Gold Cup 2011

[Army of Dad]

I was really impressed with Ream and Jones. Those were two of our weakest positions in South Africa. With Bradley, Jones Dempsey and Donovan the midfield is better than most. Too bad Holden is out, so we could have moved Dempsey up top.

I would have preferred to see a 4-5-1 tried if Holden was here. Leave Bradley and Jones/Edu for defensive cover and let Holden play in the hole behind Jozy with LD and Clint on the wings.

[Mean Green Matt]

Final from game 1 tonight (Group B from FIU Stadium): Jamaica 2-0 Guatemala

With that win, the "Raggae Boyz" join Mexico as the two teams to have clinched a spot in the knockout round.

Grenada and Honduras are playing right now. Grenada took an early lead (with I think their first goal in Gold Cup history...I'm watching in spanish so I'm not real sure), but Honduras responded within minutes with two quick goals and is leading 2-1.

EDIT: 3-1 Honduras. They have responded to the Grenada goal with 3 goals in 18 minutes.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Mean Green Matt

[Adub4ever]

greneda is playing honduras at FIU Stadium aka "the cage".... i can really see why they call it that.... its kinda cool how close the seats are too the field, but it looks extremely wierd at the same time how the tunnels for the fans are so low and close as well.... i think its more of a MLS style Soccer Specific Stadium more so than a D1 Football stadium....

[Mean Green Matt]

greneda is playing honduras at FIU Stadium aka "the cage".... i can really see why they call it that.... its kinda cool how close the seats are too the field, but it looks extremely wierd at the same time how the tunnels for the fans are so low and close as well.... i think its more of a MLS style Soccer Specific Stadium more so than a D1 Football stadium....

I was thinking that stands looked really close to the field as well, but the football sidelines are well inside of the soccer sidelines. I never thought of FIU stadium that way, but now that you mention it, it really does seem like a soccer specific stadium...

[Mean Green Matt]

Final: Honduras 7-1 Grenada

Honduras just took out all of their frustrations on Grenada. Grenada joins Cuba in the "teams eliminated from tournament" club. Honduras all but clinches a spot in the knockout round.

Tomorrows games:

USA vs. Panama!!!!!

Canada vs. Guadaloupe

After tomorrow we should have a pretty good idea how things are going to shake out.

[Mean Green Matt]

USA vs. Panama kicks off at 7pm on Fox Soccer Channel.

Canada vs. Guadaloupe is immediately before the USA game. Not sure on TV for that one.

[Mean Green Matt]

Guadaloupe got a red card in the third minute and is playing down a man, but has still managed to keep Canada scoreless. 0-0 at the half.

[bstnsportsfan3]

right as i type this....usa scores....still down 2-1 and wasnt looking good at all before that goal...usa even got a yellow card for flopping...hope this is a start

[Mean Green Matt]

[UNTflyer]

First loss ever for the USA in Gold Cup group play.

[H-towngreen]

For the love of god can we please fire Bradley now?

[Mean Green Matt]

Well, the Mavericks win last night helped me get over that loss to Panama, so now that my anger is gone I guess I'll post an update.

Scores from last night:

El Salvador 6-1 Cuba

Mexico 4-1 Costa Rica

Cuba gets bounced from the Tournament with a -15 goal differential (apparently communism isn't good for soccer). Mexico wins the group, with Costa Rica in second. Both of those teams move to the knockout round. El Salvador has a great chance to move on sitting on 4 points, but won't know for sure until Tuesday night.

Here is the bracket if the tourney started right now. The teams in Red are locked in their position. Keep in mind this has a good chance of changing, but also could stay the same.

A2 - Costa Rica

B2 - Honduras

A1 - Mexico

B3/C3 - Canada

B1 - Jamaica

C2 - USA

C1 - Panama

A3/B3 - El Salvador

Jamaica and Honduras play tonight to decide the B1/B2 spots. They only flip if Honduras gets the win. Guatemala and Grenada play to stay alive in the tournament. The loser is eliminated, and the winner will have to wait until Tuesdays results to know if they make the knockout round. If they tie, both are eliminated.

[KRAM1]

Terrible effort by the US squad...really not much more to say...they earned the loss...that's for certain. Very disappointing. Panama no less...the Gold Cup no less...it should be a two team race this year...plain and simple...USA and Mexico, but right now I am not too sure about the US. Play like they did against Panama and OUCH. Sad display of effort from the US squad...hard to watch. Only late in the game did they play with any passion and by then it was pretty much over.

Let's hope this wakes them up...I really did not think they played that well against Canada in that win...US should have dominated from the opening whistle...they did not!

BUT...USA....USA...GO USA!!!!!!

[Travis]

USA really isn't that good of a team. I hate to say it but the truth is we don't play well together. We have a very lousy defense and have had such for the past 3 years. I am hoping to see better chemistry and smarter play, but we don't seem to have a lot of promise in our future prospects.

[Mean Green Matt]

USA really isn't that good of a team. I hate to say it but the truth is we don't play well together. We have a very lousy defense and have had such for the past 3 years. I am hoping to see better chemistry and smarter play, but we don't seem to have a lot of promise in our future prospects.

That's not really true...most of the prospects are just a few years away from being mature/prepared enough for the full national team.

[Mean Green Matt]

Final from Game 1 tonight: Guatemala 4-0 Grenada

That eliminates Grenada officially, and guarantees Guatemala a spot in the quarterfinals, we just don't know which one yet. It depends on which other 3rd place team advances (either group A, which is El Salvador, or Group C, which could be any team in the group still technically).

The Guatemala win also forces Canada to BEAT Panama tomorrow to stay alive...a draw will do nothing for Canada because of their goal differential. The USA could technically lose tomorrow and stil make the quarterfinals, as long as Canada ALSO loses, and the USA loss was by less than 3 goals.

Edited June 14, 2011 by Mean Green Matt

[MeanGreenHoops]

So if somehow we continue the pathetic effort recently and lost to Guadeloupe, does Bradley survive? I for one would hope not.

[Mean Green Matt]

Final from Game 2 tonight: Jamaica 1-0 Honduras

There is a good chance we will end up playing Jamaica and that worries me a bit. They are not as skilled as the USA, but their speed is unbelieveable. Anyways, here is the bracket going into the last day. The teams in red have clinched those spots, the others can more around a bit. I have put in parantheses the teams that COULD take those places. I am making no assumptions for the results tomorrow, and leaving all mathematical possibilities:

A2 - Costa Rica

B2 - Honduras

A1 - Mexico

B3/C3 - Guatemala (USA/Canada/Panama/Guadaloupe)

B1 - Jamaica

C2 - USA (Panama/Canada/Guadaloupe)

C1 - Panama

A3/B3 - El Salvador (Guatemala)

[KRAM1]

Final from Game 2 tonight: Jamaica 1-0 Honduras

There is a good chance we will end up playing Jamaica and that worries me a bit. They are not as skilled as the USA, but their speed is unbelievable. Anyways, here is the bracket going into the last day. The teams in red have clinched those spots, the others can more around a bit. I have put in parantheses the teams that COULD take those places. I am making no assumptions for the results tomorrow, and leaving all mathematical possibilities:

A2 - Costa Rica

B2 - Honduras

A1 - Mexico

B3/C3 - Guatemala (USA/Canada/Panama/Guadaloupe)

B1 - Jamaica

C2 - USA (Panama/Canada/Guadaloupe)

C1 - Panama

A3/B3 - El Salvador (Guatemala)

Matt, the way the US is playing right now, playing anyone scares me...i think FC Dallas could take the US team right now and FC Dallas is not playing well right now either. Bradley simply must find a solution to the chemistry of that team...and figure it out fast. The individual talent is there, but, wow, are they playing poorly. Communication is terrible, positioning is even worse and there seems to be no one "take charge" guy. This, of course, does have something to do with coaching. So, maybe it's time to ask...is Bradley the guy? Not ready to call for his head or anything near that, but he does seem a bit perplexed these days. The US squad should be blowing through this Gold Cup and not liming around like the US squads of yesteryear. I'm keeping the faith that the team will respond, but winning against these Gold Cup group teams should have been a cakewalk, not the struggle it has been. Perhaps that's part of the problem...the team and coaching staff thought it would be a cakewalk as well and did not prepare properly. Big mistake if that is the case. We'll see..plenty of time. If they do get it going, the US is still in a position to win the Cup.

GO USA!!!!!!!

[Army of Dad]

So if somehow we continue the pathetic effort recently and lost to Guadeloupe, does Bradley survive? I for one would hope not.

No way Bradley keeps his job if we lose to Guadeloupe. I just don't see how that happens unless the ref loses his mind and sends off three of our players in the first 10 minutes or something.

[Mean Green Matt]

No way Bradley keeps his job if we lose to Guadeloupe. I just don't see how that happens unless the ref loses his mind and sends off three of our players in the first 10 minutes or something.

If we lose to Guadaloupe and don't make the knockout round, I don't think the USSF will have a choice but to get rid of Bradley. Although, there is a chance we could lose to them and still make the knockout round, and I don't see them making the firing mid tourney. Losing to Panama was unnacceptable enough...just the thought of losing to Guadaloupe, when we are the USA, makes me want to throw up.

EDIT: I want to add that if we lose to Guadaloupe, we don't in any way deserve to be in the knockout round, but it is mathematically possible and reasonable.

Edited June 14, 2011 by Mean Green Matt

[Travis]

That's not really true...most of the prospects are just a few years away from being mature/prepared enough for the full national team.

I am not sure how anyone can argue that we are not a bad team. We are quite off... and have been for many years now. Yes, even during the confederations cup I saw very poor defense that has continued up till now.

Also, I am not sure you how someone can say that we are a few years away from being mature. Most every "hopeful" we have had ended up being not much of anything. If history indicates anything....

We don't have a true scorer like we had in McBride and we need that in a bad way. Hell, Joe Max Moore would seriously help this team if that was any indication of our current status. Our defense has nothing promising for the future and that is our biggest weakness. We will not be "good" till this is fixed and it doesn't appear to be anytime soon. Sure, we will get a big win here and there as any team our size can get, but the consistency factor wont be there for awhile it seems.

We have a decent midfield but that is really the extent of it. If we are relying on players like Sacha as a key backup we are really screwed. For some reason, Sacha makes Bradley's soccer pants go crazy. I don't get it.

Here is to hoping I am super duper wrong.

[Censored by Laurie]

I am not sure how anyone can argue that we are not a bad team. We are quite off... and have been for many years now. Yes, even during the confederations cup I saw very poor defense that has continued up till now.

Also, I am not sure you how someone can say that we are a few years away from being mature. Most every "hopeful" we have had ended up being not much of anything. If history indicates anything....

We don't have a true scorer like we had in McBride and we need that in a bad way. Hell, Joe Max Moore would seriously help this team if that was any indication of our current status. Our defense has nothing promising for the future and that is our biggest weakness. We will not be "good" till this is fixed and it doesn't appear to be anytime soon. Sure, we will get a big win here and there as any team our size can get, but the consistency factor wont be there for awhile it seems.

We have a decent midfield but that is really the extent of it. If we are relying on players like Sacha as a key backup we are really screwed. For some reason, Sacha makes Bradley's soccer pants go crazy. I don't get it.

Here is to hoping I am super duper wrong.

Agreed...Sacha has been OK, but we can do better...Wondolowski has no business anywhere near the National Team, let alone seeing action.

Agudelo, Ream, Burnbury and Omar Gonzalez need to get their asses overseas before the next Cup...they've potential, but playing MLS is stunting their development.

Hopefully Holden's health will improve...he played very well at Bolton this past season...and perhaps his addition to the midfield would encourage Bradley to at least experiment with Dempsey up front?

Timothy Chandler? Would like to see more of him, especially as it seems Spector and Bornstein's development seems to have stalled.

[Travis]

Timothy Chandler? Would like to see more of him, especially as it seems Spector and Bornstein's development seems to have stalled.

Spector has disappointed me because I was really high on him and the direction he was going. Bornstein seemed to have promise but never put it together.

Actually, when I think about it... almost all of our D seems to have stalled except cherundelo (spelling). Bocanegra, Gooch, Spector, etc.

[Army of Dad]

If we lose to Guadaloupe and don't make the knockout round, I don't think the USSF will have a choice but to get rid of Bradley. Although, there is a chance we could lose to them and still make the knockout round, and I don't see them making the firing mid tourney. Losing to Panama was unnacceptable enough...just the thought of losing to Guadaloupe, when we are the USA, makes me want to throw up.

EDIT: I want to add that if we lose to Guadaloupe, we don't in any way deserve to be in the knockout round, but it is mathematically possible and reasonable.

Oh I doubt they fire him during the tournament. A loss Guadeloupe should bring about his firing, though I would think it would be delayed until after we are eliminated from this tournament.