When Alexi Lalas made headlines favorably comparing MLS to the English Premiership, I can't imagine that I was alone in cringing. A little parochial crowing for your home league is important and Lalas has been one of the primary ambassadors for the sport so I'll grant him a little hyperbole but seriously, an MLS all-star team in the premiership would get no better than 3-1 odds to beat the drop.
And the roster for today's match versus a full-strength Argentina side? That's an MLS all-star team minus Landon Donovan and the foreign talent (I'm sorry, I forgot Danny Califf's tenure in the Danish league...).
Drew Moor? Marvell Wynne? Sasha Kljestan? Get ready boys. Mascherano, Riquelme, Crespo, and Messi are better than you. Carlos Tevez who starts on the bench? Also better than you.
Frank Dell'Apa, a booster and fan, says that the US needs to approach Copa America with low expectations, take some lumps, and learn some lessons. I understand that winning the Gold Cup was Bradley's goal but I would have argued for a reverse in rosters. I'd really like to see what Dempsey and Donovan could do against Argentina. Onyewu and Beasley too for that matter.
Here are the starting lineups courtesy of Soccernet.
1 Roberto Abbondanzieri (G)
(G) Kasey Keller 18
(G) Kasey Keller 18
2 Roberto Ayala (D), 6 Gabriel Heinze (D), 15 Gabriel Milito (D), 8 Javier Aldemar Zanetti (D)
(D) Danny Califf 7, (D) Jimmy Conrad 12, (D) Drew Moor 15, (D) Marvell Wynne 2
19 Esteban Cambiasso (M), 14 Javier Mascherano (M), 10 Juan Riquelme (M), 20 Juan Sebastian Verón (M)
(M) Ricardo Clark 19, (M) Benny Feilhaber 5, (M) Sacha Kljestan 16, (M) Justin Mapp 21
9 Hernán Crespo (F), 18 Lionel Andrés Messi (F)
(F) Herculez Gomez 8, (F) Eddie Johnson 9
A young Mexican squad shocked Brazil 2-0 in Dunga's first match in charge so I guess anything is possible. I think scoring a goal and keeping it a one-goal game for 60 minutes should be considered a moral victory. I'm predicting 4-1 Argentina and hoping that Feilhaber, Justin Mapp and Herculez Gomez combine to look good. I think Feilhaber and Mapp are going to be part of this squad for a while and while I have no such faith in the Colorado striker, Herculez Gomez is a name we can write songs about. And US soccer needs more songs.
Good luck lads, you're going to need it.
6 comments:
I wonder what the record is for most goals scored in a Copa game, because Argentina is going to shatter it against us tonight.
The difference in line-up is borderline awe-inspiring. I had no idea we were shipping our scrubs to play the best team we'll face in the next 12 months. That's fucking brilliant, that is.
It's like throwing an offspeed pitch in baseball (American sports metaphor provided by ESPN's World Cup Commentating Crew). The world can't judge our true speed and ability if just throw junk after junk at the big hitters. What could possibly be go wrong?
That said, Feilhaber and Mapp would be an exciting midfield tandem, if not surrounded by things called Hercules Gomez and Sasha kljestan.
That backline is going to just get worked like a Renaissance whore at the Banquet of Chestnuts. Barnyard used to have a theory that Keller played for bad defenses on purpose, so he could lots of practice in. Keller must be very excited about this backline.
On the upside I'm no longer too miffed that I do not have the necessary cable TV channel to catch the game.
i'm scared
on the upside, if we pull off the upset, we can call it a "Marvell-ous Wynne"
We're doomed.
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