Bob Bradley announced the US World Cup 23-man roster right after his club lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic. So, who made the team?
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Jose Torres
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez Read more... (315 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
I know that the US national team is missing some folks, but the Czechs were too. That also makes it hard to plan for an opponent in a match that REALLY doesn’t mean anything. I can understand the issues there. I really can. However, what are we going to do come World Cup time? You can’t lose 4-2 to a team that had just as many issues as you did–can you? Read more... (351 words, 2 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
England went into a warmup for the World Cup against Mexico without David Beckham and wondering if Darren Bent would be able to make the squad. Well, even though there are all kinds of injuries and little problems the English still managed a 3-1 win over the Mexicans. To me, this is a good victory because we know that the Mexicans can play and England is still searching for the right formula to make South Africa 2010 work.
At this point Fabio Capello is doing the right thing–giving credit to players who played well and keeping his plans to himself. He’s got alot to deal with and he can’t reveal his hand this soon–maybe never at all: Read more... (334 words, 2 images, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)
When the English National Squad was announced earlier this year Darren Bent was on the team. However, that was the 30-man provisional roster and Fabio Capello only takes 23 men to South Africa. Now, the Sunderland striker is having issues because if he can’t stay healthy then he will probably not be travelling to the World Cup. For some guys this could be a once in a lifetime chance to play for their homeland and Bent is trying to make the most of it.
He’s scored 25 goals in 2009-2010 and that put him behind only Wayne Rooney in scoring. So, what’s the problem? Read more... (309 words, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
Bayern and Franck Ribery have come to terms on a new contract after Munich lost the Champion’s League Final to Inter on Saturday. The word was that he would leave Munich this summer, but now a new 5-year deal keeps him in place. I guess this means that the allegations of Ribery being a client in a prostitution ring are not so bad for Bayern.
Frankly, I can’t blame them. If he’s your guy–then he’s your guy. That’s pretty much that. You don’t look very hard when have good players right in front of you. However, I still think there are problems with Ribery’s alleged link to underaged prostitution and that fact that he missed the Champion’s League final–even though it really wasn’t his fault–it’s still hard. Read more... (314 words, 2 images, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)
Well, the funny part of this is that I’ve been on both sides of the fence during the Champion’s League and I certainly would not have picked either one of these clubs to be here–but here they are!
Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho are both incredible motivational coaches who have nothing you can say negative about them because they’re here–but we haven’t heard alot from Van Gaal and only snippets from Moruinho. So, I guess they went into Super Bowl mode where they sequester themselves before the big game. Read more... (305 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)
Germany just lost its captain. Michael Ballack played in the FA Cup final for Chelsea this weekend in a 4-0 beatdown of Portsmouth. However, if you’ve seen the photographs, Kevin Boateng–I hate the hyphenation in his name–crushed Ballack’s foot in a pretty hideous-looking tackle while Portsmouth was getting destroyed and now Germany has no captain.
I guess the worst part is that he actually sustained an ankle injury while Boateng was stepping on his foot. Um, ouch!
The Germans know they’re cooked–which sucks: Read more... (388 words, 2 images, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)
This is a preview of
Michael Ballack Has Been Ruled Out For The World Cup
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Read the full post (388 words, 2 images, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)
Barcelona tapped Valladolid’s you-know-what at Camp Nou to win 4-0 and capture the Spanish Primera Division title with a record 99 points. Unfortuantely, Real Madrid didn’t make it interesting as they could only pull out a draw 1-1 against Malaga.
Barca was the favorite all year and even thought I predicted that Real Madrid would crumble they managed to keep it together until the last weekend of the season. I wouldn’t call this crumbling, but it still raises the same questions. Read more... (310 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
Chelsea completed the FA Cup and EPL double with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth in Portsmouth’s last hurrah before relegation. With the EPL season over and nothing to lose one would have thought that Portsmouth might have come out pretty loose and given Chelsea a hard time and they did. Only allowing Didier Drogba the double-clenching goal in the 1st half.
What does this mean for the future of the EPL? Well, it means that United is really pissed. They already gave Chelsea the regular season title and now they had to watch the blues win the FA Cup. It kind of makes that epic final from last year seem like a distant memory–doesn’t it? Read more... (316 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
Vicente Del Bosque has put together a 30-man roster for the Spanish Nationals and it has two very important names on it:
Torres
Fabregas
That’s about all you need. Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas–especially Cesc–are not in the best shape, but they were MAJOR players in the whooping Spain put on the world at UEFA 2008. That team was all over the place. They played the game the right way. They put a hurting on teams that are sometimes unbelievable in retrospect.
Courtesy of ESPN–here is the Spanish Provisional Squad: Read more... (314 words, 2 images, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)
