American Victory Sets up All-Or-Nothing Encounter With Guatemala

Posted on September 12, 2012 by nrspiller@gmail.com

The USA Men’s National Soccer team earned a vital victory over Jamaica last night with an excellent Herculez Gomez free kick to establish a three-team stalemate on top of their CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualifying group. Jamaica, Guatemala, and America all sit with 7 points from four matches, but only two are set to progress to the next round. Naturally, America would prefer to have already progressed from the group at this stage like Mexico achieved in their group. But fortunes did not fall in that way and now the US is facing a certain all-or nothing match against Guatemala in mid October.

Clearly the recent Jamaica games proved to be a tough task without the services of Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, two hugely influential members of the USA team. The loss in Jamaica was a true stinger and will dampen the hopes of our fans regardless. There really is no excuse to losing to that sort of opposition, even if the match was in a foreign stadium. But that was what fate beheld.

Fortunately, the Americans were able to take a victory during the home match as widely was expected. This prevented an all out panic for American World Cup hopes, but looking ahead the future is still uncertain.

America will have to travel to Antigua and Barbuda to play the team at the bottom of their group. The nation has only scraped 1 draw in four matches. They are beatable, but considering that America’s away form in the group has achieved 1 draw and 1 loss, don’t expect anything to be taken from this match.

Guatemala will host Jamaica in their next match that is vital for both teams. Regardless of the outcome, it certainly means that for America, the Guatemala match will decide their qualification hopes. Lucky for the USA the match will be played at home, and one must hope that our injury situation will have improved in the next month. America proved that they need their key players in order to compete and so having the likes of Donovan and Bradley back, as well as the improved match-fit Clint Dempsey should serve to help their efforts.

But one must feel a level of concern given that the USA has struggled in such a weak group of nations. How in the world will this team actually compete in Brazil in 2014 if they play like this? Manager Jurgen Klinsmann will need to address some glaring weaknesses in the squad ahead of the tournament or else the World Cup may yet be another short trip for Team USA.

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Antigua and Barbuda to Supply America with Confidence…We Hope

Posted on June 5, 2012 by nrspiller@gmail.com

It seems a long time has passed since the inspiring 5-1 victory over Scotland. What was initially seen as a rallying point for American soccer to gain international attention turned into a minor blip following the beating by Brazil and the humbling 0-0 draw with Canada; I may add that the match featured the starting duo of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey that all of America seemed to be eager to watch and were regretfully disappointed in actual viewing.

It was not to be, and team USA stumbles ahead into 2014 World Cup qualification. The first match pits America against Antigua and Barbuda, a combined island nation from the Caribbean. The United States players seemed to be dreaming of such island beaches during their poor recent showings and as such this match will hopefully repair some of their bruised egos.

A quick scan of the Antigua and Barbuda team shows a squad made up mostly of players from Antigua Barracuda FC, a startup club in the new USL Pro League, which comprises of a host of Caribbean clubs. A few of their players reside in the lower echelons of British soccer, such as Mikele Leigertwood who plays for Reading FC.

This match is a must win for America. They will have a roaring home support in Tampa, Florida at Raymond James Stadium. The players play for far more competitive clubs such as Dempsey’s Fulham and Jozy Altidore’s AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. There is absolutely no way that coach Jurgen Klinsmann can let the United States lose this match. In fact, I would go as far as to state that such a loss should result in his immediate dismissal.

The fun games are over. America showed that we can dominate a European team, play averagely against a marginal border rival, and get plastered by the world’s best. It seems as if the friendly matches asked a lot more questions than it did to answer them. The USA team can seemingly beat anyone on their day but can also be abused if things aren’t going their way. Now it is time to prove that we belong in the 2014 World Cup.

I fully expect America to win this match, and by a wide margin too. Surely heads will have been hanging after the disappointing Canada draw, but Antigua and Barbuda aren’t even on that talent level. I feel people will start talking about that Dempsey and Donovan relationship a whole lot more once they set off some fireworks in this one. America will win, 6-0.

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America Needs to Regroup after Brazil Spanking

Posted on May 31, 2012 by nrspiller@gmail.com

Facing Brazil is never an easy task, even in a simple friendly when they only play half their starters. But the USA Men’s National Team must certainly be reeling from the 4-1 drubbing they just received and will need to get their confidence lifted ahead of two important qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup.

America came into this match riding high on the international soccer scene. Their five successive wins in international friendlies included victories over Italy, Slovenia, and a 5-1 thrashing of Scotland earlier in the week. The USA was starting to turn heads on the international scene and the thought of adding a victory over Brazil surely would have brought America into the discussion of the world’s best soccer nations.

But all that was wiped away when Brazil completely dominated the match with a group predominantly made of youngsters as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London. The USA saw very little of the ball, and although they looked a bit stronger after bringing Clint Dempsey on as a substitute, Brazil added to their onslaught with a late Alexandre Pato goal.

America continues its wait to become a world super power in soccer. People felt we were there after a quarterfinal appearance in the 2002 World Cup. Fans got excited again after the 2009 Confederations Cup tournament when the USA beat Spain and nearly topped Brazil in the final. But every time the team reaches the cusp of greatness, they seem to fall apart.

So how will America recover from its latest setback? Coach Jurgen Klinsmann needs to preach some confidence back into the side. The USA looked dominant against Scotland and their victory over Italy was impressive. But everyone needs to realize that these matches were all just international friendlies. As good as their victories were, and as terrible as the Brazil defeat was, none of these matches actually matter. The only matches that the USA cares about are in the World Cup when everyone watches.

Therefore, America needs to get their heads right before the 2014 World Cup qualifying matches coming up against Antigua and Barbuda, followed by a trip to Guatemala. Qualification is an absolute necessity and we can all recall how embarrassing it was that our Olympic team failed to qualify for this summer. Hopefully the upcoming friendly against Canada will provide just the confidence boost the players will need to rebound.

Yes there are wounds to be licked after Brazil, but all that match displayed is how much more work is required to be done. Even had America won, it would have proved nothing. USA needs to win World Cup games and they definitely need to qualify in order to get there. With Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore coming back to the side to support Landon Donovan, I fully expect this team to rebound and do just that.

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