**Official USMNT Soccer Thread**

[Beans]

I was gonna say the same thing about Enyeama, single handly kept messi from having a hat trick

 

[firepower23]

Obama/Becks gif is hilarious

Gotta give credit where credits due, the US did enough for the draw.

 

[rook]

Originally Posted by beans718

I was gonna say the same thing about Enyeama, single handly kept messi from having a hat trick

That is true, if not for him in the goal, i may be leading the ESPN fantasy game right now

 

[dt43]

Enyeama was the only one playing his heart out for Nigeria yesterday..

 

[TheGift23]

Originally Posted by o fenomeno

 

[ham city]

Originally Posted by o fenomeno

Originally Posted by DeadsetAce

Originally Posted by o fenomeno

Originally Posted by DeadsetAce

im happy with the draw from a result standpoint. but god damn, our back line just caved every single time england came in on the attack. gooch standing around on that quick gerrard goal was terrible. dempsey, while lucky with green's mishandle, created that shot nicely and struck it hard enough to cause the bobble. jozy burning carragher (i think) was nice, green came up big to knock it into the post. overall, not bad. but our back line needs to figure **#* out. communicate better so someone takes charge out there. there were too many times where it was like, "no you get it, oh should i? no you get it." get it together.

we mustve been watching a different game. we held england scoreless for 90 straight minutes. backline played great. 

tim howard held england to one goal


EDIT: and england squandered chances. we're lucky to come away with a draw.

they squandered half chances. the defense played great. 

i honestly dont know what game you were watching

 

[wayne looney]

i actually dont think the defense played as horrible as you guys make it seem..DeMerit was in Rooney's hip pocket the entire match, Cherundolo was excellent down the right side..Onyewu cleared pretty much every header into the box..apart from Gerrard's goal, their only real opportunities were Heskey's shot that he drilled right at Howard and SWP's chance when Rooney played him in on the left side

okay Rooney and Lampard didnt play well but sometimes the defense has a little something to do with it...i think a couple times the DeMerit/Onyewu/Howard triangle could communicate better because they looked indecisive at times, especially when England was on the counterattack but they played decently...but Ricardo Clark losing track of Gerrard was inexcusable, he turned his head and let Stevie float into the box unmarked like he just assumed another defender would pick him up..i would much rather have Torres in his spot

besides Dempsey's goal, i think he did really well tracking back all game long..

watching the Slovenia/Algeria game, theres no reason the US shouldnt have an abundance of chances on goal

 

[persiafly]

There’s an article on ESPN.com titled “In this case, a tie is a win.

 

[adrian1221]

 

[deepinthajeep]

I'll take the point. thanks. On to the next one.

 

[krispacinla]

 Great to finally meet some of the other USMNT supporters on NT. Socaluis, Guero951 and Michaelfooo on Saturday. Dope atmosphere at the ESPNZONE IN LA. Cobi Jones was there, and the place was packed all around. I think we came out flat and that why the brits suprised us early with the goal. We had some chances that we need it to convert, but I think we played well overall, especially in the back where dolo, Gooch and Demerit shut down Rooney for most of the game. I would  have liked Bob to start Buddle up top with Altigoal, but Findley did create some chances with his speed( Finishing and passing need some polishing

) We will see if Bradley makes changes for the Slovenia game. I watch the ALG/SLO game earlier and too be honest I was not impressed by either side. We have a great chance to beat both of those teams and finish first in the group.Guero, I will check on those Kobes for you and your homie tomorrow. Luis thanks for the ride to the station. Hopefully you made it in time for work

 

[michaelfoooo]

ESPN Zone went +%%#!+! nuts as soon as that ball crossed that line 

Nice meeting you guys. We have to do this again. 

and Luis I owe u a beer. 

overall good game. we just need to make a few adjustments. (perferably at the forward.)

 

[DeadsetAce]

all i can think about is what if that strike from jozy went off the keeper's hand and into the goal instead of into the post 

up front, i think everyone pretty much agrees that findley isn't the best choice. buddle should get a chance. would love see what gomez can do as well, most likely as a 2nd half sub. as far as the goal clint scored, as i said before, although it was lucky, that goal showed what clint can do. he created that shot nicely on his own and then let it rip.


defensively, the opinion on here, and on tv, seems split. i've seen excellent to horrible. on a 1-10, i would say 4 maybe? i dunno. i realize we shut down rooney, but there seemed to be serious miscommunication in the back at times. a fair amount of balls dangerously rolling through the box. and i know it was early and the worst example, but god the gerrard goal was disgusting to watch as a USA fan. the entire bar groaned and was like, please let this NOT be how this game is going to go. and again, it was early, but letting a goal like that up so early is KILLER. luckily we bounced back OK. and i mean tim howard was monstrous in the match. without him, this whole debate goes out the window, imo. 
anyway, would love to hear more of your opinions on the defense.

 

[do be doo]

Originally Posted by newmoanyuh

Man when I saw this is all I did

Great goal

  

 

[marionthebarberian]

I !@%+%# my hand up from celebrating that goal.

 

[socluis90]

nice meeting yal also krisp and michael, funny how none of us sat down the whole +#@#$@+ game even tho we got a table. +$$% was too intense.

anyways WE HAVE TO beat Slovania Friday. We can win this group.

 

[krispacinla]

^^Dude, tell me about it. No one in the whole place was sitting down. I mean after we scored the goal, I felt another one was coming. We can most definitely win this group. These next two games are both wins after I saw Algeria/Slovenia.

 

[951guero]

Good meeting Kris and Michaelfoo; place was packed but great atmosphere for a US game...we gotta do it again for round of 16s

 

[deepinthajeep]

Does Bob go more offensive (Torres, Buddle) vs. Slovenia??


Or does he stay w/ the same line-up??

 

[socluis90]

Originally Posted by deepinthajeep

Does Bob go more offensive (Torres, Buddle) vs. Slovenia??


Or does he stay w/ the same line-up??

gotta start torres and buddle. gotta beat slovakia, gotta win the group!

 

[vc4life]

I HEARD GUERO951 AND SOCLUIS90 ARE FRUITCAKES... 

 

[deepinthajeep]

Originally Posted by socluis90

Originally Posted by deepinthajeep

Does Bob go more offensive (Torres, Buddle) vs. Slovenia??


Or does he stay w/ the same line-up??

gotta start torres and buddle. gotta beat slovakia, gotta win the group!

I'm still tryin to figure out why Bob would start Rico over Edu anyway...This still baffles me.

 

[Beans]

I say jozy/ buddle.. and bring in torres with finnely as an option..

 

[DeadsetAce]

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Howard rebuts Slovenian smack talk

---

Associated Press

IRENE, South Africa -- Tim Howard thought about Andrej Komac's prediction of victory for Slovenia and chuckled."I think talk is cheap," the American goalkeeper said Wednesday. "He's got to stand toe to toe. And they've got to stand toe to toe with us for 90 minutes. And if he's still standing, then I'll take my hat off to him. But a lot of boxers talk, too, and they're looking up at the lights. And the next thing they know, they're trying to figure out how they got there."

Komac

Howard
All the focus might have been on Saturday's World Cup opener against England, but Friday's game against Slovenia will be more important in determining whether the United States reaches the second round for the first time since 2002.Slovenia leads Group C with three points following a 1-0 win over Algeria, and the U.S. and England are tied for second with one point apiece after drawing 1-1. A win would go a long way toward putting the Americans in the knockout phase, and a defeat would pretty much eliminate the U.S.Defender Oguchi Onyewu was amused by the bold assertion of Komac, a Slovenian midfielder."It's definitely a premature comment to make," he said. "I don't think a U.S. player would make a comment like that."Slovenia has a population of a little more than 2 million and is the third-smallest nation ever to play at the World Cup, larger than only Trinidad and Tobago, and Northern Ireland. According to Howard, Komac's statement was understandable, given how far Slovenia has come."That means nothing to us," he said. "We know that they're probably feeling confident after getting the three points, and rightfully so."
[h4]United States team page[/h4]
For more about the U.S. and its chances in South Africa this summer, click here.
Howard was injured in the first half of Saturday's game when Emile Heskey's boot struck him in the ribs below the breastbone, near the arm. Howard was down in pain for several minutes before resuming. He needed an injection of painkiller at halftime."Tim's a fighter, and when he got back up, I was happy and I'm sure everybody else around in America was," Onyewu said.Howard said he'll be ready to face Slovenia."Time is a good healer. I've had a few days. It's just going to be sensitive, but as you know, if you play at the highest level, I think you have to play through injuries," he said. "It's sore. I believe in, as I said before, in adrenaline being the great equalizer. You can't account for that. You get on the field and your mind is focused on the game. It takes away from the pain and listen, we've got plenty of pain meds and injections and all that type of stuff, which will help keep my mind off it, as well."The 31-year-old hasn't gone for any medical scans."If the docs and the medical team felt like I needed it, I would certainly do that," he said. "Not knowing is probably better."He's been treated with cold and with steam in an effort to decrease swelling and desensitize the area, but not much can be done for a rib injury."It's a really bad kick, and so in the next few days, if I have to go full stretch, which hopefully I don't, and end up landing on it too hard, then it might set me back," he said. "But we've got plenty of padding and plenty of ideas on how to stop that. I won't be stupid with it, at least I don't think I will be."And there's one treatment that will help him right before the game."I'm kind of looking forward to those injections," he said.

 

[krispacinla]

HOPEFULLY TORRES STARTS.

LET'S GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!