In Preparation For Tomorrow…

Ladies and gentlemen, soccer has arrived.

USA!

What more can be said? I won’t add anything here, mostly because anything else you’ve read on the US vs. Algeria game has already said it.

But man oh man was Howard’s distribution on that goal excellent! He was rock solid at the back, an obvious leader on the team, and irreplaceable at the moment. Brad Guzan and Marcus Hahnemann are both good goalkeepers, but we don’t score that goal without Howard in there.

ESPN did a great job during the game, really capturing the intensity both on the field and off of it. Their shots of American fans as the game was in its dying minutes was great, and the celebrations when Landon scored were great. Arguably the greatest moment in US soccer history and I couldn’t have asked better from ESPN. After 2006, even as late as last year in the Confederations Cup, I was very displeased with ESPN’s handling of our national team. This year, they’ve really stepped it up and that made the game yesterday even better. Their production of the game, the way it added to the drama on the field, was probably responsible for at least two of my dozens of heart attacks.

Speaking of heart attacks, does anyone else feel that they could go out and run a marathon today? My heart received a work-out like it hasn’t had since two-a-days in college. I’m fairly convinced I could run out and ace a Cooper Test, although my lungs and legs are begging me not to in the Southern California heat.

And here’s a picture, just to remember the moment:

I’ll admit, I cried.

TASF Father’s Day

Yesterday I celebrated father’s day with my seven week old son. My wife made an appointment to get pictures taken and I had a few ideas. I think its incredibly cool that he was born on a World Cup year and I decided these pictures would be soccer themed. I wore my new USMNT World Cup jersey and dressed him in a onesie that looked like the old ’96 home jersey. I had a replica Jabulani ball and we did several poses together. Freakin’ Awesome!

Anyways, it may be belated, but Happy Father’s day out there and I hope all of you are enjoying watching the World Cup with your families.

US vs. Slovenia Halftime/Fulltime Report

Halftime:
Oh…what the hell, guys!

Fulltime:
Oh…WHAT THE HELL, REF!

To Bradley, With Love

Ottmar Hitzfeld claims to have followed the American’s lead in beating Spain.

whaa?

Of course, only one team has had success against the Spaniards in the past four years, and that is the US National soccer team.

It’s only obvious that Hitzfeld would be watching a lot of video of the USMNT.

As much as we’ve ranted and raved against Bradley, even as recently against England when he forgot he had another twelve players with him as subs, the man doesn’t come unprepared. It was nice to hear Hitzfeld acknowledge that in the article. We played our game near perfectly against the Spaniards and won, giving our team much needed confidence going into the Confederations Cup final and continuing into this year with the World Cup. Remember, we were very literally sucking butt before that semi-final. Sure, we beat Egypt, but I fall into the camp thinking we should beat Egypt a majority of the time.

Bradley may play negatively, with a bucket system that seems to fail just as many times as it succeeds, but we can’t say that this guy doesn’t analyze things before hand. And anyways, Bradley kept his cool against England. Anybody else think Capello choked under the pressure? Did you see how he was screaming at his players after scoring in the fourth minute? That’s not a coach keeping his cool, that’s a coach that’s about to crack.

Mexico vs. France…

Mexico is about to take the field against France today, and this soccer fan is having a hard time choosing which team to root for.

Both teams enter the game with one point apiece, but Mexico is ahead because they’ve scored more.  France played a largely boring game against Uruguay and finished 0-0.  Mexico played well against South Africa and were unlucky to only draw, or lucky, with South Africa hitting the post late on to almost win the game.

Yesterday, Uruguay demolished the host nation 3-0.  South Africa sit in a unique position, possibly being the first host nation to not get out of the group phase.  Both Mexico and France now have an opportunity to place themselves in a good position to advance, and both teams will want to win.

So who does a US fan root for?  France plays a largely boring game, the team just does not gel.  Mexico can play very fluidly but have difficulty finishing.  Plus, Mexico is the US’s fiercest rival.  Do I hope France pulls a dos a cero?  Well, no.

Here’s what I want.  Mexico, please beat France.  Do CONCACAF proud.  I still don’t like you guys and think you’re a bunch of hacks.  Marquez is public enemy number one to American soccer fans, but this one time, I want you to win.  I know Ochoa has had a poor run of form, but surely one of your two other keepers can strike more fear in the other team than Oscar Perez, who is better suited to be the comedic opening act at a Lucha Libre match.

Edit:  Dammit, Mexico, don’t win like that!  How a ref can call a PK on that, ugh.  Barrera’s dive could be seen five minutes before he did it.  But at least Les Bleus are going to enjoy an early vacation.  They could still go through, but c’mon, we all know they won’t.

This Is TASF

Welcome to This American Soccer Fan, a new blog created for the American soccer fan.

A little about myself.  Joe Cleats is my pen name, I’d rather remain anonymous for security reasons.  If you’d like to think that I am a secret agent man, that’s awesome.  I’ve been a soccer fan since I lived in Europe as a child.  I played soccer as a goalkeeper at various levels.

I follow the Los Angeles Galaxy, seeing as how I’m living in Southern California.  I, of course, also follow the US Men’s National Soccer Team, currently playing in the 2010 World Cup.  Regardless of the teams I’m a fan of, I also watch various leagues and teams.

This blog will cover a wide range of soccer-related topics, focusing primarily on US soccer in some capacity.  I’ll talk about US soccer and MLS news, yanks who play abroad, my own experiences being a fan, and re-introducing myself as a player to the game.  I truly hope you enjoy this blog and I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

Cheers,

Joe Cleats