US vs Turkey Recap

It was good to see the men's team get sent off to South Africa with a 2-1 win vs. Turkey. It was also nice to be able to watch a game live for once.

The first half I thought was very sketchy. The passing was...well....not really passing since more than a handful of them never met their destination, the communication was lacking, and our defense was being worked over pretty well. Turkey should have been leading by 2 or 3 at the end of the half. Two for sure if Tuncay would have properly finished his chance in the box. I was a little worried about our favorite 11 at the end of the half and hoped for Bradley to add some spark to the game.

Boy did Bobby pull through. My favorite addition to the second half....Jose Torres. The kid has a wicked left foot and added the creativity and confidence that USA needed. Also, he looks a little like Scott Baio. Another player who impressed me with his work ethic stretching the field and a hand in the first goal was Robbie Findley. I understand why people were surprised he made the team over Brian Ching, but if he continues this form when on the field in South Africa Bob Bradley will look like a genious.....and he still won't smile. The first goal was lovely. Great movement and vision. Donovan hit that perfect square ball to Altidore who clobbered it home. The second goal was just as nice to see with Donovan again in the mix providing Clint Dempsey with a cross he knocked down perfectly and finished right under the keeper which would prove to be the deciding goal. Clint almost added a second with Michael Bradley making a great run and unselfishly passed it back but the ball was hit on the wrong side the post.

Like I said before, it was nice to see team USA leave our soil with a win against a Turkey team that doesn't quit. That should be a good confidence builder for their final friendly against Australia June 5th. Hopefully John Harkes won't be babbling during that game. Wow. The mute button is a wonderful tool.

I hope that Onyewu keeps that beard.

Links and Football News

Real Madrid will unveil Jose Mourinho as their new manager on Monday after agreeing fees with Inter Milan. Inter stated they were due 13.5 million pounds from terms in Jose's contract. 13.5 million pounds (19.5 million dollars) better buy a whole lot of specialness.

US fans drew up this controversial picture of Landon Donovan cutting the head off of Wayne Rooney with a larger crooked knife. Pretty heavy stuff if you ask me. The story is brought to you buy the lovely people over at The Spoiler.

Who Are Ya Designs has a bunch of great new T-shirt designs for the World Cup. Check em out here!
I'm planning on ordering this fancy little Netherlands T.

Manchester City looking to buy.....everyone. - Mirror Football - 

Leeds ended star Jermaine Beckford contract as he is ready to sign up with Everton. - Mirror Football -

Fabregas 50/50 on staying with the Gunners next season. - Daily Mirror -

Wolverhampton upgrading their stadium from 30K seats to 50K. - BBC News - 

Ghana will be without "The Bison" Michael Essien for the World Cup. - FIFA - 

France edged out Turkey to hose EURO 2016. - BBC Sport -

Sam's Army

Here is the list of the 23 man roster Bob Bradley is sending to South Africa courtesy of ussoccer.com

"U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (All-Time World Cup Roster Appearances) 
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (2010), Marcus Hahnemann (2006, 2010), Tim Howard (2006, 2010) 
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (2006, 2010), Jonathan Bornstein (2010), Steve Cherundolo (2002, 2006, 2010), Jay DeMerit (2010), Clarence Goodson (2010), Oguchi Onyewu (2006, 2010), Jonathan Spector (2010) 
MIDFIELDERS (9): DaMarcus Beasley (2002, 2006, 2010), Michael Bradley (2010), Ricardo Clark (2010), Clint Dempsey (2006, 2010), Landon Donovan (2002, 2006, 2010), Maurice Edu (2010), Benny Feilhaber (2010), Stuart Holden (2010), José Torres (2010) 
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (2010), Edson Buddle (2010), Robbie Findley (2010), Herculez Gomez (2010)"

 I'm fired up about it. A lot of first time World Cup participants which is a bit worrisome because you'll have all the experts talking about the "experience" factor which I agree with somewhat. It just shows that we have a good core group of young talent that we can only build on in future tournaments. If our group was any harder than it is right now I would be more concerned about the amount of first timers. I do think Slovenia will cause us more trouble than people think with the big Novakovic on their front line (14 goals in 37 international appearances).

Also, I am disappointed that  Alejandro Bedoya wasn't chosen for the 23-man roster because now I can't use Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" as a chant for him. 

Two weeks until kickoff!!! I'm too excited to sleeeep!

Diego Maradona Can Only Poop in Style and other tall orders.

Diego has demanded that the already perfectly usable toilets at Argentina's base camp in South Africa be removed and replaced with the world's greatest toilet seat at a measly $450 a piece. I mean, who has the nerve to do their business on a regular plastic toilet seat. This baby has all the goodies; heated seat, warm air blow dryer, bidet, 2 nozzles (stream and mist?), self-cleaning, and hi-low settings. While he's grinding one out I hope he figures out a way to get out of the group stage considering his team barely qualified for the big dance.

A fancy john isn't the only request he made. All the rooms must be painted white, 6 playstations for the players during play time, 10 hot dishes to be served daily along with 3 desserts at dinner and ice cream to be available at all hours.....this so Diego can continue with his personal work out regiment...find any means to continue growing.

Here are some other teams requests for this summers World Cup.

Brazil requested their pool be heated at exactly 90 degrees at the Fairway Hotel. The hotel marketing assistant stated the club will be bringing two Portuguese chefs but they won't be taking over the kitchen. Also they would like hot chocolate and cookies....but absolutely no chocolate.

The Mexican team requested a priest to conduct services in a nearby church at the Thaba Ya Batswana hotel.

The Italian team flew in special gym equipment and their own pasta from Rome.

New Zealand managers are arranging golf lessons for their players.

And finally, the Slovakian players put in a simple request for ping pong tables and an electronic dart board.

Special One Chasing 'Grand Slam'

His Specialness is already talking about completing a "Grand Slam" of, according to Jose, the three big domestic leagues in Europe; English, Italian, and Spanish.

Current manager Manuel Pellegrini hasn't been sacked yet but that could be in the very near future since Jose is set to meet either today or tomorrow with Real President Florentino Perez. Mourinho stated,

"No player or coach has won the three important leagues and I want to be the first to do it. Ancelotti, Capello, Van Nistelrooy, Beckham and others have won two, but not three. I would like to be the first to win the Grand Slam of the Spanish, Italian and English leagues."

That's a tall order for him but if there is a manager who can do it, it is definitely Jose. When and if he completes the Grand Slam, will he be presented with a jacket of sorts? a crown? A cloak of invisibility? A sash like the one above?

In other news...

Pepe Reina is confident Torres will remain at Anfield - The Independent -

Rio Ferdinand was ready to splash some cash for Paul Scholes to come out of international retirement and play for England in the World Cup - The Sun - You can just see the seriousness in his picture in the article.

Roy Hodgson back to Inter for a third time? - Daily Mirror -

Alexi Lalas, "England aren't as good as they think they are..." I'm hoping that was his beard talking. - The Sun -

Capello, "The World Cup ball has something wrong with it....recall!" The England coach explains his players are having issue controlling the new ball. - Mirror Football -

The Chaaammmpiioonnnss!

Yesterday's Champions League final didn't live up to it's usual sexy-ness, but it was still awesome for many reasons.

One, I still don't have cable at my place but I was still able to watch it thanks to FOX broadcasting it live on a national network for the first time in all the glory that is High Definition. It was so Hi-Def that I thought I could actually see Ivica Olic's head ready to explode. His jersey was sooo tight it had to of been cutting off his circulation. I did have some issue's with FOX's broadcast, and that would be the duo of Bruce Arena and Eric Wynalda. I didn't mind Curt Menefee because for being the NFL guy there he was the only person I didn't want to hit the mute button for. Bruce Arena looked like he wanted to hide when the camera was on him and was mumbling and Eric Wynalda is like Skip Bayless, a pompous ass who's head can't fit in the booth with everyone else. I was also glad to have Martin Tyler and Andy Gray call the match. They know what they are talking about and it felt like I was watching a EA Sports FIFA game. Good times. I hope FOX continues to broadcast the final in the future. 

It was funny, I played a game of FIFA 2010 before the match, I was Bayern and the computer was Inter. Diego Milito scored 2 goals and I lost....yes, to the computer. So when Milito scored those two goals I just laughed. Also....he looks like Al Pacino. 

Speaking of Diego Milito, he was absolutely clinical. He is confident when he has the ball and it showed in both goals. In the first, he stutter stepped a bit and waited for the right moment to finish. The second goal he embarrassed defender Daniel van Buyten. I'm excited to see how Diego Maradona will use him in the World Cup.

I think Cristian Chivu and Petr Cech should battle for skullcap supremacy. I can't believe the guy was playing with it not buckled up. The man has some serious stones.

One person I could have gone without watching in this game was Goran Pandev. It looked like he was playing on ice. Every person who breathed in his general direction sent him tumbling, and people think Cristiano Ronaldo is dramatic. Pandev makes Michael Phelps blush.

Bayern was much better in the second half and I really thought they were going to even the score. Robin was bouncing around the field causing some real issues for Inter's back line. It's too bad that no one else was really stepping up to compliment his efforts. He was also sporting those brand new Adidas F50 adizero's.

Props to Jose Mourinho as well. He may be brash and diva-esque at times but you can't deny that the man comes in a gets the job done. He did it with Porto, Chelsea, and now Inter. It's like he has a magnet under those expensive suits and silverware comes from all directions. His bags are already packed and on the plane to Madrid. He is the missing piece in their Galactico's puzzle. Man I need to get cable. 

Blackpool Completes Rise to Premiership

Congratulations for Blackpool for making their first ever trip to the Premier League! I hope it's a successful one for them. I wouldn't like to see another promoted team be the second coming of Derby County upon promotion to the big time.

I bet the hearing that final whistle gave Blackpool ownership a £90 million smile. Fish and chips for all! I will also be looking forward to the 'pool vs. 'pool matches. 

Becks in Afghanistan...GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!!

Here is a great article from Dirty Tackle about David Beckham's recent trip to Afghanistan.

A Cheeky England World Cup 2010 song

The friendly people over at The Spoiler brought us this wonder. Here's a presumptuous little jingle from the UK's Chinelle Steele. This is almost as good as Terry Venables "England Crazy"

Clint Dempsey's Rap Song..."Don't Tread"

Deuce is providing Team USA's warm up music for the World Cup with his single "Don't Tread". I love the entourage surrounding him while he juggles.

Eng-er-land Looking Sharp

Here is a look at England's new suits they will be wearing down in South Africa in 20 days. They are designed by Marks & Spencer and look similar to the WC winning 1966 England team.

If England end up crashing out of the WC....at least they will look good doing it.

Ronaldo Shapeshifting and Some of Today's News

"Hey David, what do you think about your new 4-year deal?" 

David Villa completes his move from Valencia where he scored 107 goals in 166 league matches. The move is Barcelona's first of the summer and it is $49 million with a buyout clause of $250 million....or about 1/3 of Man U's debt.

Ribery does the old bait and switch...extends contract with Bayern Munich. - Eurosport -

Robert Pires would rather retire than move his family to not so beautiful Philadelphia. - The Sporting News -

Liverpool might sign reality TV star for their first summer signing. - Mirror Football -

Video of Ronaldo doing his best "morph into a fat person".




David James to manage Portsmouth? - Daily Star - Would players be required to change their hair style as much as he does?

Nike Write the Future Ad = Ratings

This commercial is more than just a commercial....it's an event. In the past, Nike has gratefully given us Brazil in the airport...cage matches...the "take it to the next level" ad that followed a player progress through the ranks of profession football, and now this three minute spectacle that features a huge Ronaldo statue, Wayne Rooney with a beer belly, Ribery's teeth, and Fabio Cannavaro living like a king...which he already does on a daily basis. And a few extra surprises. Enjoy.

Ree!

Athletic Bilbao Takes on 200 Kids

Athletic Bilbao played a match against 200 Basque kids. And they won 5-3! As Barry Petchesky from Deadspin put it, "this is fitting, because playing against children are what most La Liga matches feel like for Barca and Real".

Sing-Song's of the Season

BBC's Chris Charles has compiled a list of this season's best chants....good times.

Rafa Won't be Going to Juve

All the rumors and speculation that Rafa Benitez and his poofy jacket will be moving to Juventus have gone up in smoke. BBC Sport writes that former Sampdoria manager Luigi Del Neri is taking over at Juventus after they finished 7th in Serie A. 

"IT'S-A MEEE....LUUUIIIGII!!!"

If Rafa is going to be at Liverpool next season...someone please tell him to stop playing Lucas...ish.

Valencia striker David Villa moves to Barcelona in a ?34m deal. http://bit.ly/9GXREF

That makes one team that won't be chasing Torres

Some Recent News

Fabregas out, Yaya Toure in?

- The Sun -

Ribery to United?

- Footy Latest -

Marouane Chamakh about in sign £50,000/week with Arsenal

- Daily Mail -

Tim Cahill signs new 4 year deal with Everton

- BBC Sport Football -

Gary Neville's little beard is upset with Capello's defensive picks

- The Sun -

Lerner Demonstrates How to Properly Run a Club

Great article from BBC Sport's Matt Slater on how Randy Lerner is a great example on how clubs should be owned

Massive 40 Yard Free Kick Goal

Paraguay side Sol de America gave us this treat to watch over and over and over and over again.

Weekend Full of Silverware

Unfortunately I didn't get to catch ANY games or highlights of this weekends matches until just now. I was visiting some people in Chicago and was able to go to my first Cubs game. I always love seeing baseball games in different cities for a couple of reasons. I obviously like to see the stadium and compare it to other parks, i like to see what the atmosphere is like, and I like to see whats on the menu. Wrigley is a very cool place. Watching a game in a building that old was great. There was no player into music, no huge HD scoreboard to be seen, no crazy between inning games or kiss cams and everyone sang take me out to the ball game...it was the loudest I have ever heard it sung....and also, everyone there wears black North Face jackets. I mean, I get a kick out of all those things that Wrigley didn't have and it's fun to see those huge scoreboards and kiss cams, but it was nice to go to a game and actually not be distracted by large electronics.We are definitely spoiled with Target Field here in Minneapolis.

Anyways...back to this weekends football.

Barca was an absolute juggernaut this year. They bagged there second La Liga title in as many seasons in a 4-0 win over Real Vollodolid. They won in style only losing once in 38 league games racking up a record 99 total points out of a possible 114. Lionel Messi made defenses look like they were wearing cement shoes as he found the back of the net 47 times in 53 games in all competitions...making him the frontrunner for another FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or winner. Absolutely untouchable. Barca also saw improvements with their D, allowing only 24 goals. That is an 11 goal improvement from last years 35. Is that a good season?

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan is one more trophy away to winning the Treble as his side won their fifth successive Scudetto. They got the better of Roma again this season securing the league title and beating them 1-0 to win the Coppa Italia. To lock up the treble Inter will meet up with Bayern Munich this coming Saturday for the Champions League final at the Bernabeu in Madrid.  You can catch that game on FOX starting at 2:30pm EST. I will be looking forward to Mourinho's talk all summer about how he doesn't like Italy, how he is the greatest football mind, being able to win where ever he goes, and as annoying as it is....it's hard to argue with his resume.

Chelsea sealed their double after an awesome free kick from the Drog. He is a monster of human. ESPN's WC magazine has an awesome picture of him splitting two defenders...he looks 2x the size of them. He followed the goal with this dance.

I watched the highlights from the NSC Minnesota Stars game against Miami FC and Brian Cvilikas couldn't have been anymore unlucky. He'll get his though, he's a tremendous worker and it will pay off. I still haven't been able to make a Minnesota Stars game this year. I've always had other things going on but I'm looking forward to sitting in the beer garden on a nice summer night.

On a WC note, my heart goes to Michael Ballack. He suffered an ankle injury during the FA Cup final from a horrible challenge by Kevin Prince-Boateng. This was most likely be his last chance to win a World Cup and to top the 100 cap mark. He currently sits at 98.  Scheiße!

New Look Nike Commercials

Here is a great article by Dirty Tackle that features a sneak peak at the new Nike commercials.
http://yhoo.it/bzkdir

Footballers Hide Your WAG's...Lionel Messi Wants More Than WC Glory

Lionel Messi is about as quick with sexual innuendos as he is with stepovers. He left this note to local papers regarding Ashley's Cole's ex-wife Cheryl Cole. 

"If she is looking for a new nation to follow at the World Cup, she should look no further than Argentina.

"We play the prettiest football, have the prettiest players, and Argentinian men know how to treat their women."

The playmaker added: "She would of course have to do the Tango - I don't think there would be a shortage of Argentinian players willing to teach her."

All he wants to do is a zoom-zoom-zoom and a boom boom!

Landy Cakes on Kimmel

Here is the footage of Landon Donovan from Jimmy Kimmel Live last night courtesy of ABC.com

Love the Galaxy fans in the crowd. My girlfriend was immediately looking for the Vanity Fair mag. 

Get Out the Magic Spray

Bob Bradley's US squad has already taken it's first blow with Eddie Johnson's World Cup hopes being put in doubt Wednesday. Johnson was forced out Aris FC's 2nd leg playoff match against AEK Athens with a hamstring injury. 

Coach Bob Bradley does have the ability to replace him on the preliminary list with another player if Johnson isn't healthy. Would teammate Freddy Adu take his place? If so, the WC would be a great stage for him to prove he has the ability to be a strong contributor to the future of team USA.

Ice and stretch Eddie.

Source: http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=yax

Soooo Close

Hats off to Fulham for a wonderful season that stretched 63 games, 10 months, and bags of frequent flyer miles (over 20,000 miles travelled)....thats a season that would make MLB blush. Roy Hodgson deserves the Manager of the Year award...the guy is knows what he is doing and it's good to hear he is looking forward to next season's campaign

Congrats to Atletico too. Diego Forlan and his washboard abs proved to be too much to handle. He's probably churning out a series of russian twists right now.

Blackpool on Brink of Premier League Birth

Blackpool FC beats Nottingham Forest (6-4 aggregate) to advance to the Championship playoff final. They will meet up with either Cardiff or Leicester on May 22nd for a chance to go to the Premier League for the first time.

Jozy's New Boots

Jozy Altidore tweeted a picture of his new boots he'll be wearing at the World Cup.

"JozyAltidore17 Check out my new Adidas boot that I will be wearing this summer at the World Cup! http://twitpic.com/1mzr93"

Team USA's 30 Man Prelim Roster

Just watched the announcement of Team USA's 30 man preliminary roster. Here is the list of America's finest. They will be training at the high altitude fields of Princeton University which is located in New Jersey.

Keeper: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann

Defense: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Chad Marshall, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Jonathan Spector

Midfield: DaMarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Jose Torres

Forward: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez, Eddie Johnson

Capello Releases England's 30 Man Preliminary Squad

Here is the list of England's 30 man squad and a small picture of what the US is up against for their first match of the World Cup

Keepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green

Defense: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, Matthew Upson, John Terry, Stephen Warnock

Midfield: Michael Carrick, Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips

Forwards: Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, and Emile Heskey

I think this is a strong squad mixed with good experience, young talent, speed, and attacking prowess. It would have been nice to see Bobby Zamora make the cut after his career season but his achilles issues are what is keeping him out. England will definitely make some noise at the WC which is always exciting to watch.

On another note, I can't wait to see the preliminary roster for the WAGs, who will take the captains band now that Victoria Beckham isn't available?

Only 15 minutes until coach Bob Bradley announces team USA's 30 man squad....awesome

Steven Gerrard Says Thanks but No Thanks

Captain Fantastic Steven Gerrard showed off his true frustrations with Liverpool's lackluster season on Sunday while adoring fans surrounded him at the end of the match. He wasn't playing anywhere near his best all season. Could his alleged off-field extracurriculars be the reason for snapping at the fan? That would be unfortunate. I can just see it now, wife Alex Curran walking into the bedroom to see hubby Steve sexting high school girls. Man I hope that isn't true, he has an amazing career, millions of dollars, endorsements, and bombshell wife...dude, come on. But on the flip side of that, I would be pissed if a bunch of randoms were grabbing and pulling at me. 

Will Liverpool's skipper even stay at Anfield? Word is that Man City is ready to scratch a $40 Million pound check for his services, along with other clubs like Intern Milan and Chelsea. This is the only time I have felt that the possibility of him leaving Liverpool could actually happen. Not being involved in the Champions League and the whole mess with ownership and Rafagate always in the headlines.

I would be bummed, I'll let everyone know right now that Liverpool FC is my favorite club, and seeing the foundation of the team be shipped out would be heartbreaking. Hopefully the summer will be kind to the Reds and see them back to winning ways in 2010/2011

Bayern Munich = Winners of Bundesliga Title

Ahh, the German giants put another notch in their belts today as they beat Hertha Berlin 3-1 and finished 5 points clear of Schalke 04. Instead of using the patented Gatorade cooler to wash down manager Louis van Buyten, Bastian Schweinsteiger (best last name in German soccer) opted for the Bierstiefel. Congrats to Bavaria's finest and may the celebrations go long into the night.

As for Ribery, I'm sure he has other plans for his late night celebrations...

A New Bloke in Town

I'm Chris and I'm recently unemployed and as you can imagine, have a good chunk of time during the day to kill. I've been reading multiple blogs about the greatest game on earth and they have inspired me to create my own blog. I hope whatever ends up on here in the coming months/years sparks good conversation and gives you a good laugh every now and then.

Cheers,

Chris