An Ugly Tie
The U.S. tied Cuba 1-1 tonight in Group A CONCACAF Olympic qualifying play before about 100 people in Tampa. Peter Nowak and his U-23s rolled out their Bay of Pigs attack scheme. As usual, it was a dangerous attack but the Cubans held it off for a stalemate.
Freddy!
Thank goodness for Freddy Adu. Tonight he had a goal and several solid attempts on frame. (And even off the frame!) Like everyone on the U.S. team, he had some bad midfield turnovers, but was still the best player on the field.
The Rest . . .
of the U.S. attack was dreadful. Robbie Findley was particularly frustrating in the 55th minute when he failed to get a goal on the breakaway. Josy’s unusually weak performance also didn’t help. Josy’s shot straight at the keeper in the sixth minute was an early bad omen. (I supposed the same could be said for Adu’s shot off the post in the second minute.)
Charlie Davies needs to take the skirt off, and play like a man. The dude is on my shit list for diving and flopping. I’m not sure where he learned that, but it needs to end immediately.
Christian Sullivan made an astute observation about young US strikers, and particularly MLS-based strikers, inability to hold the ball with their backs to goal. This might explain why DC United typically goes after a foreign player to play the classic target striker. Brian Ching seems to be the lone exception. (I still hold out hope for Josy though.)
Final Whistle:
Max Bretos after announcing a Cuba player’s name in the 58th minute, “If I had a name like that the ladies would love me!” This is the first time I’ve heard anyone claim a name is seductive to women. Ladies, can you confirm that? (Gertrude claims ladies are not reading this . . . whatever.)
I also love Christian Miles’ occasional spasms of “great ball!” in the middle of one of his sentences. Example: “And that’s why Doritos are my – GREAT BALL! – favorite chips before a game.” It’s like soccer-tourette’s syndrome.
Rating:
2 out of 5 Ybor City cigars - suck on that Cuba!
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Don’t Forget!
The new D.C. United blog is coming this month! Place your guesses in the comments below!
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