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
No comments:
Post a Comment