Beyond the drawbridge and the walls was an entire kingdom. He had not seen nor been anywhere near civilisation for countless days, seemingly forever.

Encampment, huh?

A man dressed in a white and black robe lined with red, walked up to the man leading the guards and muttered a few quick words to him. He turned to Gareth and spoke to him in their local language. Gareth replied with a single word and turned to Esiko.

“This is Altidore de Saggio. He’s the emperor of this kingdom, Ottavoregno. Or “Eighth Kingdom”. This place also happens to be Trezejor’s home, as well as home to thousands, perhaps millions of magicians, for this is the land of magicians. Unfortunately, alot of the magicians only speak Viellizr, the language of magics.”

Trezejor nodded. He clasped his wet, bloody hand over his deep wound in his side and collapsed. Altidore hovered his magically glowing hand over the wounded mage, healing him briefly. The glow faded and Trezejor slowly stood up.

“We should head into my fortress. Then we can heal Trezejor and prepare for your long journey ahead,” Advised Altidore. He was surprisingly fluent in the English language.

They headed up the stairs leading up to the top of the hill, where Esiko could see the towering fortress ahead.

“Esiko, do you know of the prophecy?” asked Altidore.

“No. What is it?”

“I’ll tell you soon enough. For now, you must not know.”

At last, they had arrived. It wasn’t what Esiko had expected. The fortress was afloat on plumes of silvery smoke that wafted from beneath the building. Altidore waved his hand over the lock on the door as it magically unlocked. The large wooden door creaked open, welcoming its guests to a warm home. They walked up  the steps into the fortress. Esiko’s eyes wandered to the guards that stood post inside. They each wore grey leather armour and held long metals staves that pulsated energy.

“Sarvizio! Abbiamo bisogno di medici! Veloce!” called Altidore.

“Trezejor will be all right now,” assured Gareth as Altidore’s medics rushed into the room, surrounding Trezejor with their soothing healing.

That’s good. Hope he’s going to be alright.

“This procedure will take a while. Especially with those wounds of his,” informed the head medic, “And I am Sarvizio”

Altidore sighed, “Come with me. I’ll show you to the guests’ rooms.”

Gareth and Esiko followed him as he led them down a corridor to their rooms. Esiko peeked through his room’s door. Like the rest of the fortress, everything inside was fine and expensive.

He opened the door and walked in. He laid on his bed and relaxed for just a moment.

Suddenly, his head was spinning and began pounding. Esiko stood up and stumbled around. His blood ran cold. Esiko no longer saw a luxurious room, but the side of a cliff, lit by the moon. The place reeked of death.

What’s going on? ..Is this some kind of magic? What have they done to me?

He blinked, as if though he were able to rid his nightmare with blinks. He struggled to focus his eyes, but there was nothing he could do to help. He couldn’t control his body, and found himself trying to grasp hold of something in the darkness. Esiko watched blood splatter onto the cliff side and an unidentifiable man lying on the ground in a pool of glistening red liquid. It was obvious to see what it was, even in his fazed eyes. It was blood. The young prince blacked out.

I always like to end my coaching sessions with a competition of some sorts that the players look forward too and lets them take their minds off the technical side of our sport and allow the fun side to envelope them for 10 minutes.

It ends the session on a high and all the players usually want more of the same. I know it makes them want to come back for the next session which is great news when you’re the coach.

So I use games like this end of training finishing drill which the US National Team use with their players.

It’s a simple miss and you’re out, score and you get another turn exercise. You are also getting players thinking without realizing it. Should they place it or go for power. Which technique will they use. They will all want to win so they will concentrate.

Watch this clip of the US team playing the exercise at the end of training.

Defender Steve Cherundolo is captain of the US team and plays for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga. He said: “When it matters I try and concentrate a bit more and score a few goals. It was fun.”

The winner of the drill this time was forward Jozy Altidore. He said (with a big grin): “I always want to be number one!”

Watch it here:

The infamous summer transfer window is now well and truly shut. UEFA have told everyone to shut up and make do until January now. But are all the Premier League clubs sufficiently stocked?

Hull, Liverpool and Man City are next up.

Hull

Phil Brown’s side were lucky not to be relegated last season after a dreadful run of form in the last couple of months of their first Premier League year. The priority in the summer, like so many other clubs, was to add a goal scorer as well as strengthening all other areas of the team.

While Hull searched out strikers, half of their defence was leaving for pastures new. Sam Ricketts headed west to Bolton and Michael Turner signed for Sunderland. After targeting Michael Owen throughout the early part of the summer, the Tigers had to settle for Jozy Altidore and Kamel Ghilas. Hardly recognised players, but the early signs have been promising.

Without Turner, the defence looks much more liable to be breached this season. Ibrahima Sonko has been brought in on loan as a like-for-like replacement but there are doubts over his ability to do the job. The top league credentials of Paul McShane and Steven Mouyokolo are also debatable, but at £3million Stephen Hunt is a steal.

Liverpool

After Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa defected to Real Madrid, Rafa Benitez’s precedence was to replace the pair. Another striker to challenge Fernando Torres and company would have also not gone a miss- the likes of David N’Gog struggled to make an impact last season.

Benitez entered the market to sign an Italian crock at what he called a ‘bargain’ £20million. Alonso replacement Alberto Aquilani won’t be fit until October time due to an ankle injury, and has had many injury problems in the past. But he does have a lovely girlfriend. Glen Johnson was Arbeloa’s replacement and looks like establishing himself as England’s first choice right back in the process.

But Liverpool decided not to sign a striker. That was surely in some part down to the financial problems of Reds owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. An injury of any longevity for Fernando Torres and Liverpool’s title dreams could be over sharpish.

Man City

City had the aim this summer of going out and signing anyone who was any good and available. Or so it seemed.

First, and arguably most importantly, came Gareth Barry. His role as the seamless tie between defence and attack will be absolutely vital to City’s chances of success. Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez give manager Mark Hughes a mouth-watering array of forwards. Meanwhile Joelon Lescott and Kolo Toure will complement each other well at the back.

After basically changing the complete core of the side, City have done fantastically to start the way they have. It will be interesting to see if any players get reckless with Mark Hughes’ rotational policy and seek a move away in January.

Photos: Thanks to Diego M. Valenzuela (Altidore), lessio (Aquilani) and Alfonso Jimenez (Tevez).

Since I don’t have an allegiance to any club in the Premiership, I usually pick a team with a few American players I’d like to see succeed. Fulham has been a safe bet for the past few years, with Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey playing major roles with the club. This year, I’m going with Hull City and hoping that their new addition (and the latest to claim the title of ‘the future of US Soccer’) Jozy Altidore can finally have his breakout season. If the US squad is going to get past the first round in next summer’s World Cup, Jozy will need to be in top form. With any luck, a season spent fighting to avoid relegation will keep prep him for a competitive summer in South Africa.

Substitute Jozy Altidore made an immediate impact to help Hull put their midweek defeat by Spurs behind them.

Debutant Altidore’s first touch set up new signing Kamel Ghilas to volley beyond keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

A dominant display from Bolton had seen Kevin Davies, Matt Taylor, Johan Elmander and ex-Tiger Sam Ricketts all come close to scoring.

But Bolton were unable to put away their chances and Ghilas’s goal secured Hull’s first win in 12 games.

It is now 12 matches since Bolton last won away and manager Gary Megson was left to rue his team’s inability to put away the many chances they created.

For Hull manager Phil Brown, who had taken his players on an inspirational visit to the club’s former Boothferry Park ground on Friday, it was the perfect riposte to the 5-1 defeat to Spurs.

Indeed, Brown had declared Bolton’s visit as the start of the season for his club and the victory was exactly the kind of beginning he had hoped for.

Megson, however, will be scratching his head in wonder at how Bolton managed to depart the KC Stadium without any points.

Hull’s goal came on the hour but when United States forward Altidore set up Ghilas to volley past the previously un-worked Jaaskelainen, it was completely against the run of play.

Bolton had left the field at half-time wondering how they had failed to break the deadlock despite enjoying more than 60 per cent of the possession.

Johan Elmander had unsettled the home side within minutes of the start, latching on to Fabrice Muamba’s through-ball on the edge of the area but the striker dragged his shot narrowly wide of the far post.

Despite four changes to the side that had been so roundly beaten in on Wednesday, Hull were visibly rattled and it took a good 20 minutes for the home side to settle.

Luckily for Hull, defender Andy Dawson held his composure, making a crucial goal-line clearance as he headed Sean Davis’ free-kick away after Myhill’s attempted punch had hit fresh air.

Myhill looked unnerved but settled, later pushing Matt Taylor’s vicious free-kick away and readjusting quickly to tip Kevin Davies’ cross-cum-shot over the bar.

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At the other end, Hull’s best chance came from Geovanni, making his first full start this term.

The Brazilian striker jinked past Muamba to unleash a right-foot volley that Jaaskelainen pushed beyond the near post.

It was Hull’s only real chance of the half though and Bolton were unlucky not to end the period ahead after Kevin Davies, who has just signed a contract extension with the Trotters, spurned a great chance.

The Bolton striker floated in unmarked into the area and got a foot on Sean Davis’ free-kick but he was stretching and skied his shot well over the bar.

Hull continued to live a charmed life in front of goal in the second half as Kevin Davies’ delicate ball clipped Elmander’s heel and fell invitingly into Taylor’s path but the defender’s shot was saved by Myhill.

But when the muscular 19-year-old Altidore was introduced as a like-for-like replacement for Folan, the game turned.

Shortly after setting up Hull’s goal Altidore almost made it two but he volleyed wide with only the keeper to beat.

It was Ghilas’ turn to hold his head in his hands next, the former Celta Vigo striker blasting a shot against the bar.

Bolton continued to throw everything at the home side though and Myhill had to be alive to efforts from substitutes Daniel Ward, Chung Yong Lee and a fine late shot from former Hull defender Sam Ricketts.

Jozy came on at the 60 minute mark during this weekend’s game for Hull City and managed to get an assist with his first touch – balled. Too bad he missed a couple golden chances after that – saul good, we still love you. Take that Xerxes, ya Persian punk!

So I’m late. I didn’t get to watch the entirety of the game since I had too much work to do at…work. So I streamed it while at work. That didn’t exactly work out to well with everyone else online – made for a choppy showing. Anyway, the US went ahead and basically played for the tie after that. Bunkered in and played bend, but don’t break.

Why? If you score in the ninth minute, perhaps keep the pressure on or at the very least maintain some sort of possession.  Mexico dominated possession.  They usually win the possession game, say 51% to 49%, but this was ridiculous.  Didn’t see the actual possession percentages, but I’m sure it was worse than that.  And, if you’re going to bunker in, why in the hell did Ching get to play as much as he did?  He needs service and people running off of him to be of any use.  At least Jozy can create on his own, so the need to have guys running off of him decreases.  Poor choice, Bob.  

And well done to Charlie Davies.  He played aggressively, took his chance well (didn’t on that header…), and was active.  He still has a way to go, but he’s showing great promise.

Also, Spector should have started over Cherundolo. There is no reason to switch the Confed Cup lineup. None. Spector played extremely well against superior competition. Way to jack up the chemistry, Bob.

The defeat doesn’t do much to damage their chances of going to the World Cup, but it certainly makes things a bit tighter.  And, it’s our rival.  And with they way they played in the Confed Cup, it did seem their best chance to win thus far.  We always have the Gyao, Renken, McInerny group on the way.

Lamento contradecir a Altidore, pero México terminará imponiéndose.

Altidore is off to the English Premier League, to Hull City to be exact.  Hull City?  Yes, Hull City.  Not a glamorous team, but at this point it’s all about being able to get consistent minutes for the guy.  He sat on the bench after Villareal loaned him out to some second division Spanish club (Xerez) whose name reminds me of the movie 300 and that Persian Xerxes.  The EPL will suit him just fine.  He plays physical and the refs allow much more tussling to go on unlike the in Spanish league.  Freeeedom!

Bradley names U.S. roster to face Mexico – U.S. Soccer – ESPN Soccernet.

Please, for the love of god, do not play Ching.  As a matter of fact, Bob, don’t change a damn thing from the Confederations Cup, cool?  There is no need to tinker.  That lineup played Spain and Brazil extremely well – duh.  Demerit needs to stay as does Davies.  Onyewu and Altidore are the anchors and the other are free to move around a bit more – that’s what will work best.  Yes, Altidore needs to work on his touch and playing with his back to goal, but he is still our best forward.  Let him learn under pressure.  As for Onyewu, yes, that mofo is huge and muscular, but he isn’t the quickiest guy.  He has long limbs and isn’t going to win a quickness contest.  Keep Boca on the left, where he plays for his club team, and let Spector rain in crosses from the right.  No Ching.  No Bornstein.  No Casey.  Maybe Torres midway through the second half if someone is conspicuously tired.

And for the record, I’m predicting a 2-1 USA win – first ever.  That team at the Gold Cup was straight dookie, C-team status.  I’m a massive US soccer fanboy, but they played horrible competition while having people sing their praises (Beckerman, Marshal, even Holden, I’m not yet willing to give him anything since he disappeared in the Mexico game after they lost their minds).

Source: BBC

The Tigers have called a media conference for Thursday to announce Altidore’s arrival and the signing of Stoke midfielder Seyi Olofinjana. The 19-year-old Altidore, who helped the US reach the Confederations Cup final, revealed the move on Twitter.

“First match is against Chelsea, subject to a work permit *wink* *wink*,” wrote Altidore. “Thanks for the support and love – keep it coming.”

Altidore has been at Villarreal for just over a year, signing for the Spanish club in June 2008 from the New York Red Bulls for a reported fee of £6m. The American, who is believed to be available for £6.5m, appeared infrequently for Villarreal and was loaned to Xerex Deportivo in Spain’s second division. Hull broke their transfer fee record last season when the club signed Jimmy Bullard for £5m. But they have struggled to attract big-name strikers during the close season, with Michael Owen, Bobby Zamora, Fraizer Campbell and Marc-Antoine Fortune all opting not to join Hull.

****

In my opinion, this should prove to be a beneficial move for Altidore. I do hope that he gets the playing time he is looking for and that that results in raising his fitness level in the ramp up for WC2010.

-R

As we mentioned before, after the Confederations Cup ended, we would be interested in seeing how the U.S.  Soccer team continued its public relations campaign now that the team has connected with a fair bit of Americans.  We were a little harsh on the USSF for its failure to get into the sports dialogue, but so far they have done a good job of continuing the momentum (for the record, we will NEVER use the word “buzz”) built during their run to the Confed Cup Finals.

On the day of the final against Brazil, Jere Longman at the NYTimes has this piece about defender Jay Demerit.  The article was exactly what we’ve been hoping for from the USSF: a profile piece of a player with an interesting backstory.  Though Demerit is not necessarily a star on the team, the USSF (or Longman, we don’t have any knowledge of how the story came to be) dug a little past the performance on the field to get the full story.  A story like Demerits may endear him to some casual fans as it’s a classic underdog-makes-good story.

Throughout the week the USSF has made some appearances on major outlets to maintain exposure and shift toward the rest of the summer’s schedule.  For example, Alexi Lalas, a U.S. Soccer legend, made an appearance on Colbert Report, which is about as non-traditional sports media as one can get while Jozy Altidore appeared on ESPN’s First Take today.

The Lalas bit on Colbert actually took me by surprise; I wouldn’t have expected anything like that on Colbert, so it was a great job by USSF (or may have been ESPN since he works there) to put Lalas in front of a non-sports audience.  Undoubtedly, some watching connected their memories of the U.S. hosting the World Cup to the newest edition of the team, thus creating a bridge to either bring soccer fans back or to build on a past memory.

We didn’t get to see the Altidore interview, so we can’t comment on what he said.  However, we’re willing to guess that Jozy was up in Bristol for a whole carwash of taped appearances.  This strategy may be better than having him make a run of shows because it can stagger some publicity for the team.  Also kudos to USSF for getting its youngest (and one of its best) players out there to build a personality that people can identity with.

We’re pleased with the developments and exposure this week.  Here’s hoping it continues.  Either way, you can bet that we’ll be on top of it.

Are you kidding me, a 2-0 result against the number 1 team in the world?  Did anyone expect this?  I thought if we got out of there on the wrong side of 2-0 or 3-0 then we would have done a pretty good job to hold this high potent goal scoring team.  Their bench could start for most other countries in the world.

The US saw players stepped up in a crucial match which was awesome to see.  What was also impressive is that Ricardo Clark was memorable and had a strong impact in the game for a change.  I am not getting my hopes up, I am not sure if this was an anomaly or something for him to feed off of going forward.

Our back 4 of DeMerit, Gooch, Bocanegra and Spector was awesome and should be locked in (barring injury) for the World Cup.

Jozy was as strong as an ox and gave the Spanish defense something to fear all night.  He and Davies up top are just two menaces that we haven’t seen in the US maybe ever with that combination of speed and strength.

A match like this gives you that extra national pride!

Estados Unidos – Brasil 2 – 3

Gran final la disputada entre ambas selecciones que en nada se pareció al partido entre las mismas en la fase de grupos. Fue un partido de caras diferentes, en la primera mitad hubo más dominio de EEUU y en la segunda parte fue un ataque y gol de Brasil, que supo como jugar a pesar de ir contra resultado y con poco tiempo.

El partido comenzó con ambas selecciones observándose y estudiándose, hasta que en el minuto 8, un centro de Spector desde la banda derecha bue rematado por Dempsey que hizo el 1-0. Después de eso, Brasil atacó pero EEUU, era un muro y en el minuto 20, un sque de esquina mal sacado por la canarinha, fue convertido en un contragolpe dirigido por Dempsey y transformado por Donovan. Minuto 20 y se le ponía todo muy cuesta arriba a Brasil, que empezó un ataque asiduo contra USA sin fortuna y EEUU, probaba de hacer alguna contra con mucho peligro.

Nada más empezar la segunda parte, Luis Fabiano se revolvió en el área de Brasil y metió un cañonazo que hizo despertar a Brasil. A parir de ahí Brasil intensificó los ataques haciendo retroceder a los Estadounidenses que no podían hacer otra cosa que defender y una gran jugada individual de Kakà por la banda izquierda, fue rematada al larguero por Robinho y el rechaze empujado con la testa por Luis Fabiano, empate en el minuto 73 y con un acoso aún mayor el que sometía Brasil a Estados Unidos. En el minuto 84, un córner sacado por Elano, fue rematado impecablemente por Lucio que hacía rugir a la canarinha y destrozaba las ilusiones norteamericanas, a partir de ese momento ocurrió algún pequeño intento norteamericano, que no hizo sudar mucho a Brasil.

Gran final, el ganador fue el que se esperaba, pero Estados Unidos tiene unos jugadores muy avanzados futbolísticamente hablando y curtidos en Europa, además tiene jugadores jóvenes como Altidore y Apu que darán que hablar y que probablemente lleguen al Mundial. Brasil, se está reencontrando, tras algunos meses dónde no parecía la pentacampeona del mundo, ha ganado la Copa Confederaciones ganando todos los partidos. También hay que apuntar que España, seguramente estará luchando por los primeros puestos y que Sudáfrica si se sueltan un poco más, pueden dar que hablar.

The United States ended Spain’s record winning streak with a 2-0 upset victory that gave it an unlikely but deserved place in the Confederations Cup final. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey exposed a sluggish Spanish defense and Tim Howard made several quality saves to stop Spain’s record run at 15 wins and put the Americans into their first FIFA men’s final at any level. Altidore took a deflected pass from Dempsey in the 27th minute, turned Joan Capdevila and beat Iker Casillas with a shot that bounced off the goalkeeper’s hand and into the net.

One of the things we’ve been playing around with recently is a method for measuring the success of substitutes.  We all know that a substitute can help change the tenor of the game:  adding the spark for a late goal, calming nerves, or just improving the level of play.  But none of that is really captured in traditional statistics.  So we decided to start compiling some of our own.  (As we’ve stated before, anything new is old.  If you happen to know that these were used by someone else first, we’d be glad to acknowledge it.  But to the best of our knowledge, we haven’t seen anything like this before.)

We’ll use Men’s National Team players’ statistics from January 1, 2008 through the June 25, 2009 Spain match.

Points-Based Statistics

If we think of each match in terms of its points (3 for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss), we can compile a couple statistics: Points Saved; Points Earned; Points Lost.  For example, if a player enters during a tie game and the game ends in a tie, that player saved 1 point.  If a player enters a tie game and his side ends up winning it, he has earned 2 points and saved 1 point.  Conversely, if a player enters when the game is tied and the team ends up losing, he has lost 1 point.

Now, this creates a little imbalance:  one goal in a tie match can either earn your team two extra points or cost them only one.  But, that’s the reality of soccer.

Applying this to the U.S. team, here are our leaders over the past two years in each category:

Points Earned:

• Benny Feilhaber (2)
• DaMarcus Beasley (2)
• Frankie Hejduk (2)
• Jose Francisco Torres (1)
• Jozy Altidore (1)

Points Saved:

• Eddie Lewis (13)
• Sacha Kljestan (12)
• Benny Feilhaber (11)
• Freddy Adu (10)

Points Lost:

• Brad Guzan (1)
• DaMarcus Beasley (1)
• Charlie Davies (1)
• Frankie Hejduk (1)
• Josh Wolff (1)

Ties Preserved & Ties Converted:

Coaches generally are assumed to bring subs on in tie games for two reasons: (1) to not give up any goals and (2) to try, if possible, to help the team score the go-ahead goal.  So, one measure of a substitute’s effectiveness would be to measure both how many times they entered a game in a tie and kept at least the tie and how many times they were on the field when the team converted the tie into a win.  Right now, a Tie Converted is also a Tie Preserved… so you get a sense of how many tie games they’ve entered.  We could break it up into Ties Entered; Ties Converted; Ties Preserved; Ties Surrendered/Lost.  But since converting the tie adds only 2 points to your score, it seems reasonable to keep Ties Converted the way it is.

Ties Preserved

• Benny Feilhaber (2)
• Maurice Edu (2)
• Eddie Lewis; DaMarcus Beasley; Frankie Hejduk; Freddy Adu (1)

Ties Converted:

• Benny Feilhaber; DaMarcus Beasley; Frankie Hejduk (1)

Goal Differential:

One of our favorite hockey statistics is the +/- which is used to get a sense for what happens on the ice when the player is there, even if the player doesn’t technically get credit for a goal/assist/or given up goal.  Because soccer’s such a team sport and often times a player has an important, but indirect, effect on the game, we thought it would be fun to try and apply it to soccer.  Here are the U.S. leaders in Goal +/-

• Freddy Adu (7)
• Jozy Altidore (6)
• Jose Francisco Torres (5)
• Eddie Lewis (4)

And at the bottom, Brad Guzan (-2) who conceded goals to both England and Spain as a second-half sub for Tim Howard.

Card Differential

Recent events have reminded US fans of how large an impact yellow and red cards can have on a team.  And it is our theory that sometimes substitutes help calm things down.  And other times that they rile things up.  So we decided to try the +/- with Card Differential (Yellow = 1 card; Red = 2 cards).  It is calculated so each of our cards is minus the appropriate points and each of their cards adds to the total.

The best American subs in Card +/-

• Sacha Kljestan (6) . . . which is odd considering he is the only American substitute to be carded (2 yellow cards)
• Eddie Lewis (3)
• Six players tied at (1)

The worst American subs in Card +/-

• Benny Feilhaber (-4)
• Conor Casey (-3)
• Josh Wolff (-2)

That’s what we have for now.  We welcome your feedback.

Facing elimination, the U.S. soccer team dethrones top-seeded Spain in the Confederations Cup.  If we loved soccer as much as we love football everyone would be dancing in the streets right now!

Instead you’ll probably just watch Altidore score in this miraculous 27th minute. You gotta love it! The finals game is on Sunday and the U.S.  faces either Brazil or South Africa. I’ll be watching, will you?

Ni Egipto, ni Italia… Estados Unidos es la revelación en la Copa Confederaciones, tras derrotar a España y clasificarse para la final

Iker Casillas se lamenta, de la derrota de la Selección en el partido de ayer

Los españoles habíamos perdido la costumbre. El maravilloso juego que nuestra selección de fútbol ha venido realizando en los dos últimos años nos ha mantenido en una nube durante 35 partidos invictos. Pero esa racha se rompió ayer, y no porque los nuestros no le pusieran empeño, sino porque esta vez, la suerte de campeón no estuvo de nuestro lado. Si alguien se hubiese aventurado a decir que Estados Unidos iba a ser la sorpresa en esta Copa Confederaciones, seguramente se le habría tachado de loco. Pero es cierto, los ‘yanquis’ están en la final.

Si creíamos que la mayor sorpresa ya la dio Egipto al derrotar a Italia, estábamos muy equivocados. Y es que una carambola de este sorprendente deporte llamado fútbol, hizo que Italia perdiera frente a Brasil, y que Estados Unidos, con 3 goles ante Egipto, consiguiera la carambola de pasar a semifinales. ‘El fútbol es asín’, ‘no hay rival pequeño’… todos los tópicos se quedan pequeños ante el combinado estadounidense, que ha demostrado que en aquél país, aparte de al baloncesto y al baseball, también saben darle al balompié. Ayer, dos llegadas al área de España, con sendos fallos en nuestra defensa, hicieron que el ‘tiqui-taca’ de la roja no valiera para nada. Dos goles exactamente, el primero de Altidore en la primera parte, y el segundo de Dempsey, ya en los segundos 45 minutos. Ambos tantos fueron fruto de un organizado juego a la contra de Estados Unidos, y que consiguió poner nerviosa a la zaga española, que cometió dos clamorosos fallos en las dos jugadas de gol. Aún así, España no arrojó la toalla, y gozó de numerosas ocasiones, que siempre se toparon con la defensa ‘yanqui’, o con las manos del guardameta Howard, magnífico en el día de ayer.

A pesar del fiasco que nos hayamos podido llevar, quisiera sacar algo positivo de esta derrota. Quizá hemos cometido un gran error, el viejo error de vender la piel del oso antes de cazarla, proque todos en nuestro país daban por hecho la victoria de la selección en este campeonato de talla menor, en el que parecía que los únicos rivales ‘decentes’ para los nuestros iban a ser Italia y Brasil. Tal ha sido el desinterés, o la seguridad de dar por hecho esto por parte de los medios, que en lugar de ocuparse de la información de la selección, han optado por informar de fichajes, o del pique entre Joan Laporta y Florentino Pérez. Por otro lado, pienso que esta derrota nos va a venir bien, porque nos ha hecho ver que jugar bien (como ayer hizo la selección española), no es una ciencia exacta para lograr siempre la victoria. Tenemos que asumir que todos los equipos, a partir de ahora, van a tratar de derrotar a España, porque es la que, a día de hoy, juega mejor al fútbol. Y también tendremos que acostumbrarnos a que nuestros rivales traten de blindar sus porterías, y jugar a la contra, como hizo Estados Unidos ayer. ¿Dónde está lo positivo en todo esto? Pues en suministrar, tanto a los jugadores como a los aficionados españoles, una dosis de humildad. No quiero decir con esto que nos mereciéramos esta lección, todo lo contrario, España mereció ganar el partido de ayer, por el homenaje al fútbol que supone el juego de los nuestros. Pero aún así, creo que esta derrota puede resultar muy constructiva de cara al Mundial del próximo año, y en el que estoy convencido de que España llegará lejos, volviendo a deslumbrar a todo el mundo. ¡Hasta el próximo año Sudáfrica, la revancha será nuestra!

Esta noticia tengo que postearla. Hoy Estados Unidos ha sorprendido a todo el mundo, le ha ganado nada más y nada menos que a la selección del momento: España.

Ha jugado un gran partido ante el mejor equipo del mundo (según la FIFA) y ha conseguido romper su racha de 35 partidos invicto y 15 victorias consecutivas.

Sabemos por los Juegos Olímpicos que Estados Unidos es una potencia en muchos deportes, pero siempre ha tenido un punto débil en el deporte del fútbol, es decir, si había algún deporte en el que EE.UU. fuera débil era éste.

Pero ahora vemos que ha invertido, ha formado buenos jugadores y que puede jugarle de igual a igual a cualquier equipo. Sin duda, un ejemplo de esfuerzo y dedicación.

Hoy le ha hecho 2 goles a España, el primero por un mal marcaje que dejó a Iker Casillas sólo frente a Altidore y el segundo gol por un error de Sergio Ramos en el despeje que nuevamente dejó a Casillas mal parado.

Supongo que la final de la Copa Confederaciones Sudáfrica 2009 será Estados Unidos – Brasil y que los pentacampeones del mundo se llevarán por cuarta vez el trofeo… pero todo puede pasar, al menos eso es lo que hemos aprendido de los norteamericanos.

Les dejo el video con los goles [véanlo desde el minuto 0.40]

Por difícil de creer que parezca, España ha perdido el partido de las semifinales de la Copa Confederaciones esta noche frente a los EE.UU.; el resultado final ha sido de 0-2 a favor de los estadounidenses, que sin desplegar un juego de calidad han conseguido aprovechar las pocas ocasiones de gol que han tenido para anotar dos tantos y llevarse el partido. Sorpresa, que cabía esperar como decía en el último post sobre deportes, en el que anunciaba que lo más lógico era esperar una final Brasil contra España, pero que se podía dar la situación de que ni España ni Brasil llegasen a la final. Y de momento España ha caído.

Para quien no haya visto el partido hay que decirle que España, por juego y por ocasiones de gol, mereció la victoria, pero los refranes y dichos populares no son infalibles, y por mucho que fue el cántaro a la fuente, no se ha roto nada; nada salvo las ilusiones de los aficionados y seguidores de la selección española, que esperaban una final inédita en una competición internacional que enfrentase a los españoles frente a los brasileños. El partido estuvo muy interesante durante la primera mitad, los dos equipos jugaban a su modo (porque cuando un equipo sólo sabe jugar de una manera, sólo puede jugar así, y no se le puede pedir otra cosa). España tocaba y tocaba la pelota, y en el inicio del partido los estadounidenses corrían detrás del balón sin tocarlo. Así se esperaba que transcurriese todo el partido con una fórmula sencilla: tocando el balón, sin perderlo, teniendo más posesión que el rival, obligándole a correr detrás de los jugadores españoles, a modo de ronda, como acostumbra a jugar España en los últimos tiempos, tal y como jugó en la pasada Eurocopa. Y los resultados fueron inmejorables. Pero hoy no.

Los jugadores españoles no han estado finos. A pesar de la gran diferencia de llegadas a la portería rival y de disparos a portería (creo que España ha estado cerca de la treintena de tiros, fuera y entre los tres palos), a pesar de que Manolo Lama se desgañitaba diciendo que con paciencia llegarían los goles, que no pasaba nada porque EE.UU. se adelantase en el marcador con un gol de Altidore tras un fallo del defensa español que le marcaba, que le dejó vía libre hacia la portería de Íker Casillas; a pesar de que en el juego España ha sido superior, el cansancio que se ha notado en la selección española en el segundo tiempo ha sido determinante.

Los jugadores cuando están cansados no piensan con rapidez, pierden la agilidad, y por mucho que quieran tocar el balón y llegar al área rival, pueden hacerlo porque su calidad es superior a la del rival que tienen enfrente. Así lo ha hecho España hoy; en algunos momentos del partido le ha imprimido velocidad al juego, han tocado el balón como han querido, pero a medida que pasaban los últimos 45 minutos del partido, la selección española se ha venido abajo. Puyol ha cometido algunos errores que no puede cometer un defensa central; Sergio Ramos no ha encarado al lateral que le defendía, y además de no estar bien en ataque, ha provocado el segundo gol de los Estados Unidos al querer controlar el balón en el área pequeña, con Casillas mal colocado tras un centro, y con un delantero – Dempsey- detrás de él; el estadounidense ha estado listo, se ha anticipado y ha metido gol. Ni Villa ni Fernando Torres, los dos delanteros de la selección española, han visto portería, han tenido ocasiones, han tirado a puerta, se han quedado con el balón en los pies dentro del área grande y del área chica, pero no había forma de meter gol. Cuando el balónon quiere entrar no entra, y no hay nada que hacer; los dos centrocampistas, Xavi y Xabi Alonso, rompían la línea medular de los jugadores estadounidenses, pero el último pase nunca ha sido bueno. O demasiado largo, o era interceptado por los defensas, o los delanteros controlaban mal o perdían el balón al querer regatear, y cuando tiraban, el balón iba fuera, era rechazado por los defensas o el tiro lo paraba el portero.

Hasta la entrada de Mata, jugador del Valencia, en la recta final del segundo tiempo, no ha habido desborde por las bandas; y aun así los desbordes han brillando por su ausencia cuando Mata entró al terreno de juego. Ha encarado un par de veces, pero en lugar de buscar el regate, buscaba el centro, y los centrales estadounidenses -sobre todo Onyewu, un central que ha estado brillante en el partido de esta noche, no había balón colgado al área que no despejase Onyewu- no han permitido que los centros de los españoles llegasen a buen puerto. Las jugadas por las bandas se han intentado, pero sólo se ha centrado, nunca se ha desbordado por velocidad -mientras que los delanteros estadounidenses le han ganado la espalda en varias ocasiones a Puyol, los españoles no han podido con los centrales de EE.UU.-, y así no había manera. Se jugaba mejor, se daban más toques, se mareaba al equipo rival, se tenía más posesión de balón… pero al final lo que cuenta es meter más goles que el rival, y dos fallos defensivos de la defensa española han provocado los dos goles, de Altidore y Dempsey.

Toda la segunda parte de España fue un quiero y no puedo (y en realidad todo el partido, para ser claros). Sobre todo a partir del segundo tanto en contra. Vicente del Bosque no ha querido quitar ni a Torres ni a Villa para meter a Llorente, delantero centro del Ahtletic Club de Bilbao y único jugador que podía intentar ganar los balones por alto que jugaban los laterales y los extremos. Llorente -junto a Piqué, central del F.C. Barcelona, que al final del partido se decidió a subir arriba y quedarse más o menos de tercer delantero centro en busca de balones por alto- era el único que podía ganar a Onyewu. Pero el seleccionador español no le sacó. Sólo salieron al campo Cazorla y Mata, dos jugadores de toque, con velocidad para desbordar, para intentar buscar el tanto que acercase en el marcador a España; pero no ha habido manera.

No entraba en los planes la derrota, y la racha de España hacía presagiar que se iba a llegar a la final. Pero ningún equipo puede ganar o empatar todos los partidos, es decir, ningún equipo puede no perder eternamente ningún partido. Tarde o temprano se pierde, y a España le ha tocado en las semifinales de un torneo menor, sin mucha importancia; pero el mal sabor de boca, pero la amargura, están ahí. La selección estadounidense no ha merecido la victoria, si se tiene en cuenta cómo ha sido el partido. Pero al haber metido dos goles, al haber conseguir marcar y su rival no, se ha merecido al final la victoria porque no gana el equipo con más posesión de balón y más tiros a puerta: gana el que mete más goles. No hay más tutía. Se puede estar triste por la derrota, o simplemente levantarse mañana y seguir viviendo (que sin que nadie me llame antipatriota, va a ser lo que voy a hacer yo, una derrota de España no es tanto como para entristecer mi vida). Los jugadores españoles tendrán que esperar hasta el sábado para jugar el último partido, demasiado tiempo, pero así lo ha decidido la organización.

Mañana se juega la otra semifinal, Brasil contra Sudáfrica. Veremos si a Brasil también le llega la mala suerte en el torneo; en el caso de perder el partido del tercer y cuarto puesto sería el que presumiblemente iba a ser la fnal: Brasil contra España. Al igual que España ha sido superior a los EE.UU., (aun con un cansancio mucho mayor), mañana Brasil puede ser superior a Sudáfrica y perder.

Todo puede pasar; lo hemos visto muchas veces en el fútbol, la última de ellas esta noche.

Hace minutos, Landon Donovan comando un tipico equipo estadounidense a la victoria contra un atipico equipo español. El campeon de CONCACAF, contra el campeon de Europa. Baby Jesus hizo el milagro.

Siempre se ha dicho: “Los partidos hay que jugarlos” y como esa, quinientas frases mas del diccionario futbolero, que España parecio olvidar. Estaba claro Del Bosque y tambien lo habian dicho los jugadores: los EEUU saben jugar al futbol. No entretienen, hacen un juego aburrido, lo que usted quiera decirle, es cierto; pero tambien es cierto que ganaron inobjetablemente.

Lo supo Piquet cuando vio el segundo gol adentro. Era la daga. Porque se defendian bien los americanos, peleaban atras con el libro de la teoria en la mano. El portero no tomaba una sola pelota, despejaba de puños todas, al igual que sus defensas solo la botaban ya fuera al saque de banda o al corner. Despues veian que hacer … y les salio.

Final USA-Brasil, pues Sudafrica no lo va a hacer. Se nos cayo la final soñada, pero esta Copa nos dejo un partido para recordar y que tal vez cambie la historia del juego en este pais de baseball y hockey.