The Crown Goes to.....Corona!!

The future

Yesterday the U.S. Under-23 Men’s team dominated a Cuban team with minimal skill and experience.  Capitalism was in full effect as the boys capitalized on almost all of their chances in front of the Cuban goal (Sorry, I could not resist the capitalist-communist metaphor.).

I know that this was a very young inexperienced Cuban team that, it’s probably safe to say, half of the players on the field did not have soccer on their minds, rather defection, but this is still a good sign for the U.S. system.  I will explain.  In the past I have seen U.S. teams struggle against these miniscule teams.  To come up with a result that, after comparing both teams, should be the outcome, is refreshing to me.   No more of these 1-0 wins or 1-1 ties to these week teams.  It’s about time the U.S. teams’ play with no mercy.  This hunger and intensity that these young players demonstrated went against the general belief that the world has of how U.S. soccer is played



.  Is he gonna stay?

One of these hungry players was Joe Corona.  Who is Joe Corona?  Tijuana has a soccer team?  Is this kid American?  He's played in a friendly for the Mexican national team, our bitter southern rivals?  Where are his loyalties?  These are the questions that came to my mind.  He was born in California to a Mexican father and an El Salvadorian mother.  He could actually play for three teams.  In the latest Behind the Crest episode on ussoccer.com he said:

                                     

This is something as a child I would see myself doing.  I was eligible to play for   Mexico, I went to a friendly game...I feel part of the U.S., I'm American, I was born in the U.S.  It's just such an honor to be here.

Am I convinced of his loyalty?  Your gonna have to wait for me to answer that.  Hopefully his three goals last night and the part he plays on this team will be the deciding factor to stay with the U.S. National team. 

Agudelo, Shea, Diskerud and the forever 21 Freddy Adu are all on fire.  The freedom that head coach Caleb Porter gives them on the field complements all these players because they are the type of players that enjoy taking their opponents on. 

The tournament is far from over. They play Canada on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.  The game can be watched dollar and virus free at concacaf.com. 

Cheers. 

Back to Winning Ways???

On Sunday night the LA Galaxy found their first win of the 2012 MLS season.  The game was an improvement on both the defensive and offensive sides.
 
The defense was pretty solid except for the great goal by Nick DeLeon in the 87th minute.  The back line got caught attempting an offside trap but DeLeon timed his run perfectly and finished it with supreme technique. 

The offense improved.  I'm not saying that they did not create chances in the in the CCL Toronto game or the Salt Lake game, just this time they finished them. 

The chances came mostly from Robbie Keane.  He was either stopped by a great save from McDonald or made one too many of his signature Irish jig cutbacks until the fiddle stopped playing and realized he ran out of space.  Finally, right before half time the ball was crossed by Mike Magee to Todd Dunivant who intelligently placed his header across the goal to Keane for an easy finish.  If any of you saw the highlights, did you see the non-celebration made by Keane?  I was expecting his crazy cartwheel - somersault - Clint Eastwood impression. He has been so close the last two games that I think it was his frustration that was revealed.  When he got his second goal we finally saw the first of his, let’s hope many, crazy cartwheel - somersault - Clint Eastwood impressions.

Donovan and Beckham played well.  It was nice to see Donovan using his speed.  Vintage Donovan. 

It was also good not to see Beckham complaining to the ref while the ball was still in play.  The go-ahead goal by Real Salt Lake's Morales could have been prevented by a back tracking David Beckham.  However, he complained to the ref, rightly so, about a bad foul on Landon.  This was fine and dandy that he was fighting for justice for a bad foul to a teammate but he continued this endless complaining until the ball was dead. 

Unfortunately the ball was dead when it was in the back of his teams net.  Look at the highlights and let me know what you think.  Could he have prevented that goal?  Or is my 2007-2009 David Beckham perception coming out?  He proved last year that he is finally dedicated to the team.  I just hope that continues.


Side Note:
It has been a while since I hit the mean streets of the internet.  I am going to try to keep this blog going.  It never stopped.  I still am a soccer fanatic.  My life still revolves around soccer.  You see when you have kids the key is to get them into soccer and then it is easier not to feel guilty about loving a sport that is played by men mostly younger then yourself.  Am I making sense? 

Coming Up:
March 22- 2012 Olympic Qualifiers for U.S. Under-23 vs. Cuba  (Adu, Shea, Agudelo and Bunbury are something to get excited about)
May 26- U.S. Men vs. Scotland
May 30- U.S. Men vs. Brazil

Photo of the Week:

Dempsey!!

--JP Thompson