No coverage of the Euros today, but we did get the US vs Grenada qualifier.The US won 3-0.
An interesting situation arose before the game ever got underway. Grenada made an illegal last minute substitution (forward for forward) after they had seen the US lineup. The commentators were making light of the situation while the cameras were showing the Grenadian coach, FIFA rulebook in hand, arguing about how a goalkeeper can be substituted for without being charged with a substitution if he is red carded. This nonsensical arguing carried on for over 15 minutes. The befuddled Canadian officiating crew eventually allowed the lineup change without even charging Grenada for a substitution.
The beginning of the first was slow and disjointed as the players had been standing around for so long. Grenada had little possession , but found that if they ran into the US midfielders and fell down they could gain possession almost every time.The tactic worked so well that the US had to develop a countertactic. They would stay several feet away from the Grenadians and intercepted when they attempted to pass, it worked quite well.
In the second half the diving was not rewarded with fouls, nor yellow cards, so it tapered off a bit. The Grenadians then developed a new tactic to slow the pace of the game, fall down and stay down. On more than one ocasion the Grenadians were carried off of the field, wasting several minutes, even though the slow motion replay clearly showed absolutely no contact. Again no yellow cards were shown for time wasting, even when the Grenadian goalkeeper took several minutes to put his gloves and pants (yes pants) back on after laying on the pitch because a US attacker came within a foot of touching him. At the end of regulation 3 minutes were added.
I hope that when the return leg is payed, the standard of officiating is at least raised to the piont where these ametuerish tactics are not rewarded, and the game looks more like a world cup qualifier than a high school pickup match
Man that sounds absolutly crazy, I have seen games where players dive but these gusy seem to have taken it a bit to far the referee sounds like a joke as well he and his linesmen should have been keeping a clos eye on the players and hammered them for diving. The keeper losing his pants sounds funny though
In North and Central America and the Caribbean, three relative giants, Costa Rica, Mexico and Jamaica claimed their first win of qualifying. The United States continued their charmed existence with a 1-1 draw in Panama thanks to Cobi Jones' equaliser deep into second half injury time. The U.S. are on top of qualifying Group 1, which has grown tighter than anyone expected, while Guatemala held onto the top of Group
Established star Landon Donovan and rising sensation Eddie Johnson carried the United States into the regional qualifying finals for the 2006 World Cup in emphatic fashion last night.
Donovan scored the first two goals, then Johnson, a second-half substitute, got three in a row in a 6-0 rout of Panama. It was the first U.S. hat trick in World Cup qualifying since 1968 and only the third ever.
The Americans' biggest victory since beating Barbados 7-0 in 2000 moved them one step closer to Germany '06. They clinched a spot in the CONCACAF regional finals, where the top three of six teams automatically make the World Cup field.
And they did it with an unrelenting attack that extended their longest unbeaten streak to 12 games. Only a 1-0 loss to the Netherlands in February blemishes the record. They are 3-0-2 in qualifying.
Johnson, in just his second national team game, became the first American sub to score three times in a game. Johnson, a rangy 20-year-old forward, connected in the 70th, 84th and 87th minutes.
By then, Donovan had established U.S. superiority, with plenty of help from his teammates, whose creative passing and speed dominated play. On both of his goals, he received pinpoint passes.
Donovan's first goal, his 18th for the national team and first as captain, was a precision combination play with Josh Wolff. With Wolff charging into the penalty area from the left wing, Donovan headed for the goal and perfectly timed his right-footed deflection of Wolff's pass. The ball sailed beyond diving goalkeeper Donald Gonzalez in the 21st minute.
The Americans probably should have had two goals before that. Gregg Berhalter barely headed wide in the fifth minute off a header feed from Brian McBride. Then McBride, set free on left wing after a brilliant run by DaMarcus Beasley, knocked a right-footed shot wide of the post.
Donovan made the score 2-0 by breaking free behind the defense off a pass from Kerry Zavagnin. Donovan cut across the penalty area and, just before being sandwiched by two defenders, placed a shot into the top of the net.
Panama, which to its credit didn't stack the defense and play an ultraconservative game - as many visiting teams might have - rarely challenged goalie Kasey Keller in the first hour. In the 65th minute, though, Panama captain Julio Dely Valdes wasted two good chances.
Valdes broke free on right wing, but never got a shot off before the defense caught up. Then, off a corner kick, his header skimmed off the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Keller had to climb high to tip Alberto Blancos's free kick over the bar.
The US started the final round of qualifying with a 2-1 victory in Trinidad
Leslie Fitzpatrick #7 was the standout for Trinidad, Shaka Hislop was shaky at times
I have held back my opinion on Eddy Johnson until I had a chance to see him play a few games. He now has 6 goals in 4 appearances with the national team, and if any european clubs are interested in the 20-year old, they had better act quickly because his stock is going up every time he plays
As much as I bag on officials, I think it needs to be noted that the officiating in Trinidad was flawless. No mention was made on US television who the crew was or where they were from
A solid performance for the US, 3-0 over Costa Rica to put them in a good position in the standings. Standouts were Casey Kellar, who has been in excellent form since his move to Germany, and Brian McBride, who scored one goal and worked his butt off the whole match.
Landon Donovan scored the other two and put in his usual top notch performance.
The third automatic qualifying spot will be hotly contested. Im hoping for Guatemala, because they have never been to the cup, and because a neighbor is Guatemalan
Another 3-0 victory for the US, this time away to Panama. Panama did deserve a goal in the first half, but three brilliant saves by Casey Keller in a two second flurry kept them off the score sheet.
I was impressed with how confident and cohesive the US looked, even without Claudio Reyna in the midfield.
Tactically, Bruce Arena was spot-on. Panama attacked furiously from the opening whistle, causing more than a few problems for the US defense. The third goal (Brian Mc Bride) seemed to deflate the home side a bit, the US midfield forcing them to chase the game probably contributed this as well.
The US has qualified for Germany 06 A 2-0 home victory over Mexico sealed the deal.
The goals were scored by Steve Ralston (I thought he was offsides), and Damarcus Beasley.The 140lb Beasley took a beating all game long but got up and gave the Mexican defense fits. The only way Mexico could deal with the speedy midfielder was to foul him, which gave the US lots of dead ball opportunities.
Without creative midfielder Pavel Pardo the Mexican attack was one dimensional -move the ball down the flanks and look for Cuatemac Blanco. Most attacks were thwarted by defensive midfielders Claudio Reyna and Chris Armas. Threats that made it as far as the top of the box were handled nicely by Omiguci Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra. Onyewu even made some runs forward. His header off the post resulted in Ralstons goal. When Mexican defenders ventured forward Beasley did a great job of tracking back and keeping himself between the attacker and the goal.
Kasey Kellar only had to deal with one serious scoring chance, knocking a well struck ball away from a free kick.
Hats off to Bruce Arena. His formation and tactics were a perfect fit from the opening kickoff
06-13-2004 10:15 PM
A 2-0 home victory over Mexico 
