panama 5-5* Trinidad & Tobago 6-10 Jamaica 7-12 Cuba 8-8 Haiti 9-5* Guatemala 10-13 Canada 11-4 Guyana 12-11 St Vincent & Gren. 13-9
* tied for 5th. (Should the tie breaker not have been the respective penalty kick shoot out records?)
I’ve never put any credence into the FIFA World rankings but if there are to be used for seeding purposes surely then the most current version should be used.
Craigy_f - (Are you) feeling a tad more confident after beating the Ukraine? What’s your take on Lampard being booed? Are there any other instances like that which you can recall? Do you pay attention to stats in football? Do you read any print media on football?
Bobby – I will not feel confident until there are enough points to finish in the top two. However, the win against Ukraine does guarantee that Scotland will go into the Italy game with a chance of qualifying. As for Lampard being booed – I can’t understand how supposed fans can boo one of their own players.
The same thing happened to Gary McAllister playing for Scotland. A few decades ago it wasn’t unusual for Old Firm players to get bad treatment from the other side of the divide. In terms of the stats question is yes. I do most of my daily reading electronically.
D Powell22 - Has anyone heard of any clubs that are interested in Jozy Altidore? I know he is turning 18 at the end of this year. Is he going to play for a European team next?
Bobby – With his physique and talent I can guarantee that there are a lot of European teams watching him. However, I don’t think it is a slam dunk that he will be off to Europe next year. I also don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing either.
Therealrico - Derek Rae feels South American needs to revamp their WC qualification process. While I do think that Fifa's rankings are fairly BS, I think that the WC and Euro Cup qualifiers need to be revamped using the Fifa rankings. For example all the minnows of Europe or South America I think should have to play a pre qualifier. With countries like the Faroe Islands, San Marino, and so forth having to play in a qualifier to determine who get to go to the next level. Similar to what they do in the champs leagues with teams from places like Wales. This would put less strain on countries like France, or Italy, who have players playing way too many games as it is. What do you guys think?
Bobby – I think the upside of the present South American qualification system has been missed. First of all they are playing games while European countries are either playing WC or Euro qualifiers. In fact South American countries are playing fewer games than European countries as they don’t play a qualifying tournament for the Copa America.
South American countries will play 18-20 games; European countries will play a minimum of 24 games between the two qualifying tournaments. That’s an average of 33% fewer games played by South American countries if you exclude the possibility of a play-off round.
Since South America went to the 18 game qualifying round the gap between top and bottom has narrowed considerably. For example you referenced the minnows of COMNEBOL - who would these minnows be? I can’t think of one South American country that wouldn’t finish in the top four in CONCACAF. You also have to consider that the 18 game format guarantees as far as it is humanly possible that the best 4 (or 5) countries from South America reach the WC finals.
Before the 18 game format it was a case of only 4 or 6 games which significantly increased the chances that a good team would pay a hefty price for an off day.
Finally do you really think if there were less WC qualifying games that the clubs would not simply pick up the slack?
Djnima - 1. Do you think management is the problem at Spurs? I think Jol should go. However Spurs seem to have a problem more with defending rather than management. They rely too much on King and he is always injured. 2. Pls post a new pic on the website without your glasses. 3. Have you seen Fifa 08? Are you into video games? 4. Where do you see Mourinho popping up this season? AC? Inter?
Bobby –1. What is your definition of management? If you are talking about the board then the answer is yes. 2. I don’t have one. 3. No, and no. Jeremy is the guy you want for video games. I’m from a different generation. I'd do just about anything before playing video games. 4. You might not see him popping up any place if all the bigger sides play reasonably well until spring.
Ringo - I say bring back pitches like the old Baseball Ground, Derby. Two months into the season and not a blade of grass left and ankle deep mud. Now THAT was football! I`m planning on watching tomorrow`s Georgia/Scotland game, but I`m not sure which team to root for, could you help me out?
Bobby – Was it at the Baseball ground that Brian Clough perfected his love of over watering? The pitch always seemed to be a mud bath. If I was you, I would support the team with the most surnames beginning with the initial M.
CIAO - What do make of Donadoni as Italy's coach so far?
Bobby – Inconclusive. Italy’s position is a product of a poor start right after the WC last summer. I don’t think you can blame Donadoni for that. However, if Italy fail to qualify then the excuses will count for nothing and he will be gone.
MeanSucka - What do you think of John Terry's sudden knee injury ahead of the Russia match? I'm sure it will give more fuel to the whole "plastic pitch" fire, no? I can't believe some people are comparing Field Turf - which is relatively new to the Astroturf fields of the 80's and 70's. That's pretty bad journalism, isn't it?
Bobby – Terry’s knee was a problem before he got any place close to a “plastic pitch”. Blaming his knee locking on the Moscow pitch? You might as well every other injury on grass surfaces. Newer artificial surfaces versus what we had 20 years ago was the point I made on Monday’s show - it is not an apples to apples comparison.
CIAO -Do you think any of the clubs fighting for CL glory need to bring in any additional players? Are any of the Ajax player cup tied? Do you think Huntelaar will make his long awaited move to a bigger club in January?
Bobby – It very tough to find players that are not cup tied so any “winter” signings tend to play in domestic leagues and allow the players they have replaced to be rested for the European games. Ajax players – if they played – are cup-tied. There were a few posters that were telling me a few months ago that Huntelaar was sure to go to a big club last summer – it did not happen and it may not happen in January either.
Gegz - Don't you think that Ever Banega should be included in the Argentina line-up as he may be the long-term replacement for Riquelme? And don't you think at times Tevez tends to overdo it a bit?
Bobby – I don’t see Banega as a long term replacement for Riquelme – he has a very different style. Having Riquelme in the side dictates that Argentina plays through him – otherwise he doesn’t bring very much to the team.
Banega brings a bit of everything with him - more like a Redondo. Tevez’s strength is his desire and his ability to run at defenders – he would not be the same player if you asked him to do anything different.
Craig_f -The plonker and his mate on Fox are talking about Premier League games outside England, either in the US or Asia. Kind of a mirror of what the NFL is doing with the Giants Dolphins at Wembley.
Bobby – I have no idea why anyone would suggest taking Premier league games outside of England. There is no business case to be made for a move like that. The NFL does it because they need to try and develop an overseas market for their product. That is not a problem for the Premiership. It sounds as if someone may have come up with an answer before making sure that they understand the problem. And to top it off I can only imagine the sanctioning and jurisdictional issues that something like that would create.
I will put up a midweek European Championship qualifying post on Wednesday morning.
Canada has shown that they are a legitimate challenger for one of the CONCACAF spots on offer at the 2010 World Cup. However, at this moment that is probably of little consequence given the nature of their controversial loss to the USA in the Gold Cup semi-final.
With only seconds left and Canada pushing for an equalizer a ball was lofted forward towards the US penalty box. Onyewu stretched for the header and finished up heading the ball to the feet of Atiba Hutchinson who calmly side footed it past Keller in the US goal.
From the limited TV replays we received in Canada – apparently the Toronto thingies were playing a game of rounders – Hutchinson was not in an offside position when the initial ball was played forward and although he was in an offside position when he benefited from Onyewu’s wayward header the only way it could have been judged offside was if the ball had deflected of the big US defender.
It would require an active imagination to construe Onyewu’s header as a deflection. But an active imagination apparently is exactly what the assistant referee has as he immediately flagged and the referee accepted his call. If there are any referees out there who might shed some light on this decision I know a good number of Canadian fans would love to hear from you.
The first thirty minutes of the match consisted of the USA trying to play a bit too quickly while Canada could have done with a bit more pace to their game. Although the US may have had the better of the play Canada had a couple of set piece opportunities that might have turned profitable.
But it was the USA that opened the scoring through full back Frankie Hejduk. Hejduk may have trouble with his distribution at times but you have to admire the enthusiasm and energy that he brings to every game. And you have to admire the way he struck the ball from just outside the box to put the US into the lead.
The second goal came from the penalty spot after Beasley was tripped by Canadian keeper Pat Onstad. Beasley was played in by the simplest of passes inside full back Paul Stalteri. Donovan drilled his penalty down the middle.
The two goals the USA scored in the last ten minutes or so of the first half served to change the shape of the game in the second half. The play spread out and as Canada tried to push forward there were acres of space for the US midfielders and forwards to run at the Canadian defence. As the second half progrressed the US’s bad habit of spurning chances reemerged and it proved costly, although thanks to the officiating, it was not fatal.
The emergence of Ian Hume was a turning point for Canada as the wee man starting hustling the US defence and running at the them at every opportunity. Suddenly Canada’s attacks became more intense and threatening and when Hume equalized with a quarter of an hour left we knew we were in for a barnstorming finish.
Ratings Canada Onstad (6) – Had no chance with either of the two US goals. Otherwise rarely tested.
Stalteri (4) – Was guilty of a sloppy back pass in the second half. Was unable to get forward into attacking positions.
Hastings (6) – Handled Dempsey and Johnston well.
Hainault (6) – Ditto.
Jazic (7) – A very competent performance.
Bernier (6) – Pace of the game was a bit too quick for him but he made few mistakes.
Hutchinson (7) – Never imposed himself on the game but he showed again that he is type of player who can turn a game in an instant.
Nash (4) - When given time he sprayed a couple of great passes but in close quarters he was ineffective.
De Guzman (7) – Victim of a brutal challenge in the first half but De Guzman was Canada's most consitent performer over 90 minutes.
De Rosario (5) – Looked like he was going to pull off something special in first half but faded in the second.
Gerba (6) – A thankless task being the lone striker with little support for long stretches of the match. Fought valiantly.
Subs. Hume (8) – A terrific performance off the bench only reinforced the unanswered question as to why he was used so sparingly in this competition.
Nakajima-Farran – no rating
USA Keller (6) – Handled what he came his way.
Hejduk (8) – Scored a call and was here, there and everywhere…although you may not want to see that in your right back.
Onyewu (3) – He might be a fan favourite but too often he is an accident waiting to happen.
Bocanegra (4) – Was lucky to be on the park after a spectacularly late challenge on De Guzman in the first half.
Bornstein (5) – Showed great promise and energy in the first half but suffered in the second half as much of the US attacks avoided the left side.
Dovovan (6) – The upside his Donovan continued to look for the ball even though he struggled most of the evening. He will want to remember his set up for the first goal and his well-struck penalty. He will want to forget his wiff with an open goal in front of him. That was in the 50th minute and would have killed the game as a contest.
Bradley (4) – Was prominent in the early stages of the first half but his performance dropped off alarmingly as the game progressed. Rightfully shown a straight red card for a challenge that was late, high, from behind and designed to stop a player breaking away from him – the referee got that one spot on!
Mastroeni (7) – Patrolled his area well with a minimum of fuss as a good holding midfield should do.
Beasley (6) – Everytime I watch Beasley I am left with the feeling that he could have contributed so much more.
Johnson (4) – Poorly timed runs and failed to link well with Dempsey and the midfield.
Dempsey (5) – Absolutely starved of the ball but failed to go and get as well.
Tucked away in the news from the FIFA Executive meeting is the play off set-up for 2010. The fourth place finisher in CONCACAF will have to beat the fifth place team from South America. Oceania will face the country finishing the equivalent of fifth in Asia.
This story authored by Andrew Jennings in today's Daily Mail makes interesting reading. It relates to the illegal sale of World Cup tickets and an alleged role played by the CONCACAF President Jack Warner an ally of Sepp Blatter.
On the FSC web page there is a section that allows readers to pose questions. The World Cup has attracted new fans and for newcomers the structure of global soccer can be quite confusing.
Matthew writes to ask "Could you explain the structure of international professional soccer leagues? (Or if that's too big a subject, maybe pick a country - say England - and explain its league structure, who can get promoted to where, who gets relegated to where, how does a team qualify for Euro Cup, etc.)"
Well Matthew the best way to look at it is as a pyramid structure and at the head is FIFA as the world governing body. FIFA has six federations – UEFA for Europe, CONMEBOL for South America, CONCACAF – North and Central America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Within each of these federations there are national associations – for example the United States Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Association, and the Football Association in England.
Each national association is responsible for the administration and leadership of soccer / football within their proscribed national boundries. Within these responsibilities is the operation of national teams. The responsibilities of FIFA, the Federations and the National Associations have been hammered out over the years. FIFA has been inexistence since 1904 so they have many years of experience at screwing things up.
The national associations have various member classifications such as states/counties/provinces, referees, leagues, youth etc. The leagues, as affiliated organizations, are allowed to operate under terms proscribed by the national associations.
Probably the easiest example to explain is the league structure in England. The Premiership is a unique entity but it has an agreement with the Football League (they operate the Championship, Division One, Division 2) by which teams can be promoted and relegated from the Premiership. The Premiership also has an agreement with the Football Association that distributes a certain amount of money to grassroots football and other initiatives.
In turn, there are a number of other regional leagues that generally operate on a semi-professional basis - although more are turning full time professional. Basically, as long as teams from lower leagues meet certain conditions (things such as ground standards etc) and win their leagues they are eligible to move up and to be eventually promoted to the Football League and then the Premiership. In England the league structure is refered to as a pyramid structure and as such any affiliated team can make it to the Premiership – Wimbledon and Wigan stand as real examples.
The leagues decide on how many teams get promoted and relegated every season.
The pyramid structure is not necessarily a standard practice within other national associations.
As for European qualification there are a number of factors that come into play. Generally, places in the European competitions are reserved for clubs from the most senior league in each country but in cases where qualification is through an open cup competition you will see teams from lower divisions qualify.
Next is the allocation of places in each European competition. That is decided by UEFA on the basis of how teams from each national association have performed in previous competitions over a five year period. The better the clubs do as representatives of their leagues the more places are allocated to the league and more advantageous the seeding and the round at which they enter the competition.
After UEFA has allocated spots to each association they decide how these spots are to be allocated.
